When the situation was under control, Althea once again spent many hours in her small room, looking for answers to the questions that bothered her. She felt desperate, she knew her medications wouldn't work for long and no matter how hard she tried, the disease kept coming back. She couldn't understand why this was happening.

"What did I miss...?" She sighed heavily, resting her hands on the spread out books.

"Rest." She heard her younger brother's voice. "You missed the rest." He said, standing in the doorway and leaning on the frame. "You won't help people if you collapse from exhaustion."

The woman sighed softly and looked at the old writings again.

"I have to do something, Najy. I'm the only medic here. Who is going to help our compatriots if not me?" She pointed at herself and then sink into a chair resignedly. "I don't know what to do anymore. I have read these books several times and still cannot find the answer. I'm missing something, I can feel it."

"The world still holds much unknown." He moved slowly towards her. "Once, the day will come when we'll know the answers to our questions, but it's not today. Not yet." He said, which caught her attention. "Besides... " He sighed. "If my sister doesn't rest soon, I will go get Swaran and..."

"All right." She interrupted, amused. "I'll rest."

"Good." The Young one nodded. "You finally smiled a little." He noted, proud of the fact that he managed to improve his relative's mood. Althea didn't say anything, just nodded, grateful for her brother's concern.

"But..."

"Oh no, what now?"

The white-haired woman put her hands together and looked significantly at the boy.

"I promise I'll go rest, but... Could you get these herbs for me in the meantime?" She asked, handing him a piece of paper with a list.

"For further attempts to create medicines, I presume?" He raised an eyebrow. "Ah, okay, fine. I'll get these herbs and you go eat something." He wagged his finger at her and moved towards the exit.

"Thank you, Najy!" She called, chuckling softly. She sighed again, looking at the books. "Maybe I'm looking in the wrong place... " She said in deep thought, shifting her gaze to the large courtyard behind which their Lord's house was located. But then her eyes landed on a cave, right next to the waterfall. "If not here..."

~.~

The youngest sibling was just returning from the market when one person caught his attention. Randi, a childhood friend with whom he loved spending his free time. However, due to family problems, young Najy couldn't meet with his companion as before. The reason for this was their father, who forbade them many things. He was a strict parent, but he died recently so the siblings could experience some freedom.

Najy watched his friend from a distance for a moment, seeing him play the old piano he inherited from his mother. The white-haired boy listened to the melody Randi was playing, feeling his muscles relax and a shy smile creeping onto his face. He loved listening to his music. Often at night, when Najy was locked in his room by his father, the only soothing escape for him from his parent's torment was the melody played by Randi. His friend didn't even realize how much Najy owed him. He decided that one day he would tell him all about it, but at times he felt that he lacked the courage to express his feelings.

Just be yourself. Repeated his sister, who was perfectly capable of reading her younger brother's thoughts. She always supported him, as did the eldest sibling. No matter what was happening or what people seemed to be saying about them at times, the siblings stuck together and their bond was unbreakable.

"One day, Randi... " White-haired boy whispered, then slowly moved towards the return direction, but then someone else stood in his way.

It was a group of troublemakers from the village who always targeted Najy as the target of their harass.

"I'm in a bit of a hurry. You'll beat me next time." He said, wanting to get past them as quickly as possible, but the leader of the gang grabbed him by the collar and stopped him.

"Not so fast."

"What now?! Have you been stalking Randi again?!" Another one called, then pretended to vomit. "Blah! And it is from people like you that this Clan must be protected!"

"Well said." The leader said sternly and shook the boy, causing the herbs for Althea to fall out of his hands.

In despair, Najy looked at the medicines scattered on the ground and felt that something inside him was breaking. He freed himself from leader and quickly fell to the floor, collecting herbs with shaking hands.

"Stop..." He said in a weak voice. "These are for my sister..." He whispered, quickly collecting the plants. However, before he could collect them, the group leader grabbed him again. "N-no!" He called, seeing things for his relative falling out of his hands again.

The entire event was noticed by Randi, who stopped playing at the sudden noise and looked anxiously out the window. When he saw what was happening, he ran out of the house as quickly as possible and ran for help.

He ran as fast as he could and without even knocking, he burst into the siblings' house, where he found a confused Althea.

"Najy..." The young man gasped, and the blonde immediately guessed what was happening. She knew she couldn't do anything about the fight on her own, so she immediately went for the person she could always rely on. For her older brother, Swaran, who was just returning home, so it didn't take long to find him.

At the same time, the youngest sibling landed on the hard ground, coughing heavily and feeling the burning sensation on his hands, which had been injured by the rough concrete.

"No matter how many times we beat you, you'll never learn anything, huh?!" – The leader of the persecutors shouted. "I despise you." He snorted in the wounded man's face.

"Hey!" They heard a strange voice so everyone looked in that direction. "I'll only say this once, so you better remember..." Hamill said at a slow pace, approaching his opponents. "Leave him alone." He added firmly, and the others laughed. "And you only had one job." He sighed and then without hesitation he moved towards them and attacked the leader holding the boy.

