"Will she wake up soon?" Arsah asked as he shifted the little girl in his arms. He could feel her warmth, feel her tiny arms wrapped around him. Although he was the one carrying her, she was the one who was holding him together. He studied the little snake before him. 'Did he play with my emotions?' He bitterly shook his head as the answer somehow frightened him.
"I am still forming her memories, it is going to take a while. Why?" Najwah vacantly replied. Arash could feel how taxing this job was on the little snake, so he didn't dare to ask any more questions. He sat on the ground with his legs crossed as he tried to focus on his soul. He formed four little runes with his will. Even though they looked and appeared to be the same as the ones before them, Arash knew they were different. He could tell by their unintelligible mutterings. Each one's buzzing was distinct. Others might not be able to tell the difference, but being their masters, he could tell the difference. 'I could form a couple more...' but he decided not to as he would need all his strength for what he was about to do.
Arash studied the complex rune that floated in his sea of consciousness. He marveled at the exquisite lines and the way different nodes of the runes combined together to form a whole. He couldn't help but shake his head as he compared his little light runes and the one before him. He studied the patterns of the nodes, and at first he didn't understand anything. Stray thoughts were making it hard for him to concentrate. He pushed down the thoughts and locked away his emotions as he slipped into the state of perpetual detachment. Time slipped by as he intently stared at the rune in front of him. He selected a node at the center of the rune and decided to follow the patterns outwards.
He focused on the central node and studied how it connected to every other node around him. At first, it appeared that everything was connected to the central rune, but as he followed the intricate lines connecting the different nodes. He noticed that the rune was made up of layered structures, each structure forming a base for another to stand upon. He managed to identify 1 unique structure at the base. He tried to replicate it with his will, but all he managed to achieve was a blurry diagram and severe headache. Even the runes he had previously created disappeared into thin air and his soul-strength was sucked dry.
Without the soul-strength, the mysteries of the runes that had just opened up to him shut their doors and once again it's profundities hid behind a veil that his gaze just couldn't penetrate. He decided to give up on the rune and diverted his attention to the string that connected him to Mehru. He saw Mehru playing with a figure that looks just like him, countless scene of Mehru playing, sleeping and crying flashed before his eyes. All memories fabricated to replace his dead little brother. Arash noticed a giant memory globe floating in the center of Mehru's sea of consciousness. All other globes were connected to it one way or another. Arash wafted towards the memory globe and stared at the scene playing on the white globe.
A tiny face of an infant flashed on the surface of the giant globe. Arash could feel the overwhelming love Mehru had for her brother. Her excitement, her fear and the responsibility she felt weighed heavily on her tiny shoulder.
Najwah appeared beside him, staring at the scene before him.
"This is the most crucial memory, we have to replace it with a strong enough memory that can withstand her personality. It has to be a true memory." He looked at Arash, it has to be one of yours.
Arash didn't deign to respond as he immersed himself in the scene playing before him. After a while, he let out a heavy sigh as he turned towards the snake. "My brother is already dead, but she is still alive. Take what you must."
Arash said morosely.
Najwah gravely nodded as he dug into Arash's memories. Arash could see countless memories of his little brother flash before his eyes. He even saw the first memory when he held onto his brother, tears slipped down his left cheek as he became overwhelmed with emotion... Slowly, Firuz faded away from his memory, leaving a blank space in his consciousness. Arash's expression changed to one of bewilderment as he felt a hollowness in him. He could remember the loss of someone important, but he couldn't remember who it was. 'What is it?' He asked himself, but no matter how hard he tried to remember the face all he remembered was a dark emptiness.
"Its done!" Najwah said grimly as he appeared in front of Arash. He studied the boy before him and couldn't help but shake his head, countless thoughts crossed his mind but none appeared on his lips.
Arash stared at the snake in puzzlement and suddenly remembered his decision of removing the memory of someone important. "Whose did you remove?"
"Your brother, Firuz" The little snake replied.
"Firuz..." Arash racked his brain, but he couldn't remember who Firuz was. "Where is he?" He asked finally.
"He is dead."
"Dead, how did he die?" Arash asked as if talking about a stranger.
