I open the basket once more, checking for the eleventh time that everything is inside, then with a decisive nod, I open the door of the kitchen, basket in hand.
Teacher is already waiting for me in the living room. He is sitting on the couch, an open book is rested idly on his lap. Completely forgotten as his gaze is casts out the window with a pensive expression. His fingers absentmindedly toy with the necklace around his neck, a simple string threaded through a set of rings.
"I'm ready." He turns to me, nods, then stands up.
"Let's depart then."
We take the SCPLE today. No flying. I really wish it was otherwise but with his mood today… I had rather not ask. I cast discrete glance at him—something he usually always notice—but he is distracted. Again. He has been like this for two weeks now but worsened a few days ago. It is like he is in a world of his own.
And the other adults in the locomotive are no different, lost in thoughts, barely paying attention, and wearing sombre expressions. It feels suffocating.
I tighten my hold on the basket, lowering my head.
I hate it, I wish today would end quickly.
Minutes later we disembark. As does all the other passengers. We collectively make our way to the temple, its gates flung wide open today. People arrive from all directions: from neighbouring districts, on foot, and even soaring through the air. Their expressions mirror those of Teacher and the others—solemn, sad. Each one carries a basket; each of us dressed in the same all-black attire.
The atmosphere in the temple today is a jarring contrast to what it usually is, perfectly reflecting the general state of those inside. There is no singing, no loud music, no people looking cheerful and happy.
"You have been quiet for a while now, Ìnhgū, are you alright?"
I look up at him and smile. "Ah. Yes. Everything is fine."
"Oh my! Nænè, is that you?"
A woman approaches us; she has orange hair, a fair freckled face, and the brightest of smiles. Without skipping a bit, she takes him in her arms and kisses each of his cheeks. Which he accepts it. With no resistance.
Is this real?
"I am so glad to see you. How long has it been?"
"A little over a decade, I believe. I am happy to see you too, Sister Gween."
Then her gaze turns to me, and her smile grows. "Is that… Vyswe'eyaga? Oh, look at you. You have become so tall, and you are so beautiful. You must be, what? Twenty, now?"
"She will be fourteen this year." Teacher says while she rushes at me and squeezes me in a hug. I awkwardly return the gesture, making sure to balance the basket in my other hand so as not to spill its content.
"The years goes by so quickly. The last time I saw you, you could barely walk on your own."
"H-Hello, Sister."
"Call me aunty Gween," she says while pinching my cheeks. "I used to come visit you a lot when you were a toddler. Skies, back then I wasn't sure if leaving you alone with little Nænè here was a good idea, he had never raised a child, no less a newborn," she smiles gently as she caresses my face, "but you ended up growing into a fine young lady, haven't you?"
That picks my interest. Glancing momentarily at Teacher, I inquire. "Really?"
He clears his throat before aunty Gween can answer. "Ìnhgū, why don't you go deliver your basket at the alter?"
Should have seen it coming. There was no way he would let me know of his embarrassing past. It seems like aunty noticed it too because she chuckles a bit.
I begrudgingly accept, leaving them as they catch up.
Once at the alter I place my basket among the many others, all containing various gifts for the occasion.
"Vy! Save me!"
I turn at the familiar voice. Sabar is charging toward me, the golden light of her irises gleaming with distress, and closely followed by Zaylany who wears a guilty expression on his face.
"Vy, you have to fix this." She proceeds to remove her headwrap, and what is revealed under is nothing short to a carnage. Her smooth and well-kept auburn hair somehow turned into a chaotic tangled mess, clinging into a poor imitation of… a bun, I think?
"What happened to you?"
She points an accusatory finger at Zaylany, her voice filled with resentment and her face so red one might think she might have gotten sun burned.
"Him! This is all his fault. I knew I shouldn't have let him help me with my hair, but I was stupid and naïve. Look at me now. My hair is ruined, hideous and ruined."
"Come on," her brother says meekly. "Aren't you being a tad bit dramatic?"
"Dramatic? Me? Dramatic? I trusted you and what did you do? You betrayed me, backstabbed me. Turned my hair into this horror. That's it, I have lost my faith in siblinghood. I don't know you anymore, and I am never staying at your house ever again." Then she turns to me, pleading. "Please tell me you can fix me."
I inspect her hair more closely. I can't begin to imagine how he managed to do that; he needs serious lessons from Teacher. "I will see what I can do. Come, let's go to an isolated place."
"Sorry Vy. Take care of her for me, alright?" He smiles at me and my stomach twist all of a sudden. I can't even answer him, like I have forgotten how to speak. All I manage to do is nod in response, taking the still-fuming Sabar with me.
Later, we find an unoccupied prayer room where I immediately start with untangling her hair—thankfully Sabar thought of bringing her set of brushes.
"…Stupid big brother… Should have said so if you didn't know how to do it." I listen to her complains for a while before finally saying.
"You know, you should go easy on him, especially today. It is a difficult time for many."
Sabar falls silent, and she speaks again her tone is much more subdued.
"I-I know that… It's just that… For a week I have felt like I was walking on eggshells… Be it with mom or Zaylany… I don't know where to stand anymore."
"Mmh..."
I can't say that I do not know how she feels, I have been in the same situation the whole week too.
This is all because of the Reaping.
Not much is known about it, the virus appeared out of nowhere and killed people by the millions, cutting the world population to more than half its original size.
The empire tried to find a cure by reuniting the most qualified doctors, healers, herbologist… But it was all for naught, because when someone contracted the Reaping they died in the next two days to come, so it was almost impossible to properly study the illness. And many of the doctors who had been charged to find a cure fell to the illness too. They did not even understand how the Reaping was passed on, even after attempting all sorts of quarantine methods. It just seemed to jump from one person to the next at random.
