Emptiness

Chapter 13

Zeta Country

Gavero City:

Anaika Ura was just an eight-year-old who dreamt about being in Vabaaga, even though she was born an Ura.

Her grandmother, Zeve Ura, was her inspiration.

Zeve Ura always told many stories about how Anaika’s grandfather fell in love with her. It was amazing to see how her grandmother had managed to make a person like her grandfather to fall for her.

Zengan Ura was a cold and strict person, yet he fell for her grandmother as soon as he saw her.

Zeve Ura had told Anaika about how their age difference was ten years and how sometimes, it was hard to get along with. But at the end of the day, Anaika’s grandfather had always brought a bouquet of lilies to her since they were Zeve Ura’s favorite.

Anaika’s grandmother, Zeve, had been from one of the small families in Zeta, not a princess or anything. Still, her grandmother had managed to catch the eyes of her grandfather.

Zeve Ura was the hot topic when the King of Zeta, Zengan Ura, who had been chosen to stay a bachelor for the rest of his life, had decided to marry in order to get heirs.

But Zeve Ura wasn’t to be taken lightly either.

She was the one Anaika’s grandfather had chosen to marry, rejecting the hands of Princesses and the heiresses of many wealthy families. He had seen the courage in Anaika’s grandmother and liked how brave she was.

Since then, Zeve Ura had ruled the Zeta as a Queen and had given birth to Anaika’s father, Sian Ura.

Anaika was just four when she had lost her father in war.

Anaika doesn’t know much about the war, nor does she remember her father that well. She had vague memories of him tickling her and lifting her. That’s all. She cannot spend her entire life running after his memory as Brother Nolen does.

She doesn’t understand the way her brother has been obsessed with training ever since their father died. She didn’t know what use was it to spend your entire day in training and completing Princely duties.

When would he live?

Brother Nolen had stopped coming to visit her.

Brother Nolen had stopped to play with her, and doesn’t care about the dolls she had brought.

Brother Nolen had stopped sneaking into many secret places in Zeta’s castle with her and was too busy practicing his Egav and such, ever since their father left them.

She doesn’t understand what the problem with Brother Nolen is.

Grandfather too had stopped playing with her. He doesn’t even visit her nowadays, too busy with the duties, and if he had any free time, he spent it with Brother Nolen and helping him practice his Egav.

What was the use of spending all your time in practice and training?

When will Brother Nolen live?

Anaika doesn’t understand how Brother Nolen will know the true meaning of happiness.

She doubted he would ever know what it is to be alive….

Being alive is doing something that makes you happy.

Boys and men, and their obsession with training and war!

There are many ways to get what they want except always choosing violence as a way to get things.

Like how Anaika was doing to make things go her way.

Anaika stepped on the orchids, purposefully crushing them under her heels.

Anaika had told her mother multiple times not to plant these ugly flowers in the garden, as it was only ruining the beauty of this wonderful garden.

Anaika didn’t care it was her mother’s private garden or how it was her mother’s choice what to plant, as Rose Ura spent all her time and Egav to grow this beautiful garden.

Anaika didn’t care.

If she disliked something, then she disliked it.

It was her mother’s fault anyways to plant these things in the garden no matter how many times Anaika had told her she hated orchids. She absolutely hated them.

Anaika didn’t know why she hated these orchid flowers this much, but she didn’t like it, and it had to go. If something was not of Anaika’s choice, then it had to go.

That was why she pretended to fall and fell over the orchid plants, destroying them in a second as the plants were crushed under her weight.

Her mother rushed to Anaika to aid her.

Anaika pretended to struggle and stepped all over the orchid plants, taking pleasure in the way it was crushed under her feet.

Her mother, the gentlest person she had ever seen in life, helped her stand steady, not caring about the way her plants were destroyed.

Rose Ura was the kindest person Anaika had seen and also the weakest person. Anaika hated vulnerable people, and her mother was the weakest since she was wasting the beautiful life she had in her hands. She was the Queen of Zeta, and she could do anything she wanted. The King was no more, and it was a good opportunity for any Queen to shine.

Yet, what was she doing?

Rose Ura was spending all her time wallowing in grief of her dead husband. People who die never come back. Mother doesn’t understand that simple truth of it.

That was why she hated Rose Ura, her mother, sometimes.

Rose Ura was too busy wallowing in grief that she had forgotten she had children of her own, leaving Anaika and Nolen all alone ever since their father, Sian Ura, left the world.

Anaika wanted her mother to spend some time with her, other than sharing stories of their father all the time.

Anaika felt bored sometimes of the castle life. The only thing she liked was spending time with her grandmother.

Zeve Ura was recovering well. She had been sick, on bed rest for a few years, but she was getting fine.

Anaika’s grandmother had promised her that she would teach her the tricks of being a lady and how to use subtle Egav.

