The Hidden Sister
The sky continued to pour, transforming the water from light specks to heavy raindrops pounding on to any surface. It was as if the clouds had swallowed all the seas of the world and spat them onto Atlantia. The weathermen were probably proud of themselves for their creation, but despite how well Atlanteans were able to bend the weather, sometimes nature had her own plans. Delta reached the outer ring of the city, where the last known address of Mayen was. Neon lights flashed passed her as she sped through the city. She could sense eyes upon her; the nightlife perhaps wondered why there’s a teenage woman wandering through the cruel elements. Delta didn’t care what they thought but pitied A'gesh who finally gave up trying to dodge the rain and was now huddled at Delta's breast. Her oily wings covered her head as Delta carried her close.
Canals of water ran through Capihul, separating classes and socio-economic districts. Delta walked across a small marble bridge, one of many, that connected the outer and poorer districts to each other. Her feet blackened by dirt and grass made dark footprints on the pavements that washed away every time she turned around. Townhouses that reached several storeys high lined the narrow alleys and roads; a meter-wide bridge connected each level of these houses with narrow metallic staircases sitting on the edge of each structure. Trees and bushes grew in the gutters of their semi-spherical roofs, emerald moss sprouted from the cracks in the white walls and vines crawled down the face of the buildings. Dry leaves of autumn colours littered the pavement as Delta brushed through them searching for Mayen’s home address.
Despite the district’s poorer economic reputation and unkempt appearance, natural charm breezed through the narrow streets. The leaves flew up and danced in the wind and the dim streetlights glowed a calming blue as sun-flies darted around the rain-filled alleys. No wonder many believed Capihul was a magical city.
The grey clouds continued their downpour as Delta lessened her speed. Her feet no longer felt sore; they barely had any feeling left. Her linen robe clung tightly against her skin; she had given up trying to cover herself from prying eyes. Her shoulder drooped, they felt as if she had been carrying a ton and her head hung low from the weight of the raindrops coursing through her heavy wet hair. She trekked down the narrow road. In the townhouse’s windows she saw shadowed figures going about their business in their warm and amber-lit homes.
“Mayen’s home must be at the end here,” she whispered.
There was nothing but a dead end, with an exception of a small patch of grass with a tall tree growing beside an over-flowing pond.
Delta darted beneath the protection of the tree. The soil by its roots turned to mud, but she didn’t care. Her legs shook involuntarily under her weight as she collapsed onto the soft mud. The drops pelted down on to the wide leaves, the water was overflowing and dripping down on her bare shoulders. A'gesh curled herself further under her chest. She tried looking between the gaps through the tree branches for the sun’s rays, but it was practically impossible to tell from the city’s light pollution beneath the clouds.
She wanted nothing more than to pass out against the wooden trunk, but the mud made it almost impossible for her to find genuine comfort. Delta chuckled to herself at the thought of her situation. If she had the ability to go back in time and tell her younger self of this day, her younger self would dismiss her as a lunatic. The suppression of her guilt for destroying Olanta's crystal orb, leaving Kyirn behind to those wicked magi, leaving Anobus wondering whether his cousin was a murderer could no longer be held down. All of it rose up her chest and turned into tears in her eyes. Her wet face made it difficult to sense what was her tears and what was rain, her cheeks just became wetter. She wondered if her parents were still together if they were happier without her in their lives. She hoped that they were at least at some peace, even if she wasn’t in the picture.
No, she wasn’t going to feel helpless anymore. She never refused to give in to her dire moments, and today she wasn't about to start. Delta slammed her fists into the mud, splashing it on her bare legs. She rose to her feet, sweeping the drenched leaves from her face as she pushed out from the tree’s shelter. A sense of confidence washed over her. If she was a psychic, she would have found Mayen in no time. On the other hand, if the universe would allow a mundane to survive this long, then there was some hope for her future. Delta continued her trek out of the alleyway with her muddied feet slapping onto the creamy pavement. The corner that she entered down this alleyway was no longer there and she was forced to stop in her tracks. She looked to the windows in the townhouses. Fewer had lights in them now, and it would be too late to ask for directions.