Then the people turned to our Prophet, at five hundred and nineteen years, he was the oldest Nchāren and the wisest of all, but he had died too. It is not confirmed if it was due to the Reaping.
And just as abruptly it had appeared, it vanished. Leaving only death and chaos in its wake. Decimating entire families, sometimes to their last member. All that in the span of three weeks.
In my case, all those of my family were killed, only Teacher and I were sparred. Whereas on the side of Sabar's family pretty much no one suffered from it… except for her dad.
From the survey that had been made at the time, the demographic of people that had been afflicted most violently were the very old and very young. Which is to say that Sabar and I were very, very lucky to not have contracted the Reaping since we were both babies at the time.
Ever since that tragedy a commemorative ceremony has been designed every three years to honour all those who are gone.
"Do you think I am a bad person for hating this ceremony?"
I pause my work on her hair.
Is it a bad thing? If so—
"Then I guess we both are really bad people," I say, then I hold her into a tight hug. "But it's alright. What matters is that we are there to support those whom we love, right?"
"…Right."
◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊
"Hey there… Are we awake yet?"
Hot air warms my face.
"…It's time for you to open your eyes, darling. Please? You are not dead, are you?"
I open my eyes in a daze, to the sound the soft soothing voice.
"Ah. There you go, I was starting to worry."
Everything is blurry at first, it is only when the figure in front of me moves back that I can distinguish things again. I feel a hand, gently caressing my cheek, it feels so familiar.
"…Teacher?"
"Hmm? Who is that?"
Then my eyes meet with another's, they are beautiful, the most vivid, vibrant shade of gold I have ever seen. He smiles, exposing rows of pearly white teeth.
"How do you feel, darling? I guess that short dip in the lake was a bit much for you, huh?"
"What?" But my voice comes out hoarse and my body refuses to move. Right. I fell into the lake. Anyway, who is this man?
Why is he upside down?
He moves further back, and I can see him completely now. He is young. His facial features are sharp, but it does not give him a sever demeanour, quite the contrary. He has wavy dark-brown hair flowing to his shoulders… For a reason I do not quite understand he is bare-chested, exposing his warm, sun-kissed skin, and lean muscles. Then my gaze goes further down, and I immediately regret that action.
He is naked. Naked from head to toe. Naked like the day he was born. I find myself frozen in place, stunned and mortified and unable to fathom the why and the how of this situation as I am facing the private parts of a man who smiling down at me.
I had been unconscious for who knows how long, and this pervert was standing so close to me, leering at me—touching me for all I know.
"Hey!" He squats down so we are at eye level, sparring me from the view. "You went quiet all of a sudden—Are you alright? You don't look so good."
"G-Get, get away…"
"Why?"
"Get away from me! Go away!"
My staff! Where is my staff?
I try to push him away, but my body won't move. I look down—Up, I'm upside down—to find myself stuck in a giant net of silk. A cobweb. I am suspended several metres above the ground, and the man in front of me is standing on two threads, managing to keep perfect equilibrium.
"What is this? Where is my staff?! Don't come any closer!!"
With no idea of where I am and what to do, the only thing I can do is fend off the man before me. But my whole body restrained I can't do anything but scream, really. He doesn't react whatsoever; he just keeps staring at me like he is trying to guess what to do with me.
"Oh!" He climbs up and starts feeling out my body, despite my shouts and my attempts to kick him away. Then I feel my body loosen up. He is… Untying me?
He does a quick work of it, and I am completely free of the web. Then I am falling. I blink and I find myself sitting on the ground, just below the web. My stomach twist with the need to vomit.
"There. Happy?"
I look up at him but then look away again, covering my face with my hands.
"Ah, yes. Clothes." He sighs "You humans sure are demanding... You can look now, darling."
I don't do it immediately, I first peek between my fingers, and when I see a simple cloth around his waist, I decide it is decent enough to face him.
It is after I have calmed down that I take in my surroundings. We are in a room, a massive room, devoid of anything but that giant cobweb and the two of us. There is an exit too, to my left. I look away to find him looking at me with an expectant smile.
"My staff?"
"Oh, right." He jumps up, landing directly in the web, then crawls upward where my staff was all along. The web is at least twenty metres up, and he managed to breach that distance with ease. Is he a warrior too? A mentally unstable one?
"Catch." He throws the staff at me; I would have missed it had I not used telekinesis to catch it.
And as soon as it lands in my hands, I make a run to the exit.
"Wait." In the blink of an eye, he lands right in front of me, crouching slightly like he is ready to tackle me to the ground. He is still wearing that smile, as if all this is just a game to him.
"Get out of my way." I say pointing my staff at him. "Or I swear you will regret it."
"Nuh-huh. I have wished to meet a Nchāren for several millennia now, and I am not letting one pass by without doing anything." He says playfully.
Several… millennia?
I am speechless for a moment.
Then two things occur to me.
The first is that his voice… It is the same one I heard at the lake before I was dragged in it. He abducted me!
The second thing is that we have been speaking using the Tongue the whole time, even back at the lake.
If he is the one that moved me to the lake, then he likely casted the Displacement spell, then he is the one who unleashed those Moyibi Nkams at us—and maybe the monkeys too—then he has been preventing us from leaving this forest.
He is the source of all the trouble we have been going through since the beginning.
Then he must be very, very, very powerful.
I observe the 'young man' before me, he is still in that weird wrestling position—He looks quite comical as I highly doubt he is correctly adopting the pose—and the one question that comes to mind is…
"What are you?"
His only response is a wider, toothy smile.