Emptiness

Chapter 05

Vabaaga country

Varog City:

       If it was any other time and situation, he would have been laughing at the expression on his every sibling’s face.

Some were shocked, but most of them were angered and jealous of Ziyou Raaga.

Ziyou didn’t know what he did to deserve this.

This loneliness that was slowly consuming him day and night…

And today’s event did nothing but alienate him even more from his siblings.

Why was it always him?

Ziyou closed his eyes, praying for patience.

He desperately tried not to notice the emptiness filling him in, threatening to consume his very being.

He wasn’t afraid of many things, but the emptiness he felt sometimes was beginning to scare him.

He opened his eyes and looked at the angry siblings in the crown room.

Every one of them averted their eyes, not daring to look into his eyes.

Another feature that made Ziyou to stand out.

His eyes distinguished him even more from his family, and it scared them too.

Ziyou had a white Iris and black pupils, making others scared to even look straightly in his eyes. His white Iris was separated from the sclera by a dark blue ring.

His eyes were weird; in fact, the weirdest eyes in the entire Vabeo as no one had seen eyes like this, and there wasn’t anything like this recorded in the history books.

Things were already tense in Vabaaga palace, and his eyes hadn’t helped him much with the way it made people to be wary of him and that they refused to look into his eyes for more than a few seconds.

Ziyou excelled in everything, from studying, practicing Egav, sword fighting, archery, and the famous Raaga’s unique way in Egav.

But none noticed the things he could not do.

Ziyou cannot sing for the life of him, nor can he do any kind of arts. His self-portrait in itself was enough to scare even Ziyou. None noticed that he could not cook, nor could he hunt animals if they camped in the forest for training as he had a habit of letting the animals go, not able to kill with how cute he found them.

None noticed the things Ziyou Raaga cannot do…

He cannot do many things…

All people noticed was how good he was in World Synch…

Ziyou cursed the fact he was born as a Raaga.

Granted, he could hide his powers and live in the shadows.

What was the use even then? It would be exhausting to pretend all the time. Ziyou didn’t want to live like that, forever hidden, not being noticed by anyone. It was not as if people noticed his real self now anyway.

World Synch…

The power of Raagas to connect their Egav with Vabeo and be guided in the best way, like seeing many futures and having the luxury to choose the best of the futures.

None inherited it from birth as they only had the ability in their blood, and it was up to them to develop it as they grow up, with a series of rituals that remain a secret and thought only to the main branch of the Raaga family by the elders in the family.

A vow was taken with Egav to keep the rituals secret. It was not as if anyone could master World Synch just by doing these rituals. One has to be a Raaga to synch with Vabeo.

And doing the rituals for five or six years let them know the level their World Synch was when they take the final test as the last test.

Every Raaga child of the main branch will begin the rituals at the age of five, and within a year, it will be revealed whether the child can synch their Egav with Vabeo or not. And after that, other rituals and training in World Synch were given till they reached ten, and at the age of ten, the final ritual was offering their Egav and getting a colored flower in return, which would let them know the range of their World Synch. From white to the brightest of colors meant lowest to highest.

Very few in the entire Raagas had bright colored flowers in return, and Ziyou had gotten a Redtug flower….

An Egav flower, which none had gotten since everybody always got an ordinary flower like a rose or something that doesn’t have Egav on its own.

His father favored him after that, believing he was the one who would bring Raagas back to their full glory.

One of the different traditions Raagas had, was that the eldest wouldn’t get the crown. Among the children who had the highest World Synch during the Crown Prince ceremony will be named as the Crown Prince.

Everyone’s World Synch level changes as they grow. That was the only thing keeping the assassinations on Ziyou at minimum, which he was thankful for.

Ziyou had three elder brothers, two younger sisters, and a younger brother. The seven of them were the official children of the King.

Ziyou Raaga might have been born as the fourth Prince, but the age difference between him and his three elder brothers was just a year.

Because his father was a womanizer and, above all, the greediest King, who wanted to be known as the best Raaga King in history, which he would never get it. It was due to the fact that he was one of the rare Kings in Raaga history to marry many women and had a harem of mistresses and concubines.

His father, Hagen Raaga, had four official wives and countless concubines, some captured in war, some offered as a gift. The only people his father married were to keep the peace treaty.

Hagen Raaga’s first two wives were twin sisters, who he had married to maintain the relationship between Uras and Raagas, as they were the daughters of the eldest brother of Nolen’s grandfather. Just a few months after his father’s marriage with twins, his father had married two other women and gotten them pregnant all in a year, wanting heirs as soon as possible.