She swung around back to the lone tree in the centre of the dead end that was still there. The odd design of these tall townhouses masked most signs so that only locals would know where to go. But her determination hadn’t been vanquished yet. She peeked around every corner she came across in this strange L-shaped alley. With each turn she would find the tree and over-filled pond at the end of the road. This sort of illusion would typically be the making of a powerful mage; she prayed that she wasn't followed. She walked to the tree at the end of the road. Perhaps Mayen knew she was there and was testing her merit. It wouldn’t be difficult to believe this was the truth.
Delta looked under the branches; her muddy indentation remained. Raindrops dripped onto the pond; her gaze turned on its surface. It was no deeper than a meter and to her delight there were tiny bio-luminescent fish swimming just below the quivering surface, but there was no indication of a hidden passage underneath. A loud creaking of wood came from behind her. It frightened her so much that she almost lost her footing and if so, would have landed straight in the pond. Delta swung around to see the front door of the last townhouse adjacent to the tree slowly open. The entrance stood on a mezzanine, amber light emanated from down the hallway, but the doorway was completely empty.
Keeping her eye on the door, she slowly walked to the base of the steps. The door continued opening until she saw a tall, black-robed woman walk down from the hallway and into the door frame. Delta took a small step back as Mayen crossed her arms and glared down to her younger sister.
“Lovely evening we’re having,” Delta said as her thoughts were too jumbled to form any appropriate sentences. She chuckled uncomfortably and shot a dopey smile at Mayen, which wasn’t returned.
“I know this is very awkward since our last meeting, but I’m kind of in trouble, and I didn’t know what to do because this is the last place I wanted to be- no, that doesn’t sound right,” she wiped away the rain from her eyes and felt her cheeks getting red-hot. Even A'gesh twitched uncomfortably in her arm.
“It’s not that this is the last place I wanted to be, it’s just I-,” she slapped her hands to her face and took a deep breath.
Mayen remained still, her large frame obscuring the hallway from Delta. Her paternal sister’s imposing form almost made her knees buckle, but she needed to at least try to correct things.
“I’m sorry that I treated you like dirt when you only wanted to meet your father and that I tried to frame you for theft, and everything else I said to offend you,” Delta looked to her feet, “I thought you were going to take my parents away from me. You're probably already aware that my time with the magi has ended,” she said.
But Mayen said nothing. She continued standing on the mezzanine glaring down at Delta. She felt equal to a pathetic mound of mud slowly sinking further to the ground.
“I was staying at a shelter before, now I can’t go back. Nor, can I return to the mansion because my parents don’t trust me,” her voice wavered as she spoke, “and because of my stupidity, A'gesh and I have nowhere else to go…”
Silence came from up the steps. If only she could read her thoughts at that moment, but a part of her was relieved that she couldn’t.
“I know you’re mad, probably furious and don’t want me anywhere near you. Say nothing if you want me to leave,” she said before she was ready to turn Mayen moved first.
Delta’s eyes widened as Mayen moved away from the centre of the doorframe to the side, allowing warm air to billow from the entrance. The acolyte's glare softened, and her lip curled into a tiny smile. Delta took no time to leap up the stone steps and into the dry house. Her muddied feet made track marks on Mayen’s bamboo floorboards. A few meters away sat two metallic chairs in front of a roaring black-rock fireplace. Delta turned around to see Mayen remained leaning against the doorframe. She finally uncrossed her arms and let them fall to her sides.
“I didn't think you had it in you,” she said as she stepped towards the chairs.
Delta smiled, her eyes were now too dry and too tired for any more tears. Mayen waved her hand making the door slam shut before commanding the wooden chest beside her chair. Her rough fingers clicked open the locks as the lid opened on its own. Her long arms dived in, far deeper than the bottom of the case, retrieving some fresh clothes and towel before tossing them to Delta.
