The Science of Magic

~ 5 ~

Shalini almost ran past her mother in her haste to rush over to the Midnight Menagerie.

Yashoda was in the living room, standing very still, eyes closed as if in deep meditation.

"Mum?" Shalini approached her cautiously, "Are- are you okay?"

At the sound of her voice, Shalini's mother opened her eyes and glanced at her daughter, "I am alright, but I felt this-"

"-Māra," Shalini interrupted her mother, whose eyes widened in surprise, "I know. Miss Iveema just called me."

Yashoda wrung her hands together in discontent, "Baba, you should understand this: Māra is not physically dangerous. It is his presence that you should fear – it influences emotion over all beings of the Kāmadhātu; amplifies them tenfold. He plays on emotions you already have festered within you, or at least, will try to. That is why he is so dangerous."

Yashoda's statement were very similar to what Shalini's grandmother had told her many years ago, when she had regaled her with the stories of the Buddha. Her grandmother had always maintained that it was humans themselves that were responsible for their actions – a divine and omnipotent God was never in the question – and beings like Māra simply amplified or brought more hideous actions and thoughts into fruition. As a child, Shalini had always found this explanation rather complicated: Māra was tirelessly explained as an abstract and a physical entity.

"Where are you going?" Her mother asked, finally noticing the bag Shalini had slung over her shoulder, "Ah, Iveema's, I assume?"

Shalini nodded, and her mother sighed, murmuring in rather resigned tones for her daughter to keep vigilant and be careful before she left.

Shalini had never reached the Midnight Menagerie so fast – she almost ran past a red light to get into the staff car park out back, before she rushed inside. She found Miss Iveema's entire staff (all of six people, excluding herself) at the reception area, chattering amongst themselves.

She approached Obsidian and Opal, who were closest to her, and were in conversation with Miz. All three glanced up at the sound of her approaching footsteps.

"Sha," Miz called out as she neared them, a small smile beginning to form at the corner of his lips, "Last one to arrive, hey? How unexpected."

"I didn't realise today was the day Māra decided to come to the human realm," Shalini quipped back, "So I was knee-deep in assignments." At this, Miz's white teeth flashed as his grin turned into a fully-fledged smile. When Miss Iveema had hired Miz, Shalini had initially been quite awkward around him. He seemed a smidgen too sarcastic for her taste, but Shalini had eventually warmed up to him after a long bonding session discussing streetwear brands. And Miz was a hypebeast if anything; the boy was always decked out in some form of expensive streetwear. Kai thought it was over-flexing, but Shalini appreciated it.

"Yeah, I know you had the morning shift. I was just working at the front desk with Kai after I came back from my break in the afternoon, and then Miss Iveema comes downstairs and asks us to close shop early," Miz explained, and then glanced behind her, "Speaking of the devil..."

An arm latched around her shoulders, and Shalini's senses were suddenly bombarded with the scent of citrus and mint. It was Kai, of course; she could recognise his perfume anywhere. Perhaps because he had stuck to the same fragrance bottle for the better part of five years, and was not intent on changing it anytime soon.

"Nuh uh man," Kai wagged a finger at Miz, "I think you'll find that the devil is somewhere else on earth. I'm just a simple human being."

"Emphasis on simple," Shalini muttered, and carefully disentangled herself from Kai's arm, "Also, let's acknowledge that I was right, by the way. That preta was saying something absolutely true."