A Nagas tale

A lost naga

"What did the old fuck say?" I hear Kogen's voice. "The elder.." that woman from before corrected. "said Audrey is a naga." she answers his question after the correction. 'elder?' I want to wake up but my body feels too cold. "How can Audrey be a naga? she's 200 years old if she was his kid she'd have to be over a million years old." Kogen asks the same question I had. The woman did not answer for a while leaving me on edge. 'how am I a naga? I don't even belong to this world!' I want to ask how it was possible. "He was... uh... not very happy but he said he had a son that went missing several years ago." She answers finally. "A son? How does that fit into Audrey?" Kogen asks wanting to know more. "He had been tracking him down through dimensional search." she sighs 'dimension travel? c...is that...' I feel my body shiver as I get colder. 'Ugh, I'm so cold.' I finally manage to open my eyes. "uhm.." I whisper as I feel my body start to shiver. "Audrey." Kogen walks over to me. "what's wrong?" he asks sitting down. I can see the amount of heat coming off his body. 'when did I get thermal glasses?' The question is pushed away by my need for warmth  'warm... need.' I move my hand touching his knee. The heat that thawed my palms felt so good. I sit up and crawl over to him. I sit on his lap and curl up against him. 'oh so warm.' I sigh as I rub my face against his chest before falling asleep again. 'it's so warm.' I grab his clothes not wanting him to move. "You're cold huh." he seemed to have caught on.

Audrey caught me off guard when she crawled into my lap. She did not say a word both her eyes were half open as she rubbed her face against me and sank back into sleep. I touch her cheek feeling how cold her skin feels "You're cold huh." I realize why she crawled into my lap. "The elder had set up triggers around the forest when he found the longest-lived souls coming from a different world." Mother continued. "So he brought over a random soul from a different dimension?" I ask as Yyvonne hands me the blanket Audrey is using. I cover Audrey as my mother sits down nearby. "The spell he set would only react to those who carried his bloodline," she answers lifting her arm and pointing at Audrey. "That surge of aura in the forest." She adds "It was the aura of the forest correcting what had been distorted." I look at her the gravity of her words reflected in her eyes. "If the forest is correcting the distortion created by somebody that means there is no room for us to deny the elder's claims." I frown "That old fuck is already going crazy, you know he has been mental for as long as you've been alive." I hiss. She shakes her head "The leaders of each tribe are told the truths of the past as we grow. Kogen, I've told you the truth of the past once I had passed my title down to you." I frown "It's bullshit, this forest cannot remain alive solely on one soul much less than the mental old bastard." I refuse to believe the tails of the older generation. She shakes her head "This forest is not using the elder's Aura, This forest's aura is created by the ancestor that lives beneath the earth." she states something I've always been told. "There has never been proof of this Ancestor, there is nothing but dirt and ore." I groan at my superstitious mother. She seemed disappointed by my refusal of their truth. "I have told you what the elder has told me.... but I will leave you with one warning." She stands up turning to the door. "There are cults out there that believe once a naga appears they can use them to bring back the ancestor." she starts walking "If you truly wish to deny the truth before you, I will only warn you to keep Audrey close and an eye to the horizon." She leaves after giving that warning. 'tch stupid people thinking something like a giant Naga is sealed in the mountains.' I flinch feeling Audrey press her nose to my ribs.

