The twins scanned the living room and library for their student, to no avail despite Viktor’s thunderous voice trembling the house as he called for Yura. She was normally punctual to her lessons, so to not see her first thing upon entering the fortress was definitely a surprise for them. They found Elais by the kitchen preparing breakfast in his charcoal-toned apron, barely acknowledging their presence with a quick glance.

Viktor leaned forward on the rustic kitchen island. “How is she doing? After all, it was an overwhelming lesson for her that day,” he asked as his voice quavered, his eyebrows lowered as he frowned.

“She is doing fine. I brought her outside yesterday as you advised,” Elais responded, not looking up as he flipped the contents in the pan.

Viktor’s ears perked up as his mood elevated from the good news. “Oh, how did that go? Did her powers activate?”

Elais hummed in affirmation, transferring the fresh pancakes onto a plate. “It was going rather well. I took her to a secluded store in a remote town, and was struck close to home on our way back, actually.” The pleasant aroma of the pancakes filled the air, as the light steam carried its fragrance throughout the kitchen.

“Did anything in particular set it off?” Varna inquired, following the sweet scent into the kitchen.

Elais shook his head whilst cutting some fresh fruit that was in a basket on the kitchen island. “Not quite. It happened after I zoned out for a brief moment. It seems to complicate the issue further if anything.”

Varna rubbed her chin as she popped a berry into her mouth, her tail swaying slowly. “She will still be sensitive to the topic of blood since we’re teaching her the importance of the impact of the savage incident. It may be better for us to teach her outside where she can be distracted to some degree.”

“If it’s alright with you, we’d like to take her on a small field trip for today’s history lesson,” Viktor added, his eyes sparkling with anticipation. “I know a great place for her to learn without fear of hurting others, nor does she need to visualise the bloodshed herself.”

“If you believe it to be beneficial, then you are free to go ahead,” Elais said, laying their plates of freshly made breakfast onto the kitchen island.

Yura took a step outside of her bedroom upon hearing the commotion downstairs, taking half a second step towards the staircase when she heard Viktor’s speedy footsteps thumping loudly up the steps.

“Yura my dear, I actually have a gift for you!” he beamed, presenting a bag in his hand to her confusion. She opened it to reveal a sleeveless violet dress that had been adorned with a white frill lining on its skirt, in addition to a short-sleeve lavender stand-collar shirt with a pink trim on its sleeves.

Varna paced up the stairs and gasped for air, taking time to wind herself.

“We’ll be going on a small trip for today’s lessons,” Viktor explained cheerfully, grinning from cheek to cheek.

Yura bounced up and down as her eyes glittered at the gifts and the news. “Will it be okay for me to change into these clothes now?” she asked excitedly.

“Of course!” Viktor grinned, snickering at Varna as she was still winded from the sudden cardio workout.

Yura returned to her room to change into her newly gifted garments. She styled it with a red suede belt that Adrienne had gifted her, completing the look.

Varna knocked precisely three times on the door. “Yura, the winds are rather strong today. May I braid your hair for your comfort?” she announced from the other side.

The door opened slightly in response, with Varna becoming immediately captivated at the sight of her current attire. “Well now, aren’t you a beautiful maiden today,” she complimented as she carefully assembled Yura’s hair into one large braid, completing it with a pink bow at the bottom of it.

Elais had been waiting in the living room on the sofa as he read the daily newspaper with his legs crossed, with freshly made breakfast waiting for her at the dining table. The deafening noise of thumping that echoed throughout the room as the three came down the stairs took his attention away from his reading, noticing Yura approaching him with her gentle footsteps as he lowered the paper. “Viktor gave me this dress. What do you think? How do I look?” she spoke as she twirled in her new dress as it spun with her.

“It is a rather delightful set of attire,” Elais acknowledged, then soon paused. If he wasn’t mistaken, he was sure he had seen this particular set of clothing before. “It looks good on you.”

Yura squealed in joy, pleased by his validation as she bounced towards the direction of the twins.

“It’s a bit big on you now, but you’ll grow into it soon enough!” Viktor assured her as he lifted her up, throwing her in the air as he caught her, repeating the motion a few times to her amusement. Viktor’s eyes teared up slightly as he gave a warm hearty laugh that resounded through his chest, one that Elais had not heard in a few centuries. He watched as he became overjoyed playing with Yura, his voice booming with long-lost confidence as they spoke.

The trio made their way to the front door after Yura finished eating, as their farewells echoed down the hallway. As the door creaked behind them, the silence followed soon after, filling the home with an eerie atmosphere. For once, Elais had noticed the stillness of his home as the gradual ticking of the grandfather clock grew unsettling with each tick. He turned to retire to his chambers to unwind himself for the day.

Viktor and Varna guided Yura through the steep forest trail and down the foreign stone pathway. The crispiness of the leaves crunched as Yura tread on them to her amusement, with the wind creating a path of yellow with every step she took. They crossed over a sturdy wooden bridge with a babbling stream flowing into the river. Although a tiring journey, the trek rewarded them with a noteworthy sight of the luscious hillside that awaited them. The sizable marble structure became visible in the distance, appearing as a blurred igloo from where they were now standing.

