Second Archon War: Sapientia Oromasdis 2 (Patreon)

Sapientia Oromasdis 2: On the Wings of a Butterfly

Beta’d and edited by: Dr_Feelgood, Philosophysics, October Day, The Grand Cogitator, and Desert Chocolate

She opened her eyes and found herself in the Sanctuary of Surasthana. The Grand Sage sneered up at her as she floated within her prison. “Did you think I would ever let you go? You’re trapped here, forever. Would that Greater Lord Rukkhadevata had lived and you had died! You’re worthless, weak, pathetic! A horrible excuse of an archon! I would have been glad to be rid of you forever!”

Nahida tried to cry out, tried to protest, tried to say that she wanted to be a good Archon, that she wanted to remain with Doctor Bashir and Qiqi and Farasha, that she-

This is a dream. You know this. Why are you so afraid?

Nahida stepped out of herself, turning to face her within the prison.

“I’ve not left Sumeru City in 500 years. Perhaps I fear the unknown,” she told her other self. This version was dressed in the clothes Bashir had given her, her ears hidden, her clothes a simple dress of green instead of her fine robes.

“The unknown is the root of all fears, but I am an Archon, not a frightened little girl. I can’t be held captive by my fears,” she told her imprisoned self.

“What if the people of Sumeru need me? What will they do without their Archon? Am I even still a god, if I am no longer on Teyvat? What of my Aspect and Throne?” she asked her disguised self. “Why do you run from your duty? Do you wish to be human?”

“Yes,” Nahida admitted to the imprisoned god. “I’ve always wondered what it would be like to be a little human girl. To have parents, and to grow up in Sumeru City. Maybe my family would be poor, and life would be hard, and I would eventually grow old, and die. But humans have so many experiences in their brief lives. What experiences have I had, trapped in the Sanctuary?”

She floated beside the sage, putting a hand on his robes. “The people of Sumeru rejected me as Archon. Perhaps that is why I have been sent to Baghdad.”

“I don’t know that. I should still look for a way back,” Nahida said from within her prison. “Beelzebul is here, or one like her. Perhaps I should seek her out.”

“They did not offer me aid for 500 years, and I do not know if this is the same Electro Archon. It would be foolish to act without knowledge,” Nahida said as she stepped up to the tree.

Slowly, she nodded down at herself. “This is true. But it still raises the question of why I had this dream. My dreams have been largely similar for most of my existence. I dream of freedom, of friends, of a world where I am loved. Perhaps this is all but a dream, where I have been given all I want.”

“It could be,” Nahida agreed, putting a hand to her chin. “It’s like if you found a piece of delicious cake when you were very hungry. But the cake is sitting on the ground, and you don’t know who made it, who it’s for, or even if it’s edible. But you’re very hungry. Should you eat the delicious cake? Or should you wait, and find out who owns it, or what it’s made of?”

“You just really want cake,” Nahida told herself. “It doesn’t hurt that I’ve never had any.”

“The question remains though, do I attempt to find a way back to Sumeru City?” Nahida mused, floating up to be on eye level with her imprisoned self.

“It would be wise to do so. Currently, I don’t even know what’s possible in this world, or very much about it.”

“Then there’s only one thing to do,” Nahida agreed, and smiled.

“”Go to the library!””

With that, Nahida opened her eyes, and gently pried Qiqi’s arms from around her. The little girl was ice cold, and the Demon that had latched on to her spirit was still there, but Nahida hadn’t minded needing to share a bed with her. There was a bit of drool on her shoulder, but she merely smiled and used a corner of the blanket to wipe it off. While spitting on someone was traditionally considered an insult in Sumeru City, the Eremites of the desert saw giving someone your own moisture as a sign of respect, as water was so valuable in the desert.

In this case, Nahida simply thought Qiqi was rather adorable. Besides, she’d never shared a bed with anyone, and knew that this was a traditional thing for siblings or close family members to do, especially as children.