And, Anaika was excited to learn things from a great Queen like Zeve Ura. Zeve Ura had been the Queen of Zeta and now, the Queen Mother.

Anaika had great control of her Egav, and she was tired of putting on a show by enhancing her Egav and moving massive boulders with it. She didn’t like that.

She wanted to learn all sorts of things from her grandmother, for she was Anaika’s inspiration. She loved how strong and brave her grandmother was.

Take it by anyway if you like something, Ana. We are the Uras. The Vabeo favors the Uras.

And that was what Anaika had been doing.

She would make everything and anything go the way she wanted, and Anaika loved the way her little manipulations all fell into where she wanted. It was a wonderful feeling.

It was satisfying to see her little manipulations here and there, like threads with no pattern, but when it all forms like a spider's web, and prey falls into it. That satisfaction was addictive, and Anaika was already addicted even at this age to subtle manipulation.

What use was it to have an enormous Egav when it was obvious for the enemy? A little manipulation of ground on their feet was enough to bury them deep. Her brother wouldn’t understand it, nor did anyone would. But more people being ignorant to it meant less work for Anaika, since she could fool everyone.

Her mother, Rose Ura, guided her to the bench in the garden, making her sit and move towards the table where the water jug was kept.

Anaika hated it.

She hated the way her mother was weak and stupid.

Can’t she just use her Egav and pull the jug to them?

How much Egav would it take to pull the jug to them without spilling the water?

Was it too much?

A below linia Egavian, Imus would do this without sweating, then why can’t her mother, Rose Ura, the Queen of Zeta, do it like this?

Why was she, the Queen of Ura, acting like a low-life of all things?

God! How she hated the lowlifes, the people without Egav and seeing her mother doing things like them made her to hate her mother even more.

Anaika sometimes felt ashamed to share things about her mother with her own friends.

She shook her head, leaving the frustrating thoughts away, as no matter how much Anaika had asked her mother to be alright and come out of this stupid garden, her mother wouldn’t ever listen to anyone.

And this had made Rose Ura to be disliked by her grandmother, Zeve.

Zeve was worried about how Queen Rose was neglecting her children, and there was no one to teach Anaika things. Zeve Ura was recovering mainly because of her worries of anyone not looking after Anaika.

Did her mother ever love Anaika and her Brother Nolen?

Anaika looked at this cursed garden and hated the way the flowers smiled at her, enjoying their victory of keeping Anaika’s mother, Rose Ura, to themselves.

Not just orchids, she has destroyed many plants over the years, but her mother has just grown some more plants and stayed cooped up in here.

Anaika hated it.

She hated her mother and how she had become. Nowadays, the hate for her mother is growing in her heart, and she cannot stand the sight of her mother anymore.

This will be the last time she was going to visit her mother, Rose Ura since her grandmother was in recovery, and she said they would train from the next month.

Anaika was tired of cheering up her mother.

Let Anaika’s mother do what she wants, and Anaika will do what she wants.

She let go of thoughts of her mother, as she vowed to forget about her useless mother from now on.

There were many important things anyways. Like how Zeve Ura will teach her Egav and the many things she wanted to achieve and do in her life. Anaika didn’t want to waste her life like her mother. So, she was going to live her life and get whatever she wanted, exactly the way she wanted.

The one thing that fascinated her above all and it was something she wanted to get one day.

Ziyou Raaga...

Anaika will get him someday.

Ziyou, with his cold attitude and distant behavior, fascinated Anaika like no one did. She wanted to open his heart and find what he was hiding.

Because it was very obvious to her.

And living a life with him in the future will surely guarantee mysteries of a level no one can imagine, which she can guess even at this age. And, Anaika loved mysteries.

He was the greatest puzzle Anaika could not figure it out and wanted to solve in the future.

He was also the most fun toy she wanted to play with.

Grandmother had also said they would make a good couple in the future.

She didn’t understand what it meant to be a couple or something, but she treasured those words to her heart because if it meant they could stay together forever, then she would become a couple or, whatever in the future.

Anaika has always gotten what she had wanted, and she will get Ziyou Raaga in the future no matter what she has to do for that.

Her mother’s arrival distracted her from Ziyou Raaga’s thoughts.

Her mother kneeled in front of her, silent as usual, not speaking anything.

She looked over Anaika to see if she was hurt anywhere and then got up, seeing that Anaika was fine.

Anaika took the water from her mother’s extended hand and sipped it, glancing at the destroyed plants from the corner of her eyes, enjoying it.

Oh! How she loved destroying those plants that were holding her mother captive.

She will always get what she wants, exactly the way she wants. It was nothing new. And the satisfaction felt like an adrenaline rush she was already addicted to.

