A life of servitude is one that not many would wish upon themselves, a life bound by chains and devoid of the freedom inherent of an intelligent creature. Such servitude came in many forms social constructs, slavery, debt, but all of them shackled a person just the same. Celene and Nadir sat against the cold paved floor of the Rastis garden, the light of the moon shining down upon them as Celene recomposed herself after the swirl of emotions that had just ran through her.
A laugh echoed out from Nadir. "I was engaged in my nightly training as usual! I must never waste a day and forsake the Rastis name."
As she listened to him Celene rolled her eyes. Nadir confused her for many reasons, his loud almost abrasive yet confident demeanor, the way he was ignored by those of Ibis, not to mention he was seemingly an outcast among his own family. She rested her head on one of her hands as Nadir boasted about his training.
"I don't know why you're so loyal to them, if I was you I would've left by now or snapped on one of them. Oh you probably already did seeing as you killed your mother and all." Celene smirked as she jabbed at him.
"My mother's death was involuntary!" He announced.
Celene's head tilted ever so slightly as she heard his response a loud sigh escaped her lips. "Elaborate please that's way too vague."
"My birth caused my mother's death!"
Celene's eyes went wide, her heart throbbed slightly as the realization hit her of both her unjust label of Nadir being a murderer along with her hypocritical nature of assumptions. Her body jumped a bit as she turned away from him. "Oh.... Sorry about that." She mumbled
"It is of no concern! I am quite used to it!" He laughed.
"You shouldn't have to be used to it. You didn't actually kill your mother, I'm sure she wouldn't want you to be getting treated like this."
"I wouldn't know, I have never met her!"
Celene's face went dark as such a morbid phrase escaped Nadir's lips with such a nonchalant tone in his voice. However as he spoke there was a slight quiver to his words. The voice that was normally soaked in confidence and boastfulness cracked and a fang bit at his own lip. The large jackal threw his head towards the sky and let out a hearty laugh before a deep breath escaped his lips and he looked back towards Celene. Her face covered in shock as his laugh echoed through the garden. She didn't know if something was wrong with him, how could he act in such a manner? She knew the pain of losing a mother and yet Nadir seemed impervious to it.
"Okay, but that still doesn't explain why you just stick around here despite how they treat you."
"For glory of course! To be the most dazzling of the Rastis is why! Once I become that Father will have no choice but to acknowledge me as he does my siblings!" He announced once again as he shot up to his feet.
Celene's heart throbbed once again, she listened as Nadir's voice shook and cracked with his declaration. In front of her was a large canine, the same type of beastman that was the overarching cause of the horrors of her past but all she could see was her own vestige. A child crying out to not see their mother again but to be seen by them once again, to be seen amidst a sea of flame, to be known among others that looked the same.
Celene rose to her feet along with him a little chuckle escaped her lips. "Alright, alright I guess that's enough reason you big off."
Celene slapped Nadir against the back, a grin sprawled across his face as he let out another laugh and flexed his back. The two would slowly start to make their way back inside, they strolled through the halls until the two of them split, a wave good night as Celene made her way back to the guest's bedrooms.
As she made her way back into the room she was met with the sight of Cyrus seated on his knees with a multitude of large seemingly stone blocks stacked on his thighs. His face contorted into a grimace as Sarah sat on the bed that overlooked him as Henry sat on her lap. As she walked in to such a sight Celene's face went blank, a few slow blinks drew across her eyes before she closed them.
"Sorry for intruding." She spoke as she began to close the door back.
"Wait! No, Celene help she's crazy!" Cyrus pleaded through gritted teeth as he flailed back and forth with the stones digging into his thighs and weighing him down.
Celene tried to stifle a laugh but failed, she burst into laughter as she came back into the room and closed the door behind her. She joined the three of them and threw herself down onto the same bed as Sarah.
"So, what was his crime Sarah?" She laughed as she questioned.
A sharp glare shot from Sarah into Cyrus. "Oh I don't know, why don't you tell her Cyrus?"
Shivers ran down Cyrus's spine and his body jolted slightly as those blue eyes shot daggers into him. "C-could you get rid of the stones first before I-"
"Now!" Sarah interrupted.
Cyrus's body jumped before he sulked down and looked towards Celene and began to mumble. ".... I'm sorry about-"
"Louder!"
"I'm sorry for assuming I knew everything and trying to criticize you without knowing anything." He apologized
As she listened she simply shrugged. "It's fine." Her cheeks went a little red. "I may have overreacted. It's not like you knew or were trying to upset me, I should've known an idiot like you wouldn't have known about the Djinn slave trade." She commented.
