Lyra and Anastasia's argument stopped when they heard Aeneas's voice behind the closed door.
"What is it, my son?" Lyra replied as she walked close to the door to open it.
"I want to talk to you about something."
Lyra opened the door, "Come inside," she said with a smile.
Aeneas knew that Anastasia was with her since he could hear them arguing even before he stood in front of the room. Though, he couldn't hear what they were talking about. The boy stared at Anastasia who became confused.
"Aenie?" Anastasia asked.
"I would like to speak with my mother alone. Please excuse us, Aunt Ana," Aeneas replied.
Anastasia stared at Lyra. She was curious what the boy would've wanted to speak with his mother in private. Nonetheless, she placed her hand on Aeneas's head and disheveled his hair, "Very well," Anastasia said with a smile before leaving the room.
Lyra could feel her son's seriousness. She has an anxious inkling that it might be about his Zeal.
"So, what do you want to talk about?"
Aeneas gazes at his mother, directly in her eyes, "Are you hiding something from me?" he asked.
Lyra's eyes' twitched. Aeneas caught her by surprise even though she had a feeling that the conversation would go towards what she feared. Still, Aeneas's question might be in regards to something different, hoping for it to be the case, Lyra acted oblivious.
"Hiding what?" She said with a smile.
The boy continued to stare at his mother. His serious expression didn't waver, "Is there truly nothing important you have to tell me, but didn't?" He asked.
Lyra tilted her head, she continued with her play of acting ignorant, still hoping that it wasn't about his Zeal.
"Ah. Have I not informed you about my departure in the morrow? I will have to leave again for my research."
"You've told me that, mother."
"Then, I have no idea what you're implying."
Aeneas tightened his fists and bit his lower lip, then, the boy slowly peeled off the material covering his right eye. Lyra gulped as her heart sank. Although she had a feeling that his son knew, she couldn't form a sentence to say to him, her reasoning for concealing the truth.
"I… I was…"
Aeneas averted his gaze and stared at the floor, "I know why you did it, mother. I was angered and hated you greatly when I found out earlier," Tears formed in the boy's eyes and with quivering lips, he continued, "A boman… I wasn't one all along."
"Aenie…" Lyra muttered. Emotions were also starting to engulf her, "You could hate me all you want, I deserve it. But, I did it to protect you and I'll do it all over again if time ever reverses."
"I hated you… I still do."
Aeneas's words felt like piercing arrows to Lyra. Words couldn't form in her head, and the tears she was trying to hold back broke free without a hint of stopping.
"But, I could understand. What Neoma and her mother experienced could've been something that happened to me," Aeneas looked back at his mother, he was crying and couldn't hide his saddened expression, "I have a Zeal all along. I wasn't a boman. I have the power to be great and you took it from me. I love you and do not want to feel hatred towards you, mother. But I…"
Lyra rushed to her son and hugged him tight, "I am sorry. It's okay. I'm at fault. Do not worry, I will always love you the same no matter how much you hate me," she said, still crying.
Aeneas tightly wrapped his arms around his mother, he bawled as he replied, "But I do not want to feel hatred towards you."
All Lyra could say was how sorry she was. It was also the first time in so long that Lyra cried as hard, sobbing like a newborn. Nevertheless, she was still proud of her son. She expected him to react more aggressively, yell at her at how much he hated her for concealing his Zeal if he ever found out on his own. Lyra knew that her baby had grown and was mature for his age.
They hugged and cried together for minutes till only sniffling noises bounced on the walls of Lyra's room. After a while, Aeneas let go, "Were you ever going to tell me?" He asked.
"I was looking for a way to remove your Zeal."
Aeneas's eyes widened, "That's… I do not want you to do that," he said with a serious tone.
Lyra was left without words. After a few minutes, she asked Aeneas to sit with her and that she would explain and answer anything the boy wanted to know, which was everything regarding his Zeal.
When Lyra was pregnant with Aeneas, she was fixated on her research about a forgotten God. She deciphered it from ancient texts found in some of the ruins and other old books. The mention of a serpent God which was revered as the wisest of them all was enough to pique a researcher's curiosity. The more Lyra found out about the God Ophiuchus, the more she couldn't remove him from her head. But, as if fate wanted to play a game of irony with her, the son she gave birth to, possessed the mark of the God she was obsessed with.
Unlike most babies, Aeneas didn't open his eyes till after a few days of his birth. Thanks to that, the midwife and healer who assisted didn't see the Zeal in his right eye. Once Adrian found out about it, he immediately acted fast to stop the information from spreading, only the three of them, with the third being Donos, knew about Aeneas's Zeal.
Lyra was filled with worry and anxiousness. She blames herself, thinking that it was all her fault. Her research and the constant thought of the Wise Serpent must've made the same God mistake her curiosity with devotion and decided to give his Zeal to Aeneas.
It was Adrian who thought of covering his youngest son's right eye and portrayed it as an illness. Then, Lyra improved upon it with the contact lenses she made with great help from other proficient scholars she knew.
Years later, Adrian and Lyra would find themselves in verbal fights regarding their youngest child. Adrian wanted Aeneas to know about his Zeal, be accustomed to it, and learn how to use its power, while Lyra wanted to keep the truth from their child. She also wanted to find a way to remove the Zeal. This topic would always be the concern of their heated arguments. But, Lyra wouldn't budge in all of their fights leading to Adrian backing down in the end and trying again another time, up until he couldn't.
Aeneas stared at the mirror far from where they sat. He touched the bottom area of his right eye, "Who's Zeal is this from?" He asked.
Lyra explained to her youngest that the Zeal in his right eye was from Ophiuchus, a God known as the Wise Serpent.
"Do you know what ability I possess, mother?"
Lyra shook her head, "But, from what I have learned, your powers might be regarding your vision. Didn't you say that you could see a dark red mist back in the Lost Meadow? Me and your aunt Ana came to a hypothesis that what you saw might be chaos energy itself and seeing it is highly likely through your ability."
Aeneas kept nodding in response.
With a wistful smile, "There's also this old man in Laochyro who bears the same Zeal and I'm assuming that he could see through objects by the way he acts."
The boy's eyes widened, "You know someone who bears the same Zeal?"
Lyra could feel the excitement in Aeneas's voice. She smiled at him and responded with a nod. After a brief pause, "I think he must've seen you already."
Aeneas's eyebrow furrowed as he thought back to all the people he saw in Laochyro. Then, he remembered the old man who gave him a chilling stare.
"Ah…" Aeneas muttered.
Their conversation continued with Aeneas asking more questions and Lyra answering them. One of which was about Aeneas's illness. Lyra explained that it was all to cover up the fact that he has a Zeal.
"Then why do I feel pain and my eye starts bleeding?"
Lyra answered the boy's question as Silas said, that he was unknowingly overusing his Zeal. She continued that the old man told him as such. Then, Lyra paused, and her smile disappeared.
"He said that what I did… hiding your Zeal, was crippling you."
Aeneas turned to his mother, "Was it?"
Lyra stared at her son, and after a brief moment, she replied with a reluctant nod.
"So, am I not able to wield its power any longer?"
"The old man said he could help you. He offered to take you in and teach you all he knows."
Aeneas's face brightened up for a moment.
Lyra sighed, "If you ask me, I still want to find a way to remove it. I want you to live a life free of worry for having something people don't understand," she paused and slowly caressed the head of her youngest son, "But, seeing how much you've grown, I guess… it's time for me to support whatever decision you make."
Aeneas took a deep breath. He looked at his mother with a face of determination and replied,
"I want to go and learn the power of my Zeal."