"Arash it's no use, no amount of questions will bring him back. It's best if you leave him behind."
Arash stared at him with a troubled expression, countless questions struggling on the tip of his tongue, but in the end, only one managed to come out. "Was I a good brother?" For the first time, a semblance of emotion appeared on his
stoic face.
"You were...you loved him very much" Najwah replied with a forced smile.
"Oh!" Arash didn't say another word after that and Najwah didn't bother him.
Arash carried the little girl to one of the houses that were still in habitable condition. Even though a family had already claimed it to be their new home, but under the urgings of the little black snake. Arash passed himself as a distant relative and managed to secure a place to stay. He was once again surprised by the mastery of the little snakes as he manipulated the memory of Adam's family. Adam treated Arash like his own son while Amna stuffed him with food. Even the real children were baffled by the love that their new cousins received.
Adam was a slender middle-aged man but underneath his cotton tunic. Arash could see corded muscle that hid tremendous power. Only strong managed to survive the hard life of a miner. The town of Harra was no place for a weakling,
survival was dependent on physical and mental strength.
"...Amna just looks at him. How strong has my nephew grown? He is barely 10..." Adam frowned for a moment. He was a shrewd man and judging by the physique that Arash possessed he was by no means 10 years old.
Arash gave a sharp glare to the little snake and the 10-year-old nephew turned into a 13-year-old.
"Haha... I must be getting old, forgetting the age of my own nephew." Adam said with a hollow laugh "I was really surprised by the sudden appearance of the giants. We were lucky that they appeared near the east and far away from us.
I have seen that terrible thing frozen in the middle of that giant pit. Praise the blessed that they managed to stop them before they leveled the whole town. I heard there were two of them. Cursed things, one of them ran away as soon as it saw the might Blessed warriors." Adam took a strange pride as he described the story. His family held the same sentiments for the blessed as his four sons; Tamresh, Baled, Khalid, and Moaz religiously nodded in agreement. Amna was the only one who seemed forced in her actions.
"Cousin you don't seem to agree with father?" Tamresh said with a frown on his face. Since the beginning, he had been eyeing this new cousin of his.
'Can you make him shut up? I am in no mood to bicker with him.' Arash asked the little snake in frustration.
'What's the hurry? I think this is prime time for you to get used to handling my powers. He would be a perfect test subject. He is young, rash and has some sort of a grudge against you. Make him dance to your tune.' Najwah said with a sinister smile on his face.
Arash wanted to retort, but as he saw the curious gazes of everyone around him, Najwah offer didn't seem to bad.
"Cousin, why must you slander me with such words?" Arash said with a straight face but deep inside he was cursing at Najwah to tell him how to control the rune. The little snake seemed to have been enjoying Arash's predicament.
'...concentrate on the rune, and imagine a string that connects you to the boy.' Najwah finally said.
Arash followed his instruction. He put his consciousness in the rune and concentrated on the Tamresh. Immediately the rune changed into a string that allowed Arash to peer into the youngster's mind. Tamresh opened up to him like a book. He could feel his contempt and hatred for him. 'What right do you have to be praised by father. Only I am worthy enough...' Arash couldn't help but scoff at the reason for his hostility. Arash immediately knew that Tamresh wasn't the right opponent. It was this new uncle of his that needed to be convinced. He immediately cast the rune on Adam.
'Tamresh is right, I ignored it at first, but now that I think about it. This boy didn't show a single sign of agreeing with me...' Arash dug deeper into his memories and within a moment he knew each and everything about the man before him. Arash couldn't help but marvel that how easy it is to fool someone when you know each and every thought.
"Uncle, I believe there are two types of people in the world. Those who praise the Blessed with their tongues and those that respect them in their hearts. A man can lie with his tongue, but no one can lie with his heart." Arash said. He could see the immediate elation on the face of his new uncle. He didn't even need to see his face; Arash could hear his thoughts and he knew more than anyone how much these words rang true to the heart of the man before him. Arash turned towards Tamresh.
"Cousin you say of these two men and I couldn't agree more with your words. But the man who respects in his heart shows it on his face. But all I saw was contempt and hatred for their faces." Tamresh replied self-righteously.
