Into the World of Twisted Wonderland Pt 2

🐍 Schemer of the Scalding Sands: Chapter 36 🐍

Jamil sighs. "This again, Kalim? You know I'm just going to keep winning. Can we play something else instead?" He asks with slight annoyance.

"Jamil!" A woman says as she overhears the conversation between the two boys. "Don't you take that tone with Master Kalim!" She scolds as she hits his head.

"Ow!" Jamil exclaims in pain as he holds his head.

A man approaches the two. "Master Kalim, thank you for playing with our foolish son," Jamil's father bows to Kalim.

"You're kind enough to share your company," Jamil's mother says with a bow. "Truly, you've been brought up well." Jamil looked at the scene angrily, clenching his fists in silence.

"My very first memory as a child was seeing my family bow before Kalim and his parents," Jamil starts as he looks at the scene. "I couldn't stand the sight of it," he bitterly says as another scene appears.

"Listen, Jamil," his dad whispers to him. "You must always win twice and lose thrice when competing with Kalim," he instructs. "You must never outdo him at anything."

"I know you're a smart boy," his mother says. "Surely you understand the position we're in?" She pleads.

Jamil looks at the two and sighs. "...Fine." He says sadly.

"Kalim's parents were far more important than mine," Jamil states. "Therefore...Kalim was more important than me." He sadly says. "Which meant...Whether in studies, or exercise, or games...I could never do better than Kalim." He says as scenes play out between the two, with Kalim happily showing Jamil results while Jamil look at him with a sad smile. "I had to keep myself beneath him. I had to pretend I was incapable."

"Jamil, look!" Kalim says as he shows off a medal. "I won first place at the festival dancing contest!"

"Aha ha!" Kalim laughs as they played Mancala. "I did it! I won, three to two!"

"I scored 75 on the magic history test you helped me study for, Jamil!" Kalim happily says as he shows him his paper. He looks at Jamil's paper. "What? You got a 70? Hey, it's okay. Cheer up!" He says with a smile.

Jamil angrily look at the scenes. "You're not beating me," he states. "I'm just letting you win." He looks at Kalim's happy expression. "Look at you, smiling obliviously," he bitterly says with anger, and Angel sees that snakes were tightening around Jamil. "Get a clue, you dunderhead!"

Kalim looks at the person in shock at the news. "Me? Housewarden of Scarabia? I don't know what that entails, but sure! You can count on me," he happily says. "Right, Jamil?" Jamil hesitates and slowly nods, hiding his fists from Kalim.

Later on, Jamil stands in the Headmage's office, looking at Crowley. "Headmage, why are you making Kalim housewarden?" He asks. "He's a poor magician, and more to the point, he's just a sophomore. We've got my hands full cleaning up after him as it is."

"A sophomore housewarden is hardly unheard of at Night Raven College," Crowley states.

"But..."

"Viper," Crowley says, getting Jamil's attention. "Providing education comes with costs, and our young friend's family has been quite generous in their support. It places me in a position where I must make certain...compromises," he says as he looks at him, leaving Jamil shocked. "You're a clever student. Surely you understand what that means."

"All the grown-ups tell me the same thing," Jamil says. "'Surely you're smart enough to understand.'" He mocks. "But who's trying to understand ME?"

"We'll keep helping each other out, Jamil!" Kalim happily says.

"Stop," Jamil says as his anger rises.

"I know you'd never betray me, Jamil."

"Just stop!" Jamil angrily says as he looks at Kalim. "Kalim, your mere existence means that I...I...I have to live my whole life differing everything to you!" His expression falls. "I.. I want..." His voice starts to break and tears start to fall. "I want to be number one, too," he sadly says as Angel watches him.

"Then, why don't you be number one?" Angel asks, making him look at her. She realizes her words and blushes at how blunt they were. "I mean...no one is stopping you from being number one here but you," she hesitantly says, feeling the snakes tightening their grip on her. "I...don't know anything about serving someone for most of my life, but without the pressure of your parents around you, what's stopping you from being number one?"

"It's my duty as a servant of the Asim household to serve their whims," Jamil says as he looks at her. "We must serve them to the best of our abilities."

"But is that what Kalim wanted?" Angel speaks, shocking Jamil. "Kalim doesn't see you as a servant of his house. He sees you as a friend!" She states as the snakes tighten their grip, making her wince in pain. "Kalim told me that you worry too much about him, and he doesn't want that for you. He wanted you to take it easy, relax, and let you do what you wanted instead of him. Sure, you might have to serve him because of your family's debt to his family, but what's stopping you from being friends at school? No one's here to tell you no, and Kalim will be okay with it, so what's stopping you from being number one?"

Jamil hesitates at the words. "To my family, I'm as insignificant as a bee mindlessly serving a queen. If word caught wind that I was better than Kalim-"

"Then what?" Angel interrupts, the snakes stopping their force. "Would they just tell you what they think you should do? Don't you just want to see Kalim not as master, but at least as an equal in school? Just like everyone else?"

"I..."

"Kalim would understand," she says as she sees that the snakes were slowly loosening their grip on Jamil, slithering off of him. "You're the one that stopping Kalim from seeing his true potential. Yes, it's part of your job to make sure he's safe, but do you truly think that you'll be around him for the rest of your life? Do you think you'll be able to be with him with everything he does?"

Jamil looks down, thinking about the questions while the snakes start to slither away, hissing at the two in anger. "I don't want to be with him, serving his every needs, pandering to his whims."

"And that's okay," Angel says as she walks up towards him, slowly grabbing his hand. "You don't have to give him everything he wanted. We both know that Kalim isn't the smartest person in school, but he is understanding and willing to learn. He'll understand your situation, even though it took this long to even process what you've been going through. He wanted to help you lessen your workload and he even wanted to help you with the things you do. He didn't want you to see him as a master, but at least as a friend that he could count on and at least to compete with on equal terms. That's what he wanted." She sees that the ink started to move, heading towards her while he turns back to normal. "Just as much as he wanted other people to have a good time, he wanted you to enjoy yourself as well, so don't say you're insignificant to him, because he sees you as an equal, no matter what anyone says."

Jamil thinks about her words and sighs, looking away from her. "Kalim will always be too trustful, idiotic, and naïve, but...he's at least a good person," he says quietly, making Angel smiles as she looks at him, letting him go. "Honestly..." he sighs. "Fine," he says, making Angel confused. "I'll take what you said into consideration and try to see Kalim as an equal." Angel's eyes brighten at the news. "I'll do it my way, without pandering to his needs."

Angel smiles as the sound of rumbling start to appear, cracks appearing in the darkness. "That'll be fine."

Jamil gives her a slight smile as light slowly start to overtake the two's vision. "Thanks..." he says quietly. "For reminding me what I am."

"Jamil! Jamil!"