by Namita Singh
maybe even more. Upon such realization, the occultist selected the rarer of rarest and stronger of the strongest amongst our species as a ‘bodyguard’ for the vaticinator, so to ensure a long lasting life for the vaticinator. During those times, only two, maybe three spiritual therians were present amongst us. Spiritual therians, even now, are the rarest amongst us. Their strength and fighting abilities are usually better than an average therian.”
“Tell me about it.” I mutter under my breath, earning a stolid glance from Aakir.
“One such Spiritual therian was appointed as the vaticinator’s protector. I mean, a vaticinator can be quite a vulnerable entity considering how he can be used for his abilities by malicious beings around. And the occultist wanted no harm to her vaticinator. The protector’s sole responsibility was to ensure the vaticinator’s health so the latter lives a long life and to protect the vaticinator from any impending danger. The spiritual therian could also travel by his soul, as I am sure you all must know. The vaticinator’s and the spiritual therian’s bonding of energy in their astral forms created a sort of…connection.” Jennifer frowns, pausing, probably looking for the best words to describe this, “You see, the connection they formed…it was intangible as opposed to other forms of energies endowed by the occultists. Such…invisible form of energy, flowing through a connection between the vaticinator and the protector, somewhere…bound them for life. The amount of that energy was no big deal for the vaticinator but for the protector…”
“It caused bleeding in the eyes.” Father says, probably a guess. He turns to look at Aakir. Aakir’s weird eyes are currently brimming with apprehension, the pools of red and black in his gray, standing out vividly against his sudden pale skin.
“Actually,” Jennifer continues, “It was the brain where the bleeding occurred, thankfully nowhere significantand the only visible sign were the clots that formed in the eye.”
“Those are not clots.” David and Aakir say at the same time.
“‘Bleeding’ is a very misconstrued word for that. It basically caused enough damage to cause alteration in the particularities responsible for the external eyes. The ‘clots’ you say are actually the pigments that resulted due to the ‘internal bleeding’.” David finishes.
Jennifer nods, rolling her eyes, “The end story is that this eye characteristic was passed on as a trait. The unique eyes of the protector in a child have been marking the birth of the vaticinator for years. When the birth of the protector occurs, it is understood that the vaticinator will follow soon. Thankfully though,” Jennifer looks on with relief, “these unique eyes of the protector are not public news amongst us therians. Only the protector’s family knows about it.”
“That’s actually a very good thing.” Father nods, “the person who attacked Neal…that man had been living in our home since a week. He would have probably flipped out much earlier had he known the reason behind Aakir’s eyes.”
I watch as Aakir considerably pales at that, “It’s a good thing we didn’t divulge my spiritual nature either.” He mutters.
“Wait a second,” I say, halting the side conversation, “The protector also takes birth every two hundred years?” I ask Jennifer.
“Yes.”
“Why is that so?”
“Because the energy contained in a protector can’t be handled by him alone. He needs a vaticinator by his side as much as the vaticinator needs him. You see, it’s through their invisible bond the protector is able to sustain the energy that he has to endure in order to protect the vaticinator. The existence of the vaticinator has become essential for the survival of the protector. Many believe this to be some sort of an orthodox convention; that a protector’s only purpose is to keep the vaticinator safe. If there is no vaticinator, there is no need for the protector and hence the protector ceases to exist as well. But that’s bullshit, of course,” Jennifer rolls her eyes, her vocabulary not considerate enough, “protector’s existence does rely on the existence of the vaticinator. But that is to ensure the balance of energy in the world. If no vaticinator exists in the world then the protector would fail at maintaining the amount of energy he contains alone.”
From the corner of my eyes, I notice Neal and Aakir exchanging funny glances.
“That’s the history behind the vaticinator and the protector.” Jennifer says, making Aakir and Neal snap out of their comical stare.
“But that’s not all.” My father says.
Jennifer sighs.
“Yeah,” Neal says, “Shouldn’t we,” he looks at Aakir, “be with the occultists. It seems like a job.” He ends, sarcasm more than clear on his face.
