It has been more than five minutes that I have been staring at the door, absentmindedly gazing at the intricate designs carved on its surface.
I really don't know why I am so nervous, it's not like uncle is the strictest person I know—that would be my father. Uncle is quite the easy-going man. Even as a child, I had always admired his ability to remain unperturbed by any situation he was faced with, that is why I promised myself to be like him when I would reach adulthood…
Maybe it is an ability I will acquire as I grow older.
"Here goes nothing…" I murmur as I open the door.
My uncle's office is big but sparsely decorated; at the centre of the room is a large table covered to the brim with books and scrolls, pillows are laying a bit everywhere, but my favourite thing about his office are the walls which have been made with cavities, effectively functioning as shelves to accommodate more of his books and papers. The cheer number of tomes present here should be illegal—which it actually is without a proper permit—but given his profession, he must have pulled some strings to be able to keep them.
My uncle is laying by his side on the carpeted floor, his left hand supports his head, as he brings his pipe to his mouth and lazily pulls from it, to exhale red-brown fumes. My face contorts into a deep frown as I breath in the smoky stench of burned herbs.
"Good morning."
He seems to just realize that he isn't alone anymore, his attention focuses on me, studies me from head to toe.
He smiles.
"Ah… You are finally here; I thought for a second that you forgot to come greet me… or maybe I did."
"Don't you think that smoking in a room made exclusively of combustibles is a bad idea? Scratch that, it is too early to smoke at all." I say as I take a seat on one of the pillows near him.
"Bah! You know your aunt… won't stop nagging me about it. This is the only place I can be alone and in peace."
"If this goes on you will be alone and in peace very quickly and for a very long time."
He dismisses my words with a gesture of the hand. "More importantly… Your trip, what do you plan to do with that Nchāren girl you found?"
"Really?! You won't even ask me how I am faring?" I put a hand on my chest, "Did you not miss me at all, uncle?"
There is a moment of silence, my uncle dejectedly shakes his head as he pulls from his pipe again.
"Go be a baby with your mother, boy… That isn't my job."
"Hmph… To answer your question, no I don't have a plan—Except for the agreement I made with her… there is nothing else."
"You can't be serious? A person from a fallen era is literally living under my roof and you don't know what to do with her?"
"Huh? But you—you didn't even believe me the first time I told you about her, now you're mad?"
"In fact, I still believe that you might under the influence of a spell…" he nods sagely, "but assuming you are lucid, and this is true…" He looks straight in my eyes. "Are you not wasting this opportunity?"
I flinch at his words, my mind wonders back to last night's event and I shiver. I had never imagined she would have reacted like she did. Her usually warm chestnut eyes had turned chilling, cold fury gleaming in her golden pupils. I don't know how she did it but the pressure I felt from her had been crushing, and for a delirious moment there I had been certain she would have killed.
She was mad but not that mad, right?
"Well, I think being able to flawlessly understand the Nchāren language is already an invaluable skill, not only for translation purposes but in sorcery too, it will become a lot easier to decipher their wards."
Uncle strokes his chin as he thinks about it.
"That is… not incorrect…"
"I could also ask her to teach you the Nchāre Tongue."
He raises an eyebrow, not taking the bait.
"We'll see… I will make up my mind after I meet her in person."
"When exactly?"
"Today actually… I invited her for breakfast."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
We moved to one of the guest rooms, in the middle of it was a large low round table with too much food for three people to finish.
"Are aunty and my little cousins also going to eat with us" I ask to my uncle sitting next to next to me.
"Of course not. Didn't you say that you wanted her presence to be kept under wraps?"
We are interrupted by a knock on the door.
Uncle and I fall silent as we exchange glances. He takes a moment to collect himself, then answers with an even tone.
"Enter."
The door opens then closes as Vyswe'eyaga walks in with poise and elegance. Vyswe'eyaga is a discreet person. she is someone who could walk in a room pretty much unseen, but she has this something to her that would give pause to anyone catching sight of her.
I wonder if all her people are raised like that.
She stops just in front of the ring of cushions, silently greets me with a nod of the head then turns to my uncle.
"Good morning, mister. As you must know my name is Vyswe'eyaga, I am glad to finally meet you."
He nods in appreciation. "Good morning to you too young lady, I have heard a lot about you. You can call me uncle Owono. Have a sit"
She sits on the cushion, which is directly in front of my uncle, meaning that she is on the other side of the table. I swallow uneasily at her position, we might not have become the best of friends during our travel, still we developed a sort of casual relationship and since yesterday, she became very distant.
My uncle invites us to start eating. We wash our hands and start serving ourselves, I spot Vyswe'eyaga throwing strange looks in Uncle's direction.
"Is something the matter?" He asks.