Cyrus let out a heavy sigh of relief and as he did the stones that were on his thighs would fizzle into nothingness as Sarah let out a sigh of her own. Her arms folded as she finally let herself relax a little bit.
"Good I can't have you two at each other's throats. I would've told him but I didn't know Djinn were still sought after." Sarah commented.
"Until a few years ago we weren't anymore and it's mainly only here in Nondu." Celene explained.
Being freed from his torture Cyrus sat down normally, his hands kneading his thighs as he stretched them out. "Why? Nondu is barely an organized country its just a desert region where a lot of beastman tribes have settled."
Both Celene's and Sarah's eyes went wide, as they heard Cyrus comment on the geography and composition of the country they were in they were utterly dumbfounded. The two women looked at each other and seemingly prayed at the miracle they had just been witness to. As he watched their reactions a small blush crept onto his face.
"I know some things okay! Nondu is the one place where they don't question much they're easy to trade with!"
The two laughed before Celene began to speak again. "That's because each tribe has their own laws there's barely any common ground between them so the further you get from each city like this the more lawless it becomes." She'd explain as she crossed her legs and got a bit more comfortable on the bed. "But the reason Djinn like me are sought after is because of an ancient legend."
As she heard that Sarah's eyes went wide. "Wait mortals still believe that legend!? I thought it died out centuries ago."
"Apparently it did but about three decades ago it came back, predominately in the canine tribe."
Cyrus's face was plastered in confusion, his gaze swung back and forth between the two of them. As she noticed this Sarah let out a heavy sigh. "There's an ancient legend that says there was a Djinn trapped within a bottle. A traveling beastman found it and released him, as a token of gratitude he granted the beastman three wishes and as a result it created the former kingdom of Nondu that's now the scattered tribes you see now."
"So can you grant wishes Celene?" Cyrus asked.
Celene rolled her eyes. "No, and if we run into other Djinn don't ask them that it's offensive."
He chuckled a bit and scratched the back of his head. "My bad, but where did the legend even come from."
"It was probably due to the fact Djinn can feed on dreams and desires. The more we do it the more powerful we get but it rips those things out of the victim if done repeatedly so most Djinn don't do it." Celene explained.
Cyrus nodded. "So how did that lead to the legend, that's not exactly granting wishes more so stealing them if anything."
Celene laughed. "Exactly it's ridiculous."
"No, there's a slight validity behind it." Sarah chimed in. "Ages ago Djinn were more akin to monsters, fueled by desire apparently dreams and desires tasted the best in excess, once someone had reveled in their dream and was nearing accomplishment that's when they were said to taste the best. So it's likely the Djinn in that story was powerful enough to guide that beastman to kinghood in a way granting his wish."
As they listened Cyrus shrugged and Celene let out a little laugh. "Oddly that makes me feel a bit better."
"Yeah, so it's gonna be a real problem with that Nadir. One he refuses to join us and two we can't have him figuring out you're a Djinn." Sarah added, her fingers pressed against the temples of her head as she tried to manage the dynamics that were appearing between those that had cores.
"Oh he knows, it's fine though he doesn't seem to know about the legend seems like no one ever told him." She explained.
"Weird, but that works for us." Sarah nodded as she got her thoughts together.
As he took in everything something stuck out to Cyrus. Certain things added up oddly in his head, if the canine's were actively seeking out Djinn why did Nadir not know. The Rastis seemed to be important and he was an adult in that family, if anything he should be actively helping them to capture Djinn not be completely out of the loop. The inconsistencies didn't sit right with Cyrus, as if it was hunting instinct the scenery was out of place and things like that didn't happen like that for no reason.
"Celene, how long ago did you say Djinn started to get hunted again." He questioned.
As she heard his question Celene was a bit puzzled and shrugged her shoulder. "I don't know exactly, maybe twenty....thirty years ago. It apparently started a bit before I was born."
"So Nadir should definitely know then, he had to have been old enough to know about it if it was on the earlier end, or maybe not if it was on the later end. He would've just been born." Cyrus thought aloud.
As Cyrus spoke and the words bounced around in the air the gears in Celene's head began to turn. The circumstances of Nadir's birth and the effect it had on the Rastis family. The Rastis family, a family of canine type beastmen that lost an important family member when Nadir was born. The facts and pieces began to swirl around in her head before her eyes went wide, her face grew pale and she shot out of bed.
"We need to go now."