Arash couldn't help but sigh. 'And here I thought this family was made up of brutes. The father and the son are alike. They both noticed the momentary contempt that appeared on my face. I need to be careful of such things in the future.' Arash turned towards snake for help. 'How do I change their memories.'
'The string connects you their souls, concentrate on it and bring out the memory you are looking for. Concentrate on it and change it to whatever you need. But, be careful humans are strange beings. You can stuff them with fake memories and they wouldn't even blink, but there need to be no contradictions between what they hear and see and what emotion they attribute it too. If there is even a little discrepancy between their visual and emotional memory. You will reduce them into a state of confusion. Memory manipulation is a subtle art. You need to be meticulous'
"Cousin, have you suddenly turned mute?' Khalid asked.
Arash couldn't help but curse at this family. 'I should turn them all into a blithering fools.' He clicked his tongue in frustration as he focused on altering the memories of everyone around him. He easily managed to pull out the memories, but he found it really hard to find the memory he needed.
'You are looking in the wrong place. new memories form at the edge of the consciousness.'
Arash silently thanked the little snake for the pointer and finally managed to find the memory of when Adam was singing praises for the blessed. Arash couldn't help but curse at himself as he saw himself through Tamresh's memory. 'I might as well have been screaming "death to Blessed."' Arash palmed his face and quickly changed his expression to one of devotion. Within few moments everyone's face was covered with confusion as their train of thought was broken by the new memory. Arash didn't need to say anything. It was Adam that spoke up for him.
"What are you talking about? I clearly remember him listening to me intently." Adam said with his eyebrows furrowed in displeasure.
Tamresh found himself tongue-tied as he wanted to reply. "I just... He was..." He struggled to explain his behavior.
"Enough! Apologise to your cousin. I would not have any devout of the blessed humiliated in my house." Adam's face turned red with anger.
Tamresh shrank back in fear but did as he was told and sat quietly after that. Adam started a fervent discussion about the blessed and how they were akin to gods. Arash only had to say the man's thought out loud and the Adam would jump in excitement as if he had found a kindred soul.
Even though memory-manipulation was mentally taxing, Arash found a taste for it. Seeing the person before him dancing to his whims was highly addictive. The best part was the deep sense of kinship that he formed by talking with his new uncle. Adam had started to treat Arash with great respect and discussed topics with him that weren't privy even to his family. In end, Arash was mentally drained, but not a single trace of exhaustion could be seen on Adam's face.
It appeared as if he would go on forever. Adam refused to let him rest and one way or another he would steer the conversation to the blessed and once again they would go down the rabbit hole. Arash looked helpless towards Najwah, who at first enjoyed his misery. But in the end, even the little snake felt vexed by Arash's fervor. 'You can whisper in his consciousness, like the voice of his heart. But his is a bit tricky and it doesn't always work. You need to be discreet any contradictory whispers would only cause confusion. They only work when you are subtle and discreet and the key is persistence. Your kind is strange that way. If they hear something enough times. They believe it to be true and act on it.'
Arash asked about how to use whispers and after failed attempts, for whole 2 hours, he managed to convince the old man to sleep. Tamresh was forced to sleep on Khalid's bed, he wanted to protest but after hearing the endless discussions between his father and the cursed new cousin of his, he left his bed without a single word.
Arash carefully picked up Mehru and placed her on his bed, while he himself slept on the floor. Adam wanted to protest, but under the glare from Amna, he swallowed his words and silently snuggled up beside his wife. Amna gave a cursory glance at the new nephew of her husband. But seeing him sleeping on the ground while his sister slept on the bed, her heart softened. She turned back toward her husband and found himself madly grinning. She nearly screamed out loud and gave a sharp blow to wake Adam out of his reverie. "Why are you grinning like this for?"
"What are you doing woman?" Adam groaned in pain as he massaged his abdomen. "It's been so long since, I have a really good discussion with someone who understands me. I have been searching a man like this, while all along my sister had been hiding a great man like him."
A strange glint flashed across Amna's eyes, but suddenly confusion appeared on her face. "Sleep, you have to go mining tomorrow."
