Strangely Familiar

"Contrariwise, if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn’t, it ain’t. That’s logic." - Lewis Carroll

Tia was holding a magnifying lens straining her sight to look closely at the pattern of the painting. One of her hands firmly gripped the torch while the other moved to and fro zooming the image in and out.

She crossed the boundary that was created to keep residents a good distance away from the portrait. It was utterly superstitious of them but these were desperate times. Tia was a student of science. For most of her life, she was taught to experiment and look into the rational aspect of situations. According to her, creating a circumference around someone who is supposed to be exceedingly powerful was folly. He could attack either way.

It was during nightfall that she found herself strolling near the hall, holding a magnifying glass that she borrowed from Mr. Kazmi’s possession without his permission, though she promised herself to return it before he woke up.

The portrait was fascinating no matter how much fear it tried to instill in the minds of the residents. She brought the torch near his face to look closely.

Why do monsters look so captivating?

Shaurya Lomhani was undoubtedly the most handsome man she had ever seen. He could have run the world his way just by his looks, magic or not. Digging deep into his past in the last few days was dominating her otherwise stifled desires. She never expressively conveyed her thoughts to anyone. They would think it was her naive schoolgirl crush but she knew the feeling was more than that. Her unbridled attraction for him was on the verge of obsession. She had to rein her thoughts for it was a dangerous territory.

Though a part of her still wanted to meet him. What if he is out there? She mused.

“What are you doing?”

The lens fell from her hands as she was flanked by light. Her eyes squeezed shut at the sharp glare.

“Put it out.”

Samraat turned the setting of the flashlight to the lowest to reduce its intensity before pushing it to the side.

“Well?”

Tia did not know what to say.

Samraat did a quick check to know if she was hurt. His eyes landed on the lens as he picked it up to investigate it. “I don’t suppose this belongs to you.”

She shook her head. It was her way of answering him and also bringing some clarity inside her head.

Samraat was eyeing her gingerly. “You okay, right?”

“I am.” Tia nodded before turning her torch back to the portrait. “Just noticed something peculiar.”

He waited for her to continue. “You see these lines - the outline of his clothes and robes. It’s not color, is it?”

“Oil paints?” He suggested having no clue where this was heading.

“All colors fade with time. This looks fresh like it is carefully brushed every day. Look at these strokes.” She took the magnifying glass from his hands to demonstrate it. “Does it look like it was painted centuries ago?”

“We thought the same,” Samraat agreed with her, and when he saw her raising her eyebrow questioningly, he added, “Naina and I, but then we came to know about magic in these walls. Naturally, we assumed that must be it.”

Tia tried to get rid of her troubling sensation. She took his hand and led him into a storage room. It was filled with various artifacts and ancient scrolls and memoirs.

“It could be a probable factor but then can you explain this?” Scarping the dirt off another picture, she held her torch out at it.

It was a very old portrait of a lady holding a vessel.

“This painting was painted centuries ago. If magic really is fuelling the portrait then why is this one not all flashy and new?”

Samraat turned his flashlight back to the highest setting and leaned down to decipher the name. It was blurred and most letters were completely covered under the dirt.

“Do we have some cloth?” He asked, looking around the room, “something, anything.”

Tia turned to look sideways. her eyes traveling to find something to wipe the dirt off. “Here you go,” She handed him the nearest mop.

Getting down to work, Samraat tried to rub the dirt off lightly without erasing the painting in any form. The paper was too soiled. He had to be extremely careful. Tia was throwing the light at the picture as he managed to clean it up.

She gasped loudly as the figure came into view. The torch fell out of her hands. Her knees suddenly felt weak, she felt she could no longer stand as her legs felt numb.

Samraat turned sharply at her voice and launched himself to support her, his knees scraping the ground to catch her before she could hit the ground.

“Careful.”

She could hear him but her nerves refused to respond. She was dumbstruck. Her mouth was wide open, eyes staring so hard at the painting in front of her that they started to burn.

“Tia?”

Samraat jerked, shaking her senses. Her hands were so cold as he rubbed them with his.

“It’s her.” She mumbled in a soft voice. When he gave her a blank look, she tried to articulate the best she could in her benumbing state. “The woman who appeared in my dream once and asked me to help her when the time is right. This is her.”

Her words shocked him to the core.

“This woman,” he pointed at the portrait of a woman who appeared in her fifties, “is the one you saw?”

She nodded too freaked out to affirm in spoken words. Her throat was so painfully tight she could hardly breathe.

“Are you sure?”

She turned sideways to his concerned form clutching his waist in a half hug, bewildered at his repeated question. “Yes, why?”

“Because this is the painting of the first witch.” He flashed the torch at the now cleaned portrait focusing the light on the bottom left corner. “This is Aruha.”