The sun wasn’t quite up yet, but Nahida could already sense Doctor Bashir getting up and moving about. He had some rather odd dreams the night before. It was rather interesting, seeing mortals dream. Normally, all dreams in Sumeru went into the Akasha, so that mortal minds never experienced them within Nahida’s domain. Last night, the Doctor had dreamed of driving one of those strange wagons, only he had been unable to stop it, and he had gone careening through the streets. In his next dream, he’d seen himself at a place like the Akadeyma, only he’d been unable to find a class, and he had been unable to understand anyone he spoke to.

The last dream had involved Farasha, and Nahida had quickly decided that this dream was private, and she neither needed nor wanted to know anything more about it.

Still, she’d also monitored Qiqi’s dreams, though those had been closer to nightmares. Nahida had chased those off, even though it had involved a brief scuffle with Qiqi’s Demon. At first, Nahida had been rather frightened, finding herself in a dark, stifling room, where something horrible was coming down the stairs to torment Qiqi.

Nahida had slipped in, finding the little girl curled up in a ball and sobbing quietly. The Demon had been feeding the nightmare to Qiqi, and Nahida had gotten a better feel for what it was. It was one of a legion of demons, or perhaps a small fragment of a larger demon, or even perhaps a tendril of a great demon influencing Qiqi’s soul. Whatever it was, it was powerful, and gave off the impression of sucking in all heat, spreading lifeless cold throughout many worlds.

What the demon looked like had been hard to conceptualize. In the end, Nahida thought of it as a great black ice crystal with many spiky protrusions, one of which pierced Qiqi’s soul. She had gone into Qiqi’s dream, taking the little girl’s hand, and drawing her to her feet.

“It’s alright. I’m here. I’ll protect you,” Nahida had told Qiqi, but she had been unable to listen, and the Demon had taken notice of Nahida. It had sent waves of power and ice for Nahida, and she had felt fear stir in her heart. Taking a stand, she’d put herself between Qiqi and the Demon.

“No! I forbid it!” Nahida had declared, fearing that the icy spikes would pierce her own body.

Instead, the barrier of spiritual energy she’d woven around Qiqi shattered the ice, and broke the connection, however temporarily, between Qiqi’s mind and the Demon’s nightmares. Then, Nahida had boxed up the nightmare, and hidden it away.

That done, Qiqi had simply floated there listlessly, shivering slightly and looking like an empty husk.

“Why don’t you share one of my dreams?” Nahida said, taking Qiqi’s hand again. “I know a wonderful dream. Here, let me show it to you…”

When I woke up, I was riding in the flower carriage…

With that simple thought, Nahida touched Qiqi’s mind, and wove a dreamscape that she recalled fondly. The empty void vanished, and a carpet of flowers rolled out around them.

“Ohhh,” Qiqi whispered, looking around, her eyes going wide. “Pretty…”

The meadow extended far into the distance, where it met a dark green smudge, like a painting of a forest. In dreams, Nahida noted that details were often vague and hard to see, and that if she tried too hard to bring them into sharp focus, they actually ended up less convincing. So instead, the flowers around her were more like an impressionist painting of flowers, with just a hint of fragrance in the air, the suggestion of a gentle breeze, and a brush of warm sunlight on their skin.

“Hehe, come on!” Nahida said, taking Qiqi’s hand. “I’ve never gotten to show anyone else my dream before! I want you to meet my friends!”

In the dream, Qiqi’s hands were cold, but that wasn’t right. That was the influence of the Demon, and it wasn’t welcome in Nahida’s dream. Gently, Nahida pried loose another of the Demon’s tendrils. To her shock, it shrank back at her touch, and its power seemed… unfocused. Weak, even. As if it could only brush the world of dreams, not truly control them. In fact, it seemed to only be adjusting Qiqi’s physical brain, instead of touching her soul or spirit. That was odd. And very inefficient when it came to dreams. Washing away a few hormones or chemicals wasn’t difficult; it took barely any effort at all.

And so, Nahida led Qiqi through the flowery meadow, where they skipped along, a smile on Qiqi’s lips as she looked around with wide, excited eyes. Birds flew down with flower crowns, placing them upon the two girls' heads. Squirrels, rabbits, mice, and other animals scampered about them happily, running through the grass and flowers.