"Ah… I'm sorry, I don't want to be rude."
"Oh? Do ask, I promise not to be offended."
She fiddles with her cup of hot chocolate for a few seconds.
"Well… I am a bit disappointed, I… I had expected you to be white like Kayin, he had said that his condition was hereditary, so…"
We are both stunned to silence. She uncomfortably shifts in her seat when she sees our reaction—Then Uncle explodes in laughter. He laughs so hard that at some point he starts panting and wheezing. Now it is Vyswe'eyaga's turn to stare with a dumbfounded expression.
I shake my head at Uncle. He is the adult here, shouldn't he show some semblance of dignity? He calms down long seconds later, wiping a tear from his eye.
"What? That is all? Of all things, this is what got your attention?"
Then he goes back laughing is guts out.
"I told you that albinism is very rare, though it is a hereditary condition, the chances of a child being born with it are low, even when a parent has it."
"I hoped to see more people like you though." She murmurs sullenly under Uncle's outburst.
"You are one strange lass." Uncle straightens his position, hopefully he has calmed down for good. "That was a good laugh… So, you are thousands of years old, or so I have heard?"
Vyswe'eyaga blinks once, her face remaining calm. But from the time I have spent with her, I know that she is very surprised by my uncle's sudden change.
"Do you mind if I place a Hush ward? I don't feel comfortable with talking about this matter so openly."
He raises an eyebrow. Still, he gives her permission to do as she wants.
The sight of Vyswe'eyaga casting spells remains, to this day, the most fascinating thing I have ever witnessed especially because she does it so rarely ever since our first encounter. First there is the chanting, she murmurs silently in what I now recognise as the Nchāren Tongue. Then, as she chants, lifts a glowing finger and draws a symbol in the air, which dissipates around the room when she falls silent.
From start to finish my uncle observed the process with naked amazement, his eyes opening wide, and his pipe long forgotten on the carpet, thankfully it was already out.
She had taken advantage of it to remove her glamour, revealing her glowing golden pupils.
"People should not be able to listen in now."
"How did you do that?" Says my uncle, almost as if he is out of breath. "I did not sense anything… From the moment you entered this room to the whole time you casted the spell, not once did the flow of your essence fluctuate… in fact to me you should be a perfectly normal woman. How—even the best Talismans do not offer this level of concealment."
She gracefully put a handful of braids behind her right ear.
"Nothing special… I just have a good mastery of my Spiritual essence…"
"Mastery of your essence?" He repeats, "But such degree of control… It is unheard of"
"Vyswe'eyaga and I compared the way we wield sorcery, our ways are very different"
"Is that so? I would love to learn more of it from you Vyswe'eyaga."
"Likewise, sir"
"Anyway, I had like to know more about you. My nephew made me a brief rundown of your situation, but I'd like to hear it from you, if you don't mind."
She straightens her position. Then she goes on and reaerate what happened to her. When she is done a heavy silence has fallen on the room. Vyswe'eyaga is now quietly observing my uncle as he is lost in thought.
"So, you are trying to find answers about the attack on your homeland?" He finally says.
"Yes."
"And there are others like you, hidden somewhere inside the underground tunnels?"
"Yes."
"You won't tell where they are?"
"Yes."
Uncle observes her for a while, then folds his arms in his clothes.
"What makes you think that it's not the Junjus that attacked you?"
Vyswe'eyaga shakes her head, "It can't be, from what I have seen of them, except from their number, they're not much of a threat… I concede that those things might have had a play on the attack on the Empire, but they could not have been the cause of its downfall"
She pauses before adding, "Teacher had said something back then, when I asked why the imperial army was not retaliating he answered that there was no fighting It."
"It? You don't think it was an attack." I say, it is not a question. "You think it something… inevitable like an earthquake or a tsunami"
"Or a plague," she adds, "natural disasters are not something that can be prevented sure, but there are always signs before they come. I remember that months before the evacuation was in full swing the Empire shut down the whole scrying network… I believe that a plague had spread out, so the Emperor and the Elders must have stopped any form of long-distance communication to prevent a general panic among the people."
"What about a non-human attack, it could have been some angry mystical beasts, or maybe Genies? Or any other non-human being roaming out there."
She shakes her head. "Mystical beasts do not care about human affairs—and humans in general, really—they don't bother with us as long as we do not impede in their territories. The same goes for Genies, they are very limited with their access to this realm to begin with, they only meddle with humans if they have been allowed to by another one."
Uncle asks, "Why are you so sure that the destruction of your nation was not the hand of a human? It almost always is."
Her expression tightens.
"We have been at peace for millennia… I know it sounds naïve, but I cannot phantom why anyone or group of people would act so drastically, why kill millions of people like that?"
