Laura eyed the stranger with trepidation. The man had been playing with Shena until just an hour ago when she had fallen asleep. Now he was chatting with Laura's son and daughter in law like he was part of the family.
"Is your name really Mint?" Laura's daughter in law- Fiona- asked curiously. Her son- Welt- could barely suppress his laughter at his wife's question.
"Yes it is." The man called 'Mint' said sheepishly. "I've been living in the forest for a long time now. My parents were originally from here but our family had taken to living in the forests in secret."
"That's strange." Welt mused. "We've never found any people living there before."
"Ah that's because they're really secretive! We follow a very strict religion or...at least we used to follow one."
"What do you mean?" Fiona inquired, tilting her head to one side.
"I'm the last one of my bloodline left and I don't really believe in the religion so I suppose it doesn't exist anymore."
"Oh..." Fiona gasped, already looking sorry for him. Welt simply shook his head before patting the stranger on his back.
"I'm sorry for your loss. If you don't have anywhere to stay, why don't you stay with us?"
Laura stood up upon hearing that, her chair screeching against the floor. Everyone turned to look at her. Fiona and Welt were shooting her questioning looks while Mint seemed totally oblivious. Over the past few hours, she had gotten the distinct feeling that Mint was changing his personality to better match the people around him. As he was then, he seemed nothing more than a fool but Laura knew better. She hadn't lived that long for no reason.
"Mother, do you disagree?" Welt asked. He looked much more like her husband than her with his cropped brown hair and serious face. He was tall with poor eyesight and so always wore or had a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. His wife, Fiona looked a lot like Shena. They both held the same childish excitement towards the unknown and had hazel eyes.
"No, he can stay."
Welt and Fiona looked visibly relieved on hearing that. They were both very soft-hearted and liked to help others. It was that attribute of theirs which she admired but sometimes she wished they'd be more cautious.
"Then I would be glad to accept." Mint answered, beaming. It still felt weird to refer to him that way even in her head. The name he had chosen clashed so much with his appearance that it gave her whiplash every time she had to reconcile that fact.
"Why don't you lay out some bedding for him?" Laura suggested, giving Welt and Fiona a knowing glance. The two of them got the message and exited the room under the pretense of searching for bedding.
"Mint." Laura said- the words feeling heavy on her tongue. "Do you think I'm a fool?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Mint said, leaning back with a light smile. She had a feeling from his eyes that he knew exactly what he was talking about. And his eyes...she had a feeling she'd seen them somewhere before.
"Don't try and act innocent." She said, regaining her bearings. "There's no way a person can live on their own in the forest for so long without anyone discovering them."
"Then are you suggesting I came from outside?" The smile on his face hadn't dropped and she understood why. Claiming to have hidden in the forest was more believable than accusing him of travelling there from elsewhere. It was definitely impossible.
Checkmate. She had lost that round.
"Fine." Laura raised her hands as if to state that she was waving a white flag. "I have another question for you."
"Which is?"
"Tell me about your grandfather."
"My grandfather?" Mint was thrown off by her question as he finally showed her a troubled expression. "Why are you asking?"
"I think I might have met your grandfather or maybe it was your father. I can't tell for sure but I'm certain that I met them."
"That's not possible." Mint said, already back to looking at ease. "My grandfather and father were kind people but very superstitious. They lived a life of solitude and didn't speak much. My grandfather passed away when I was still a kid so I can tell you more about my father if you'd like. I used to play games with him by a pond. The irony was that he didn't know how to swim."
Laura listened in silence as he went on a long rant about his childhood. It was so spontaneous and detailed that she found herself absorbed in his story. She knew it was plausible for someone to make everything up on the spot but when he spoke, there was a hint of nostalgia in his eyes. As he neared the end of his recollection, he looked at her directly.
"Do you understand now? It's impossible for you to have met them. It must have been someone else."
"I suppose..." Laura trailed off. He was speaking with such confidence. She was starting to wonder if she was the gullible one for entertaining the possibility that he could be the legendary hero. The world was full of miracles and incredible feats but having an infinitely long life span was not one of them. Nobody no matter how great could live for centuries.
Right on time, Welt and Fiona returned with the bedding in hand.
"Sorry but you'll have to sleep here for tonight." Welt informed him. "We don't have any spare rooms except for the storage and it would be too cold in there for you to sleep."
"That's fine." Mint was already back to smiling. "I think I'll sleep better by the fireplace anyway."
"Be careful not to get too close though." Fiona warned. "If it ever goes out in the middle of the night then come to our room. It's the second door down the hallway. Welt can light it back up."
Fiona froze just as she was about to put the pillow down. "That reminds me!" She exclaimed, making everyone jump a little.
"What kind of powers do you have, Mint?"
Laura grinned. Why hadn't she thought to ask such a basic question? She wanted to appreciate Fiona for such a brilliant question. If Mint really was from their village then he definitely has a power. It was possible to have one even without being from there but knowing what kind of ability he had could also help them trace his family history.
"My ability?" Mint laughed, looking embarrassed, "It's not a very useful one."
"All abilities have their uses." Welt declared like a teacher instructing his student. It was apparently enough to make Mint relent.
"I can remove the paint from wood."
...Silence filled the room.
"What?" Fiona finally asked what everyone was thinking. They had never heard of such a power before.
"Come on, I thought all powers had their use!" Mint said looking offended. His expression was so pitiful that it made Fiona and Welt burst into laughter.
"I did say that." Welt admitted, taking off his glasses to wipe away some stray tears from his face.
"I can think of some uses for it!" Fiona tried to say in an encouraging tone but her laughter a few minutes earlier made it hard to believe she was serious.
Mint turned to the wall behind him. It was made out of wood like most houses in the village and had been painted a stark white. Lifting his hand and bending his fingers slightly, everyone watched as the paint began to peel off the wall, falling in scraps onto the ground.
"See." Mint announced. He didn't look at anyone in particular but his statement felt very targeted towards Laura.
"It's really true!" Welt looked incredulous.
"Your control is amazing!" Fiona remarked.
Only Laura stood watching without moving or saying anything. It was true that he hadn't lied about his ability but that level of control and precision was unbelievable. He had removed the paint in a perfect circle about the size of someone's fist. To remove paint like that...was it just an in built feature of his weird ability or was it...?
Laura shook herself out of those thoughts. What good was it even if he was the singular master of perfectly removing paint from wood in any desired pattern or intensity? It still wouldn't do him in any good in most predicaments and it definitely wasn't enough to make him a hero.