“Th-thank you,” is all she could stammer out, even A'gesh hopped from her grasp and perched herself above the fireplace, opening her wet wings to let the heat dry her.
Mayen turned to face her sister; the chest slowly closed as she glided to one of the metal chairs towards her. Delta wrapped the towel around her torso and found her seat before her feet extended out towards the flames, warming her sore and cold legs.
“I was hoping you would come here,” Mayen said.
“After everything I did and tried to do?” Delta said as she buried herself into the towel.
“Because I saw someone who can do so much good stuck in a situation that no one could empathise with, to a point where you turned to ice from all the abuses you suffered. You're not a bad person, just confused and lost. Those people cause tragedies to happen without the right guidance,” she said.
Delta flinched at her words as she recalled the same thing said by Goru. She bit her lip as she looked to the fire.
“Something I said?” Mayen said, her head cocking toward the fireplace to get her attention.
“I've heard that all before from those I trusted before their betrayal. I messed up because I'm not a telepath or empath. I can’t even read A’gesh’s mind for goodness sake,” Delta said wiping the mud from her legs.
“Another good quality is you see your flaws, which is infinitely more powerful than being psychic. A quality that many lack,” Mayen said as her tattooed face slightly dropped and a look of concern washed over it, “I don't know what brought you to my door, nor what you did in months prior, but be aware I won't judge you if you ever decide that I'm worth your trust.”
Delta nodded as she pulled Mayen's spare harem leggings over her feet. “Maybe if you can protect me from dangerous and powerful people, then I will.”
“I assure you, if anyone does come sniffing around, they will have to deal with the fury of the cosmos,” Mayen said as a thin silver dish floated beside her with two glasses and a bottle with green liquid inside it.
She watched as the bottle tipped over into each of the glasses Mayen took her cup as the dish slowly drifted towards Delta. Plucking the glass from the dish, she swirled the green liquid inside and considered their discussion and Mayen's words.
“I noticed you're not speaking in the third person,” she said before taking a sip of the sweet and tangy liquor.
Mayen chuckled as her head tilted back. “Good spotting. Acolytes are regarded as highly as demigods, and we may be a little more in sync with the universe, but we're just flesh and blood as everyone else. Besides, it doesn't hurt to keep the facade up when going about our business; there’s less chance of getting into trouble when it sounds like you've got a god at your back!”
Their laughter was as warm as the fire. It was the first time Delta had laughed in quite some time. “Tonight, was the first time I astrally travelled. Never experienced something so wonderful and frightening, it's the first step towards getting one's psionics,” she said before taking a gulp from her glass. The texture of the liquor was thick and burning sweet, but the taste was that of mulched grass. She tried keeping a frown of disgust hidden in fear of offending Mayen, but her sister seemed amused by it.
“That's a super hydration drink, relax. That's an excellent start, wish I could remember my first astral travel experience. I hope you have many more experiences to come of that,” she said taking a tiny sip from her cup, “I can be honest with you, can't I?”
“It'd be welcome,” Delta said as her hands braced around the cup.
“You were half right about me when I visited father,” she said, her eyes glazed over the fire, “I couldn't care less for the wealth, though. I heard stories about him from my mother, but I was never drawn to meet him, not even when I went down the path of an acolyte.”
“Then why?” Delta said staring at A'gesh who begun combing through her feathers with her beak.
“Acolytes seek to understand the function and many dimensions of the universe, we despise those who use their knowledge to hold themselves above all others and become judges of those beneath them,” she said.
“But Durun isn't like that, you know this,” Delta said.
Mayen nodded. “Those he works for are another matter. This was a little before your time, but I remember when the old energy pylons hit their max capacity; it threatened the technological progression of humanity. Fears grew that other younger races would outgrow us, maybe even turn their eye on earth. It was a crisis. People would always talk about it; reports would bombard our devices and minds with these fears. As if it was the Age of Fear all over again. Then, suddenly, it stopped. The Federation got very interested after humanity pulled itself out of it.”