Nahida led Qiqi to a table, where the Knight of Flowers and his court waited for them, serving them tea and cakes. It wasn’t real, of course. It was just a dream. A world Nahida had created to help her escape from the dull horror of her daily life. But somehow, having Qiqi share the dream with her made it more real.

At the same time, Nahida’s mind did a thousand other things of course. She had her own dream of being trapped in the Sanctuary of Surasthana and conversing with herself, and monitored the myriad dreams of those in Baghdad. For the most part, she didn’t interfere with those dreams, simply watched them. They were fascinating but also terrifying. So many nightmares. So many dreams of despair, anxiety, fear, and being trapped.

What has happened to these people to make them so fearful? Nahida wondered, and she watched the dreams, especially those of the children. For now, only watching, save for Qiqi who shared her bed, but the wise always learned everything they could before they acted.

Still though, it was time to leave the world of dreams behind, and Nahida gently shook Qiqi’s shoulder. “Wake up, it’s time to wake up.”

With a soft moan, Qiqi slowly opened her eyes, looking groggy and dazed still. She focused on Nahida for a moment, then just lay there, staring at the ceiling, her gaze as unfocused as it usually was.

“Come on, you have to wake up and get dressed,” Nahida urged, scrambling over Qiqi to the beside. With some coaxing, she got Qiqi up, and Nahida escorted her to the bathroom to complete her toilet. Fortunately, Qiqi was able to take care of her business on her own, as Nahida wasn’t really sure how all that worked. She probably could go to the bathroom if she really wanted to, but generally, she just converted her waste to energy or expelled it as a gas.

She sometimes giggled when she thought about farting, but really she just breathed it out through her lungs like a plant. She was quite fascinated by the concept of making a dookie, but plants didn’t do that, and from a biochemistry standpoint, Nahida was closer to a sentient plant than a human.

Which didn’t mean she didn’t want cake. And she was sort of interested in learning how to go to the bathroom in more than a theoretical fashion. There were so many funny jokes you could make about going potty! She’d have to try a few on Farasha and Doctor Bashir to see what they thought of them.

“Hey Qiqi, what did one toilet say to another?” Nahida asked as she helped Qiqi get dressed. By which she meant she was dressing Qiqi as she stood there.

Qiqi just blinked at Nahida, apparently not understanding the question.

“You look pooped!” Nahida giggled.

Her only response was a slow blink from Qiqi, and then to her horror, a snort and guffaw from behind her.

Nahida spun about to see Doctor Bashir in the doorway, covering his mouth and looking highly amused, his dark eyes twinkling.

“Um, I was teaching Qiqi about jokes,” Nahida said, blushing herself and feeling abashed.

“Really?” Bashir asked, coming over and kneeling down to straighten Qiqi’s dress. “Perhaps I should tell a joke then. Farasha has taught me enough. Do you like jokes, Nahida?”

Nahida nodded eagerly. “Yes! What are your best ones?”

“What did the doctor tell his patient who had a urinary tract infection?” Bashir asked, still grinning as he turned to look at Nahida.

Instantly, Nahida recited, “Drink plenty of water, and drinks such as Henna Berry since it’s a natural diuretic. Avoid acidic drinks like coffee or bulle fruit juice, or other citrus as they can irritate the bladder. Use a heating pad to promote urination and relieve pain.”

Doctor Bashir blinked at Nahida. “Ah, yes. That’s correct. However, as this is a joke, the line would be ‘urine trouble.’”

That got Nahida to blush again, as well as giggle. “I get it! Since ‘urine trouble’ sounds like ‘you’re in trouble!’ That’s an excellent joke.”

“Why thank you, it’s one of my favorites,” Doctor Bashir agreed. Then he tilted his head to one side slightly and frowned. “Where did you learn how to treat a urinary tract infection? Are you prone to them? You’re rather young for that.”

“Um, one of the women who took care of me had them frequently,” Nahida said hastily. It was true after all: 200 years ago, Hana had been her caretaker for many years and had experienced frequent bladder infections. Nahida had surreptitiously cleansed them whenever Hana had come to bathe her or bring her something to eat, which had meant that Hana had been eager to see Nahida more often. She died 168 years ago from old age, having worked with Nahida for over 50 years, until she was an old grandmother. Nahida had cried then, as she had many times over the centuries when humans who had shown her kindness had passed away.