Adam grumbled for a while as he turned away from his wife and once again started grinning like a fool. Choosing a next great topic for him to discuss with his intelligent nephew.
Arash was out cold as soon as he hit the ground. Najwah slipped into Arash's soul space and started devouring all the memories he had harvested. All night, he released small amounts of white mist that nourished Arash's soul.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arash groggily woke up, his whole body ached due to sleeping on a hard floor, he shifted to his side to massage the cramps out of his body, but as he turned he felt something soft at his side. A small girl clung to his broad chest. Tenderness flashed across his face as he gently played with the Mehru's hair. He placed her back on the bed and found the family of his uncle still sleeping. Only Amna was awoken at this hour and by the sweet aroma in the air, he could tell she was preparing breakfast. The aroma had roused Arash's hunger, he gingerly crossed the room and found Amna sitting in the corner, her forehead was slick with beads of sweat as she shifted what appeared to be a bread in the pan before her.
Even though Arash tried not to make a sound, Amna still spotted him as soon as she saw him. A momentary surprise flashed across her face, but soon a knowing smile flashed on her face as she nodded Arash to come sit beside her. Arash didn't stand on the reservation as he sat beside her. He stared at the woman beside him, squinting at the loaf of bread, shifting it over; and when she wasn't tending the loaf, she busied herself with kneading the dough at her side. Arash mutely observed the ritual of kneading and shifting of the bread. The silence between them was filled with the soft crackles at the fire stove. She didn't say anything and he patiently observed her actions. Even though he had strong urge to cast the spell on her and pry open her secrets that she hid beneath the mundane tasks she performed. But a part of him wanted to experience this moment as a human, the rune made him akin to a god. There were no secrets from him and nothing could be hidden from him. As enchanting and enthralling as that feeling was it took the humanity out of his interaction.
"Never seen a man wake up at this hour." She finally said as she the bread before her had been baked to her liking, she gingerly slipped the bread loaf into a small bronze plate and handed it over to Arash. "Usually they don't require more than a soft kick to wake them up." Amna smiled fondly as she handed him the plate.
Arash felt a strange emotion bubble up in his heart, his minds weaved together countless lies that would be plausible under any kind of scrutiny. But there was something in her honest smile that made him feel like a fraud. He silently tore off a smiling piece of bread. "I make my own breakfast." Arash softly said, even though he sounded weak and feeble, he chose to speak the truth. He sneaked a glance at the mother before him and as expected he found her puzzled.
"What's your mother doing?" She asked.
Arash knew the answer, he felt a hatred for him and once again the gap in his memory made him confused. He looked up and weakly smiled. A lie formed on the tip of his tongue and slipped right off it without even a second thought. "She has been unwell ever since my sister was born. It was too much for her to take of her. So, I raised Mehru in her place."
Amna pursed her lips as she nodded her head. "It must have been hard on you. Taking mother's place and all."
"I managed and Mehru is a sweet girl. She doesn't cause trouble and I like to take care of her." Arash said with a weak smile as he fed her lies and wolfed down her kindness. The bread was sweet and soft. The warmth of the stone still stung at his tongue, but it brought out a strange new flavor to it. He found himself with a sudden urge to share it with someone... Someone he couldn't remember, so he decided to save a share for the little girl.
"And what do you suppose you are doing? Is my bread not up to your tastes! Huh!" Amna commanded in a strict yet affectionate tone that only a mother could afford.
"No... This is the best bread I have ever eaten." Seeing a smile bloom on Amna's face lightened his heart for some reason. "I was saving it for my sister. She hadn't eaten anything ever since the giants--"
"No need to save anything. Do you think your auntie is poor and can't afford to feed a little girl." She stuffed the bread in his mouth. "Eat up and I don't want to hear another word from you."
Arash obediently chewed on the bread as his heart softened. Tears slipped down his cheeks, as he imagined his own mother sitting in Amna's place and his brother who he couldn't remember sat beside him. Laughing at eating, but no matter how he tried he just couldn't put his mother in Amna's place. He wiped his tears as he turned back, staring at the back of the little girl on the bed. "You are my family from now on and I won't let anyone take you away from me."