Chapter 12: Blue Light and the Face of Reality
In that fog of unconsciousness, I saw that same fire again. The fire was bright red, but the strange thing was that it looked more like the color of a 'Crayon' than a real burning fire. Destruction was everywhere; terrifying monsters were wreaking havoc inside the palace, and some people were fighting them. The palace curtains were catching fire and falling down.
There was someone... who was holding me in their arms. That woman was crying and saying something to me, but I couldn't hear her voice. As soon as she finished speaking, a peaceful smile appeared on her face, and she showed me her smallest finger (Pinky finger). I also touched her with my tiny finger.
Then I saw someone running while carrying me. In the sky was that same moon with a small mosquito-like spot in the middle, but that moon slowly started turning into a sun. As I looked ahead, a blue-colored sword was coming straight toward my eyes.
I woke up with a start out of fear.
I was lying down and saw a few people standing around me, with blue light emanating from their hands. I tried to get up but couldn't. My mother was there in the room, crying with her head on my father's shoulder. That high-spirited man looked extremely sad at this moment, standing by his wife.
I fell into thought—'What is all this going on? Who are these people, and how is this blue light coming out of their hands?'
Then I felt that I could now move my hand. After a little while, those four people said, "Healing Magic Complete! Now your child is out of danger."
I sat up. Mamma immediately hugged me. She was crying a lot and saying, "What would I have done if something happened to you, Ansole? You are my life, my whole world."
Truthfully, I felt very good at that moment. Then those four people said, "Our payment?"
Thomas said seriously, "Please go outside; your fee is waiting for you there."
They left. As soon as they were gone, Thomas's voice rang out, "From now on, Ansole's going outside is stopped! Until I say so, he will not step foot outside."
Saying this, he also left from there. Only one thought was in my mind—'Yaar, this is wrong! It was the first time I had gone out of the house, and now I'm imprisoned again?'
Then all the maids also came in and started crying around me. I got up and looked out the window. Thomas was sending those four people off with great respect, seating them in a carriage. Then he came inside with his commander.
I was just thinking about who those four people were after all.
They didn't look ordinary from any angle. A different kind of dignity radiated from their white and gold-bordered robes. Were they truly 'The Great Healers' about whom Mamma often told stories? I used to think they were just a part of the fairy tales told at bedtime, but today, seeing them and that blue light coming from their hands with my own eyes, my belief had changed.
That light... it wasn't dry like the light of a bulb. When it was touching my wound, that blue glow was soul-soothing. They had said in very clear and steady words—"Healing Magic Complete." These words were echoing in my ears again and again. This meant clearly that in this world, 'Magic' is not just a fantasy of stories but a living reality. I thought that just as we are told stories in the real world, they must tell them here too, but I was wrong.
And if magic is a reality. My mind now started working rapidly. I gripped the window frame tightly with my tiny hands and looked at the hills spread far and wide, which I had touched and returned from for the first time today.
Then I remembered that point of Thomas—"Going outside is stopped."
A strange irritation arose in my heart. The first time I was able to step outside those four walls, when I saw those massive boars—I wanted to see even more things—just then, a restriction was placed on me again. I felt like someone had put a flying bird back into a golden cage. That high-spirited style of Thomas, who was teaching me the basics of hunting in the carriage, had now completely turned into the shadow of a strict and frightened father. After all, what are they protecting me from?
Mamma had only told me stories, but the truth behind those stories was hidden today in this small mark on my forehead. If magic exists here, then it clearly means that the rules here will also be different. Now I will have to untangle the threads of this magical world while staying inside the house.
I wanted 'answers.' I resolved in my mind—even if my going out is stopped, no one can stop the flight of my mind. If this house is my prison, then somewhere within this prison, that truth must be hidden which will take me from an ordinary child to this magic.