“I see, well, that is good knowledge to have,” Bashir agreed, getting to his feet. “Come, the sun will be up soon, it’s time for morning prayers.”

Nahida slipped her hand into Bashir’s as he took Qiqi’s hand, and led them from their room to the prayer room where they got their mats and laid them out. Just as Nahida was about to kneel and pretend to pray, Doctor Bashir asked,

“What is Henna Berry juice? I’ve never heard of it, or bulle fruit.”

“Uh, perhaps if we go to the market, I could show you?” Nahida offered, blushing again. Did they not have those fruits here? Bulle fruit was imported from Fontaine, and Henna Berries grew in the desert. She wasn’t certain what plants grew in this land yet.

“Hmm, perhaps later,” Bashir agreed, and  they knelt together, Bashir reciting the prayers, Qiqi just sort of staring at the wall they were facing, and Nahida contemplating just what sort of God Allah was, to let his people live in such fear.

After prayers, they went downstairs, where Bashir got out some hard-boiled eggs from the refrigerator, a device that fascinated Nahida as she could sense no Cryo energy from it, and because that was where the popsicles were, and put it on the table. He also got some fried flatbread from the pantry, along with oil and honey, and they all sat down for breakfast.

Just as Nahida sat down to eat, she sensed a dark and deadly presence, and stiffened, looking up in fear, Bashir noticed her expression and looked up in alarm. The door banged open a moment later, and a cheery voice called, “Good morning~!”

Farasha strode into the room, tossing her hat onto the table and propping her spear against the wall. “How’s my two favorite little girls doing today? Guess what I bought this morning!”

Farasha presented a small paper box, and Nahida stood up in her chair and clapped excitedly. “Cake!”

“Thank you, Farasha,” Bashir said, smiling and going over to take the cake. “We’ll have some with lunch.”

Despite her best intentions, Nahida let out a disappointed noise.

“Aw, come on Saeed, it was her birthday yesterday! Let the kid have some cake!” Farasha said, going over to stand next to Nahida and giving what Nahida could only describe as a hilariously overexaggerated expression of sorrow.

“It’s alright, cake lacks many of the necessary nutrients, and is best eaten in moderation and not as a main course,” Nahida said with a heavy sigh.

Farasha gave her a confused expression. “Whose side are you on, kid? Think about it: caaaaake!”

“Nahida is right, Farasha,” Bashir said firmly. “There is no need for-”

“Cake?” Qiqi said suddenly, looking up from staring at her plate of bread. “Qiqi eat cake?”

“-us to wait. We’ll have cake right now,” Bashir said smoothly, giving Qiqi a pleased grin.

“You are such a sucker,” Farasha chuckled, and she elbowed Nahida. “If you’d made puppy dog eyes at him, he’d totally have folded.”

“Is that what that is called? Why would you make that expression like you’ve witnessed a great tragedy?” Nahida asked.

Farasha’s expression went completely blank. “Trust me, Nahida. That’s not what you’d look like if you’d seen something awful. Eat your cake.”

Nahida shrank in her chair, giving Bashir a shaky smile as he served her a slice of the cake. The aura of death and pain emanating from Farasha was both disturbing and intimidating, and Nahida wasn’t so sure she wanted to eat cake anymore.

“Yay,” Qiqi said as Bashir gave her a piece. “Cake.”

Bashir took a piece for himself and sat down. “Well, should we sing again?”

“Absolutely!” Farasha said, banishing the terrible emptiness from her face and smiling at Nahida. “After all, a birthday only comes once a year!”

“T-that is the nature of birthdays,” Nahida agreed, giving Farasha a nervous smile. Her Demon was so…evil. So was Qiqi’s. What should Nahida do? She wasn’t like Morax or Greater Lord Rukkhadevata. She didn’t know anything about banishing evil or fighting monsters. No wonder the sages reviled her. She was a worthless Archon.

A tear formed in Nahida’s eyes, and she sniffed, wiping them away. What should she do? Being here felt so wonderful, but she was betraying her people and the trust they had put in her, and there was a great evil here that she felt powerless against.