“I remember what the reports said, even mother commented on the new pylons in Alkhem, yet I'm still failing to see how this relates to father,” Delta said.
“Humanity never managed to completely rid itself from the energy crisis; they just replaced it with something else that I'm still unaware of. And whatever it is, it's releasing tremendous amounts of power to feed the geo-phasing tech. Far, far too great for the old pylons and whatever it may be, it's got the Federation terrified. If something we're doing scares the interstellar community, then we would be fools not to be also. That's why I sought Durun out, hoping that he would provide me with some answers,” Mayen said as her head cocked back downing the rest of her drink.
“I saw something like what you're saying during my astral travel, a forbidden underground facility in Pitach-rhok that tried phasing a huge area of the island. I got caught in the middle of it, felt like my astral form was being shredded. I never experienced anything so awful in my life,” she said as she settled the drink beside her chair.
“How interesting, is that why you left wherever you stayed before?” Mayen said.
Delta shook her head just as a yawn escaped her mouth. “Not quite…”
“It’s late. We’ll talk about it another time. There’s a bedroom if you continue down the end of the hall – it’s the only one in this house, but you can take it. I’ll sleep here, tonight,” Mayen said.
“You can sleep on this metal chair?” Delta said rising to her feet.
“I’m an acolyte, we can sleep on snow in nothing but our bare skin. Tomorrow, you should contact your parents, they’ve been asking for you,” she said.
Delta hesitated momentarily before glancing at her blank wrist phone. “Maybe I will.”
Delta smiled and started making her way down the dark narrow hall. She stopped and turned to face her half-sister. “Goodnight, Mayen.”
“Happy travels, Del,” she said.
~
It was as if she slept like the dead. Her sore and exhausted body felt as if it had been replaced. Even if it was a thin bed large enough for one, Delta thanked the universe for Atlanteans technological improvements of the mattress. She relished in its comforting heat, hence made it difficult to rise and find the lavatory. A'gesh chirped when she spotted Delta moving. She flew to the edge of the closed window and tapped the glass with her beak, perhaps also having the same idea for relief. She couldn't say no to her bird. Kicking the quilts from her body, allowing the sudden rush of cool air stab at her skin, Delta hopped up and slid the window aside. A'gesh almost toppled over trying to get out into the misty morning before gathering her bearing and exploring the district.
When her mind finally awoke, the events of the previous night replayed like an arrow striking through a target. Image of Basra's limp body lying at the base of the old stay-house; she imagined the reactions of those that saw the scene after she and A'gesh fled. Delta flicked on her wrist phone, her fingers desperately scrolling through the obituary of today for the death of an old woman. Her teeth sunk into her lip as she wandered through the alert section for a young woman on the run, perhaps related to the death. With some relief, there was no news. However, with Basra's connection with the magi, or possibly being mage herself, they would have tried to hide the event.
Delta felt all the water suddenly drop to her bladder, she rushed out into the hall and found the nearest door was a cramped washroom with a photon-shower and silver waste-breaker seat. She quickly settled herself on the silver seat and glanced around for a basin, but this washroom was equipped with the most basic living. She spun around to see the silver bowl had begun breaking down her waste into energy form to be sucked out into the ether. She stepped into the photon-shower, sliding off her clothes before stepping on the platform. Bright light encased her body; a burning, yet soothing heat stripped her skin from bacteria, sweat and oils. The light stopped, leaving her flesh slightly steaming with a thin layer of dead and flaking skin.
“Towel?” Mayen said as she tossed the dry cloth over Delta's head.
“Where's your sense of privacy?” she said as she tried to shield her shame from her sister's sudden emergence.
“You've got nothing I don't have. Just rub off the dead skin into the waste-breaker, it'll do the rest,” she said before disappearing from the door.
“I've done this before. Do you at least have another spare change of clothes?” Delta called out as she peeled the skin from her neck before tossing it into the bowl.