The portrait of a woman holding a bowl of some liquid.

“What?” she whispered unable to contain her perplexity. “I don’t understand why would she need my help. It’s not like she is alive, is she?”

Samraat was thinking the same thing.

“Moreover,” he listened to her strained voice, “Why is her painting not on the wall? Why is it so secluded, dirty, and soiled?”

“I don’t know. No one accessed this Mansion for years.” Samraat tried to reason.

Tia nodded, calming her nerves. “What do we do now?”

The next morning, Ayaan was the first one who found the duo and he instantly realized they were up to no good.

“What is the meaning of this?” He asked in his practiced gruff voice.

Samraat ignored him as always while Tia beamed at him, and stated happily. “We found her portrait in the storage room. Think she deserves more respect than that, don’t you?”

He glared sharply at the portrait of the first witch. His fist clenched on its own. He could feel his magic preparing to launch itself and ready to burst at the two oblivious occupants.

“You fools!” he hissed in a tone sharp enough to cut through woods. “Do you have any idea what you have done?”

Samraat banged his fist at the wall with such force that for a moment he thought the bones of his hands might break. “Containing my anger around you is already challenging. I’d suggest you stop right there.”

Ayaan narrowed his eyes at him and grinned evilly. “Oh, what’s stopping you, lover boy?”

Samraat yanked his arm back intending to punch him in the face with force but unfortunately was slammed back against the furniture with a twitch of his opponent’s finger. The furniture made a screeching sound followed by a harrowed shriek.

Tia ran in his direction to help him up all the while throwing accusing glances at Ayaan. She couldn’t believe what he just did. He performed magic and it couldn’t be a figment of her imagination for Samraat was wailing and whimpering on the ground. It was hard to believe he was the one playing them all along.

Ayaan was ready to throw another curse but it was dodged and missed as he felt someone push him to the side.

“What is wrong with you?” Naina was furious the moment she entered the lobby and saw him performing offensive magic.

Samraat was groaning in pain as his shoulder muscle was cramped and jammed that he couldn’t move an inch. “Get away from him, Nans. He knows magic. For what we know he could be siding up with him."

Ayaan mimicked sardonically. “Yes, dear Naina. Get away from me. I could be siding up with him.”

She heaved out an irritated sigh and walked over to her brother. “Are you okay, Sammy?”

“Think I dislocated my elbow bone.” Samraat cried out in pain and looked at Tia with hopeful eyes. “Do you know something that can aid me?”

Tia shook her head. “We need to get you to an Orthopedic to fix the broken or dislocated joints. But I do remember practicing first aid. Hold on!”

Tia grabbed the nearest scale to help bring his arm in the right posture. Naina, on the other hand, tried to channel her magic, sneakily and discreetly, to alleviate the pain and reduce its impact. She doesn’t know how to mend broken bones but she does know her magic operates.

Concentrating hard, she remembered reading Magee’s journal about how magic connects threads between two spaces and bridges the gap. Breathing hard, she extended some of her healing magic to her brother whose face relaxed slightly at its entrance.

The magic worked quicker than expected and her baby brother sighed in relief. The pain was no longer overshadowing his features. He turned to thank Tia for her quick-mindedness.

Tia blushed slightly and mumbled something that Naina did not hear. Her attention was currently occupied by the culprit himself. She was half annoyed at him for attacking her brother but mostly furious for being careless enough to spill his secret. Why would he lose his petulant child facade and stymie all progress? She couldn’t comprehend.

“Explain yourself.”

“You were right about him. He knows much more than he lets on.” Tia spoke from behind her. “I see that now.”

Naina wanted to roll her eyes. Everyone except her saw something was off about him. She decided to take the high road. She ignored her.

Ayaan snickered, least bothered that they were talking about him.

“We all do.” Mr. Kazmi hit him in the head from behind. His face contorted at the sudden inflicting pain and he fell to the ground with his conscious leaving him entirely.

He woke up to a throbbing sensation at the side of his head. His neck was straining from being at one angle for far too long. The Kazmi fellow knocked him good. The room was dark with the occasional glimpse of moonlight traveling in through the window. He does not know how long he has been here, or how much time has passed. His hands were tied and there was a burning sensation around his wrist.

Realizing what it was, he cursed loudly.

“Keep quiet.”

“I’m sorry. It’s just the ropes are laced with venom derived from a particularly nasty magic that is fatal for my kind if exposed for too long.”

Naina gave him a flat look, tip-toeing across the room scanning around her to make sure she wasn’t followed.

“It’s a toxin - Cyitrilea made from powerful dark magic intended to weaken any mage by mere physical contact and eventually destroy them.”

“Congratulations! You passed.” His voice was dripping in sarcasm. “Have a cookie.”