"What the hell do you think you Uhg!" I hear Kogen raise his voice. "Relax demon child." I hear that man's voice cut him off. I open my eyes feeling a bit worried "I brought my baby something to help recover from the aura fatigue." he scoffs turning to me his face lights up. "Oh! good my baby is finally awake!" he walks over and sits down. 'his... baby?' I push myself off the futon. He puts his hand on my shoulders "It's okay my child, I won't hurt you I just brought you something that will help block out this nasty aura." he sneers at Kogen. He pulls out what looks like a headband from his bag. He moves to put it on me but I slap his hand away. I back away from him scared of what he would do to me. "Hm I see you still fear little old me." he chuckles. I felt like I was looking at everything half-blind but I couldn't understand why. My forehead feels itchy and it feels like I can't open my eyes properly. I reach for what's covering my eyes feeling medical bandages. I start tugging at the wraps. "Audrey." Kogen walks over stopping me from removing them. I frown letting out an annoyed whine. "It's itchy." I complain as he holds my wrists to keep my hands away from the wraps. "hm I see your third eye is being covered." he sighs reaching for my head. I tried to get away from his hands but I wanted these things off. "Hey! you old fuck Audrey has a..." The man pulls the wraps free from my forehead. I sigh in relief as I feel like I can see better than before. "Oh my to think they would torture you by covering your third eye like this." The man pouts. "W..what the hell?" I turned my eyes to Kogen who seemed shocked. I shudder to see that demonic aura again. I bite back at the need to scream. "I..is it bad?" I ask worried that whatever wound that lady was treating got infected. He shakes his head "No it's not bad..." he turns to the man "Thats right! I knew I found my family." the man boasts. I turn to the man wondering what he means by found his family. "You see we naga born from noble blood of the ancestor are born with a third eye to show us the worlds around us." he explains as he picks up the item I slapped out of his hands. "we are called the all-seeing for a reason demon child." he scoffs. "Hm I am working on something more beautiful but for now I hope this will help conceal your eye from the others." he slips on a headband. I flinch feeling uncomfortable at first but it slowly fades away like the piece is not even there. "I put a spell on that will help keep you warm during the winter and cool during the summer so don't worry about getting cold." he assures me. Kogen lets go of my wrists before sitting down. "How is it?" The man asks "What do you mean by family?" I ask finally ready to get answers. He nods "Hmm see thats a question I would love to answer." he clasps his hands together. "But before that." he picks up his bag and sets it down on his lap. "I found these things out by the spell that brought you back." he pulls out my phone and wallet. I look at the shattered screen of my phone and my wallet looks like it's been chewed on a bit. "these are yours aren't they?" he asks. I wanted to lie and say no but I knew that would not be right. I reach out and grab my phone checking to see if it has any battery. 'yeah I noticed it got broken by the other bear before.' The screen does not light up as I thought. I set it down next to me and grabbed my wallet. 'I thought I dropped it somewhere in the forest when I didn't find it In my bag.' I opened it revealing the photos I'd taken with my friends just a month before I had gotten lost. "You said brought me back." I focused on what he had said. He nods "thats right." he answers with worry. "How much of your life do you remember?" he asks me. I nod "I was born on the 6th of January, 27 years ago... I grew up trying to get the approval of my mother," I look at the wallet again seeing the doctor's appointment card. "and?" he asks wanting me to continue. I sigh "I was starved and beaten, forced into an unwanted engagement. My father was never around and my siblings ignored me like the plague." I answer ripping the bandage of the past. "I had finally gotten free after my 27th birthday. I was getting better, and am still getting better." I answer putting my hand over the picture of Aaron and Milton. "I had two best friends and I worked as a journalist." I add turning to the man. "Is that all?" he asks as if I had more to say. I nod "thats all." I answer to which he frowns "To all places he could have taken you!" he seemed angry. "I see, that must have been a painful cycle." he puts his hand on my cheek. "But you won't have to die anymore just to keep living." he smiles and gets up. "W..what?" I ask as he walks to the door. "that world where you were born in this body of yours.... that is a purgatory world where souls go to die. When a living soul is put into it they will die and be reborn over and over until they are turned into nothing more than dust." He sounds angry. "That stupid fool of my son." he hisses as he walks away. 'A purgatory world?' I get up "Audrey!" I trip on the blankets in a hurry. I get up and run after the man I grab the sleeve of his hakama before he gets out of the door. "W..what do you mean a living soul!?" I ask not willing to believe that all of those people I met were dead souls. He gives me a sad smile before putting a finger on my chest. "You are a living soul, you retain information from lives you've lived before dying and being reborn. Those around you could not understand how you were different from them despite them having an inkling of your difference." he answers. "When most children get told no they throw a tantrum but you can understand why that no is said." he gives me an example. "where most people cannot understand the pain of others you can put yourself in that other person's shoes. Empathizing with their pain." He offers another. I feel like everything that I went through in this life made a sort of sense. The way mom hated me for not ever hating her. The way my sister disliked me for never crying during a funeral. I was called an old soul by so many of my peers for enjoying the mundane things. He smiles "I'm sure you will start to refind yourself." he grabs my chin and gives my head a shake. "It's good to see you are feeling better." he smiles before walking out of the house. I stand at the door stiff with the new information. "Audrey." I look up at Kogen who is holding out his arm. "It's still cold out." he doesn't ask me anything instead offering me a warm silence. I turn my eyes to the door before turning back to him. I walk over to him and wrap my arms around him hiding my face in the heat of his body. 'Those people w.. were all dead? no there is no way!' I refused to believe my two best friends were dead. Kogen said nothing as he let me try to wrap my head around the information. After a little while, I feel my stomach grumble demanding food from me. I sigh peeking up at Kogen who quietly watched me. "Do you want some food?" he asks giving me a knowing smile. I nod "uhm... please." I whisper shyly. He nods "alright, I'll get some food going." he pats my back. I step away from him and follow him towards the kitchen. "How long have I been asleep?" I ask curiously seeing as he is no longer bleeding. "Hm... it's been 2 and a half days." he answers as he walks into the kitchen. I spot Yyvonne sitting at the table eating some crackers by herself. She turns to me and her eyes light up "Audrey!" she cries out quickly bumrushing me for hugs. I sit down with her and give her some much-needed hugs. While we waited for food she told me about how bored she's been and how hard it was for her to sleep without me telling her a bedtime story. 