Ziyou was disgusted with his father.

And Ziyou’s mother was one of his official wives, the third wife, and Hagen Raaga’s fourth wife was a Jour, whom he married to maintain the friendship with Jours.

That was why he and his siblings didn’t have much difference in age.

The third wife, his mother, was called a mysterious wife since none knew about her origin.

She wasn’t just called a mysterious wife because none knew the reason his father married her. It was mainly because she had committed suicide.

Ziyou didn’t feel angry with his mother for committing suicide, as looking at the look on his siblings’ faces and how lonely he felt even with the King’s favor, he cannot imagine the hell his mother must have gone through.

He just hated her for leaving him all alone here, amid these cruel and selfish people.

Ziyou really did try to get close, at least to his siblings, but his stepmothers didn’t like how popular he was growing up. His brothers envied him for his powers and the way their father, the King, favored him.

His sisters were too obsessed with being a perfect girl for their mothers that none cared for him.

Gracie Raaga, his mother, should have ended him with her.

He has a secret, though….

The World Synch wasn’t just one of his powers. His Egav was different, which Ziyou knew must come from his mother’s bloodline.

Unlike other people, he could control Egav in a different way. For example, one can form a shield from an Egav of their own core, and the enemy cannot pierce through the shield for a certain extent of time or dominate the shield with their own Egav. But Ziyou can make other people’s Egav into his one, like he can turn that shield and their Egav against themselves.

Ziyou had noticed this a year before and how easy using Egav came for him, like how he could control the rocks just as easily as an Ura without any blood of Ura in him; likewise, he could use Egav in any way he wanted without being stopped by the blood limit restrictions others had. His Egav didn’t lean towards one particular area.

Ziyou didn’t have any kind of idea about his mother, as the King refused to say anything about her whenever he questioned him, so Ziyou didn’t know how to train in that.

Ziyou didn’t want to share that secret now, with how he was already standing out too much with his World Synch. Ziyou was afraid of his own powers nowadays, as he knew in the future Ziyou would be forced into the frontline of war with how much power he had.

Even hiding that wasn’t helping matter much.

He didn’t know how long he could endure his life in this castle.

Today had been one of the days he had been dreading to go through. He had prayed to Goddess Uruni, the goddess of snakes, to be with him and guide him.

He wanted to laugh at the irony of how drastically things had changed from how much he wished this day to go normal.

Today was the day the King had decided that they were all his official children, and no more of any child he had or has in the future would be accepted as an official child of his. Seven of them would have the right as official children of King Hagen Raaga.

They were all assembled in the jewel chamber of Raaga castle, which had many rooms in it, and they were standing in the crown room.

As official children of the King, they have permission to wear crowns from now on.

They were asked to be present in the chamber after breakfast today.

Ziyou had finished breakfast in his private chambers, not wanting to dine in with the King and his wives as Ziyou really was not in the mood for veiled taunts and jokes about his dead mother, disguising it with their fake concerns.

He really was lucky that the King favored him and allowed him a personal wing in the central part of the castle, away from the harem. He stayed in the official castle part as he didn’t want to grow up in the harem palace like his siblings are. They would stay with their mothers till they came off age, since Ziyou didn’t have any; he had requested the King to allow him to have an entire wing on the other side of the castle.

His stepmothers tried to convince the King not to let him stay like that since he was just a child, but thankfully, he convinced the King that he wanted to stay close to the library and training field.

Staying alone in official part of the castle wasn’t just because he wanted to avoid his stepmothers but to stay away from the assassination attempts which would happen for sure in the harem palace if he stayed there. Ziyou would have to check his food every time if he stayed there. He had his own personal servants here and one would have to reach the King’s guards if they wanted to reach him here in his chambers.

After finishing his breakfast, he had decided to change clothes and worn a dark blue tunic and matching pants, a white vest over it, going for a simple look, hoping to fade into the background.

As he reached the chambers an hour before, he wasn’t surprised to see the presence of his three stepmothers and their children. The King entered later with the Prime Minister and a historian, who recorded eventful things in the history book, so the future generations knew about things that were happening in the present.

He had grimaced, standing near a pillar, and imagined he was not here and somewhere in the woods, where he was playing with snakes and animals.

It was also something Raagas did, a tradition of the crowns choosing the Princes and Princesses.

There was a silver circle lit in the center of the crown room where the crowns were worn by previous Kings, queens, princes, and Princesses were present on shelves. If some crowns choose them, it means the ancestor who wore the crown favored them and will guide them in the future.