“Are you always this insufferable?”

“What can I say? You bring those feelings in me.” He countered impassively.

Naina stamped her foot on his. He bit his lips to prevent himself from crying out in pain.

“Sorry!” She feigned an apology.

“Forgive me if I don’t believe you.” He spoke in between the pain.

She reached out to untie his hand when he whispered, almost commanding her to stop. “Don’t touch it. It will affect you too.”

“It won’t.”

“Of course, it will,” he defended his stance, pulling his face to a slight frown. “Never thought I would say this but you are one of us.”

“I have this,” she showed him the glove she borrowed from Shaurya who created it intending to stop any magic from entering the veins and consequently the bloodstream. According to him, hands are most vulnerable and frequently prone to get attacked even by something as simple as physical touch.

She quickly got down to her task and untied the rope before throwing it aside. His hands were cold and dark blue patches were visible on his wrist. It was like magic prevented his blood from running through his hands.

She held his hands in hers and closed her eyes. The magic radiated from her seeking her permission to travel to its destination ultimately accumulating around their joined hands.

“That should reverse the effect of the poison.” She said with slight uncertainty. “Or that’s what I hope.”

“Yes, I noticed how you helped your brother down in the hall. Like the love-struck fool he is, he thought that silly girl helped him through his pain.” Ayaan snorted in derision.

“Why did you do that?” Naina couldn’t help but ask.

Ayaan gave her a tight-lipped smile. “Do what, exactly?”

“Reveal yourself.”

“So the goody two shoe doesn’t want to know why I hurt her baby brother?” He mimicked her in a humorous way.

She did not like the way he sounded so amused. Narrowing her eyes, she placed her hand on the back tapping her foot impatiently, waiting for him to respond.

He sighed a little lifting himself off the chair. “I had to. They were doubting you.”

“What?”

“I could have altered their memory but then they would have returned to the same conclusion again at some later date.” He cleared her doubt. “They thought you were hiding something from them. I know for sure, Mr. Kazmi was going to put this test on you.”

“How do they even know about toxic magic? I only read about it in journals available in the Opal.” Naina felt she was at a disadvantage.

Ayaan pursed his lips. “They have been hiding things too, you know. I just came to know yesterday that they found the diary of Aruha which listed every dark ingredient that could be used against a mage, in this case against the portrait of Shaurya Lomhani, to destroy magic completely.”

“Sammy wouldn’t do that.” Naina shook her head. “He wouldn’t hurt me.”

“Not intentionally but he doesn’t know about you, does he? Besides, he thinks magic is the key.” He stressed his words, hoping to make her understand the underlying situation. “They are collecting pieces to use against our kind. Since you are already under suspicion, you would have been the first.”

He pointed at the ropes that now lay on the floor, dripped in venom. “Mr. Kazmi was only trying to convince your brother into believing him that my Master has been manipulating you.”

Naina was petrified at his confession.

“I don’t believe you.”

“You think I would put myself in jeopardy if it wasn’t the case?”

She raised an eyebrow. “You did this for me?”

“I did this for him." He corrected her, “I told you my life is at his disposal. He asked me to save you from any outside threat. Now that I think about it since your core is healing magic, I understand why he was so adamant in making sure you are protected.”

“What’s so interesting about healing magic anyway?” Naina’s interest was piqued. She was fascinated to know if she possesses something special. The mere thought was building a feeling of giddiness inside her. She has never felt special in her life.

“It’s a very rare gift,” he answered in a low voice, “desired by many.”

She was in deep thought. Ayaan was looking at her curiously. “Why did you help me?”

All her life, Naina had this practiced line to answer every time someone asked her. It’s the right thing to do. However, at that moment, she wasn’t sure herself. She only helped him because she wanted to help Shaurya. She wanted him free and he was his most loyal follower. He needs a friend like him or was he a subject? She did not know.

“You said I am one of you.”

“So you won’t mind the next time I take revenge on these people including your adoptive baby brother?” He asked casually as if he wasn’t plotting some heinous crime inside his head.

“Know that I’ll still stop you.”

Ayaan snapped at her. His eyes were as sharp as ever. Under faint moonlight, they were glowing, reciting a poem of their own. “Pick a side, Naina, or you’ll be crushed in between. Even your magic won’t be able to help you with that.”

“He is my family.” Her voice cracked slightly. “And those people out there, they have suffered and paid for someone’s else mistake.”

“They’ll continue to pay unless someone puts a stop to it.”

“I will,” she argued with him, “make them see the truth. They are all innocent.”

Ayaan smirked at her vague attempt at futile justifications. “Oh dear, sweet Naina, those innocent people out there signed your death warrant the moment they brought the portrait of Aruha to these walls.”