Anaika was too busy with her thoughts that she had failed to notice the way her mother’s expression went down, and her eyes lost even more light.

~~~~

Avarius Country:

Nibea City

Isaac Mandana was dismayed at the way his arrows fell short of the target.

Isaiah, his twin, watched from afar and smiled at him teasingly.

So, what if he couldn’t do that?

He was just eight years old. He had many years to learn things like this. He was just a child, and he didn’t have any urgency or pressure to be the best at this young age, maybe except his mother, who was always belittling him for being weak and learning slowly.

Isaac admits that he learns slower than other children, but once he learns it, he excels at it. None of them understand it. Isaac sees things differently than others.

He doesn’t just see the target like other people and concentrates on it.

He wants to learn the arch of the bow, the way it is constructed, the materials and wood types used for bow and arrows, the design on it.

He wants to know deeply about this topic.

Isaac doesn’t just want to take a bow and aims at the target with arrows given.

He wasn’t a doer; he was a thinker before a doer.

So, it takes a lot of time for Isaac to learn things.

Just like now, how he was wondering about the angle the bow should be held and how much force it was needed in pulling the arrow before releasing it.

Even though they had said the target was eight meters away, Isaac had gone and measured it with his steps. It was eight meters and a few more inches.

Isaac knew that things like that don’t matter, but he could not shut his brain out.

His brain is always active and analyzes things, taking in everything.

Isaac was not like other people, and he was lucky that he didn’t get bullied for it because Isaac fades in the background compared to the people he lives along with.

For that, Isaac was grateful for it.

Unlike ordinary people, he doesn’t take the things he is told. He analyses it and sees the center of the things, the truth above everything.

But, thinking doesn’t do him good all the time, like how he was struggling within this simple archery.

There wasn’t even Egav involved. It was just aiming arrows at a target.

Isaac wasn’t practicing Egav, nor was he learning the techniques of Zuri. He was still stuck in learning plain archery while children who learned along with him had finished this and gone to learn how to coat their arrows with Egav.

That’s made him a slow learner in these people’s eyes. But it also gave him the safety of staying in the shadows. People just looked over him, ignoring Isaac as they think of him as an i***t. They don’t understand that his brain doesn’t shut out, unlike other people.

“You can do it, brother.”

Isaac smiled despite everything, for his twin sister’s smile was infectious.

She was a simple girl who loved to dance and smile around.

She believes everything as they were told, just like any ordinary person, and doesn’t question things.

It was like Isaac thought for both of them.

Yet, she was his twin, the one who shared their mother’s womb with him, and they had always been together since their birth.

He cannot see her upset and does everything together to make her happy, as she gets upset if they get separated for a long time.

Isaac Mandana was born a few minutes before Isaiah Mandana, and she calls him brother no matter how much he insists, it doesn’t matter as they were born on the same day.

Isaiah was his happiness, and she was all Isaac had.

There was no one anymore.

Father was dead when they were just two years old, and their family, most of their relatives, either died during the war or scattered over different countries, hiding from their enemy Sarse.

Their elder brother, Alan Mandana, was too busy with training and things.

Their uncle, Caleb, who escaped with them, was too involved with politics and such, trying to get a position in Avarius, and their mother, Hazel Mandana, was…..

She was something else.

He doesn’t know why their elder brother, Alan thinks their mother favors them.

Isaac and Isaiah were a hindrance to her path of freedom and achieving her goals.

Isaiah may be a fool to fall for her rare moments of kindness, but he wasn’t. He can see the way her face twists when Isaiah asks her to tell stories or come to play with her. Isaac had often noticed how their mother frowns when they come near her during the discussions she has with important people.

She looks at them as if wondering why she gave birth to them.

Hazel Mandana hates children in general.

But, Isaac agrees that his mother outright hates their brother, Alan, and doesn’t even hide it in front of people. He didn’t know how Brother Alan handled it.

“Stop staring and aim at your target, brother.”

Isaac fake glares at her before aiming at the target and misses again.

Most would be discouraged by this, but it only inspires him to find the perfect way to aim and hit the target.

He takes another arrow and continues his target practice.

Usually, girls weren’t allowed here in the training field, but Isaiah was just a child and didn’t even interfere with anything except watch Isaac training from afar.

If someone refuses, Isaiah will cry a lot until they give into her ways.

Isaac worried about his sister sometimes, as none would let her do things just because she cried in the future.

Isaiah has to learn to live on her own.

For now, he will guard her as best as possible.

They were refugees here, and it was their grandfather’s country. Isaiah felt safe here, but not Isaac. He can see the hidden sneers, fake smiles and everything. He sees through it.

Isaac may be an eight-year-old, but that doesn’t mean he can’t sense the hostility among the people he was living with.

Isaac may be among relatives from his mother’s side, but he had seen how they treat their brother, Alan Mandana and the way they openly criticize him, bully him, and put the blame on Alan himself.

