Hayden
"Who is Nazira?"
Pruthvi's voice rang like a huge banging gong in my dazed mind. All the way down the walkway I hoped against the hope for it not to be what I thought it was. I had to get back to her room. I had to make sense of this series of events. I crept inside the room only to find that it was empty. My heart sank. There were no papers. No duffle bag. No painting accessories. It seemed like an unused room with an unused bed, a table, and a chair. The window closed, slightly dim light streaming in, and plenty of still air inside.
I ran my hand across my hair and sighed in exasperation. Things were quickly slipping out of my hands.
My friends began to call my name, a quaver in their voices adding to the chorus of anger. How was I going to prove that their memories were erased? Perhaps the question was why would Nazira do this to them? Or was this part of Shashi's plan?
I walked back to them, being nervy all the way and feeling like walking up a steep mountain.
"Hayden, we're worried," Celina said, stepping forward. "Explain it to us, what's going on?"
"And what can we do to help?" Tyrell added.
"There's nothing we can do about it," I replied. "Not until you guys really make an effort to believe me."
"Try us," Pruthvi asked, firmly. "Who is this person you're talking about?"
I took a deep breath and rambled on for a moment. Whatever could I do to dig to the bottom of what had actually sparked this blaze? "Alright. Answer my questions," I said to Pruthvi. "As quick as you can and say the very first thing that comes to your mind."
He nodded numbly.
"Do you remember your abduction?"
"Yes."
"Who abducted you?"
"Shourya."
"What for?"
"Shashi wanted my stone."
"And?"
Pruthvi took a moment. "And nothing. Just that."
Pause.
"Do you remember our first job together?"
"Yes."
"Where did we go?"
"Rawat's palace."
"What did we go for?"
"To fetch Shaatrumani Stone."
Pause again. "What if I tell you that we didn't even know about its existence until Ashwant made me aware of it?"
He shrunk his eyes. "Why would you tell me that? Doctor had informed us everything about it before we went for the job. He told us that perhaps Tyrell was being targeted because Shashi must be looking for the Shaatrumani Stone and the reason why he needs Tyrell on his side is this. He wanted to act quickly and that's why he sent us together to search for it in the palace."
My heart plummeted. "Would you believe if I say that that's not what happened?"
Tyrell and Celina shared a quick glance.
"What's there believe?" Pruthvi said, sounding a bit frazzled. He stepped up front, fisting his hands and I froze solid for a moment. "Together we figured that Jyran had already taken possession of it. We got into a huge fight with him and he tried to kill me. Hayden, sure it is the matter to worry about but I highly doubt whose memories among us have been tampered with."
Try as I might to hide my emotions, it was tough not to get overwhelmed. I bent my head and rubbed my nape. "Last question," I said. "Who is Haimavati Roksana?"
"Er, First queen of Paramarashtra and the inventor of the Pride. What has she got to with it?"
Celina and Tyrell shuffled slightly at their feet with unnerving ease, and gaped unblinking at me. For several tense moments, we stood in silence, my throat closing up. It was three against one, and I felt cornered. However, I stood in a defensive stance, mind-bending in contemplation and remembering the talk I had with Singh this morning. If there was anything I could do, if my friends let me do, it would only be after they truly believe that they need their heads shrunk. What should I do now- call back Singh and have him explain to them?
Wait. Was it only the three of them who lost memories?
The door of the living room suddenly creaked open. Slight yelling sounds, a breath of cool breeze, and a burning smell pushed inside. Leena then stepped in, having her head hung down and her outfit wet and skin ashy. Her incredulous stare down at the thing she held in her hand gave me a sudden lurch of nerves. "Hayden, please tell me you left the legendary dagger outside on the porch on purpose."
There was a small note-like paper attached to the dagger. I hurried towards her and snatched the dagger, ignoring Leena's watchful eyes on her pale face.
