" There is, but I rather not suggest that." The dark figure replies dryly, remembering his equally dark cousin, the creature of the night.
" Why are you here everyday?"
" It may occur to you that I am suppose to have accomplish my task the first night I was here but ~"
" Uncle D! You do know a way of prolonging Goro's life don't you?" Shingo jumps excitedly.
" The King won't be happy."
Shingo's eyebrows twitched knowingly. Then he smiled his most cunning smile. " You aren't afraid of my father, are you, Uncle D? Like everyone said so, but I didn't believe it till now."
The cloaked shoulders began to twitch ever so slightly as Shingo watched with anticipation. Then an odd crackle rushed into Shingo's mind. For a moment, he could not tell if it was a laugh or a curse.
" You are a smart boy, ouji. Very smart. If you think taunting me will make me reveal the secret, then you need more practice!"
Shingo's spine shot up straight. " Secret? There's a secret? That means there is a mean of letting Goro live on and on?"
" Visit Fairy Granny, she will tell you." The amused voice laughs as the owner disappears into thin air again.
" What? Fairy Granny? She doesn't like me! She will never ~" Shingo protests.
Much as he is hesitant, Shingo found a minimum amount of courage to visit the old wise lady whose garden is the whole magical forest that only he has the gall to destroy it repeatedlly.
As he marches up the footpath to her cottage, his heart is thumping in his mouth. He has not figure out how to seek for her forgiveness but he knows he must try nevertheless.
When he reached the front door, he could hear someone talking behind the cottage. Curious, he presses himself against the moss covered wall and edges himself carefully towards the sound source.
" No one must know the secret of turning a human into a fairy!"
" Absolutely!"
Shingo suppresses an otherwise would be loud cheer, this is what he came for! He can't imagine his luck!
" No one must know that the white rose in the middle of the rainbow pool garden is the key to immortality!"
Shingo's heart jumped in delight.
" Yes! But if no one knows how to use it, it's useless on its own."
" You mean to lay the rose next to the dying person ~ "
Shingo listened intently to the instructions and memorised them with care. He was so overjoyed about finding a cure for Goro that he forgotten to be extra quiet when he leave. After he is well away, two figures amble out from behind the wall.
Fairy Granny looked at the retreating figure in the distance. " You owe me, Death."
" Yes, Fairy Granny. Now I hope that boy doesn't bungle up the task."
" Why, Death? Why did you help a mere mortal? You know the King will be very angry."
" Years ago, I was to take his life but I spared him in a moment of folly. All these years he suffered from the illness, and loneliness, and abandonment from his family.
" I owe him."
" That's why you arranged for ouji to meet him?"
" That was easy, mixing up the floors was kids' play. Ouji did not disappoint me the least."