A mound of clothes ported at her feet. The longer she stared at their contents, the more familiar they became. They were her old things from home, even several pieces of jewellery sat atop of the pile, along with some soothing cream. Mayen had been there recently, perhaps updating her parents on her recent events. She was relieved that she hadn't told her half-sister about Basra or the magi. It took her no time to slip into her old auburn winter dress complete with copper studded belt clenched tight above her hips and adorn her lobes with carved wooden earrings.
Stepping out of the washroom, Mayen stood beside the black fireplace. Her hand carefully graced the top of hollow wood logs. She stared at her sister's concentration, debating how to ask about a potential murder. For how little she knew of Mayen, she had trusted Delta enough to allow her into her home, why shouldn't she try to do the same, she wondered.
“Have you heard any musings through the cosmos about a recent violent death, particularly near the poorer area of Posied Bay?” Delta said as she nervously interlocked her fingers.
“That's strangely specific,” Mayen said with a quick glance at her, she smiled, “I've been meditating all night, felt many deaths all around the country, but none of them violent, or in the poorer area of Posied Bay.”
Delta took a deep breath of relief, Basra didn't die. However, the problem remained that another mad mage was still alive. Watching Mayen's hand heat the air around it, the wooden log sparked as a small fire now glowing beneath her palm. Mayen puckered her lips and blew, making the tiny flame grow brighter and fiercer.
“Is that what you're going to do all the time, now? Show off your psionics?” Delta said crossing her arms.
“Wouldn't call it showing off, this is simply life,” Mayen glanced over and laughed before rising to her feet, “have you thought about what you want to do with yourself?”
“A lot, maybe too much in one lifetime,” Delta said taking her seat furthest from the fire, “I did make a promise to help someone get out of a nasty situation, and every day that passes I felt worse for not enacting on it.”
“What do you need to do to help them?” Mayen asked pulling a chair beside her.
“Short of you doing the actual work for me, I'll need a strong teacher to help me channel whatever psionic potential I have and break down whatever it is that's stopping me from accomplishing it,” she said.
“That's admirable that you're taking charge of fulfilling your promises, but Delta...” she took in a deep breath, “you're never going to get your psionics.”
Her cheeks flared up as her chest tightened; slowly her frustration simmered beneath. “Everyone that's ever doubted my abilities has been wrong, Mayen, I know what I'm capable of, and I have seen it with my own eyes. Don't you dare tell me what I can and cannot accomplish!”
“I didn't mean offence; I'm being realistic with you. You are part Arinu Delta, your genetic makeup is different from common humans. I don't know why you don't have psionics, but I do know Arinu have a default psionic barrier around their minds inside their tough skulls, only they can lower it when they want to communicate with others. However, it's not in your interest to let others into your mind when you can't reach inside theirs. No one can teach you to break through your biology,” Mayen said pressing her hands together.
Delta rose and paced around the fire, hoping the tears would dry from her eyes. “You don't know what I've done, Mayen. I've expelled energy by my own will!”
“Was a mage there with you?” she said glancing up.
She looked away. Her heart ached at the memory of Mage Goru's first lesson in the pale forest. The day A'gesh came into her life at the cost of killing her bird-mother, the guilt she had carried since then, believing she was the cause, but it turned out she was just a pawn. Hot tears dripped down her face; her hands were clasping over them as she pressed her wet eyes.
“So, I'm cursed to be mundane for the rest of my life,” she whispered.
“Arinu are famous for their psionic power, but they've also got physical strength that could beat a Ravansye and a mind greater than a Matchenei's. That's something you've inherited,” Mayen said before striding towards her, “what are you good at now?”
Delta shook her head, lining up all the aspects of her being. The list of the things she hated about herself outgrew the things she liked. “I can't remember my past life, but I can remember everything in this one. I'm an effective scholar at best.”
“Not even the best psychics can admit that,” she said as she patted her tattooed chin, “have you ever considered becoming a scribe?”
“Like a documentarian? Never had a reason to give it much thought. From what we talked about last night, how would that help my friend, exactly?” Delta said.
“Well, you never mentioned what sort of situation they're in,” she said.