The note addressed to me, read - "Nazira wants you to have the Pride back. It is with you where it rightfully belongs. But she doesn't want you to let anyone know that you have the dagger with you. By now you must have understood the gravity of the situation. Please, do not disclose the location of the Pride to anyone. Otherwise, this may ruin her plans.
Long live the King.
Shourya."
Do not let anyone know the location of the Pride. I frowned at that.
"I saw you fighting alone with the creature," Leena said. "That was so stupid of you and...so freaking fantastic. When did you learn to fight like that? And can you teach me too? Also..."
"Answer my questions first," I interjected. "Is King Aghasthya alright?"
"Well, yes. Just in a bit of a shock, that is all."
"With whom did I go to Parallel Universe?"
She blinked once in surprise. "You went alone. Why?"
Sighing, I got back to the note, quickly trying to make a choice.
"What's going on?" Leena whispered walking towards Celina who shrugged while Tyrell had his eyes glued to the note. I calmly dropped the Pride into my jacket's secret pocket and passed the note to Pruthvi.
He nabbed it, and read it, eyes behind his glasses opened wide. He even brought the letter closer to his nose and had a sniff. "Oh my god!" he snapped, his face scrunched into a fierce expression I'd hardly ever seen on him. He rocked back and forth on his feet before meeting my eye. "What do we do now?"
"Do me a favor and talk to Makara. Start with the Second Cornelian user. Ask him how he died."
"Why the Second?"
"Just ask. And, er...tough it out."
His eyes gleamed but he nodded understandingly. He turned around and passed the note to Tyrell. "Leena, come with me," he said before scurrying outside the living room. A confused Leena hastened after him.
Radio silence took up again. My muscles eased back to pacific calm, now that Pruthvi was almost getting back on track. Thanks for the letter for arriving at the right time.
Tyrell held the note up, seemingly going through it over and over again, and Celina stood waiting for him to respond. My mouth felt dry. It was now time to deal with two of them. Lord, this morning could not get any more unsettling.
"He's right," Tyrell whispered to Celina and dropped the note down on the table. "It's us."
Celina expelled a harsh frustrated breath. "Should we talk to our Constellia too?"
"Highly recommended, but later," I said and dragged a chair around, placing it in the way I could keep an eye on Pruthvi, and sat on it. "Have a seat please, both of you. We need to talk."
A pall of black smoke stretched out into the porch and Makara slowly stood up from signature position. He bowed his head to Pruthvi and soon they engaged in a conversation of their own.
Tyrell and Celina sat opposite me. There was a brief unconformable pause. Tyrell twitched and his stomach grumbled aloud. He held his gut, slightly wheezing. I reached over to open the magical food basket placed across the table and passed bagels to each of them.
They took a bite and munched. Their hunger suddenly reminded me of all the scrapes I'd been through in Uttarameer in the space of six months. How the battle with Almourah had trained me well to live in a constant state of famishment.
They were halfway now and finding them relaxed, I immediately began. "Tyrell, apparently there's a magic that I don't know a thing about. This country's brimming full of what I'm not yet aware of but I'm guessing this is particularly related to the creature that caused the outbreak. Can you share the knowledge? Anything at all you know regarding this creature?"
Tyrell stiffened for a moment, an expression like that of an untried person suddenly being discovered. Celina looked about him, an eager shadow crossing her face. Tyrell then swallowed heavily, dropped his hand holding the bagel, and mulled for a bit. "Jyran taught me a great deal about Paramarashtrian magic," he said. "But just not that. The process, I mean. Perhaps that's because he knew that I was trying to reach out to you already and was on the verge of leaking information about the Pride. Why, do you think that has something to do with Shashi's clan?"
"I can only guess," I replied, although the word 'clan' gave an itch. "What do you know about Agnidaanav?"
"That Almourah tamed it."
Celina quickly added. "Haimavati Roksana invented that creature." She sounded scratchy and raw; her brows wrinkled together.
