Mother

It is said that upon death, souls join the great light central to all existence. This light split the world into seven aspects: Seven elements, seven sins, seven virtues, seven metals…

… and seven worlds.

This is only logical, for the only things capable of dividing reality are those things that know division, ego, themselves. Understanding and exploiting the similarities, differences and interactions between these aspects is the basis of the science known as alchemy.

I had considered the possibility that my soul had, by some fluke, entered into this world from one of the six others before, but any research into it always led to a dead end, with no records anywhere about past instances of this happening. Transferring one's soul from one world to another was consistently labeled as an impossibility, leading me to question my own memories and, by extension, my sanity. My lack of skill at understanding the esoteric theories of alchemy also didn’t help, forcing me to rely on the work of others instead of being able to create my own hypotheses. But two people from another world, in the same city, at the same time, that was no unexplainable fluke.

Gika’s eyes were interlocked with mine. First a small smile crept upon her face, then she started laughing. For a moment I worried that I’d accidentally misinterpreted her action, that she hadn’t actually been writing binary and that I’d gotten my hopes up for nothing. But as I listened closely, I recognized that without a doubt this was the kind of slightly manic laughing that followed as an irrational reaction to a wave of strong emotion.

“Soni… ku.”

She forcefully halted her laughing and looked at me with a mix of excitement and relief.

“Soni ku!”

“I’m sorry,” Paolo interupted, “but I don’t get what’s goin’ on. What’re ya two talkin’ about?”

“We-” I began to explain, only to be immediately interrupted by loud, mechanical whirring outside, the unmistakable sound of an ornithopter landing.

“Oh no,” Paolo said, contempt dripping from each word he spoke, “it’s her!”

We all turned our heads towards the entrance in silence, hearing the distinct sound of footsteps approaching, climaxing in the door of the studio being aggressively swung open, revealing my mother.

“What do ya think yer doin’?” Paolo said, “think ya can just waltz into people’s homes just ‘cause yer some kinda big shot? I’ll have ya know-”

“Quiet!” My mother sneered.

Gika hid behind me somewhat ineffectively.

“Mom!” I said, “I just found out-”

I felt a stinging sensation on my back. It was Gika, pinching me to signal for me to stop talking. I made the split-second decision that she likely had a better grasp on the situation, so I followed her lead. Not that it seemed to matter much, as my mother steadfastly ignored me as she walked in my direction. She reached her arm around me, grabbing Gika by her sleeve and pulling her from behind my back. In less than a second, her stern demeanor melted away, making place for a kind smile.

“Good day, Julia,” she said, “it is wonderfully nice to see you again.”

“Gika ku.” Gika replied.

“Oh yes, of course, ‘Gika’,” my mother said, “my apologies. Anyways, I have come here to ask a minor favor of you, dear. Please enlighten me: what pseudonym were you given for the test?”

Despite Gika’s silence, her anger-filled eyes spoke a thousand words.

“I am an Uomo Universale,” she continued, “you can entrust anything to me.”

No reaction. My mother sighed.

“Then you leave me no other choice, dear. If you cannot be honest with me I will be forced to inform your mother where her dearest Julia has run off to.”

“Na mama ti ku!”

“You are much older than you appear, yet you can’t help but act like a child. Tell me your pseudonym. It will be better for both of us that way.”

“Be-a-ti-se.”

“Beatrice?”

Gika nodded.

“Good. You better learn to lose the attitude if you intend to become an Uomo Universale!” My mother said before glancing at Paolo.

“As for you, mister Verrocchio, not a word about this to anyone. I would threaten to ruin your life, but given that you have already managed to accomplish that on your own, I will simply remind you that paintings, paint and this building are all perfectly flammable.”

Paolo tried to maintain an unimpressed appearance, but an audible gulp clearly revealed his true feelings. With a scoff my mother turned around and left, without having even once acknowledged my existence. All three of us were left dazed by the encounter, standing in silence until Paolo snapped out of it:

“Ya know, Gavino,” he said, “ya can be a bit of an arrogant ass sometimes, but when I see her, I think it’s a miracle ya were even raised to be half a decent person.”

“She… didn’t raise me,” I explained, ‘the only times I’ve really seen her were when she wanted to… you know… with my father, and then nine months later she would drop off a new baby-brother for my dad to raise. “

As I spoke to Paolo, my mind managed to create some space, allowing me to process the events that had just occurred. First priority: fill in the gaps of missing knowledge.

“No, wait, none of that matters right now.” I said, stepping towards Gika and putting my hand on her shoulder, “Gika, Julia, whatever your name may actually be, please, I know it’s hard, but get creative and try to figure out some way to explain to us what is going on. Perhaps you’ve picked up a few words or phrases while talking to me, or maybe you could actually write Magranpolian all this time and that’s how you managed to pass the test. I don’t know, just please, come up with something to-’”

Gika put her index finger on my mouth and shushed me, before taking a deep breath, taking a brush and sitting down in front of a blank canvas. She stared at the white surface for a moment, before closing her eyes and beginning to paint.