She is indeed naïve. No one needs any special reason to be cruel or harm others, that is just how humans are. Having come to the same conclusion as I, Uncle opt to stay silent.
"Which is why…" she continues, "I had like to study your records, Kayin said that you are an Archivist, so you have access to more knowledge than the common folk."
"Indeed. Though I doubt you will find what you are looking for, very few tomes from your civilization have been found so far and as far as I know none of them mentioned what happened three thousand years ago… Still, you are free to have a look."
"And I will help you find answers in any way I can." I add, almost too quickly.
"Thank you." She smiles.
"You are also welcome to stay in my household as long as you wish for."
"…You would take me in just like that" She asks cautiously.
"Of course not. I am very curious about you, so I expect your cooperation to satisfy it."
"I… will do my best."
Having somewhat settled with an agreement; we continue our breakfast in a lighter atmosphere. The conversation is less serious. We discuss on the procedure on how to procure for Vyswe'eyaga's identification papers, it will be easier for her to have them if Uncle vouches for her and act as her guarantor. When that is done, we make small talk on other not-so-serious topics.
Shortly after Vyswe'eyaga retires to her room and we once again left alone.
"It went… well… very well if I might say so."
Uncle questioningly looks at me.
"Why would you think otherwise?"
"Eh… Vyswe'eyaga and I had a small… disagreement last night…" I say under a cough, "I feared she would have been less willing to deal with us because of that."
"Really now? How strange, the girl seems to be a very decent person… What exactly did you do, hmm?"
"I—Oh I almost forgot! I have some paperwork to submit at the Institute." I quickly stand up and make a beeline to the door, "See you later."
"Get back here, you rascal!"
Uncle moves to sit up, but I quickly shut the door behind me. Walking as fast as I can while attempting to not look like I am running away. I decide to leave through the backyard, in case he plans to have me ambushed at the front gate.
As I walk through the corridors, I spot a crouching figure in the gardens. From the familiar beige robes I recognise the person as Vyswe'eyaga, she is focused on something on the ground, but I cannot identify what it is since she has her back to me.
After a moment of hesitation, I approach her.
She turns her head in my direction when I clear my throat. Her expression as calm as always.
"Yes?"
"Hello… again."
"…Hi."
There is an awkward silence.
I clear my throat once more.
"What are you doing? I thought you would rest in your room for the day—I don't mean that you are held in captive, you're free to go anywhere you want…"
Vyswe'eyaga audibly sighs, I take the hint and shut up.
"You know… I used to think that there was no one more awkward than I am, but you are on a whole other level."
"…. Ah…"
"Did you need something?"
"Well… no—I'm just curious about what you are doing here. All alone. Crouched on the grass. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
"Goodness. Please, stop" She shakes her head at me, then moves sideways to give me a better view of what she was doing.
It's a kitten.
The feline is laying on the grass with its belly faced upward, purring with contentment as she softly scratches it.
"What is this adorable little creature called?"
I try to hide my surprise when I answer.
"That's a cat, young ones like this one are called kittens."
"Kitten…" She absentmindedly repeats, more focused on petting it. "I don't think they existed back in my time… if they did then they were never domesticated."
"Really?"
She shrugs, "Most animals—especially the sentient ones—were not interested in living with humans. While the rest were too wild to be kept as pets, or too big for that matter… Evolution sure is a nice thing."
"That is… an interesting thing to know."
We hear another mewling, but it doesn't come from the kitten, Vyswe'eyaga and I both look ahead and spot the baby's mom sitting at a distance from us. The kitten gets back on its paws and scurry toward her.
Vyswe'eyaga lets out a disappointed breath as they disappear in the shrubs. Her gaze lingers on the spot where she was once petting the kitten. Sighs again, then stand up. I don't say anything as she seems to be lost in thoughts.
"Can you stop acting so strangely around me? I'm starting to feel bad."
"Huh?"
She rests her hands on her hips as she fully faces me. Waiting.
"…I thought you were still angry at me?"
She frowns. "Now that you mentioned it, I still am."
I swallow.
"But I will eventually move on. Do you have any idea how draining it is to stay upset at someone?" She shakes her head, "Way too tiring…"
I relax. "So… We can go back to being comfortable with each other?"
"Mmhmm…"
She extends her arm toward me, her fingers touching the bare skin of my elbow, and I immediately feel a sharp, prickling sensation going through my body.
"Oww!" I jerk back from her touch.
Did she just zap me?
"This is retribution for your misconduct. Now, you know what will happen when you ever withhold such information from me."
She nods to herself. Seemingly satisfied with her actions as I stare in shock.
"Have a nice day Kayin." She says as she walks back inside.
I rub the spot where she touched me, a dumbfounded expression still plastered on my face as I stare at her retreating figure.
…It hurts.