"What is a resonance, teacher?" Wine asked as she stood up from her cushion and moved closer to the glowing doorway. This was the third time she was asking this question, and even though she wasn't very curious about the question at the start and was just asking as a passing question, now, she was rather curious.
Anyone will get at least a bit curious if you ask a question twice and don't get an answer.
Ethan chuckled as he moved aside, giving her a direct path to the doorway.
Moving closer, she passed by him and touched the glowing watery screen with her palm; she could feel a bubble-like feeling under her hands, "Is this a resonance?" she mumbled, the word was a bit chewy on her lips at the start too, but it was easy now.
"Yes, that is a resonance," Ethan replied and moved beside her, touching the resonance with his own palms. "Do you know where resonances come from?" he asked, his voice speaking volumes about his fascination.
"From world bead?" Wine questioned, even though she didn't know what that was.
"Yes, but no," Ethan replied and turned his face; looking at her, he showed his palms, "Wine, look at this; what do you see?"
Wine looked at his hands; resting on it was a pearl-like thing, dark in color, glassy, and its insides filled with wormy moving black things.
Her brows scrunched up, and she flinched before asking, "Is that what I took on my hand earlier?!" her voice filled with disgust as she rubbed her hand instinctively harder against the doorway.
Ethan shook his head, "This is not disgusting Wine, this is nature, this is our guiding beacon. This is something we all should worship rather than flinch in disgust."
Wine gulped as she looked at it again, the black things, she shivered, they were moving inside, and the repulsive bristles on them were clearly visible on the glass…her stomach started rising.
Ethan furrowed his brows in slight irritation; it wasn't even that repulsive, "Do you know what this is?"
Wine could tell he was angry. She hardened her resolve and looked at it again, 'It was not disgusting, it was not disgusting…' she repeated in her mind and calmed down.
Ethan brought it closer to her face, her hair started rising, and her Teacher shook his head. "You don't have to force yourself like that," he said and then put it on his clean white robe's sleeves and looked at her.
She nodded her head in relief.
Bringing his hands that didn't touch the bead closer to her, he poked at the part below her sternum, at the center of her chest, and said, waking her up from her delusions, "Do you know that same thing which you called disgusting is inside you? The same repulsive thing?"
She could feel his harmless fingernails poking at her, yet, she didn't understand what he said, 'Inside me?' she was clueless about such things, "Did…did I accidentally swallow something like that?" she almost gagged, but her pale face looked at Ethan first.
She wanted him to say no, and he did, "You didn't swallow it."
She sighed inside in relief…
"It was inside your body the moment you were born, just like everyone else in this world." Ethan then said.
Wine wasn't as disgusted by that notion — it seemed like an alien concept, unlike the wormy bristles which were right infront of her face. So she meekly yet curiously asked, "Everyone?"
"Yes, everyone in this world has such a bead inside them, me, you, Ancestor; every human you know has one, like every beast has a tail," he nodded and replied.
"What is the use of such a thing inside us?"
Touching the bubble-like doorway, he smiled again, his irritation fading as he said, "You see this resonance? This one was made due to many world beads being stored together in one place in a unique way, and especially due to the beads all being from the same bloodline, it's even far stronger than it is supposed to be."
She blinked, "So there are many such beads stored inside here?"
"Yes, this is this family's Ancestral Shrine, after all. All the people who died before from this family, fighting beasts or dying due to old age, have their World Bead stored here as a way to respect them."
"What is the use of this light?" she asked, rather interested in the new world she was being thrown into.
"Oh, this one?" Ethan paused and touched the bubbly light, then continued with an eerie chuckle, "This resonance, he drinks blood."
Even he had just realized that. He had planned to use the blood on their bodies at first to guilt-trip her into doing what he wanted by telling her it was the price of bringing her inside and that he was just hurting a bit…that was such an easy plan.
But, the plans had to change a bit; he must move in a different direction.
Wine curiously asked, not much frightened by her Teacher's shenanigans anymore, "But nothing happens to us!" They were even touching the resonance physically…
"That's because we are from the same family as the beads stored deeper underground, or we would have been sucked dry, we would have died." he said with a deep tone.
"But I am just…an outsider, Teacher," Wine hesitantly said.
Ethan smiled and motioned her to follow him, she followed him, and he showed her the earlier cushion. She sat on it and looked at Ethan.
He took two books from the shelf and sat infront of her, then smiled at her and asked, "Do you really think I will choose someone from among the maids to fill my only Student quota?"
Wine's heart thudded; she had a bad feeling — After all, such a notion was too good to be true — she hesitantly shook her head, her black eyes slightly moistening as she repeatedly blinked to keep tears at bay, even though she felt her teacher wouldn't leave her at just that, the tears were just natural reaction.
"Yes, I would never choose a mere maid as my disciple. They are better kept at the bottom of the rung than being brought higher. It's better if they don't taste power."
Wine's throat faintly hurt, "But am I not a mere maid?" she asked.
"No, you are not. If you were, your blood would have been sucked dry by that Resonance, but you are not one. You are one of our family, in other words, My little sister."
Wine blinked, "Ho…how?" she asked, her heart beating like a drum.
Moving to sit beside her, he smiled as he showed her a page in the book in his hands; it was blank, "Put your hands on the page, and you will understand."
She placed her palms on top of it; the paper felt cool to the touch and rather rough.
"Now you can take your hands away."
She did and looked at the page; it had something written on it in unique symbols; it looked like a circle as a whole, just below where her palm was; she couldn't read, so she looked at Ethan for answers.
"Those are not words, Wine; it's our signature. if it shows up when you touch it, it means you are allowed to be initiated into Wuma using our Golden Eyes method." He stopped speaking and looked at her face, "It also means you are my little sister."