Zoé is a young immortal. She is only 186 years old. Currently, she works in an incredible library of the occult, located in Budapest and curated by a very old immortal called Ikshan. Unfortunately, one day she stumbles upon a terrifying monster in a...
Ikshan leads me through the labyrinth of their library. It's sumptuous. The building in itself is beautiful, but the furniture, the books, and the objects are marvelous. With its bookshelves magically hidden behind other bookshelves and its secret doors, the library seems like a place of dreams. There is a specific quality of the air in here. And I assume it is not solely because of the magic that protects the place. It's also because the library is a part of Ikshan.
"I'd like to show you something," they say.
I follow them to a hidden door behind a bookshelf, another place magically protected. Inside, the lights are dim and the objects are sparse. It looks like an office or a private library. Everything here seems personal.
"These items are connected to you, aren't they?" I ask.
"Yes, these are personal items, from different eras of my life. It's separate from my collection because they are memories. I have almost nothing left from my early life, but I have this."
They show me a small statue of a person with four arms. "This is Vishnu, a god from the religion I was raised in."
"It's beautiful. Can you show me where you're from?"
They grab a globe on a shelf. "So this is a representation of the world. We are here. You are from here," they say pointing a finger at some points on the map. Then they turn the globe and point at another place. "And I'm from here, India."
"I would love to see it with my own eyes someday," I say.
"I'll show you."
"Thank you for sharing this with me. I'm honored."
A shadow crosses my face. I have no such memories. I have nothing from my life before the amulet.
"Are you alright?" Ikshan asks.
"I was just thinking that my room would be empty. I have nothing left." They tilt their head with sadness and compassion. "But I will build new memories," I say, touching the bracelet James gave me.
Ikshan takes my hand and smiles. We then sit on a sofa after they served me some tea and told me about Vishnu's story.
"What you've done here is incredible. All this knowledge. And all this beauty. It's a special place, Ikshan."
"I'm glad you like it. And... it's what gave me the opportunity to meet you."
The gentleness of their hopeful look, the spark of joy in their smile: suddenly the tiny space between us seems too much. I want to be as close as I can to them.
"Ikshan," I start. "Would it be... I mean, would you like..." I take a deep breath. "Can I kiss you?"
They chuckle and their smile reaches their eyes making them twinkle. "Yes", they say.
I sit closer to them. My hand reaches for their silky dark hair and I brush my lips on theirs. They open their mouth and I deepen the kiss, while their arms wrap around me and stroke my back. The kiss feels sweet and warm and powerful and generous. I feel my whole body coming alive.
When we break the kiss, we pull back and look at each other. Ikshan pushes away the strand of my hair that falls into my eyes. "I've been wanting to do that since the first moment I saw you."
I laugh and kiss them again.
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