LIRA: Book I

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE: Lirabelle Alexandra

Lira wanted to make sure of one thing. So after her class with Miss Layla the following day, she went to the faculty lounge and waited outside. After only a few minutes, luckily, Miss Amara went out of the lounge. Lira sprinted towards her.

"Ma'am, can I talk to you for a few minutes? I just wanted to ask you a question."

The head mistress nodded. "Sure dear. What is it you wanted to ask?"

"I read my mother's journal last night," she started. "Are you—were you her best friend? The one she mentioned? I mean, Auntie May mentioned that she made a promise to my mother that she would inform you about me if the right time came..."

The mention of Lira's mother brought mist in her teacher's eyes. "Yes, I was. She did always mention me and Dina in her journals."

"Where is Dina?"

"You've already met her. She had been with you your entire life," she said smiling.

Lira tried to decipher what Miss Amara said until realization hit her. "You mean Dina is my Auntie May?" Are they aware Auntie May's a half-elf?

"Yes and yes; if you're wondering if we knew of her being half-elf. I have only found out about it just recently, though. But I'm not sure if Cassandra knew about it before. I was also surprised to see her. Cassandra had made her promise to keep your existence a secret until you're of age. I thought Dina died during the attack; we hardly recognized the bodies after the attack." Miss Amara fell silent for a moment. "We were supposed to meet, the three of us, in Cassandra's house. But my slayer duty kept me away that night. Your mother was a sweet thing with a noble heart. But she wasn't a fighter, a slayer like me. She was a vessel of the Diwata, but her powers were still dormant until the deity choses to rise. I constantly blamed myself for not being at her side." She cast Lira an apologetic look. "I could have saved her."

Lira shook her head. "I think my mom would have wanted you to be away and safe that night. I'm sorry if I mentioned her to you. I just needed to know for sure if you were the one she mentioned in her journal."

"It's fine. I do think about her all the time." She paused for a moment before continuing. "I tried to look for you, though they said the vampires had killed you as well. There was blood in your crib and now I think your mom probably faked your death to keep you safe."

"Were you also aware about her being a vessel?"

"Yes. We knew of the story about the Dayanghirang. We just didn't know who the other vessels from the remaining two families were. It was just a stroke of luck Cassandra and my family were working alongside each other. As for the others, well, we have no idea who they were no matter how hard we tried to find anything about them. I guess my grandmother was right when she said that there was really no need for us to find them, since the four Dayanghirang will find each other someday."

Lira smiled and nodded. "Uh... Miss Amara, I know you're about the same age as my mom, but you looked as if you're around twenties. I mean I don't mean any disrespect..."

Miss Amara gave a soft laugh. "That's quite alright. I'm in my thirties. Like your mother, I am also a descendant of a Dayanghirang. All female descendants are equally considered as the vessels of the Dayanghirang until the Dayanghirang made their choices on which vessel to rise. The blood that flows within us helps us age... gracefully. You should have seen my mother; she's in her seventies but still managed to look in her fifties. That's why I why wear this horrid glasses to make me look mature or else the students will never take me seriously."

It was their evening class once again, the class Lira really wanted to avoid at all cost but couldn't. When Sevastian mentioned that she would be seeing him around most of the time, he really meant it. He and Stephan sat behind Lira. Nicholas, that jerk, stood in front of her and gave Ian (who was seated next to her) a murderous silent command which made Ian glanced at her with a "sorry, I don't mess with vampires" look and took the seat in front of her instead. So much for having an elven warrior around. Lira would have asked Yumi, who was on her other side, to swap seats with her but she was busy having a battle of razor-sharp wits with Stephan.