The other didn't expect it and didn't have time to protect himself from the blow. He landed on the ground just as his companions began attacking Hamill. This wasn't a problem for him though, man easily dealt with them until more opponents arrived. Back then, the numerical advantage was too glaring.

Najy looked around at opponents in panic and rose to his feet with great difficulty. Everything hurt, but even so, he did everything he could to maintain his position and help his companion in the fight.

"It doesn't look too good... " He said, but he changed his mind when his older brother joined the fight out of nowhere.

"What's up, little one? Aren't you happy to see your brother?" Swaran laughed and knocked down the leader of the group while Hamill covered their back.

"Big brother..." Boy gasped, feeling relieved at the sight of his savior.

"Najy!" He heard another voice as he fell to the ground, feeling himself losing strength due to emotions. It was Althea, who immediately knelt down next to him and rested his head on her knees. "It's okay, little brother..." She stroked his hair and looked at the fresh wounds.

"I'm sorry, Althea..." He whispered, looking at her, and then with a shaking hand he pointed to the scattered herbs. "Because of me..."

"Stop it, it doesn't matter." She interjected immediately and took his hand. "You are here." She looked at him with tears in her eyes. "A little bruised, but you're here. This is the most important." She kissed him gently on the forehead. "And I'll take care of the rest. Your sister will take care of you... I'll fix you." She said soothingly, stroking his head.

"Najy..." He heard another voice that seemed like he hadn't heard it for many years. "You didn't change at all. The world can collapse and burn, and you always think about your family first, never about yourself..." Randi said smiling, but his face melted into darkness the moment Najy lost consciousness.

Swaran, with Hamill's help, carried the injured boy home, where the Healer took care of him. While Rani was helping Althea dress wounds, the eldest sibling decided to talk to Hamill.

"Thanks." He said to him rather dryly. "For saving Najy."

The brunet glanced at him and then nodded.

"I couldn't just ignore it, could I?" He replied, crossing his arms.

The blond nodded.

"I appreciate it." He said and then approached his brother to check his condition.

Hamill didn't say anything else, he just watched the whole situation in silence. Both Swaran and him didn't like each other too much. Their relationship was quite cold and it was visible at first glance. Hamill only tried to tolerate him for the sake of him being Althea's family. But Swaran, even though his sister cared fot that man, couldn't find any sympathy for him. He told his sister many times that she should avoid him, but she would never listen, no matter how hard he tried.

The Healer put her things aside and let the injured man rest. Her eyes landed on her friend, who seemed to have wandered off in thought. Without saying a word, woman approached him and hugged him, which immediately woke him up and at the same time surprised him very much.

"Thank you." She whispered and after a while she looked into his eyes.

"No problem."

The Medic sighed and smiled faintly at him.

"You both play tough guys, but you also get hit sometimes..." She said about him and Swaran, gently touching the cut on the brunet's eyebrow. "Let me dress this wound."

"It's nothing." He insisted, but seeing her face, he decided to let go this time.

While Althea was taking care of Hamill, the older brother was sitting right next to her and looking with great concern at his unconscious brother, with Randi sitting next to him, changing his compresses.

"When will he wake up?" He asked, without taking his eyes off the patient.

"Najy needs some rest." She replied, finishing Hamill's dressing. "Give him some time." She looked at him.

"I'll give him as much time as he needs, but..." He stopped for a moment and then sighed. "I'm worried..."

Althea looked at him tenderly, then came closer, took his arm and hugged her brother. At that moment, not many words were needed. The closeness and devotion of the family itself was enough to lift spirits at least a little.

~.~

Althea fell asleep at the desk and stayed there all night. Swaran covered her with a blanket and in the morning he was the one who woke up earliest. The first thing he did was check his brother's condition, and above all, whether he was breathing. He was breathing, fortunately.

Trying to clear his mind, he began to prepare a meal, well aware that Althea had nothing in her mouth. She watched over her injured brother all night long and thought about nothing else.

After a short while, there was a knock on the door, and when Swaran opened it, he saw Randi standing in the doorway.

"How's he feeling?" He asked with concern.

"He's not awake yet." Blond replied.

"Would you mind if I... sat with him for a while?" He asked quite uncertainly.

Swaran looked at him for a moment and then turned to look at his brother.

"All right." He said after a long minute and let the guest pass. "Just be quiet, my sister is still sleeping." He added, returning to his previous activity.

Randi nodded knowingly and slowly moved towards the boy. His eyes landed first on Althea, who was still dozing quietly, resting her elbows and head on the desk. Her hair was slightly disheveled, and her face was barely visible, hidden behind her resting hands and books. The boy immediately guessed that she must've been watching over her brother all night. He found this sight cute and also worring. He knew that both Althea and Swaran placed Najy's well-being above their own. They thought about him first, then about themselves. Just like now, they preferred to spend the whole night, not even closing their eyes, to be sure that their brother was safe.

A few long minutes passed and Najy was just starting to wake up. He turned his head to the side and slowly opened his eyes. At first he thought he was hallucinating when he saw Randi sitting next to him, but when he realized it was reality, he immediately sat up, which he regretted, feeling pain all over his body. This small incident woke up Althea and caught the attention of Swaran, who immediately ran to their brother, hearing his hiss of pain.

