Authors: Nas Magkasi
Chapter Six
Mistico
had visited Adriana and Domenico on only two more occasions. She mostly stayed away because they only had eyes for each other. Plus, Adriana didn’t seem to care about Mistico’s presence. It was as if she didn’t recognize Mistico at all.
Domenico came one night to tell her that he and Adriana were getting married. She was happy for them and of course wished him well. She’d expected them to get married, as that had been the plan all along. Domenico had talked about it often even when Adriana had been missing. It was what he wanted and she would support them.
He invited her to go wedding dress shopping with them in the town of Portella, where there was a boutique of wedding dresses.
She agreed. This time, she hoped to reconnect with her best friend. Perhaps Adriana’s distance was all in her head. Adriana had been through a lot
after all, and maybe her memories hadn’t all come back yet.
“Mistico, darling!” said Adriana when she arrived at Domenico’s door. “Is that a new dress? How fantastic! Green looks great on you!”
Mistico hugged her as a way of greeting. It was odd how enthusiastic she was. Adriana never used to be so…extroverted.
They set off immediately to Portella on a buggy. The couple sat on one side while Mistico faced them.
Nothing was odd. Adriana
had her arm wrapped around Domenico and leaned on his shoulder. He looked content. She kept showing Mistico the ring and talked about how lovely it was. Yes, Mistico agreed it was quite lovely. She told her so, yet Mistico had the burning feeling in her stomach again.
This is not Adriana.
Mistico squeezed her eyes shut. Then she turned to the scenery. They had to pass through the forest to reach town. Her father lived nearby. Could he sense this too?
She watched the trees to calm herself, hoping that the burning feeling would go away.
It wouldn’t.
It’s not her. It’s not her.
Stop it
, she told herself.
She was just jealous. Adriana deserved happiness and she shouldn’t be so petty.
Finally they
reached the wedding dress shop in town, and Mistico was relieved to be on her legs. Walking would help her stomach perhaps, and quell the voices in her head.
“Welcome to the shop,” the shopkeeper said. She was a matronly woman in her fifties.
Adriana smiled at her. Mistico noticed how strange her smile was. It was rubbery and stretched. She bared teeth, as she’d forgotten how to smile. Her eyes were blank. Not full of warmth and light like the Adriana she knew. But maybe she was just being too judgmental.
“We’re getting married tomorrow,” Maj said, gesturing to Domenico.
“That soon?” said the lady. “How lovely, congratulations. We’ll have to find you the right dress today now, won’t we?”
“Yes, we better,”
Maj showed off her ring as well. “Isn’t it lovely?”
“That is certainly some diamond,” remarked the
shop lady. “It might just be the prettiest diamond I’ve seen in the 30 years I’ve worked here.”
“Thank you,” Maj said. “I need a beautiful dress to match. The best one that you’ve got.”
The shop lady began gathering up a selection of her frilliest dresses. Mistico was concerned for Domenico because she knew that they cost a pretty penny. He was certainly not rich.
“Are you sure you can afford this?” Mistico whispered.
“Don’t worry about it,” he replied.
But she could see that he was worried by the tense look on his face. Or maybe he was worried ab
out other things. Like the fact that the girl trying on the dresses wasn’t Adriana…
Mistico tried to steer Adriana to the less expensive dresses.
“What about this one?” she touched a long lace number. It was lovely and romantic, perhaps something Mistico would choose for herself one day.
Adriana wrinkled her nose. “It’s too boring. Who would wear something like that?
Right Domenico?”
“You can pick whatever dress you like,”
he said. “I’m sure that you will look beautiful in any of them.
“Men,” Adriana said
, shaking her head. “They don’t know anything about fashion.
Mistico spent the rest of the day watching Adriana try on one dress after the next.
Something was definitely off.
For as long as Mistico had known her, Adriana never really cared about shopping or clothes. She wore the same five dresses on rotation for years, and she’d been perfectly content. When she did have to buy a new dress, she would never go for the ostentatious ones. She’d grab the simplest one and bought it without caring to try it on.
“Just who are you?” Mistico blurted out.
Astonished, Adriana let go of a dress on a hanger and turned to her.
“What do you mean?”
Mistico scrutinized her and Adriana stared back with hard eyes. Neither of them blinked.
“I never knew you care so much about fashion,” Mistico said.
Adriana let out a careless laugh. “But it’s my wedding day. The dress is the most important feature of all. Next to the ring of course.”
The burning feeling in her stomach was back again. Without giving Domenico and Adriana an explanation, she ran out of the shop clutching her belly.
She’s lying, she lying. She’s not Adriana. Adriana is gone.
***
Mistico ran to her father’s house in the forest. She knew in her gut that whoever was getting married to Domenico was definitely not Adriana. Maybe her story was true that an old couple did rescue her from a faraway town, but who’s to say that they didn’t do something to her? Changed her somehow. She had to ask her father about necromancy. He had to help her uncover the truth.
Her father was a hermit who usually puttered around his garden. When she arrived, he was down on his knees, talking to a garden snail. He wore regular human clothes now that he renounced being a wizard, just an old man with a short white beard and clear grey eyes.