“Hey, it’s alright, baby girl! Whatever happened in your past, you’ve got people who care about you here now. So smile! It’s your birthday, and you can cry if you want to.”

Nahida started as Farasha pulled her into a hug, pressing Nahida’s head to her shoulder and giving her a tight squeeze. Tentatively, Nahida hugged her back. Until yesterday, she hadn’t realized how much she wanted someone to hug her or touch her. Technically, Nahida wasn’t a human child, and didn’t have the same developmental requirements that a child did, such as physical contact with a loving caregiver.

But then… it did feel wonderful. She didn’t say anything, just hugging Farasha back as she and Bashir sang a soft version of “Happy Birthday.”

When they finished, Nahida opened her eyes and smiled at Farasha. Then they turned to the table.

There, they saw Qiqi, whose entire face was absolutely covered in frosting, along with the front of her dress. She had abandoned her fork, and seemed to have smashed her face directly into the cake. Actually, she seemed to be wearing more of the cake than she’d eaten.

“Cake,” Qiqi said, and actually sounded happy for once.

Farasha snorted with laughter and pulled out a device Nahida hadn’t seen before. “I have to get a picture of this.”

“I hope you have slightly better table manners,” Bashir told Nahida, sounding exasperated as he stood to get a cloth to wipe Qiqi’s face with.

Nahida delicately used her fork to carve off a small bite of cake, and popped it in her mouth. She let out a gasp, putting a hand to her cheek as her eyes twinkled with delight. “It’s so good!”

“It’s coconut,” Farasha told her, as clicking noises came from the little device. She showed it to Nahida, and Nahida let out a gasp of delight. There was a little picture of a cake-coated Qiqi, and others of Bashir wiping her face off, which were rather adorable.

“Let me try!” Nahida said eagerly, and used her fingers to make a small window. “Click!”

“Too cute,” Farasha laughed, and snapped a picture of Nahida. Nahida took some of her in turn, then turned to Bashir and snapped a few more, along with Qiqi.

“Cocogoat,” Qiqi said, pointing to the box. “Qiqi cocogoat.”

“Coconut,” Bashir said, cutting a smaller slice of cake, which he fed to Qiqi this time. “Say ‘Coconut.”

“Cocogoat,” Qiqi insisted, but ate the cake happily enough.

“You want to try to take a real picture?” Farasha said, holding up her device.

“I figured out the principle. You’re capturing an image of light and recording it like canned knowledge using Electro. I can’t use Electro, but since Dendro is related to photosynthesis, I was able to use that principle to make a digital recording, see!” Nahida said eagerly, then spread her hands wide, the light paintings she’d recorded flashing up in the air above them.

Bashir gaped open-mouthed, the fork he was holding dropping from his fingers to ping on the table, while Farasha’s eyes went wide. Qiqi looked disappointed she wasn’t getting more cake, then looked up. Seeing herself, she pointed. “Qiqi. Cocogoat.”

“That’s…quite remarkable,” Bashir managed after a moment, with Nahida already blushing and realizing she’d done something that little human girls, even Vision Holders, probably couldn’t manage.

Desperately, Nahida searched for a change of topic. A joke wouldn’t work, they were already suspicious. Instead, she blurted, “Can we go to the library?”

“I have to tend to my practice today, I’m afraid. I have a number of patients I need to see,” Bashir said apologetically.

“I could take them!” Farasha offered brightly. “Qiqi too. I should probably get her registered. People will figure out there’s something up with her sooner or later.”

“Registered?” Nahida asked. “Do they keep a list of Vision Holders?” The Akademiya did that, as did most civilized nations. Keeping track of Visions holders was important, as their abilities made them an asset in times of crisis, as well as made them a potential liability if they were to go rogue.

“We do. And I just so happen to be in charge of the welcoming committee! Maybe I can make them buy you another cake,” Farasha said with a grin and a wink.

“I am not sure, perhaps I should accompany you, and register myself as Nahida’s guardian,” Bashir said, sounding worried about something, and looking as though he was biting back words.

“Ha! They wouldn’t dare tell me no. I’ll tell them you’ve adopted her too, and anyone who disagrees can submit their complaints to me in person,” Farasha said dismissively.