"It's my fault, I didn't want to scare him." The embarrassed boy said. "Forgive me..."

"N-no, stay." Najy interjected, sitting on the bed with his sister's help. "I just... didn't expect you to be here. I-I'm sorry." He said, feeling a blush creeping onto his cheeks.

Althea and Swaran exchanged glances.

"Well, you don't have a fever anymore..." The Healer said with relief, placing her hand on her brother's forehead. "So we'll give you a moment to talk." She glanced at the older brother.

"If anything happens, call us." Blond man, holding a kitchen spoon in his hand. "And if something hurts you again..."

"Thank you." Najy said with a faint smile. "I feel better, don't worry, big brother."

Swaran wanted to say something, but his sister took his arm, pulling him along so that the young ones could've a moment of privacy to talk.

At first there was silence between them. Neither of them knew how to choose their words. They didn't have the opportunity to talk so calmly together. Several years had passed, which made them feel quite awkward, but even despite such a long separation, they were both very worried about each other. Centuries might pass, but even that wouldn't erase the years of their friendship and the time spent in each other's company.

"If I had reacted faster, you might have been in a better condition... I'm sorry."

"No." Najy interjected. "I'm grateful to you for calling my brother. Thank you." He said honestly.

Randi nodded and smiled shyly.

"Why did they attack you?" He was surprised.

The blond wanted to avoid answering, but he didn't know how to do it. He felt his emotions boiling over just from Randi's presence.

"They just don't like me..." He said the first thing that came to his mind. "They don't like people like me and that's it... "

"It's unfair. They can't attack people just beacuse." He snorted with anger. "I'm sorry, but this is annoying. I don't understand who's normal and behaves like this."

"They're not normal, that's why." Najy replied with a smile, which the other returned. "I... I heard you playing..." He admitted shyly. "You have great talent, you know?"

This time it was Randi who blushed at his companion's words.

"O-oh, it's nothing..." He scratched the back of his neck. "I like playing... it's my passion and... a break from everyday life." He said with a smile. "You know, when I play... I feel like I don't even need words to express my feelings. Each note seems to stand in for words I can't say. It's like... learning some other language. Maybe not many people know the language, but maybe..."

"Many people appreciate it." Blond boy interjected with a smile. "Definitely."

"Hah, you say that... It's like I heard Vanya..." He laughed, scratching the back of his neck.

"Who?" Boy was surprised, but before he knew the answer, his brother came and said that the soup was ready.

Randi, not wanting to disturb them, left their house but promised to visit his friend.

The siblings served food to the sick person and sat down near him to join him in eating together. Najy seemed absent, a fact not lost on his relatives.

Althea glanced at her older brother at the same time as he glanced at her. They exchanged significant glances, as if they were arguing in their heads about who should start this topic first.

After a while, woman sighed and looked at the patient.

"Want to talk?" She asked gently.

Boy was silent for a moment, playing with the spoon in the bowl of soup.

"You looked happy to see Randi." Swaran interjected. "Aren't you glad you two could talk?"

"No, I am glad..." He replied shyly. "I'm really glad."

"So what's bothering you, hm?"

Najy hesitated for a moment and then looked at his relatives.

"When he was sitting there, I thought my heart was going to beat out of my chest." He said, which slightly amused his companions. "And then... I wanted to tear out this stupid heart myself."

"Why?" Sister interjected immediately, worried about her brother's words.

The injured boy snorted and set the soup aside, looking pointedly at his family again.

"What is this Vanya?" He asked resignedly, and Althea and Swaran exchanged glances.

"A place?" Swaran said.

"A person?" Althea added.

"Ah... never mind." Najy shook his head in disbelief. "I'm sorry again about the herbs." He looked at his sister. "Really..."

The Medic put down her plate and took his hand.

"I don't need an apology, I just need your health." She said, smiling warmly at him.

"But the money was wasted... because the herbs were destroyed, and I..."

"Money is not everything." Older brother interjected. "Don't worry about it, hm?" He put his hand on his shoulder and a moment later gave him the soup. "Eat, gain strength."

Najy no longer objected and complied with his brother's request.

"Have you found any new way to deal with this disease?" Boy asked uncertainly. "People's anxiety is increasing."

"I won't learn anything new from these books." She replied, looking at the mentioned items. "I have to look somewhere else." She added, looking back at her brothers.

"Somewhere else?" Swaran frowned. "In other books?"

Althea kicked him in the leg, which made him laugh quietly, and this situation involuntarily brought a smile to the face of the youngest sibling. He didn't like arguing with them, but he found this little banter cute. Maybe they didn't always share the same opinions, but they always stood behind each other. They understood each other, supported each other and always knew how to improve each other's mood.

"Okay, okay..." The older one chuckled. "So where?"

"At the source." She replied, catching the attention of both brothers.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------The second chapter is already behind us! The action is slowly starting to heat up, hihi ^^
Thank you for all your presence and kind words!
See you next week with chapter three! ♥