Illusion ~ A Short Story

Of Grandeur

The sun had barely crested the top of the sky a few weeks later when the thudding sound of sandals walking across the large stone blocks at the entrance echoed throughout their home. Aziza was reading in the sitting room, allowing her to hear the footsteps of the arriving travelers immediately. She discarded her reading and went to the back room to prepare a small meal for them. Mira was in the Solarium working on using his illusions to create things that weren't real since he already had a good grasp on making objects disappear when he heard the faint sound of the travelers' footsteps. Knowing Aziza was most likely already in the back room preparing the meal for the arriving travelers, Mira headed to the front entrance of their home to let the travelers in. He was halfway to the entrance when he realized the arriving travelers' footsteps still continued to echo throughout the house, causing his own steps to falter. More and more travelers were continuing to arrive at their doorstep.

Mira hesitated, moving forward toward the front entrance, his concern rising with every second the arriving footsteps continued to echo. This was the first group of travelers to arrive since their parents' death, and it was becoming increasingly clear that it wouldn't be an easy encounter for the twins based on the sheer amount of travelers arriving at once. However, he had previously agreed to start providing hospitality again, so all he could do was hope that they could get through the encounter without any disagreements or confrontations. He briefly closed his eyes as he took a deep breath to steady himself before resuming his path to the front entrance.

Upon reaching the front entrance, Mira opened the door, which allowed the two dozen travelers to enter the home. Seeing all of the travelers towering above him caused what was previously concern for his and Aziza's safety instantly morphed into genuine terror. But now that he had let all of them into his home, there was no way to get them to leave without either providing at least some kind of hospitality or starting a massive confrontation (which he would surely lose). So instead, he willed up the courage to hide his fear and led the travelers into the dining room, apologizing that there would need to be some rearranging in order to accommodate their large group better. Even though he wasn't truly apologetic, Mira figured it would be the easiest way to start building some kind of rapport with the travelers before their meals were served.

It took quite a long time for Mira to get the dining room completely rearranged to accommodate the group of travelers since not a single traveler even lifted a finger to help Mira with the work, but eventually, he was able to scrounge up enough items that would work as tables and chairs for the travelers to sit at. It had taken so long that by the time all of the travelers took a seat, Aziza had completed the meal preparations and was starting to bring out the dishes. Her eyes widened slightly as she took in the sight of the two dozen men crowded around makeshift tables and chairs in the dining room. Since Mira had spent all of his time and energy rearranging the dining room by himself, he never had the opportunity to go to the back room to warn Aziza about the high amount of travelers that had arrived at once. Despite her initial shock, Aziza managed to plaster a small, kind smile on her face mere moments before the travelers noticed her presence and turned toward her.

Aziza set the few dishes she had brought with her onto the table for the travelers before quietly commenting that she would be back with more dishes in a few moments. But before she was able to head off to the back room, several of the travelers sitting closest to the dishes she had just placed began to rudely comment on the simplicity of the dishes. Mira forcibly bit down on his tongue to keep himself from making his own rude comments back at the travelers for their remarks as Aziza dishearteningly shuffled off to the back room to grab more dishes. Even though deep down she knew that no matter how many dishes were prepared and served to the group of travelers, they would only continue to complain and make rude comments, she hoped that travelers' behaviors would change after eating. She had previously desperately wanted this first group of travelers that arrived on their doorstep to prove to Mira and her that they could still provide hospitality to any arriving travelers despite their low food supplies, but instead, it was becoming increasingly obvious to her that it would be the exact opposite, only showcasing exactly why they shouldn't have continued with their parents' tradition of providing hospitality.