Strangely Familiar

“It’s men you should be afraid of, not monsters.” ‒ Niccolo Ammaniti.

The next week went without any accidents or mishaps on the part of the portrait. It was eerily quiet. Naina had the slightest inkling it was the silence before a massive storm. Though it only attacks those who wear magic even in slight traces, and nobody, apart from her, was currently holding that title yet a part of our protagonist’s wishful thinking was for the portrait to attack Ayaan at least once. He was getting insufferable.

She kept her end of the bargain quietly following The True Owners’ orders concealing her magic, a vital and much-needed bulwark to carry on her task along with training assiduously on strengthening it. She performed it with such subtlety that it was hard to believe it happened at all if not for the scars tainting the underside of her arm.

Let’s just say her ‘Nag-Hate’ relationship with Ayaan finally marked a new perimeter. After making him crash against the wall of her room with magic, she had expected him to throw nasty curses at her the next time they found each other and he did not once disappoint her. Naina only defended herself each time. Her magic only attacked when it spiraled outside her control sensing real danger. That, and she felt herself at a disadvantage for having no idea how to use offensive magic.

Much to her surprise, nobody sensed any difference in the atmosphere. Their obvious mutual hatred was so perceptible that it was impossible to believe the spectators of the house haven’t taken any notice. Unable to contain her curiosity, she approached him one day, her magic raising her guards on its own.

He was sitting by the fireplace playing with fire.

“Yes?” He asked politely.

Naina scrunched up her nose as if the air was suddenly poisoned. “Chivalry doesn’t become you. Stop pretending. You are fooling no one.”

He did not spare her a glance, his vision still transfixed at the fire in front of him that was moving in accord with his fingers. “See that’s where you are wrong.” His tone was wrapped with a tinge of humor.

“Why can’t they see the real you?” Unable to stop herself, she asked, “You throw curses at me every now and then. How is it that no one noticed?”

Ayaan stopped the movement of his fingers, the fire suddenly gripping its space against gravity as he glanced sideways to give her his undivided attention. “Every... mage-” He paused in hesitation. “They’re someone-”

“I know who they are.” She said slightly annoyed.

“Well?”

“Mage,” Naina recalled what she recently read. “Magic centered itself among a few individuals to leave its traces behind. It grew within them without their knowledge. It was like a natural biological process stemming from its roots, attaching to every cell and blood vessel. The process was so slow and gradual that nobody realized it even happening until the difference was distinguishable. They were different from the rest - more powerful, more tolerant. They accepted it like a gift from Magee herself.”

There was more she found in the Ancient Tempus but that was enough to satisfy him about tidbits she gathered.

Ayaan’s gaze turned hard like he was fighting a mental battle. Shaking his head, he closed his eyes and continued, “Very well! Every mage is gifted.”

He raised his palms to stop her from interrupting. “Not just with magic. As you said, it’s in their blood. They have a gift. A power that makes them different from the rest of their kind. Mine is to alter people’s minds. Train them to think or behave in a certain way.”

Naina was flabbergasted.

“You are playing with their minds?”

He gave her a sly grin. “Why else do you think they don’t take notice? I thought it was fairly obvious.”

“That’s barbaric.”

“So?”

“I am not going to sit and watch you do it.”

He eyed her meaningfully before smirking wickedly. “By all means, stand and watch.”

“You think it’s fun.”

“When you have lived as many years as I have, your definition of fun changes slightly.” He answered, pointing his fingers to reveal a slight gap. When she didn’t respond, he heaved a sigh before ceasing the fire completely.

Naina bit the inside of her cheeks. “Have you been playing with my mind too?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

He stood towering over her little form. Naina always hated the fact she was short - shorter than most. Consciously, she took a step back eyeing him warily. He did not answer or chose to avoid her question, briskly walking past her.

His surprise attacks continued soon after.

It was hard to tell if Ayaan was only providing her with a handful of practice or seriously attacking her with malicious intentions. He wouldn’t kill her not as long as she is still needed but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t hurt her or discreetly play with her mind. Naina started sleeping with one eye open.

“Your shields have grown powerful,” Shaurya commented one day while she was busy reading another ancient journal.

“How can you tell?”

Instead of responding, he twirled and twisted his fingers at her forming a curious web before directing them her way. Naina shut her eyes tight, fisting her knuckles. A piercing flood of light exploded across her sight as a tetra-colored veil emerged out of her in a flash and spun around surrounding her from head to toe, blocking his magic in a harsh glare.

“Infini.”

Shaurya took a deep breath absorbing it in. She could only hear his whisper and gasp while her vision adjusted her surroundings.

“What?”

“You have managed to achieve the greatest level.”

“You must be joking.”