There were a lot of questions Nahida wanted to ask, but she decided she’d be best served by going to the library and reading.

After breakfast, Farasha got Qiqi cleaned up and changed, and Bashir went down from the living quarters to the doctor's office below to get ready for his patients. Farasha took the two girls out the back way, with the city already awake, with those strange wagons rumbling around and emitting their smelly gasses.

“Farasha, what are those?” Nahida asked, pointing to one.

“What, you mean the Toyota?” Farasha asked, frowning at the vehicle. “Sorry, don’t have a car. I probably could get one, but I’d rather walk most days. Besides, I can always just find a taxi and bully them into taking me.”

Nahida gave Farasha a startled look, which made the older woman laugh and smile. “I pay them! My salary is quite large. Dearest Uncle Saddam does so like to try to bribe me.”

Several people around them did a double take at Farasha, noticed her odd clothes, and shrank away from her. The reaction didn’t seem to bother her, and she wasn’t exactly trying to disguise herself.

Cars. That particular kind, a smaller one painted red, was a “Toyota.” Perhaps just one more question.

“Where do these Toyotas come from? How can I tell a car is a Toyota?” Nahida asked, trying to keep the question casual despite her burning need to KNOW the answers. She probably could just read Farasha’s mind, and the minds of everyone around her, but that always felt like peeking at someone’s private journal, and it wasn’t as much fun as learning the old-fashioned way, so Nahida avoided it unless she didn’t have another option.

“Japan, just like basically everything else these days,” Farasha said with a heavy sigh and a shake of her head. “Aya! Ever since Raiden took over their government, they’ve really destabilized the world economy. No one seems to want our oil anymore, which hasn’t done us any favors. That’s why so many people are out of work. If only my powers worked like hers, then perhaps I’d be able to do something useful for once.”

At the end of her little speech, Farasha looked wistful and sounded slightly bitter, which was understandable.

“I understand. Sometimes, I wish I was as wise and powerful as the Electro Archon too,” Nahida said, trying to keep the bitterness out of her own voice. What she wouldn’t have given for the people of Sumeru to love her as Inazuma loved their Archon. Then something that had been niggling at the back of Nahida’s mind came to the surface, enough data finally collating.

“Is Japan another name for Inazuma?” Nahida asked as they walked down the street, both she and Qiqi holding Farasha’s hands. Despite the crowds, they didn’t have any trouble, as everyone got out of their way.

“Hmm? Maybe, not sure,” Farasha said, pausing to inspect the goods at one of the shops, the shopkeeper giving her a nervous smile and shrinking back.

Once more, Nahida looked around curiously, studying what she saw. The stalls and shops were different from those in Sumeru City that she had witnessed in her occasional glimpses into the minds of her attendants, but at the same time, they were startlingly similar. People bought and sold goods of all sorts, from food stalls and restaurants to clothing, to something else that Nahida felt drawn to. They seemed to be devices like Farasha had used to snap pictures, but many of them had the same presence as Canned Knowledge. At the same time, they were a bit like Akasha Terminals, forming connections between people and letting them access a network of knowledge.

Indeed, now that Nahida was paying closer attention, she could sense a widespread Akasha-like network. How to access it was a conundrum though: It seemed to exist in the form of… light? How odd. And wonderful! She was going to have to further research this. Definitely something to look up in the library.

“Hmm, you don’t have many clothes do you?” Farasha asked Nahida as they walked by a stall that sold a variety of garments.

“No,” Nahida admitted. She’d had several sets of robes, but, well, those were gone, and her wardrobe wasn’t exactly extensive as the Sages didn’t think they needed to waste money on an Archon that never went anywhere, never grew, and they would much rather forget about.

“Well, we’ll have to take you birthday shopping then!” Farasha laughed. She looked to her otherside, where Qiqi was toddling along, looking straight ahead, apparently unaware of her surroundings. “How about you, Qiqi. Would you like some new clothes?”

“Cocogoat?” Qiqi asked, blinking and looking up at Farasha.

“No, clothes, silly!” Farasha laughed.

