Anna Calls From The Arctic

“Woah, you look terrible. You smell, too. When’s the last time you took a bath?”

Uatchita's little brother greeted her in his usual manner. Thousands of tiny eyes were rolled in unison.

“Great to see you as well. Are you going to leave me out here in the cold…?”

Minas pushed the circular door to the side and gestured into the room. His was one of 20 tiny ground floor apartments arranged around the circumference of a massive, onion-shaped building in the outskirts of Mul. Its tenants consisted of broke students, failed artists and a plethora of shady individuals. It always hurt to be reminded of the way he had resigned himself to live. At the same time, she was glad about the isolated location and the wilful ignorance the tenants displayed towards each other’s going-ons. It made visits like this much easier.

“Thank you…”

She walked in and sat down at the small square table in the centre of the room. The apartment wasn't much better on the inside. With no closet in sight, all of Minas' clothes had been shoved into a pile in the corner. Every surface in the room had books stacked on it without any ordering system or regard for structural integrity. From one of the walls hung a giant scroll that trailed over the ground and was already covered in dirty boot prints. She had never been big on reading, but the sight of a beautifully ornate capital letter smudged with dirt made even her cringe. Minas turned around from the little copper pot he had been hunched over with two cups in his hands.

“Here, have some mesquite tea. I boiled it with my maaaaaagic.”

He elongated that last word with the express goal of getting on her nerves. Being the only one in the family to be born with the potential for magic had cursed him with an inflated ego, which she took every opportunity to let the air out of. She demonstratively rummaged through a few of the things stacked on the table.

“All those girls you bring home must be big on your sense for interior decoration, huh?"

Minas frowned.

"Did you come here to discuss my love life?"

"Well, no, but since we're already here..."

Her brother cut her off with his hand.

"It's not a discussion, anyway. We can put that whole topic to rest with one word:"

He theatrically slumped over, clutching his chest and distorting his face into an exaggerated frown.

"Desolate!"

Uatchita broke out into buzzing laughter. Minas grinned, evidently pleased with himself. It was nice to see his face again: His deceptively blunt brown eyes, his somewhat crooked mouth that seemed to be stuck in a constant smirk, his thick black hair in desperate need of a trim- the same hair she used to have. She stuck her mouth-tube into her cup and took a sip. Suddenly, his expression soured.

"Oh, right. I was gonna tell you... I saw mom the other day."

The grin returned but was now tinged with a bitter irony.

"She was wailing over your 'grave'."

Uatchita's heart sank. She swallowed.

"Did you talk to her?"

Minas laughed a bit too loudly.

"Ha! What would there have been to talk about!? Talk to her..."

After a few seconds, his laughter faded. He seemed to be looking through her, into the far distance.

"I did think about it, you know. I watched her for a good few minutes. It tore me apart to see her like that, but..."

He sighed and took a sip.

"Minas... I know it's hard, but you need to forgive her. She's not in her right mind. You're the only one she has left..."

"Yeah, you already know dad doesn't care!"

Again, that ugly laughter... It stung at her like needles. She didn't know whether to hug him or slap his face.

"When did you become so bitter...? You've always been a stubborn little brat, but this is getting ridiculous. Our parents need you, and you need them- look at the way you're living!"

That seemed to have hit a nerve.

"Are you saying I can't take care of myself!? I'm doing just fine!"

"I know you can take care of yourself. But even you need some support! You're stuck in this hole all alone, suffering- and for what? For your stupid pride?"

Minas jumped up; his hands balled to fists.

"I'm suffering for you!"

Minas was staring down at her, tears in his eyes, his red face a grimace of furious pain. For a while, both of them were silent. Then, with a terrible, razor-sharp calm, Minas began to whisper:

"You know, if our dearest mother caught wind of us meeting like this, she would call the watchers on you. Or maybe send one of those personal guards she has hovering around her 24/7 now to stake me out until you show up again. Then there'd be a real grave for her to cry over. Wouldn't that be great? Except she wouldn't visit that grave, anyway. As far as she's concerned, you've been dead for three years."

