Arslan Senki: Legend of the Twins

40. Revelation

The sky above Uraiyur had turned dark now. The banquet of friendship was still going on inside the Sindhura palace, but some of the Parsians--namely Arslan, Daryun, Narsus, and Gieve--had retreated into one of the rooms in the palace provided by Rajendra. With them, inside the room were the bewitching priestess who just returned from her duty, Farangis, and a foreigner woman with long auburn hair who appeared to be an acquaintance of Asa. Her sweet and gentle smile was present on her youthful face throughout her self-introduction, enticing the other people inside the room into returning her smile.

"So your name is Alya," Arslan echoed with a friendly smile, "Asa had told me about you. It's very nice to meet her mentor. I am her twin brother, Arslan."

"I already know who you are, Denka. Hime-sama loved to tell stories about you. A lot," Alya chuckled lightly, causing Arslan to blush, "Oh, please don't worry. They're all cute stories! Like how you two used to swap identities or take bath together!"

"Yes, we did those a lot in the past," Arslan sheepishly laughed as Gieve smiled amusedly, "While you... I heard from Asa you taught her how to milk a horse and how to cook. She looked happy when she told me that... it would seem she very much enjoyed your tutoring. I am very grateful to you--"

"Are you sure you want to thank me, Denka?" Alya interrupted, a small smile adorning her lips, "After all, it was I who encouraged Hime-sama to learn archery and horse riding."

Arslan looked a bit surprised after hearing her calm remark while Daryun's face immediately turned serious. "We even had mounted archery competitions. It frustrated me when she defeated me, but I don't regret ever making her learn those skills."

"I see. I forgot she mentioned you being a former priestess of Mithra," Arslan paused for a moment, "...just like Farangis and Bahar."

"Why, yes. I am Farangis' senior and Bahar's close friend and archrival," Alya stated the last word rather proudly, pumping her fist, "When Bahar and I were still serving the temple as priestesses we often duelled to see who's better between us, but well, 'something' always intruded us before we could reach our conclusion..."

"Alya-dono, please don't change the subject--"

"That something being Bahar's pet djinn." she interrupted Daryun's scold, rendering the others silent with her words.

Arslan then spoke up, carefully, "Alya... what do you mean by that?"

The woman simply smiled. "Before I elaborate it, Denka, do you know what a 'djinn' is?"

He paused for a moment to think. "Once, I thought it's an old folklore, but Farangis often said the djinn were constantly aiding us. So I'm not quite sure."

Alya closed her eyes for a moment.

"Besides us humans, there are two other races that inhabit this world: angel and djinn. Those races are very similar to us, only, unlike us they can use magic. Though, there are some rare cases of human magic user... but djinn and angel are still a level above human in terms of magic. That's why they are able to live around us without us noticing. Do you follow?"

Arslan nodded. "I think I get the gist of it. Please continue."

"Yes. Although similar, djinn and angel are different entities. While every angel is pure, the djinn can either be good or bad. The good djinn worship the gods like the angels while the vicious ones loathe the gods and do despicable things. The example is feeding on humans' mind--possessing, causing misfortune for others, and worst, killing."

"There are humans who worship the gods and corrupted humans who do despicable things. Which makes djinn no different from humans, only they're invisible," Gieve added nonchalantly, "...ah, my bad."