Behind her the morning sunlight turned into a deep shade of grey, shadowing the porch. A clap of thunder rumbled in the distance, followed by a strike of lightning. It was about to snow. Pruthvi stood against the railing and was silently listening to Makara. Hands folded, legs crossed and head bent down. Leena had a concerned hand on his shoulder and her questioning eyes gawping at Makara.
Tyrell continued, "To create such creatures needs tremendously hard and well-practiced magic to give a shape and pour life to these creatures."
"Pour life," I repeated. "Do you mean the creature possesses a heart functioning similar to Almourah's second heart?"
"Well, as far as my knowledge goes, yes."
I leaned over a bit and said something that made both of them puke out the bagels they inhaled. "Let's say, I want to learn the magic..."
"What!" Tyrell gasped, aghast, with terrible reproach in his eyes while Celine coughed. "Why would even let your brain form that idea? Aren't the responsibilities that you have on your shoulder enough already? Besides, you aren't from the Clan of Maya."
"Shashi Thribhuvan isn't either."
"That's different," he snapped, sounding remarkably insecure for a moment. "Yes, sometimes we indeed get to encounter mages born outside the Clan of Maya, but that's very rare. Not to mention, they are heavily frowned upon and...illegal. You don't want to get fired on your first day at your new job as a King, do you?"
"Illegal? Is it some kind of a choice people make? To practice magic on their own?"
"No, they are born with it. They have an innate connection with magic."
I stared agog for a moment at the sound of it. "Do you see anything wrong in the country's mindset towards these people?"
"Ethically yeah, but it's not my place to pass judgment."
"How do people born outside the Clan realize about having magic?"
He wrung his hands together. "I don't know if there's any difference, but when I started, I literally felt this extra sense of bounding pulse in my nerves. I felt it every time I used magic. I can give a spell right now, and you can see it for yourself if you feel the same."
No, thank you. "I'm interested in knowing more about mages born outside the Clan. Why are they considered illegal? What makes them bad?"
"Because of the likes of Shashi and Zarina." And now Nazira? "But this bigotry towards these people did not start in this generation. It has been this way ever since the nation was segregated into different clans. This decision was made in view of numerous unlawful events that happened centuries ago."
"Hmm," I said, tapping the arm of the chair, mulling. His answer reminded me of the conversation I had with Ira Zutshi months ago, that conversation that made me accuse Nazira of being a swindler. Sudden pangs of guilt rose in my veins making me feel terrible. "Perhaps the kings of ancient times found it to be an extra chore to keep a close watch on these possible future rivals and making them all illegal was an easy solution."
He bit his lip. "Perhaps."
"It doesn't seem that a mage needs to be born to parents who are mages themselves, or at least one of them is."
"No, absolutely not."
"Sure?"
He took a moment, batting his lids too many times. "I... guess so. People are born with it at random."
There was a lack of certainty in his voice. Celina looked up at me, having a tight-lipped frown on her face. She was probably thinking the same as I. "Doesn't seem likely, Tyrell," I said. "There must be some reason why. Anything can happen in Paramarashtra, true, but at this point, I can say that there has always been a reason."
He squinted his eyes. "Er.."
"Never mind," I said and checked on Pruthvi still conversing with Makara. "Let's get back to Agnidaanav, alright? Anything else that you can tell me, besides it containing the magical heart?"
"That and..." Tyrell continued, rubbing his stubbly chin. "...fire Spirits were used to bring the creature into this Authentic Universe."
"Fire spirits?" I sat bolt upright, sounding a bit loud and frowning deeply at the new piece of information. Tyrell and Celina were both startled by my reaction. "Explain to me about them."
He pursed his lips and stared oddly at me for a moment. "Well, er..." He let out a loud sigh and burst with a complaint. "Hayden, you're making me nervous. This appears to be a sort of interrogation and you look completely different from what you were yesterday. What is this, a King version of you?"