She could see why he loved the gardens so much. It had every color of roses in bloom and there were peaceful creatures like the snail to converse with. It did beat being out in society sometimes, even Mistico had to admit. Humans could be a harsh bunch. The recriminations that villagers of Tetro had given her father when her mother died by accident had been severe. They had wanted to burn him.
“Ah, Misty,” he exclaimed at the sight of her. “What a lovely surprise. I was just about to have tea with biscuits. Care to join me?”
Misty exhaled. “Sure.”
She helped him bring out the teapot and the cups out onto the garden table.
“Lovely day, isn’t it?” he remarked. “Where are you coming from, the flower store?”
“No, from Portebello. I –”
Zannan wouldn’t let her finish. A dark cloud seemed to loom over his eyes. “What troubles you, my dear?”
His eyes met hers, probing, curious. He could sense her when he got in tune. It happened when they were close, and she was his daughter; they were connected by blood and by their shared powers.
“As you know,” she said. “Adriana’s back.”
He nodded and listened closely.
“Something’s wrong,” she said. “I don’t believe that she is really Adriana. I’ve observed them and each time I get a burning feeling in my stomach when I’m around her. Do you know what I’m talking about, Father? Does it have something to do with listening and trusting my gut?”
“It depends,” he said, taking a sip of his chamomile tea. “Sometimes the pain is a manifestation of emotional pain.”
“I’ve been observing Adriana,” she continued. “There’s something vacant and dangerous about her. I can’t put my finger on it, but I get the burning sensation in my gut and a voice that tells me it’s not really her. Can you help me figure it out?”
She filled him in on the details, reiterating the story that Adriana
had given them as the reason of her disappearance.
“Could the couple have done something to her? Maybe they have powers to
o. It’s hard to believe that Adriana could survive an entire night at sea on a log. My theory is that she died and necromancy was performed on her.”
One of his caterpillar eyebrows rose.
“Necromancy does not exist as far as I know,” he said. “Once the human soul is gone from the body, when it returns, it needs to find a fresh body. A dying corpse can not contain a healthy soul.”
“I just don’t know how else to explain it.” Tears welled in
Mistico’s eyes.
“Could it be that you’re a little upset that she is back now?” Domenico suggested gently.
“W
hy would I be upset?” Mistico said. “I would be happy to have my best friend back, you know I would. But it’s not her. It’s someone else.”
Zannan sighed. “It can’t be easy, seeing Domenico in love again. I know you’ve
grown close to him over these months.”
“That’s not it,” Mistico exclaimed.
“If you’re looking for an explanation, dear, I’m trying to help you find one. It always hurts to see the person you love be with someone else.”
“Adriana’s my friend. I want her back. I really do. I’m telling you—“
“I know you do, dear. Tell me, are you involved in the wedding somehow?”
“No. The wed
ding is tomorrow and they want it to be quick. At noon, they’ll just say their vows in front of the town and that’s it. No food, no dancing, no flowers.”
“Maybe you’re feeling a little left out. Hmm?”
“Father,” Mistico said, exasperated. “If you don’t believe me, can you at least meditate with me? If you get inside my head and feel what I feel, maybe –”
Zannan wav
ed her suggestion away. “Misty, they’re about to get married tomorrow. You’ve got to let them be.”
“Which is why you’ve got to help me before it’s too late!”
“Do you hear yourself, child?
“Please, F
ather. I know you don’t like to use magic, but –”
“Remember that I helped you and Domenico find Adriana and I couldn’t. I was wrong. She is alive. You’re going to have to accept that I might be like the humans, Mistico. I can make mistakes too. Magic is not always right and it’s better if we don’t use it altogether and let the world continue
on in the natural order of things.
“But you can use your powers for good. It’s a gift from God. I have it too. You know I do, but you just won’t teach me!”
Mistico’s tears had stopped and she became unbelievably angry.
“If I could turn back time,” Zannan said. “I would erase everything I ever learned about magic. It has done more harm than good. It has killed people. It has hurt the ones I love.
Your mother is gone because of me and my supposed ‘good’ magic.”
“But you also saved the town from the sirens, remember? This town still exists thanks to you!”
“Without magic,” Zannan said. “People would not expect you to solve their problems all the time, then blame you when things go wrong. You’ll thank me one day.”
Mistico jumped up from her seat.
“You can use your powers for good, I know it. Things that are meant to happen in the world will happen, but God has entrusted you with a gift that you are denying. A man of your caliber – why do you want to be useless to society?”
“Mistico, that’s enough,” Zannan said sharply. “I know you’re upset, but I’m your father and I know what’s good for you. Now with this Adriana business, you’re just going to have to let it go. I
cannot help you. You are just going to move on from Domenico. There are other fishermen in town.”
“Father, for the last time, he’s a friend, and I want to help him. If he’s marrying some horrible monster, I want to prevent him from doing that. Something’s wrong and I can feel it. You could probably feel it too if only you were to let yourself be open to it.”
Zannan looked grave. “My final answer is no.”
“Sometimes I think you are a coward,” Mistico said, before storming out.
Mistico had no other choice but to get to the bottom of things herself. By the time she got home, the sun was already setting. After changing into a black set of clothes, she set off for Adriana’s house.
She didn’t know what she expected to find,
but it was the only thing she could think of to do, short of talking to Domenico. She didn’t want to hurt Domenico so she didn’t. In case she really was wrong. Still, she had to make sure.