Mytri sat by his sofa in the corner of the living room, next to the window. He sighed as moonlight shone onto his face, his eyes keenly observing the moon. In his right hand, he held a wooden cup filled with old, high-quality alcohol, drinking heavily. By his legs lay four unbranded alcohol bottles, two of them empty.
He drank all of it from his cup in one try and poured himself a full cup yet again.
He exhaled as he watched the clouds partially obscuring the moon, and mumbled to himself, "Ha, I can't even get drunk."
He drank the contents of the cup, placed it on the arm of the sofa, took the four bottles in hand, and stood up.
"I can't even forget it with alcohol. At least I'll train Luna properly, to not make the same mistake."
Holding the bottles, he went back to his room, closing the door behind him.
***
Luna slowly opened her eyes as whispers flooded her head. She ignored them and pushed herself off the bed, realizing she had been sleeping right on top of Theia, who was peacefully asleep.
She chuckled at the sight of her defenseless self and thought, Well, I wish you were this honest when you talk to me.
She stood up and walked toward her baggage lying in the corner. She picked out the training clothes Aisha had prepared for her: a breezy white shirt, knee-length fitted pants, and a sturdy sleeveless leather vest. She stood there in the corner, placed the clothing on a chair, and prepared to change.
***
After changing, while seeing that Theia was still asleep, she walked out of the room and saw Mytri sitting by the table in the morning.
"Good morning. Did you sleep well, Master?"
Mytri looked at her and said, "Indeed. Sleep has been… really good to me today." His eyes twitched as he said it.
"Then that's good." Luna smiled widely as she sat by the table. "I hadn't introduced myself yesterday. I am Luna Lockheart, and I came from…"
As Luna began saying it, Mytri signaled with his hand, his tired eyes looking at her. "I know, I know. There's no need to tell me. I've actually visited you when you were younger, and your father and I are friends."
Luna beamed as her smile grew. "We've met before? It must have been very long ago."
Mytri frowned at Luna's words, for he didn't understand what she said—he had visited them just a bit over a year ago. He brushed it off as a child's mind being forgetful.
"Then you've been friends with my dad for a long time? I wish to know, if you don't mind."
"Well, not that I mind. I've known him for a very long time, since he was a child, indeed."
"A child?" Luna added, her eyebrow rising.
"Yes. He was merely four years old when he befriended me. I was old back then, and so old I am now—exactly one hundred twenty years old, if you'd believe that."
"One hundred twenty!" Luna exclaimed in disbelief, her jaw dropping.
She chuckled, saying, "You don't look your age."
"Haha, the same way you sisters don't look alike. Somehow, my swordsmanship has transcended biology and kept me looking young."
He really does look young, like a man in his forties. He looks older than my dad, though.
"You really do look young, but still older than Dad, I see. Can mastery do such a thing? So if I master swordsmanship, would it keep my health this healthy?" She beamed with curiosity as she pushed her body off the table and stood up, looking at Mytri.
He chuckled and said, "Of course it will. You just need to train properly, and you'll be like me when you master swordsmanship."
Would it? Would it keep me alive for longer? I wonder. If he says it, then there must be truth to it. So maybe… maybe I'll live longer, Luna thought as she gripped her hands into fists.
Mytri noticed it and wondered why she looked so serious. He said, "Then, let's go. If we are on the topic of training, let's go to the garden. We'll start our training there. I presume Lady Theia is asleep?"
"Yes! And yes," Luna answered.
"Haha, good. Let her rest. Then you'll begin your training from the beginning," Mytri said as he walked slowly toward the garden, groaning as his feet dragged along the floor.
Luna followed, gripping her pants.
***
And so, Mytri and Luna went out to the garden. There, it was a scene of serenity—but well… chaotic.
The garden was like a chaotic storm. The bushes and rose bushes were overgrown, the grass was as tall as Mytri, the trees were unkempt, and the flowers grew any way they pleased.
As Luna watched the chaos with her jaw dropped, she looked at Mytri and said, "It's total chaos."
"Indeed, it is. And your job is to bring it to a state of perfection," Mytri said. Then, from the bushes, he brought out a scythe, a saw, a bush cutter, and a pair of scissors. Placing them by Luna, he asked, "Will you do it?"
"Well, if I am here, then I might as well help with it…"
Mytri sat back into a rocking chair on the porch and said, "Well, it will surely take you a week. What you see before you is just a fraction of the work—there is more deep inside than you see. So, good luck."
He closed his eyes and started to rock in the rocking chair, saying, "I'll be here watching you work, so don't worry and work. I'll call you when the food is ready."
Luna sighed, saying, "Alright," and picked up the tools and headed to work.