A.N : I'd like to thank you all for your lovely reviews ^^
-Lalaland : You're going to be the death of me some of these days! :D
-Shinohina4eva : Thank you and it's really nice to have your support :D Please feel free to point out any flaws or mistakes. Thx a lot
Chapter 8:
Ajas was sitting in his study, his brows furrowing as he tried to decipher the different dark magics he read about in the first tome of Magick Moste Evile, written by an old eccentric dark wizard from the middle ages, Godelot. It was strange for him as he found it mentionning the elder wand ; this story might not be as legendary as it sounded. Ajas rubbed his temples with his thumb – reading such dark contents did disturb his mind. But he needed to know as much as he could. In fact, the book mostly spoke of different dark torture curses, some of them rather gruesome. Now that he thought about it, the book was among the shelves of the Potter vault. Seems like they ain't all light wizards…
:I don't know why you are spending time on this book, child. It is pretty useless, and it only evasively mentions the most interesting thing…: Balthazar hissed in Ajas's ears. Ajas groaned, closing the book and dropping it in the shelves. He went through his stack of notes again – dark curses and their counter curses, dark potions and antidotes… He snickered – there's at least few thousands way to kill a man with magic, sometimes a simple light spell could do it. Heck, he could even kill someone with wingardium leviosa. Ajas couldn't see the boundaries between light and dark curses ; the only thing necessary was bits of macabre imagination.
:It all comes down to the intention of the caster: Ajas whispered and the silver snake nodded. Ajas stood up, walking around the flat ; he had been sitting all day, studying. His legs needed some exercise. He stopped next to his trunk, where he felt the familiar hum of dark magic emanating from it. But it had been different, since the last few days. Ajas hadn't bothered to check the locket since he took it out of Gringotts and so he thought it was about time. He opened his trunk and reached out for it, holding it with his bare hands. He felt it, he felt it's magic pulsing through him like a soft lullaby. It was as if the locket had a conscience on it's own – and it's intentions were almost benevolant towards Ajas. He opened it, sniffing slightly before jerking away as if an electric current went through his body.
:Merlin's dick be damned! There's a piece of soul in this!: He slipped in parseltongue.
:Boy, you have the tongue of a sailor!: Balthazar hissed, sarcasm dripping through his tone :But Merlin ended up eunuch anyways:
:yeah like…WHAT?: Ajas gaped at the silver snake :Merlin was an eunuch? I thought he was in love with Viviane the lady of the lake!:
:He was in love with his sister. Yes yes, Viviane was his sister. That's how he ended up eunuch: Balthazar chuckled
:How come I never heard of it in History of Magic classes?:
:Did you even bother to listen, snake child?: Balthazar poked Ajas's cheek with his tail. Ajas picked the locket up again, feeling slight…rumbling from it. It was as if the piece of soul in it was snickering.
:How very strange indeed: Balthazar mused :How very…familiar. You should keep it on you, child. I feel that this locket has your best intentions at heart:. Ajas wore it around his neck, quite reluctantly
:If you say so, old snake. What ever artifact this is, there's a piece of human soul in it:
The snake chose to remain silent as Ajas went back to his study, reading and memorizing a list of potion ingredients and their interactions. It made potions much more understandable – the only thing Snape ever did was writing the recipe on the black board and asking them to brew dumbly. Now Ajas understood how ingredients works, their effects, their effects when combined with others and the ones nullifying them.
A soft knock was heard and Ajas's head snapped up. He cautiously opened the entrance door, discovering Mai standing behind it. She looked at him for a while, blushing slightly.
What on earth…Oh – He realised. It was the first time she ever saw him without his hood. Maybe she thinks I'm handsome….God, when did I become THAT vain?
"Oh, uhm Hello Ajas. I didn't see you for a while so I thought I'd just check on you…you know" She muttered rapidly, her cheeks having a lovely shade of pink.
"Thanks Mai, everything's fine. Don't worry, I've just been doing researches about magic a lot. Please come in" He held the door, beckoning her to enter. She walked in, a silver colored platter floating behind her.
