Their search for alternatives did not bear any fruit. They were stuck on the three horrible options. The couple were reassuring them that it's fine, but their disheveled appearance and frantic eyes did not help matters.

After several days of nonstop searching, Meda decided to let Vera take a break for the day. She commanded her to go down at the town to unwind. She protested at first, but she never managed to dissuade Meda.

She found herself sulking as she walked across the streets of the northern part of Sunaier, the capital of the Maierre Empire. The hill where the apothecary stood was located north of the city.

She gained quite a lot of attention from men and women alike. She ignored all of ther snide and flirty comments.

'Ugh, I want to to back at the apothecary. It's too loud here.'

She found herself at a park. There were lots of grass and shrubs around. Couples and families loitered arounf the park, enjoying the warmth of the sun. She just sat there at a bench, contemplating the potion situation at hand.

'We need to find an alternative, ASAP. The throne has been pressuring them already. I don't want them to die, nor fail my task.'

A hand waved in front of her face. She blinked once, twice, thrice, before she heard the child speaking.

"Hello?" said the child, blinking with her huge, owlish eyes.

"Hello...?" Vera tilted her head in confusion. "Do I know you?"

"No!" The child giggled. "It's just that you're so pretty, being surrounded by hundreds of butterflies. How did you do that, big sister?"

"Huh?" She looked around and saw a kaleidoscope of butterflies dancing around her. She stretched one finger and the butterflies began to swarm it. More and more people turned to look at her display.

The child poked her. "How?" she asked with a pout.

"I'm not quite sure myself."

She stood up and the kaleidoscope erupted with myriads of colors. They flew in different directions, painting the warm air with vibrance. She quickly walked away to escape the attention.

---

'Since I'm here at the town already, why don't I do some research, too?'

She found herself inside the Grand Library of Maierre. She wandered across the maze of shelves, losing her sense of time and direction as she searched for any material that may aid her quest. She stumbled upon the Rituals and Potions section of the library. She touched the spines of every book on her way, and picked those that she thought may be of use to her.

---

'Why are these so useless!' Vera almost screamed at her pent up frustration, but she managed to reign the urge as she remembered she was in a library. She stretched her limbs and proceeded to get another set of books from the shelves. She gave a passing glance at the tall windows nearby. The beautiful night sky ensnared her vision.

'Wait. It's night time already?'

She hastily put back every book and scroll she borrowed to their respective locations. She barely uttered a 'good bye, thank you?' to the librarian before she ran off to the hill.

'Crap, I've spent too long here. I should go back now.'

As she was running, there was a series of loud screams. Her feet unconsciously brought her to the scene.

"THE MEDICS ARE HERE! GIVE WAY, WILL YOU?"

'What is this about?' She managed to squeeze herself between the huge crowd that had gathered. When she reached the center of commotion, she saw a dead man, pitch black eyes open in shock.

'What the hell is happening?'

Her head turned towards the two women loudly gossiping about the situation.

"Poor Kan," said the curly-haired woman.

"He's the third one who died the same way for today, huh?"

"Yeah, it's quite sad. He was so unlucky."

"Poor things, all of them were found with a black feather within their grasp, no?"

Vera froze. She walked towards the woman. She had a bad feeling about this.

"Excuse me." She lightly poked the back of the curly haired woman.

The women just raised their eyebrows at her. "What do you need?"

"Uhhh," she hesitated. She gulped and asked, "can you tell me about the recent deaths?"

"Wait, you're saying you don't know the tea?" Vera just nodded at the woman's statement. They just sighed at her cluelessness.

"This day, three different people were found dead."

"Their deaths were mysterious. All of them were quite healthy."

"Showed no signs of sickness or curses even."

"However, there were two common things between those three."

"What are those?" Vera asked.

"Well, how should I say this?"

"The first is that each of them had pitch black eyes."

She found herself looking at the dead man's body once more, where both of eyes had no hint of color except for the darkness that had consumed it. Vera felt queasy.

"The second one is that they had the reaper's mark in their possession."

"Reaper's mark?" Vera's heart pumped wildly as she asked the question. The women just gaped at her.

"You do not know the reaper's mark?" Vera just nodded at her.

"According to the stories, the reaper's mark is brought by an innocent black haired child. He leaves a black feather, a symbol of death."

Her mind flashed back towards the child several nights ago that had slept on her bed. 'That child was the reaper!?'

"There is no specific time on when it will claim your life, but the last person in possession of the said mark will die like that. Eyes pitch black and all."

Vera felt dread take over her whole body as she remembered that the feather was missing from the book where she placed it. She ran back to the apothecary, feeling her adrenaline spike. She even forgot to say goodbye or thank you to the women, but she did not even care in the slightest. The only thought in her mind was Meda's safety.

'Please, I hope that Meda is safe. I hope that she did not have that feather.'

---

The apothecary was dead silent. The darkness hugged its every single corner. She felt despair, but she tried to remain positive.

'Meda is alright. The stories were just a hoax. Yes, a hoax.'

"Meda, I'm back." announced Vera as she entered the apothecary. Panic swelled within her heart when she heard no reply from Meda. "Meda?"

She inspected every single room, yet she did not see her. She checked Meda's quarters last. A small flame danced on the wick, hidden behind Meda's hunched form.

"There you are, Meda."

'Something does not feel right.'

She slowly walked towards Meda. "Meda?" she called softly. Upon receiving no response, her voice quivered in fear. "Meda? It's not funny anymore."

She grabbed Meda's stiff shoulders, and turned her body around to see her face. She bit back a scream as she saw Meda's eyes. Her eyes were devoid of any color.

"No, Meda!"

Tears fell from her eyes as she embraced Meda's corpse tightly.

"I'm sorry!"

Her tears continued to fall one by one as she realized what she had done.

On Meda's hands, there rested a black feather, oblivious to the sorrow that permeated the atmosphere.