Naina wanted to roll her eyes. She was in ‘the opal’ study room reading the material he provided her. She could only access it with her magic. In her mind, it was the password to open the book, or in this case a journal. Tapping lightly at the pages before her, she looked at him walking over to her sitting form.

“I’m not. The last powerful witch was believed to have created a tri-band shield - the Cover. The Cover extends beyond all defensive magic. It insulates the elements of nature. It protected her from outside threats, curses, and one element - fire. She was famously called the Fire Lady.”

“What’s the fourth one then?”

“There is only one way to find out.”

Naina stared, torn between fear and fascination. Letting her curiosity win, she pushed the journal aside. “What is it?”

“Give me your hand.”

Naina saw him extend his palms to her. As always, he was wearing black leather gloves holding full-length sleeves into a tight grip. Today he wasn’t in his regular dark robes but simply casual. Oddly, he looked more human than ever.

“Why are your hands always gloved?”

“Bad memory.” He answered vaguely. “Your palms, please.”

Still hesitating, she did as told and placed her palms over his. For a while, nothing happened. She held her breath hoping to see some shimmering light, flickering torches around them, or maybe a gust of wind. Surprisingly nothing of that sort happened. In fact, nothing happened at all. Naina was too busy looking at her surrounding that she failed to notice the change in the pigmentation of his iris. They transformed to the shade of darkest blue.

He whispered something in a foreign language holding her palms in a tight grip. His eyes closed as he took in deep breaths like he just ran miles.

Naina, for a brief moment, felt terrified. What if her magic accidentally hurt him? She did not know how she would deal with his wrath and later his minion. Using magic to an extensive level every day was exhaustive and tiring. She felt sleepy most of the time.

Finding her voice in space, she asked, “Are you okay?”

“Better than ever.” He whispered in a voice she didn’t think he owned. It was so delicate, so compassionate. Her heart was hammering against her chest, against her will as she tried to curl her feet.

He pushed himself away from her with a pained expression like losing contact was hurting him physically.

“Sangoma”

“English, please!”

“It is English.”

Despite her inner feelings, she gave him a flat look.

“You have a very powerful healing magic,” Shaurya answered a little amused but mostly stunned at the feeling still running up and down his arms. He quickly ungloved his right palm. “No wonder.”

If you would have asked Naina, she’d tell you it was an extremely ordinary palm. Very humanly. She was curiously looking at him while he was staring at own his hand. Perhaps he has some weird obsession with his hands? Seconds turned into minutes and no one spoke. She started tapping her foot impatiently against the floor making sure no voice was audible. Soon after her legs started to shake on their own in nervousness and anticipation.

She wanted to know more about healing magic. According to the book, by now she knew the fundamental properties of magic lie within its nucleus - the heart as some have previously mentioned. Healing magic didn’t sound as exciting as altering minds but if that was what her core was made of, so be it.

“I should have known.” He closed his eyes, murmuring like soft prayer.

The room was quiet with the occasional chirping of birds. The opal was located in the middle of the forest, protected by heavy layers of magic from the outside world. She wasn’t even sure which part of the Earth was the place situated in for it definitely wasn’t the Mansion.

“Did something happen to your hand?” Naina asked, silently hoping whatever it was, she wasn’t the cause of it.

He stared at her for a moment before quickly taking the gloves off his left hand and revealing a dark and deep mark staining more than half of his palms crisscrossing them. The skin was withered and almost dead leaving wrinkles behind. It looked like the hand of more than a hundred-year-old man.

Naina was startled. All of sudden, she felt this longing feeling to touch him but shook her head as soon as that thought occurred.

“When did this happen?”

“A long time ago.”

She had this weird feeling that it all somehow connected to her adoptive mothers’ ancestors. As if reading her thoughts, Shaurya answered her inner debate. “A witch did this.”

“Was it Aruha?” She asked cautiously, innocently playing with her fingers, distinctly remembering the tale Mr. Kazmi read out for them. Scared of his reaction, she asked in a hushed tone, ducking her head while staring at the table in front of her.

“Been doing your own reading, I see.” He got up, put his gloves back, and walked around the room to stand beside the open window. “What do you know about her?”

Realizing it was pointless to lie in front of him, she spoke the truth. “That she was the first and most powerful witch who not only defeated you but also trapped you inside the portrait to stop the darkness from spreading.”

“Did she now?” He chuckled at her reference. “What else?”

Carefully, she got up from her chair and stood leaning against the table ensuring a good distance between them. “That’s all I know.” She paused for a moment attempting to look casual, avoiding the key detail. “Is that what happened?”

He would have applauded her for how sneakily she was trying to know his secrets all the while wearing a facade if only he wasn’t staring right into oblivion, racking his memory hard like secretly reliving the moments inside his head.

He decided to entertain her anyway. “No, not entirely.”