"I thought I'd just make some tea and some traditional vietnamese sweets. If you don't mind…" she said, shyly.
"That's very thoughtful of you, dear" Ajas winked before setting the platter on the table with a wave of his hand. Mai looked around, staring at the multiple tall bookshelves surrounding her.
"This place surely had changed since you moved in. You made a library out of it…" She paused, holding the teapot and manually serving him tea. "It's lotus tea, something from my country. And these are green beans pastries. We don't have tea and cookies" she smiled. They sat there, sipping their tea in an awkward silence. Ajas really didn't have that much experiences with girls….
:Nice catch, oh Lord Mephysto!: Balthazar hissed teasingly.
:Thank you…: The girl hissed out, flushed. Ajas gaped at her, flabbergasted.
:You're…you're a parseltongue? You don't descend from Slytherin, do you?:
:Yes, I can speak the snake tongue…and you know, Slytherin wasn't the only parseltongue on this world:
Ajas mentally facepalmed himself for being such an ignorant idiot at times, before reverting to english
"So, how did you become one? Or were you born with this ability?"
"I am a born parseltongue. My great grandmother was a Naga Witch. Nagas are half human half serpents, considered as a deitie among the snakes…" She explained, seeing Ajas's questionning look.
"So you're like, almost royalty?" Ajas spoked out, jokingly. Mai blushed again
"Well you can say so…but I'm an illegitimate child so it doesn't really count…You see, my mother is a muggle. She was really poor, and fell in love with my father. But my father just…used of her body" Mai looked down, trying to conceal the sadness emanating from her eyes. Seeing this, Ajas putted a comforting hand on her shoulders.
"And so, she became pregnant" Mai continued. "And gave birth to me. She wanted to afford for me a magical education – you see, in Asia it isn't like here. Muggles know about the existance of wizards and witches. But she didn't have the money to so I mostly learned on my own. Hoping that one day I'd be able to intergrate the vietnamese wizarding community. One day, an english man came, full of promises. He promised me that he would teach me for free, as long as I followed him. And I agreed blindly, before my mother could've prevented me from it. So he brought me here, wanting me to work for him but the other girls protected me because I wasn't of age. And I guess they pitied me…When I left, my mother killed herself. I feel guilty for it…And I don't know why. I've probably bored you to death with my tale..I'm sorry" Mai weeped silently. Ajas could feel the distress from her soul – he had so much in common with her, so he held a protective arm around her waist as she cried on his shoulders. The girl had held this up in her heart for way too long and relieved it to him, a stranger who had just been remotely nice and polite to her. Ajas couldn't help but pity Mai, compassion spreading through him. Realisation drawn on him – human trafficking did exist in the wizarding world too.
"Do not worry, dear Mai. You have suffered throughout your life , I can sense it. You needed to relieve your heart, and I am glad that you did. But heed my warning – do not trust such things to strangers, as the wicked ones might use it against you…Pray tell, and sorry if it sounds rude, but how old are you?" Ajas whispered, looking at that absolutely beautiful girl crying. Her sadness did not appeal to him,her heart being innocent. Ajas discovered that fact recently – he only wanted to consume guilty souls, because they smelled breathtakingly delicious.
"I'm 15, since April…" She murmured, between sobs.
Me and crying asians. Is this becoming some sort of wicked fashion?
"I'm soon to be 16…in 2 days" He told her and she looked at him, astonishment coming from her puffy red eyes.
"You're wise beyond your years, Ajas" She commented, letting a smile appear on her lips. Ajas was drawn to these… he just wanted to bend his head toward hers and kiss her. He pushed the thoughts aside, trying to ignore the intimacy they shared at the very moment.
"I've lived a harsh life too. I am orphan, and was raised by magic hating muggles. They starved me and tried to beat the magic out of me when I was a child. Earlier this year, a man I held dear in my heart died because of my own foolishness. I guess we are similar in ways…". Mai gasped at the revelation, letting a tear roll on her cheeks. Ajas knew it, it was no longer a tear of her own sadness, but a tear of compassion. Since he became a tormentor, he turned up into some sort of empath. Dementors do taste other people's feelings.