“The witches, The First witch to be exact do not treat the vaticinator with fairness, Neal.” My father tells him, “There is a reason we are worried about you.”
“What do you mean?” Neal asks.
“Okay, I do not know the facts, so correct me if I am wrong,” father says, looking at Jennifer. She nods at him to go on. I feel she is tired after speaking for so long. “So,” father begins, “As your aunt here said, a vaticinator has a life of eighty to ninety years, not unusual for a human. But that is followed by a slightly longer phase of a century where the occultists do not have a vaticinator by their side. On learning that, the first witch…she sort of forced the vaticinator to be at her disposal at all the times. To keep evolving and divining the future as she wishes him to. The records are not in any of the books but the rumors say that the vaticinator was hardly allowed to have a life. He was allowed to mate only onceso the family of the vaticinator continuesand at other times he was forced to keep working on the future, divining it as the occultist demands. The protector,” father looks at Aakir, “was given new orders and those were to ensure that the vaticinator is doing his job right.”
“Um,” Neal interrupts, glancing at the floor. He takes a moment and then looks up again, “What do you mean he was forced to work at ‘other times’? It doesn’t take an hour or two to travel to the future.”
“Exactly.” Father says, “Imagine working for days on a continuous basis, against your will.”
“And to develop a future that will not be beneficial for the common folks all the times and may even be devastative for them.” Jennifer adds.
“The occultist did that?” I ask, befuddled. The occultists are, no doubt, our rulers from what I have read. But I never read any situation where they may have acted to cause harm to the humans and the therians.
“Of course, she did.” Jennifer says, “As I said, she made sure shedoesn’t do anything drastic so to be regarded with suspicion. Witches possess a very wicked ingenuity. In fact, if it wasn’t for the expanding family of the protector, some people may not even know of the vaticinator. But once people got to know about the vaticinator and its protector, they regarded the first witch with even more awe, making people in other Realms, who learned of the vaticinator, feel jealous. The other witches of the other Realms showed their support and respect to the First Occultist and her vaticinator, knowing too well that with the vaticinator, the First occultist is now somewhat superior to them. I believe they were jealous of the first witch just like the people in their realms but there is no proof of course. Superficially, they only disclosed their support to the First Occultist. Sometimes, the first witch did make the vaticinator do wonders for the common folk, even of other realms, which earned her the trust of the citizens through the world. But behind the curtains, only the vaticinator and the protector knew that the first witch was up to no good.”
“What was she making the vaticinator do?” I ask.
Jennifer shrugs, “Only the vaticinator would know that. I can just tell you that it was usually things that were meant for the benefit of the First witchalone. It may have posed some negativity for the common people and even the other Occultists, but we are not sure. From what I know, the vaticinator, the ninth vaticinator; that will be in… our 1200s AD; was the only one who protested against the brutal way in which the first witch treated him. It was him who publi
cized that the vaticinator is not being used for any good, that he is not even being fairly treated and that the witch is moving onwards to a bigger doom for our world.”
“What does that mean?” Aakir, I and Neal ask at the same time. The three of us look at each other’s frowning faces then turn back towards Jennifer.
Jennifer shrugs again, “I do not know if he actually meant anything by that or he was simply speaking metaphorically. All I know is that the people were cautioned. The families of the vaticinator and the protector grew wary and suspicious. The advancing modernism made both the families doubt the traditional ways of the witches. Not long after, the ninth vaticinator‘mysteriously’ died of a stroke well before his seventieth birthday.”
“Hold on a second,” Neal says, “why were the vaticinators even working on the witch’s bidding? I mean-”
“I knew you were going to ask that.” Jennifer interrupts, “The witches,” she tells him, “may not be able to modify or reverse what we are. But that doesn’t mean they can’t control us to make use of our abilities as per their needs. The first witch was stronger and possessed her own ways to keep the vaticinator at her disposal and make him do things as she wishes. That involves making you meditate for days and not even allowing you to