If no crown chose them, which was what happened in most of the cases as he read in the books over the month, they could give their design to the crown maker to make it for them.

Amy Raaga and Tina Raaga came empty-handed when they went first to pick a crown, just like his younger brother and third brother.

It was no surprise when his second brother, Hedek Raaga, was chosen by a crown, nor when the eldest child of the King, Lehan Raaga, got a crown in his head when the crown adjusted its size to fit his eldest brother’s head. Lehan and Hedek were very powerful even at this age, and they would reach far if they didn’t waste their time being obsessed with Ziyou and World Synch.

Obsessing with World Synch and not focusing on any kind of Egav was a mistake every Raaga did. His brothers were no exception.

He didn’t know what the fuss with these crowns was. Who cared which ancestor wore what crown?

Ziyou will not let anyone guide his future, for he will choose his own path.

He let them go first, hoping they would forget about him or that his stepmothers distract his father and that they ignore him.

Well, that was not possible enough for him to even believe it, but he still hoped. When all eyes turned towards him, he went ignoring the look on Lehan Raaga’s mother, the Queen’s face, and entered the circle.

He was really surprised by the crown that came to him.

The crown was ever worn by only one person, and every Ragga knew about the crown since the ancestor was someone they prayed to every day.

Bayron Raaga, the Raaga who had found World Synch they use now and was the first one to push it beyond limits.

Ziyou’s fingers clenched the crown as everyone turned envious of the way the crown seemed to glow under his hands.

God! Why was he being punished with things like this?

Why cannot he have a normal day for once?

He knew what he had to do even before his father opened his mouth to speak about it.

“I cannot accept this, your Majesty.”

“Are you disrespecting our greatest ancestor, Ziyou?”

Ziyou clenched his teeth, not wanting to say anything to his stepmother in front of his father.

His father raised his hand, and that silenced his stepmothers.

“Why, my son?”

“I am young, Your Majesty. I cannot bear the weight of this crown now. If I wore this crown outside, you know what our enemies will do. They will stop at nothing to steal our crown away. And, I don’t want to be the reason behind such loss.”

His father looked down at him and ignored the way everyone in the chamber was staring at them.

He nodded at Ziyou, accepting his reason, which Ziyou didn’t lie about. The attacks on him would rise a hundred times if he wore this crown. And he didn’t want to always look behind his back, nor did he want the attention as he already had plenty.

“But, you will accept it when you grow into a man, Ziyou?”

“Of course, Your Majesty. It would be the greatest honor to wear such a crown.”

No way in hell Ziyou would do that.

But his father was appeased with this and patted his shoulder in a rare display of affection, making his siblings to envy him more.

“Then, will you go and choose another crown?”

“No, Your Majesty. I will order the royal crown maker to design mine. I already have some designs in mind.”

The servant working in the chambers bowed to him before Ziyou gave the crown back so that it would be kept on the shelves again.

Ziyou forced himself not to react when he felt the crown tug at his Egav before the servant brought it back.

God! What was that?

No object should behave like that.

He didn’t say anything aloud, though, because he didn’t want any more drama today. Ziyou promised himself that he would never come to this crown room, let alone wear that cursed crown in the future.

“How many times I’ve asked you to call me father, Ziyou?”

“You will always be the King first and my father next, Your Majesty. I have the utmost respect for you.”

You slimy bastard…

If only Ziyou could live comfortably without the favor of his father, he would not even bother to look at his father.

Just a few years….