If they were being cruel to one Mandana, what guarantee was it that they won’t behave the same with Isaac and Isaiah? After all, they were Mandanas too.

How long will it take for them to turn against Isaac and Isaiah?

Brother Alan might be hated by many and treated worse and may think he doesn’t have anyone, but Brother Alan has one person, who was like a teacher, a guard, a well-wisher, a protector, all in one.

Anon Bradiga guards their brother against every threat.

And, Isaac and Isaiah don’t have anyone to protect them in the future if the Zuris turn against them too. They don’t have anyone like Anon Bradiga who protects their brother, Alan Mandana, with life.

So, it was up to them to survive in Avarius, and Isaac doesn’t know what to do in the future as out of Avarius, they will be killed by Sarse, and within Avarius, people will definitely backstab him and his sister one day.

His sister refuses to open her eyes. She was just a child even though they were of the same age. And, no matter how many times he has explained it to her that things are not the way they are, she refuses to listen to him.

She casually interacts with Zuri’s children no matter how much Isaac had warned her that they aren’t good people. Isaiah just goes with them to play if they were kind to her for a single minute.

He didn’t know what he was going to do in the future.

Isaac really loved his twin sister, Isaiah, but sometimes he hated how childish she was.

Yes, she was a child, but the circumstance had forced him to grow up, their brother to grow up, but she remains the same. They are not in their country, and anyone can hurt them and use them at any moment. She never listens.

Most of the time, Isaac and Isaiah love the same things, from favorite food to favorite places, but they are growing up, and things change.

Sometimes, Isaac prefers something Isaiah doesn’t like, and that upsets her on some level.

Isaac had tried to explain it to her that they are twins, and that doesn’t mean they are the same person and have to like and dislike the same things.

But she cries a lot until Isaac lies that he too dislikes the things she dislikes.

There wasn’t anyone to look after them, so it was up to Isaac to look after her, and that was why he gave in all the time.

Isaac knew that this arrangement wouldn’t last long as in the future, Isaac wouldn’t be the same. But, he will protect her until then. He will protect her and tolerate her tantrums until she can stand on her own.

She was a good girl most of the time, a little naïve, but sometimes, she behaves like their mother, adamant and ignorant of others’ feelings.

Like how she forces him to hate their brother Alan.

Isaiah doesn’t like Alan, and in fact, she hates him because their mother had told her how bad Alan was. Isaac wasn’t like Isaiah and saw through things.

How come Alan, a ten-year-old, be responsible for greater things happening in the castle?

Moreover, Isaac had seen how Alan protects them, like trying to draw every attention to himself whenever there seemed to be someone troubling Isaac and Isaiah.

Isaiah doesn’t understand the things their brother Alan does for them silently. He was their only ally. Isaiah may not understand this, but Isaac does, and he admires his brother a lot for that.

Isaac keeps everything secret, though, because if his mother and Isaiah know about it, they will not let him outside of his room.

Isaac had heard the conversation between his brother Alan and Knight Anon Bradiga a week before about how Alan feels the water, but the element refuses to respond to him.

Isaac was amazed to know that Alan could feel the water at all. He had read many books about Mandanas in Zuri’s library or what was available about his family, wanting to know about his origin.

It was mind-blowing to read that their father was the first one to tame the water element in centuries and to know that his brother could feel the water was amazing in itself.

Brother Alan wasn’t satisfied with it at all. Alan had mastered Zuri’s power at the mere age of eight. His brother doesn’t know the power he has. That’s one of the reasons the Zuri’s feels threatened by his brother Alan.

Isaac could see that Alan was working hard, harder than anyone, spending day and night in the training field to enhance his Egav level to Moyen.

His brother has a goal in his mind. No one will work hard like this without a goal. Isaac wasn’t blind and ignorant, like other people to not see that.

And, here Isaac was struggling to even aim at the target.

But he will, he will master the Zuri’s power as he knew there was no way his Egav would respond to water as it shied away from it, just like every other Mandanas except a few.

As his arrow hit slightly next to the target, his sister, Isaiah, jumped up and down, cheering up. Like in an instant, he felt like his brain had finished analyzing things.

He had been learning about the manufacture of bows and arrows for over a month. He was finished with his research.

He would soon master this, and none would stop him.

He took another arrow and focused on the force to release the arrow like the previous arrows, as he tested about angles and such.

There was one other thing that Isaac didn’t have in common with his twin, Isaiah.

He doesn’t hate his brother Alan. Isaiah hates their brother because his mother does, but Isaac just pretends to hate him.

Isaac knew the efforts of Alan and how he protected them subtly even though he had never spoken with them. And, he wasn’t Isaiah to blindly trust anyone.

After all, how could Sarse attack Veron knowing Veron was too busy fighting Zeta?

There had to be someone from their side or on their continent that had helped Sarse.

And Isaac wasn’t one to let things go easily without knowing about the complete truth.