Listening to Yyvonne chat Audrey's ears off I realized why this house felt so gloomy over the past two days. I peek at the two sitting at the table chatting away. Audrey's voice always caught my attention as it soothed Yvonne's excitement with calm hums of interest. My aura no longer coated her since it had already found its place within her body and so has hers. I turn back to what I was doing. 'I won't let that happen again.' I look out of the window at the already darkening day. I have never felt this calm in my life dedicating most of it to fighting and seeking a thrill. I found normal life rather uninteresting but having Audrey around I found it's been fun. I have somebody to talk to about more than sweets and games. There is never a day where coming home feels like a waste. I never understood when some of the men would brag about their wives complementing their cooking till now. I chuckle at how silly I felt each time Audrey complimented the dishes I made. The pride I felt when she wanted to learn how to cook what I did was stupid. There were days I wanted to shut those idiots up about their wives being the most beautiful and shot their pride down when they bragged about how cute their wives were. "Kogen, what are we having for dinner?" I look down at Audrey as she looks at the cooking stove. Her eyes fixed on the food. I noticed the knots forming on her hair due to her long period of sleep. "Mm is this mackerel?" she asks as I flip them over so the skin crisps properly. She looks up at me waiting for my answer. "yeah, do you eat it?" I ask realizing I didn't know what she disliked. She puckers her lips shifting them left and right. "Hm well I've never really tried mackerel so this will be the first time I try it," she answers with a head nod. "It smells good though." Her bright eyes found me. "I find you cook most of the things I dislike very wonderfully." she giggles. "Thing you dislike!?" I ask shocked she did not tell me sooner. She nods "Mhm I normally can't stand the taste of freshwater fish but oh my gosh the sauces you use are to die for." she exsagerates. "Then there is the beautifully caramelized onions and the wonderfully flavorful tomato soup." she lists out. I can't help but feel a bit of pride in hearing she enjoyed what she normally didn't. 'I want to make her my person officially. Show her off as mine to those who lived to spite me.' She turns her gaze away before bumping her side to mine. "W..what are you staring at? Do I have saliva on my face?" she asks growing shy as I watch her. I find her shyness very cute just as her bold mannerisms were cute. "No, I was just thinking," I answer her question. She looks at me "Of what?" she asks another question. I shake my head "Nothing you should worry about." I didn't want to make her feel any more shy than she already is. 'It's not right to show your partner such vulgar thoughts.' I remember my father telling me this before he died.