Placing his hands behind his back, he took a few calculated steps before halting at one point in the room. It was that position in the Opal where light traveling from all four directions met. She assumed he was trying to show her something but he simply stood there taking it all in.

“My element is light. It helps me stay sane.” He spoke in a low murmur and spread his arms making it radiate all around him.

To reveal something as precarious as this wasn’t something Naina expected from him. She stayed rooted at her spot waiting for him to continue. It went on for the next two minutes before he causally walked back to his original spot.

“I needed it.”

Nania understood why. Her question must have brought back terrible old memories. The shade of his eyes started to change to blood red. She always assumed it was an Immortal thing. However, she never once saw such a level of frequent pigmentation with Ayaan.

“Aruha was the first witch of your adoptive mothers’ family. She stole the magic from Magee. The one who bestowed magic to her subjects as a gift. The first witch deceived not only Magee but also her followers. They were either killed, slaughtered, or banned from your world. Magee and Tempus didn’t see this coming.”

“Magee and Tempus?” Naina recalled the bits of mumble jumble she once heard. Her forehead knitted as realization appeared on her face. “Time and magic!”

“Yes,” he nodded, “time and magic together wanted to build a world that runs on power. They wanted to distribute it evenly to their subjects in order to maintain the balance of the universe but their union was slammed.” He cast a disdainful glance at his hands. “Their ideas were misunderstood. A fallacy broke out saying they only wanted to rule the world and promote dictatorship. A fallacy Aruha planted in the minds of people.”

His voice grew rough as he continued. “Aruha wanted all the powers for herself. Too much power in the hands of one corrupts the person to an improbable length, so when Magee came to know about her deception, she exploded her magic in the air in the form of a powerful hurricane so that everyone who was present in its nearest radar took in its essence while she destroyed herself completely.”

Naina saw him taking a deep breath, his voice cracked a bit. “Tempus was furious to find his lover torn in shreds. He placed a powerful curse upon Ahruha’s family that as long as magic is alive in any form in her world, her ancestry will never gain its powers.”

“What happened then?”

“When Aruha came to know about this she...” he stopped, furiously battling his inner turmoil. In an attempt to comfort him, she placed her hands on his tense shoulder. He relaxed slightly finding his voice again. “She kidnapped their offspring and raised the progeny as her own. Her burning desire to take revenge overshadowed her sense of judgment and she stabbed him in the back.”

“She killed him?” Naina was horrified.

Shaurya graced her with a sad smile. “Much worse. She made him a monster, a monster she made sure the world would fear one day. All of that to cover her evil doings. One thing you must know, Akira,” his voice held a sense of urgency, “never believe anything your mothers’ ancestors claimed. Aruha was a dark witch. She converted her stolen magic into something dark, sinister, and unforgiving. It’s the same magic that is currently running in the walls of the Mansion.”

Her heart was beating against her chest. Her mother did say that magic runs in the walls of the mansion. Was it truly dark? It was either her adoptive mother did not know the truth herself or she did an exceptional job at hiding it.

“Where do you fit in all this?”

“I am, my dear Akira, the heir of time and magic.”

Her breath was suddenly held up in her throat, too stunned to even breathe.

“When I grew up, I tried to fight off the darkness for it was suffocating me. She effectively labeled me as the culprit trying to kill her. Well, I did try to kill her, and not just once, after I retrieved the truth. She was no match for my powers. I should presume she knew this well in advance because she had stored my blood in different vessels,” he raised his palms to show her the curse marks on his hand, “and one day she locked me in this portrait after performing some intricate magic using my own blood.”

Shaurya was gauging her reaction ever so carefully as he stood near her. Naina could feel the aura around him shifting rapidly. He ground his teeth together like he was trying hard to contain his anger.

“She painted me like a monster by painting me like a monster.”

“She made my portrait kill my own kind.” He seethed. “Killing two birds with one stone. How bloody creative.”

Naina parted her lips to speak but instantly shut them when no words escape her.

“Two birds?” She whispered no longer trusting her voice.

“It will destroy magic once and for all lifting the curse for her descendants. As for me, the curse on me has a time constraint. If I’m not free by then, I’ll have an eternity to suffer.” His voice was hoarse as he spoke sardonically. “Fitting, isn’t it?”

Naina could almost feel his suffering. She wanted to help him. Her hand reached out on its own to touch his cheek. Her action brought him back from his state forcing his eyes to look back at her. She suddenly felt she was drowning with such intensity in the power gravitating around him.

“How can you be free?” She asked in a daze. The gears of her mind stopped working a while ago.

He could feel the smooth pores of her hand on his rough cheek, momentarily and almost subconsciously inclining his head towards it to get a better feel.

“By paying its price.” He whispered. He should have withdrawn himself from her personal space but rather stood there, his legs unwilling to move away.

“Which is?”

“A sacrifice.”