“We should go to the library first,” Nahida said, thinking of the books and the knowledge within them. “That way, we can be certain of what the current fashions are.”

That prompted a laugh, and Farasha reached down to pinch Nahida’s cheek. It should have been annoying, but it actually felt rather nice. “Nahida sweetie, you don’t get fashion advice from a book. You get it from your big sister Farasha!”

That was too much. Nahida burst into tears and flung her arms around Farasha, squeezing tightly.

“Woah! Hey there! Shhh, it’s OK! I’ve got you,” Farasha said, kneeling and giving Nahida a hug.

A moment later, a cold weight pressed against Nahida. “Qiqi sorry…”

“It’s OK,” Nahida laughed, turning to hug Qiqi too. Had she at last found her Knight of Flowers? “It’s just…I never had a family before…”

“Yeah,” Farasha said, her voice ragged as she rubbed the top of Nahida and Qiqi’s headscarves. “I know what that feels like. Well, come on, let’s-”

“THIEF! STOP, THIEF! STOP RIGHT-”

There was a sharp crack, and Nahida cried out, ducking down as waves of fear from the people around her washed over her. There were angry shouts, and another sharp crack, then two men with weapons in their hands rushed out of a shop, holding bags stuffed with money and valuables, making for a car. Their faces were covered by cloth, their eyes by dark glasses, but their minds were full of greed and violence.

“Stay here,” Farasha said quietly, standing up. “And whatever you do, don’t touch the butterflies.”

One of the robbers was shouting and swearing, pointing his weapon behind him. The other was threatening the crowd around them, people shrinking back, trying to flee.

Save for one.

Farasha strode forward, pulling a knife from her belt. She held up a palm, and Nahida gasped and tried to cry out as Farasha drew the knife across her palm.

And the demon within her awoke.

Instead of blood, flames burst forth from Farasha’s palm, and a glowing red butterfly of blood and flame flew out. It was large, about the size of two of Farasha’s hands, with the pattern of a grinning ghost on its burning wings.

The street went deathly silent, and Nahida could feel everyone holding their breath in sudden fear.

One of the robbers turned, and blindly fired his gun. Nahida screamed as the bullet took Farasha in the temple, her head exploding. Not in a shower of gore, however, but into a swarm of butterflies.

Despite the beauty of the insects, Nahida could sense the evil, the malice, the hunger for blood and death pulsing within them. They were bits of a demon, and they fluttered forward towards the robbers and their vehicle. The man who had fired his weapon screamed, firing again and again at them and Farasha’s body, which continued to walk forward. The other tried to get into the car, but its tires squealed, and the vehicle peeled away, the second robber falling off and crying out in pain and panic.

Then the first butterfly touched the robber who had fired at Farasha. He screamed one last time, and then butterflies exploded from within; every drop of blood in his body combusting and transforming into winged death. Then the swarm enveloped the second robber, who himself didn’t even have time to scream. Last, the swarm washed over the vehicle, which burst into flames, the metal melting, the fuel exploding.

“Qiqi scared,” the little girl whispered, clinging to Nahida desperately as they watched the terrible, beautiful scene unfold. Nahida could only nod, unable to speak.

As they watched, the now massive swarm of butterflies returned to Farasha. Her head reconstituted as butterflies melted into flesh, and even the cut on her palm was mended. She was left with a massive swarm, flitting about her, hovering over her head, as the people around her cowered in terror.

“Aya. And it was such a beautiful day,” Farasha said softly, reaching up with one hand to allow a butterfly to alight on her fingers. She gave a sad smile, then flicked her hand up, sending the butterflies flying high into the sky. They swirled up in the air, away from people, flings flapping in the faint breeze.

As Nahida watched, a panicked bird flapped off of the roof of one of the buildings. Nahida closed her eyes, knowing what came next. She felt the creature's death as its blood exploded into more of those terribly beautiful insects. She shivered, holding on to Qiqi’s chill body as they both cried.

“There, there. It’s alright. I promise. The butterflies only come for wicked people. Not sweet little girls like you.”

Nahdia looked up, and saw Farasha smiling down at her. Her expression was pleasant, but in her eyes, Nahida saw only death and pain.

What is this place I have come to?