The Vaticinator

secernate. Maybe being his son offers me the privilege of being more sensitive towards his aura. I put this on my mental check list of things to inquire about later.

  “Terry and Rufina will lead everyone out in a few minutes. I didn’t even ask Roger to drop them. Terry said he’ll get a cab in the outskirts.” Father informs Mikhail upon entry.

  Mikhail grunts, “You both should go too.” He says, glancing once at me, “I’ll handle this.” He waves at the sleeping Aakir.

  I do not reply. There is no need. They already know what I’ll reply with. The point of objection is Mikhail still continuing to ask me to leave. Father looks at me once and then minutely shakes his head at Mikhail. Mikhail huffs, already expecting this response. He grunts something about looking what the other council members are up to and then he departs. It has become apparent to me that the council members should not know about our escapades. Considering half of them to be mute and the other half to be against us, I do not raise any question regarding the subject.

  “How are you feeling?” father asks as soon as we are left alone. His voice is quiet and stoic. As usual. Somehow, I find Mikhail more expressive than his son.

  “Anxious.” I mutter, fiddling with my fingers again.

  Father nods in understanding, “You had become quite accustomed to Neal’s aura in the past days.”

  I frown at him, “Are you saying that I am…?”

  “Do not you think that you are feeling anxious because of the absence of your partner’s aura?”

  “I do.” I quickly agree, then I shake my head, “How come you and Terry uncle are able to stay away from Mom and Gwen aunt? Okay, with Neal’s aura not around me, I am not completely helpless, but I definitely do not feel at ease.” And it is true. Somewhat. Though, I didn’t expect my partner’s absence to be noticeable to me, not in the negative sense. But I feel anxious, almost on edge. I keep yearning for Neal’s aura, knowing it’ll calm me. I have been blaming my exaggerated thoughts towards these exaggerated feelings, but if father agrees that such a thing can happen without my partner then I am assured that I am not overthinking.

  Father takes a deep breath and begins, “When I am away on a business trip, away from your mother, I have this surety at the back of my mind that I’ll be seeing and sensing her again soon. Same with Terry. We have never faced a situation where we are uncertain about seeing our partners again. Besides if any of my trips without Nina extends for too long, then I do start feeling a little skittish.”

  I nod at him, thinking it over.

  “Is there anything you want to know?” Father ask, when I don’t say anything.

  Whoa, I think, gazing at him in disbelief. Seeing as how Mikhail is unrestrained of speaking to me of the past events; my own father has started to feel the urge to divulge information to me. It’s weird to think he was bound to spill no words because of his old man. The old man with whom he hasn’t been in contact with for the past twenty years or so.

  “Did you miss him?” I ask.

  Father looks mildly surprised for a moment. Considering it’s him, even that ‘mild’ surprise speaks volume. He knows I talk of Mikhail. I may endlessly complain that my father treats me like a kid, and refuses to inform me of major family events; but I can never, never at all, imagine spending any finite amount of time without remaining in contact with him. Or even if I do remain without contactthen that will be only in the case where I am assured of our togetherness in the future. To imagine my father living away from home, away from his father, for an indefinite period of time and without maintaining whatsoever contact is nearly impossible.

  “Yes.” Father answers simply.

  “Why didn’t he come with you?” I ask, knowing too well that father must have insisted Mikhail to accompany him. Knowing Mikhail, for howsoever less time, I am sure it’s him who must have been adamant to not move on.

  “This is his home, Josh.”

  “It was yours too.” I reply instantly.

  “But I didn’t build my family here. Father did.” Father sighs, “Besides, he believed that Jermaine will find a way to approach my family if father carried any contact with me.”

  “You said Jermaine had attacked you people twice?”

  Father nods, “I had left the realm after my nineteenth birthday, shortly after discovering Nina to be my partner. Through those nineteen years…the Ninth Occultist had been summoned twice. And as you now know, the occultist’s presence allows Jermaine to visit our Realm as well; he had taken those opportunities to extract his revenge.