Ziyou will grit his teeth and fake things till he is strong enough that he doesn’t need anyone’s favor. He will wait for that day when he is finally free of these people and free of the emptiness clawing inside him.

~~~~

“Do you see that, Iri?”

“Where, Solum?”

“Come on, Iri, look to your left and stop being distracted by the trees.”

“You, Solum…. You….”

“Stop it and look at them, Iri.”

“Where to?”

Mico was fed up with both of them and finally turned Iri’s head towards the direction Solum was pointing at, making Solum chuckle at both of their expressions.

Solum didn’t have any kind of Egav. That was why he had to rely upon natural things that brought light amid the darkness of night.

The night flowers were a big help to help him navigate through this dark forest during the night.

It had been a month and some days since he last visited Iri.

Iri was growing up, and Solum could not make him stay in the small hut forever without any kind of interaction with others. Iri was allowed only certain parameters around the small hut till now, as Solum didn’t want him to get hurt and requested Iri to always stay near the house.

Iri’s horn had grown a little bit longer, and he was finally becoming healthy, not the skin and bone child Solum had rescued.

He was glad and, at the same time, worried about how he was going to keep Iri safe with his growing curiosity and loneliness.

So, that was why Solum and Mico had decided to let Iri be familiar with the forest and be safe. Iri doesn’t have any sort of control over his Egav, nor does he know how to use them.

Solum doesn’t know anything about it to teach Iri anything. Mico only was an average linia user, and he could not teach Horns about the powers he had.

Mico said there were books about them and for Iri to read them, Iri should learn how to read and write.

Mico had brought some notes and pens with him. They had been teaching him, and in secret, Solum was learning too as he wasn’t allowed to learn anything as a lowlife.

It had been two days since Solum had come here, and he was going to stay for two weeks at least this time. Iri was over the moons, hearing that Solum would remain with him. Mico had come yesterday night, completing their sweet home.

They had both decided to take Iri out, further than ever, to make him familiarize with the forest, at least. Solum doubted they could take Iri out to the society where none would accept him.

Solum willed those thoughts away for the future and smiled at the awestruck look on Iri’s face when he finally saw what Solum had been trying to show him.

Mico was looking just as fascinated.

Solum tried to imprint the image of Iri’s and Mico’s happy faces under the Della and Niten’s moonlight along with the light provided by night-flowers.

Mico’s caramel hair and brown eyes….

Iri’s heterochromatic eyes and his horns….

Everything….

Solum wanted to take this memory to the grave, for this would be the happiest ever would be in his life.

“Tell me about them, Sol.”

Solum smiled and looked at the lovebugs.

“Lovebugs, famed for the love they have for their partner. The male lovebug will set fire on itself, providing warmth for the eggs as they need a higher temperature than usual to hatch. The female lovebug will look over the hatching and will jump in the male bug’s fire after the baby bugs are born. A lovebug wouldn’t stay without its partner even if it were not for the hatching, as lovebugs commit suicide if something happens to their partner. Staying together even in death.”

Mico looked exasperated and scowled at lovebugs, but Solum silenced him before he went on to say about how the lovebugs were leaving their children to survive on their own. Solum didn’t want to ruin Iri’s excitement.

Iri raised his hands and chased after the violet glow the love bugs emit when they fly together in the night.

They were fortunate to look at them as lovebugs are extremely rare and can only be found in the deep of forests.

Solum winced when Mico caressed his swollen arm. He grimaced at the pain lacing in him and refused to meet Mico’s brown eyes.

“You can fool Iri, Sol. But, not me.”

Solum didn’t know what to say.

The beating this time was worse than ever.

He hadn’t even done anything wrong this time.

When he had gone to work to clean the garden for a man in the town, he had tried to dismiss Solum without paying him anything, not even a minimum amount. And when Solum had questioned the man bravely, he had thrown Solum away and hit him with the nearest thing he had grabbed, which unfortunately happened to be a stick.

He had somehow escaped that man and went back to Garbage, where his mother had refused anyone to treat him, saying that he had to learn a lesson to not mess with higher class people.

Solum had cried that day in pain, not able to sleep and not having food with how his mother had denied him things.

He had decided to disappear for a while as soon as his legs healed enough for him to walk. None will try to find him, thinking he had gone off in anger at his mother for a while.

He only wanted to earn some money so he could buy a proper bed for his Iri. But things didn’t go the way he wanted.

He had used the herbs in the forest to heal his wounds, but they didn’t heal him quickly enough that Mico had noticed that.

“Look at me, Sol.”

Solum was forced to look at him when he felt his wounded hand warming up.

It was being healed….

“No, you can’t….”

“Shut up, Sol.”

Solum let him heal. None did things for him like Iri and Mico. He wished he could stay with them forever.

Solum grabbed Mico’s hands, feeling thankful beyond words. Solum knew even if he couldn’t use Egav that, children of Mico’s age don’t have much control over their Egav, and it would drain them. Yet, Mico had done that for a lowlife like him.

“Stop thinking low about yourself, Sol.”

“How did you know what I was thinking, Mico?”

“I just know, Sol.”

“Thank you, Mico.”

Mico flicked his forehead playfully for saying thank you and smiled at him.

Iri came back, joining his hands with them.

“Can we go and sleep? I am tired, Solum.”

“Fine, Iri. Let’s go.”

They had a few blankets, which would be enough for the three of them to sleep comfortably on the floor of the log cabin that was their home. Tomorrow, he will cook something for Iri and Mico as the spices he had planted around their home have grown well. Mico had brought some utensils with him this time, so he would cook some delicious meat for them.

As he walked along with them, hand in hand, Solum felt like he could tolerate anything for them as long as he could stay together with Iri and Mico.