Uatchita's stomach felt like it was about to implode. She was breathing rapidly, but still, not enough air seemed to pass through her tracheae. Minas exhaled sharply and sat back down.

"You're talking about me 'living alone in a hole'- that's literally what you're doing! How do you think I feel, knowing you're out there all on your own? How could I accept help from the ones who forced you into that position?"

Uatchita fixated a point on the table as she quietly replied.

"It's not all bad. I have my friends in the dungeon. I told you about Kiyah and Amon before, right? It's not ideal, but I'm making it work. We don't both need to suffer."

"Monster friends..."

Uatchita glanced up with an angry spark in her eyes. Minas relented.

"I'm sorry. I know I'm being unfair, and I can't tell you how you're supposed to feel... But I just... I genuinely don't understand how you can be so nonchalant about this. They took your life from you. Aren't you even the slightest bit angry? Don't you want to fight back?"

All emotion had withered away from him. Now he just looked supremely tired. Uatchita sighed.

"I don't know. I used to be angry. It gets exhausting. And what does it accomplish? There's so little I can change. I can't go back. I just want to move on and carve out a new life for myself- no matter how it turns out."

Part of her felt like this was what she deserved, anyway.

"...If you're really okay with that..."

A silence descended upon them. Uatchita decided it was high time to change the subject.

"By the way, the main reason I came over today..."

She pulled the broach with the gemstone out of her pocket. It had been three days since her encounter in the forest. By now, the memory had taken on a decidedly unreal feeling. If she hadn't kept the broach, she would have convinced herself that she had made the whole thing up.

"I found this in the dungeon the other day. Never seen anything like it. Do you know what this symbol means?"

Minas took the broach out of her hand and held it up to a nearby candle. The flickering flame made the eye etching look like it was blinking.

"Hmmm... It feels a bit familiar. History's not my specialty, but I should have..."

He started scanning the books scattered all around him. Somehow, he seemed to know exactly where to look. He carefully pulled out a thick tome from a stack next to his right foot and started leafing through it.

"Doot, doot, doo... Ah, here it is. Seems like it's the emblem of the Akhenaten family. They're kind of scholar royalty."

Minas turned the book around to show her. The article featured a sketch of the eye symbol and multiple portraits of grim-looking bearded men she didn't recognize.

"Where did you find this?"

Uatchita hesitated. She didn't know why- she trusted her brother. Of course she did.

"Uh... I met this girl in the acacia forest. She dropped it."

Minas lowered the book so he could see her eyes.

"A girl?"

Uatchita nodded.

"A human girl."

Minas' eyebrows shot up in shock.

"A human? Just... walking around the dungeon?"

Uatchita laughed.

"Yeah, I was also surprised. No idea what she was doing down there. I didn't get a chance to talk to her. She, uh... ran away when I noticed her."

Minas tensed up. He carefully looked for her reaction.

"Ah..."

Uatchita waved her hands infront of her.

"Well, to be fair, I was brandishing an axe! Ha ha."

Minas cracked a smile and relaxed. Uatchita was glad she didn't have to broach another sensitive topic today.

"Well, isn't this interesting. Is there anything else you can tell me about her?"

"Let me think... She had green hair, grey eyes... Oh, yeah- she apparently goes to your school. She was wearing the uniform, anyway."

Minas had turned the book back around and was staring at the portraits on the page while scratching his chin.

"Hmmm... So, she's studying magic. Makes sense if she's an heir to the Akhenaten family."

He closed the book and smiled at her.

"Very Interesting! I'll look into her."

Uatchita was flustered. For some reason, the thought of her brother interacting with the girl made her madly uncomfortable.

"Oh, uh... Y-you really don't have to! I'm sure it's nothing. I'll keep the broach, too. In case I meet her again down there."

Her brother gave her a strange look, then shrugged.

"Suit yourself. Not sure how likely that is, but whatever."

At this point, neither of them could have guessed how fast the next meeting between the two girls was approaching- and what horrible circumstances would surround it.