How weird was it to suddenly miss Dhanunjay? "Tyrell, listen. We barely have an hour or two before Panchayat wakes up and drags us all to their mercy now that the creature is out and probably ravaging somewhere. And I don't think it's the same one we fought three years ago. Does that mean...there are two of them now? Remember I already promised High King that I'm going to go after Shashi soon? Well, it's not soon anymore, the job starts today. I plan to use the same strategy I used before going on the mission - Almourah. So, I need to feed myself with more information before I fit the facts together and share the details with you and Panchayat. A lot of details. Makes sense?"
Celina placed a gentle hand on Tyrell's arm and gave an assuring squeeze.
He nodded and gave a vent to a soft sigh. "That was just a knee-jerk reaction, sorry," he said ruefully and wetted his lips. "Maybe I should start from the beginning."
"And please be as specific," Celina said. "This is new to me too."
Tyrell began - "There are four legendary inventors of magic in Paramarashtra, who first perused through the four main mediums of magic. These mediums had been prevailing for ages, but only these four were the first known force born in this country powerful enough to navigate through the mediums and invent a variety of tricks, and later changed the face of magic. These mediums are collectively called the Four S's, individually named Spiritual, Sound, Soul, and Shapeshifting, each empowered to Lady Chandrika, Haimavati Roksana, Almourah, and Kshaturya El Sayed, in that order. Later passing their inventions down to other mages either by inheritance or by training. The trained group of people called themselves a Clan. Every magic that exists in Paramarashtra is related to and dependent on these four mediums only."
Sound. That took me back to the moment I was ripped apart from the ability to hear her voice. So Nazira once again had deprived herself of the magic she invented?
"Kshaturya El Sayed?" Celina asked although she enunciated less clearly.
"First opal user," Tyrell replied.
She sat back in her chair and took a bit of bagel.
"Lady Chandrika," he continued. "Her magic was on the spiritual level. Similar to how Parallel Universe is a separate world, Fire Spirits, who are friendly and aid magic to the mages, live in their own other-dimensional world. Lady Chandrika was aided by them in inventing Yajna. Tiny fairy-like creatures that can be seen only through a mage's eye."
Tiny fairy-like creatures, the fire spirits. That was what they were in Nazira's painting.
"Lady Chandrika, however, wasn't the only one able to use Fire Spirits," Tyrell said, finally getting to the main point. "Haimavati, being the Diamond User's powerful apprentice, claimed the ownership of this medium as well and created different creatures like Agnidaanav which even Lady Chandrika couldn't create for herself."
"That's because Lady Chandrika had better insight," Celina commented. I ignored her statement. Tyrell and I instinctively turned around to take a peek at Pruthvi who threw up a hand in the air, his yelling sounding indistinct. Leena cast us a side-along glance letting us notice the sullen look on her face.
"That's no good," Tyrell said.
"Don't mind them," I said, lowly. "That reaction is quite obvious."
Tyrell snapped a pondering look at me. "Is there anything else you want to know? If not then guess what, there are a ton of questions about to come your way."
"We both have questions," Celina added. "Starting with that wound of yours. Did get really get that from the creature?"
I would have easily warded off their questions, but that was something I didn't want to do anymore. I'd pretended never to know Nazira, changed the topic many times, and shared the secrets only with the diary. Not anymore though. My resolve to continue keeping the secret wasn't strong anymore, I did not want it to be strong and my head screamed to spill everything before Pruthvi arrived.
"This might sound absolutely crazy," I said to Celina. "But please, please try to believe me in whatever I am going to say. I could really use a bit of compassion and common sense right now."
She nodded. "I'm listening."
"Pruthvi's sister, Nazira Khan is Haimavati Roksana's reborn."
Their mouths dropped, both looking equally horrified. They yelled out in unison.
"You've got to be kidding us!" Celina shrieked.
Tyrell grimaced. "I'm sorry, did you say something about using common sense?"