They sat there in silence, appreciating each other's warmth and comfort. Ajas sipped his tea tranquily, forgetting the sad thoughts as he saw Mai smiling at him.
"So, do you have any free time, tomorrow?" He decided to ask, hesitantly after a long moment. She looked up to him, her eyes shiny
"Oh yes, I can do whatever I want once the household chores are done and the food is cooked…" She answered, expectantly. Ajas didn't really what it would all come to, but it was worth a try so he decided himself
"Well, mind to hang around with me tomorrow afternoon? "
Mai blushed at the question – it was the first time someone actually asked her for a date in a gentlemanly way. She nodded, unsure how to respond for a while
"Well…uhm…ofcourse! It would be really nice!" She smiled gueninely "But well I don't know why someone like you would want to hang around with me…I'm not exactly talented nor am I clever…"
Ajas smirked, cocking an eyebrow at the shy asian in his arms.
"Tut tut…you just had never been offered proper education before, that's all. I can sense a very powerful magical core within you. I'll start looking for someone to teach you, if you want."
Mai's eyes widened before she hastingly thanked him. "You're so kind to me…why?"
"Because I can sense your soul" Ajas answered, after a long moment. Confusion filled the girl's eyes so Ajas decided to elaborate :
"Mai, I'm not exactly, at least not fully human. I am not harmful either…I'm what some would call a tormentor. I can sense people's hearts, fears, guilty feelings and sins. I can taste their thoughts. The reason why I am willing to help you is because I can feel potential in you, and such abilities should NOT go to waste. I am sorry if I can't teach you myself – I haven't accomplished my own education yet. But I'm ready to help you when necessary"
Ajas never knew why he decided to do so. It's just that he could see the magical aura the girl had yet she looked so helpless.
"I…thank you, Ajas." She flashed a grin, revealing her perfect teeth. She is so fucking hot…. Ajas thought, staring at her.
"I wondered if you would come down to dinner for once, with the girls. You know, they are really nice and they never saw you around so they got pretty curious. They are like sisters to me…and they kinda know lots of things too, all the things happening they are pretty prone to gossip and it can really get nasty at times"
Ajas didn't mind having dinner with humans after three weeks, so he accepted.
:Will there be any female snakeesssss?: Balthazar hissed from Ajas's wrists. Ajas looked at him, astonished
:You understand english!: He grasped out
:Ofcourse I do, what do you think I am? An idiotic basilisk?: The snake coughed out, offensed. Mai stared at Balthazar, before asking :
:How were you created, Balthazar?: She whispered out. Now that Ajas thought about it, he never eventually bothered to ask Balthazar about it.
:Hmmm, do you know how magical portraits works? Well it's rather simple. Herpo...which was my name…took out his memory, creating a replica of his mind essence and imposed it on the silver snake poisonous pendant I was. Ofcourse, the magic he…or I…used is of a higher degree then the ones you use to create magical portrait. I'm in fact a memory of Herpo in an animated object. I want to bless myself at times for not ending up snoring in a frame: Balthazar explained.
Mai discreetly checked the time, before announcing : "I'm afraid I must go cook dinner, Ajas. It was a real pleasure to speak with you" She smiled softly before magically picking up the tea platter. She waved at him before leaving his flat.
:Well that was surely interesting. I'd be glad if you mated with her some of these days – parseltongues are getting rare: Balthazar hissed softly, chuckling as he saw Ajas blush furiously.
:When did I ever speak of doing such…things with her?:
:I can feel the heat coming out from you, Ajas. Even if you may not love her, you lust for her…:
Ajas rolled his eyes, before replying
:You're going to be the death of me, Balthazar. I swear:
Ajas sat for a while in silence, studying the golden locket he had around his neck. Trying to ponder about it's nature, asking Balthazar about it. But the snake somehow managed to escape from the subject, saying that he will tell Ajas when the time comes.
A.N : K k I know this chapter is NOT super interesting. But well I thought it's kinda nice for Harry/Ajas to have female company at times. What do you think about this pairing? Should it end up romantically or just friendship with sex?