“She's a fellow disciple. Before I left the magi, Kyirn and I were staying at their tower, and she had her face...they've done some sort of procedure that ended up making her bed-bound, probably permanently. I promised to get her out when I was better off,” Delta bit her lip, “I know that sounds selfish, but I couldn't do anything for her at the time or since.”
Mayen shook her head. “That's not a bad thing inherently; that's awareness of one's situation. Unfortunately, being a scribe won't pull your friend from the magi, and she may not want to leave. You can help her in other ways, though far less directly.”
“What are you saying? I'm not going to forget about her,” Delta said.
“I'm not saying forget, but you can shine a light on what magi are really doing. Scribes have access to knowledge centres and usually have special access to places in which to record the goings-on which then they not only report to their employers, but also to the public,” she said.
“I'm not going anywhere near the magi. Besides, you're an acolyte and you'd have more right to enter places than most people,” Delta said, her eye drifted to A'gesh flying in circles near the window.
“That would draw too much attention from the wrong crowd I feel,” Mayen commanded the window to slide with a gentle wave of her hand. The purple bird swooped in with half a piece of a mouse in her beak.
“Not wrong on that assumption,” Delta bit her lip, watching A'gesh swallow the tail-end of the rodent in one gluttonous gulp as her stomach growled, “when I was with the magi, I overheard them talking about a 'damn acolyte,' I never mentioned you directly, but they might have found some correspondence between myself and Kyrin. At the time, I didn't understand their fears and I still don't.”
“How curious,” Mayen looked to her ceiling as she crossed her arms. “Magi have eyes and ears everywhere. May I ask, why are they looking for you?”
Delta patted her angry belly as her mind spun. “Please don't think I'm just a paranoid mundane…”
“Sadly, you're not afraid enough,” she said.
“I discovered they were planning on using some of the disciples for a breeding program, Markarta they called it. I left because Goru was-,” a shiver crawled along her spine at the thought of her former mentor's intentions.
“Hush now, you're safe here,” Mayen placed her warm hand on Delta's shoulder, “they've always been extremely selective, but this is... something else. Have you ever told anyone about this?”
Delta shook her head as tears dripped from her lashes. “Who would believe me?”
“I believe you; we believe you,” she said as she straightened her back, “I'll need to run some errands, get some food and speak to some people about your friend, but I would ask that you refrain from leaving this alley, or even this house for a while. Avoid contacting anyone outside of this place because I cannot guarantee that you won't be traced, even with all the dampening fields I placed around here.”
“Wasn't planning on it,” Delta said as she summoned A'gesh on to her shoulder.
“Olanta and father know you're with me, but I'll tell them that you decided to take residency somewhere else for the time being, should anyone unsavoury try to get information from them,” Mayen said.
“What shall I do for the next few months or years? I can't be locked up if I'm to become a scribe,” she said.
“You will be home tutored,” Mayen said with a smirk.
Delta rolled her eyes. “Course I will, but that'll require trusting a stranger and having some contact with the aether-connected computer!”
“I'm a qualified tutor in these matters, being a universal student has its privileges,” Mayen said as she took a step toward the chest and pulled out a dark grey tablet. Her hand waved over the screen, immediately conjuring the holo-writings into life before passing it over.
“Said the humble acolyte,” Delta said taking the thin and slick device in her fingers, “this thing’s not connected to the aether-network.”
Mayen shook her head. “You won't need it, all the necessary documents are already loaded on there, just start reading until I get back.”
“Well, I guess I'll just sit here until you get back then,” Delta said pulling up the chair as she placed the tablet on her lap.
“Before you get too comfortable, this place hasn't been tended to for a few weeks, would you mind...?” Mayen said as she found the emptiest space in the living room.
Delta's eyes narrowed at her sister as her lips pressed against each other. With a strained nod, she watched Mayen's form vibrate as if every atom of her being became loose before vanishing.
She glanced over to A'gesh. “All this brains and brawn to be a glorified cleaner!”