“We’re almost there, but let’s make things more exhilarating,” Viktor said, rubbing his hands together.

“Oh no, not now,” Varna groaned.

Viktor placed his monocle into his breast pocket, and took in deep breaths. His face gradually became hairier with fine silver hairs whilst his snout grew, his ears becoming proportionally larger as it morphed into that of a wolf, with a large scar resembling his monocle on his right side. The hairs of his chest quickly puffed out of his clothes which magically disintegrated as the fur rapidly grew with his increasingly large body proportions. His limbs were the last to transform as they turned into furry paws with large rounded claws. He let out a thunderous howl that made the distant mountains tremble as he stood on his hind legs before going on all fours.

“Yura, jump on my back! We’re going to race Varna!” he grinned as he looked back at her thrilled expression, laying down on his limbs for her accessibility. Yura slowly climbed up on Viktor’s back, gripping onto the back of his mane.

Varna groaned, also shifting into her werewolf form and prepared for more vigorous cardio exercise for the day.

Viktor broke through the wind on all fours as it violently breezed through Yura’s hair and dress, holding onto him as tightly as her strength could muster with his long fur interfering with her ability to look ahead clearly.

Varna followed shortly after they arrived at the gallery with the many marble pillars looming over them. It had been beautifully crafted with unique details, and every structure had been well aged with minimal signs of damage. Yura analysed and scanned the surroundings with awe, her eyes sparkling as she observed through the many foreign structures that towered over them.

“It’s well known that vampires are close to extinction due to the savage incident, as we now know from our last lesson,” Viktor started as they walked by the golden statues of a werewolf and a vampire firmly shaking hands as they wore stern expressions. “We werewolves were once close allies with them until that incident.”

“The outbreak led to them becoming excessively violent and unable to be reasoned with, many becoming anarchists,” Varna added, shaking her head. They stood by a vibrant mural, illustrating what appeared to be the bloodshed caused by the savages as they bared their teeth to the forces against them, with death and destruction surrounding them.

“The population of the savages went down due to quick military intervention, but to this day they’re still blamed for a lot of downfalls in society, such as monarchies,” Viktor commented, as they slowly made their way down to the next exhibit.

Yura gazed at the artworks showcasing many prominent werewolves during the wartime. There were many artworks of what appeared to have been vampires, with their portraits heavily damaged on both the art and frames themselves. “Do either of you know any vampires other than Elais?” she pondered.

The twins glanced at each other before returning to Yura with mutual sombre expressions.

“He’s the only one we know-” Varna replied, turning to Viktor.

“-That’s still around,” Viktor interjected.

Yura became a bit disappointed as she turned to a painting depicting the last savage vampire being killed by a werewolf soldier. “Do you think that he’s lonely because of that?”

Varna and Viktor gazed down at her, then smiled. “Both of us have been keeping in touch with him as much as we’re able ever since he saved us,” Varna replied.

“Even though he doesn’t reply too often, he has now and then,” Viktor added, taking Yura’s hand as he guided her to the next painting. “In fact, when he reached out to us asking to teach you, it made us elated to know that he wasn’t alone,” he reassured her as he smiled softly.

“What did he save you both from?” Yura asked curiously.

They stood before an ancient painting depicting the downfall of a lost civilisation, with lots of flames present in the artwork.

“The town we had been visiting was under attack by savage vampires, where I was stationed to help find a cure for the disease,” Varna explained, her expression becoming grim. “We barely made it out alive, and it’s all thanks to Elais.”

“He was honestly just passing by. Perfect timing really,” Viktor commented, crossing his arms.

“I’m glad he’s not a savage. He would’ve suffered even more,” Yura said, analysing the details of the painting.

The trio circled their way back to the entrance of the exhibit as the stars peeked behind the growing veil of darkness.

“Yura what’s that? In the sky!” Viktor exclaimed.

She looked up immediately, with nothing visible aside from a couple of clouds. Nothing appeared out of place, despite her staring at it for a while.

“Last one up the hill is an egghead!” Viktor yelled as he zoomed past them.

Yura ran as fast as she was physically capable of with her frail legs. She stunned herself as she tripped over a small stone. She stood up, noticing that her knee was now bleeding and her dress was now covered in dirt.

“Ah ya, Viktor, look what you’ve done now,” Varna said as she crouched down next to her. “Let me tend to your wound, Yura.”

Varna’s hands moved in slow waves and gestures, with various colourful magical patterns and runes appearing in a magic circle that glowed before them. Yura watched as her wound healed whilst Varna maintained her spell, in awe. The patterns disintegrated as Varna whisked them away with one smooth motion of her hand. “I guess it’s good that I was able to demonstrate my magic, other than just having you learn through pure textbook material.”

Yura’s eyes glowed as she watched the demonstration from start to finish, admiring her freshly mended knee. “That magic.. I’d like to learn it someday. I find it the most interesting amongst the elements so far.”

Varna smiled in delight. “That’s fantastic Yura, since I actually specialise in holy arts. Then, someday you will be able to work directly under me.”

Yura grinned as Varna took her by the hand and walked back to the stone fortress at their own pace.