  “The first time, I was eleven years old. Jermaine had failed to cause us any sort of injury during his first visit to us. Father was the one who summoned The Occultist in regard to a legal matter. The Occultist was being summoned after a lot of years. And since I was young, having never seen an Occultist before, my parents encouraged me to be present during the summoning. Father summoned our Occultist, unbeknownst to the fact that Jermaine can appear too. Considering our whole family was together right there and father was around, Jermaine couldn’t harm us. The scimitar was used as a weapon by Father. He overpowered Jermaine and it was during that he had learned the prowess of the sword. Being a kid, it naturally shook me at that time.”

  I, for one, cannot imagine even my elven year old father to be ‘naturally shaken’ as his father fought Jermaine. After a moment, all of his words sink in my mind.

  “And second time?” I ask, frowning. Father saying that Jermaine ‘didn’t hurt’ anyone during first time is making me overtly anxious about what he has to say to my question.

  Father sighs, observing me carefully, “Second time…” he starts, but pauses to clear his throat, “Second time he had got your grandmother.”

  I blink at him in shock. “What?”

  “My mother.” Father repeats, as if I cannot make out who he means by ‘grandmother’. “Some other council member summoned the Occultist without consulting father. I was with father, sparing in our backyard. Mother was inside. Jermaine disappeared before father could fetch the sword and inflict any hurt on him. This was a few months before my maturation.”

  So, probably, around nineteen years old. My father lost his mother at nineteen years of age.

  “Sorry.” I blurt out in reflex. It’s unbearably unimaginable to think of not having a mother. I cannot even bear the thought of not having my own mother around. I just…I don’t even know what to think about this.

  “It’s been a long time, son.” Father says, giving me a slight smile in encouragement. He probably understands my own blank thoughts over this issue. This is just too much of a shock for me.

  A few minutes pass in silence as I try to collect my bearing. I run a hand down my face, still not able to conjure up the helpless situation my father has been forced to undergo.

  “This is not justifiable.” I blurt next, but this time I don’t stop. This is too much of a big offence to be let pass in an official society as the Realm they were living in, “Didn’t any other council member do anything? Didn’t you call the witch and ask for justification?”

  Father suspires loudly, “The witch had not even interfered when Jermaine attacked in front of her, when I was eleven years old. Father knows better than to talk to the occultist about it. He doesn’t trust the witches. As for the Realm council, you’ve already seen,” he sighs, “the council is not very pro-Lichinsky-”

  “Why the hell not?” I snarl, “This Realm is fucked up.”

  “Don’t cuss.” Father says offhandedly before continuing, “Father’s reputation has not been up to mark after his mistake, Josh. His massively wrong decision to convict Jermaine was not taken well by the Realm. It was in fact after that incident that our Realm decided to adopt the council routine that is utilized by some of the other Realms. Prior to that, Father was the sole leader of our whole Realm.”

  I contemplate over this, but eventually it does make me grit my teeth. From the sound of everything I have heard, our family had pretty prestigious status in the past.
One wrong decision by one person in our family and suddenly people do not even want to consider the past flawless reputation and forgive one gaffe committed. Be nearly perfect and nobody gives you a second glance, but commit one mistake and everyone is there to remind you that for the rest of your life. This is too farfetched, too surreal to believe that the Realm who claims to be one big ‘family’ is thriving over throes of jealousy and cut throat competition.

  “They are jealous.” I state boldly, beyond pissed.

  Father raises his eyebrows, as if amused by my reaction, “In vague terms, yes, maybe.”

  “If they are too uptight to forgive and forget one’s mistake and cannot even provide justification for the murder of one’s family member, they don’t deserve to form the council.”

  Father sighs, “Josh…its politics. And it’s the least of our concern at the moment. I am very sure that even father doesn’t want to sit and go on a strike. Besides, they don’t have the power to throw father off the council. And I think that’s enough of a reply on father’s part.”

  “It’s still not fair.They should be rebelled against. I am quite sure not everyone in this Realm is blind to the biased judgments of the council.”

  “You’re young, Josh. You’re thinking impetuously. Irrespective, Father doesn’t expect support from anyone. Moreover, it’s been long since father stopped caring about this Realm. His