Esoterico: A Hidden Land

Chapter Four: The Glowing Tree

As soon as Ryan and his mom reached their house, he started to shower his mom with questions.

"Is my father's voice a harsh and greasy one?"

"No," his mom answered, "Your dad used to have a calm, soft, but clear voice. But why are you asking me this now?"

Ryan couldn't figure out how to explain that incident to her. He, after thinking for a while, finally started," I was in the auditorium for my practicals. But at that time, a voice—a calm, greasy, but harsh voice—spoke to me. I couldn't hear the voice but could feel it within my head. It spoke to me through my mind. "

His mother was listening carefully and thinking deeply. She asked, "What did it say?"

"It said that he also attended the test I was attending. It also said that I know him very well, but I have never met him. It claimed to be my mentor and guide, but it tried to lead me in the wrong way throughout the practicals." 

"Hmm," his mom said, "I see, if he says that he attended the test, then he could be a sorcerer. And he must be a sorcerer to talk inside your mind. And he must be trying to trick you if he says he guides you but tries to mislead you. " 

"Well," Ryan continued, "He didn't mislead me completely. He told me about the objects concisely."

"Well, as a non-magic person, I cannot solve your problem, dear," his mom said, looking a bit grim, unlike her usual cheerful face," But I can assume your father's genes can give you those; he was a mysterious man from mysterious origins; I never got enough time to ask him about his home and his family."

Ryan got a sudden feeling that his mom may be hiding something from him. "But that's pointless," he thought, "Why would mom hide that from me? She would've told me if she knew about this mystical voice. "

Ryan was going to ask her about what she's hidden from him about the night of his birth, but he stopped himself from asking. He thought that it would not be wiser to ask her about that if she really has hidden something from him; she did it for a certain reason, and Ryan didn't believe anybody in the world as much as his mother. So he said, "Did Ulysses Armædéone actually visit me on the night I took birth?"

"How did you know?" his mom asked calmly.

"He told me himself," he replied.

"Well, yes," she said, being a bit narrow-eyed but casually, "He happened to see you there that night, but I don't know why he came to the hospital actually that night." She stopped a bit and added, "Probably to see a friend or a relative of his."

"Hmm, all right, Ryan muttered as usual and went off for a shower. Not a shower of questions—A real shower. 

         *       *   *

After the admission test, Ryan's holidays started fully. No school, no exams, he was totally free.  He could do everything and go everywhere now. His mother always gave him liberty whenever he was free. He wandered in Aracounis, listening to the endless blabbers of the young trees and meeting strange creatures. He carelessly sat by the bank of the Rainbow River, watching the calm waves as the water frequently changed color over time. Sometimes he idled away time walking through the streets, watching people, or sitting in the park, listening to songs by maestros all over the world on a small maggot device (operated by magic) in his ear. He also frequently visited his friends and cousin and gossiped with his mother on the balcony until late at night.

Days passed like this. Like this, December 17 arrived and from the morning Ryan was over-excited because today the result shall arrive—the result of the admission test in Magicademia.