There were so many stars that Tanaka had no hope to count them all even with his overly large brain. It wasn't just white dots against completely black space, but there were colors too. Of blues, yellows, and reds that shone so bright, the beautiful flowers dimmed in comparison.
He had forgotten he was in a different world-- no. For the longest time, he refused to take in his surroundings. He never looked closely at the places he had traveled to, the animals he would see, or the people he had met. He continued to delude himself, thinking that he was visiting some country in Europe, taking a small vacation away from work, away from his family, but the starry sky was like a slap in the face.
The combination of air and light pollution left the night sky in Japan smoggy and dull. It would be unusual to see more than several stars at once and sometimes Tanaka had to squint underneath his glasses to make sure he hadn't mistaken them for the lights from a plane or helicopter. He was never interested in stargazing because of so, and it was easier to look up images of stars through the internet than to strain his eyes trying to find one in Tokyo's night sky. Basim was different, though.
Sometimes whenever the older man was visiting the country, he would look up at the night sky with searching eyes, and while he didn't seem disappointed by whatever he saw, he never failed to look lost, as if he was missing something. He once told Tanaka of the desert nights, clear of clouds and haze if the wind didn't pick up the sand. Far from civilization with only the Rub'al Khali Desert's cold air, the sands, and the nightcrawlers as his only form of company, the heavens would alight and display its splendor. He described a scar in the sky full of shimmering stars painting the otherwise black canvas, of visions filled color among the dull brown landscape, and of an awe that made him feel larger than life but small at the same time.
Basim had no interest in space, the nature of stars and celestial bodies, or the science behind them, but it was breathtaking nonetheless.
Tanaka remembered the older man telling him stories about the constellations fondly, stories that he was told by his soft-spoken mother when he was young. About Andromeda and her mother, Ganymede and Aquila, and Athamas' children and the ram-- stories of gods, heroes, and fantastical adventures that somehow shone within the placement of the stars. But looking up at the Astrian's night sky, he could not see those stars Basim had once talked fondly of.
It was the month of Twinharv Moon, which was around September on Earth, and he couldn't see Aquila and Indus, or Vulpecula and Pavo. Microscopium and Capricornus were not there either. He could not see the blue subdwarf star 'Altair' or blue-white supergiant 'Deneb'. The blue-white subgiant star 'Peacock' and the star system 'Dabih' were not where they were supposed to be or just didn't exist entirely either. He was in an entirely different world-- a different universe.
While desperately trying to find anything familiar, his knuckles turning white as he clutched onto the blanket, he noticed something in the corner of his senses. A presence as large as the solar system but as silent as the vacuum of space. Daunting as it should be, Tanaka only felt comfortable in its vastness. 'Small,' as Basim had once told him, but in a way that made him want to lay back and relax into its embrace.
It was coming closer but he didn't feel alarmed by its approach and waited until it was about 6 meters away to turn his gaze away from the stars. Following the river of flowers was a man in a long dark coat and plain cap, his face and features nearly indistinguishable even with the dim lamp carried near his narrow waist. Tall with broad shoulders and long legs, his figure was distinctively noble and majestic, like a nocturnal creature gliding through the shadows.
Tanaka nearly stopped breathing; the image before his eyes overlapped with a memory of an Arabian man striding towards him with the same grace and confidence that turned heads and held everyone's eyes as he passed by them. The city's neon and LED lights seemed to pale in comparison, and as he moved closer, the name 'Basim' almost spilled from his mouth. But the lamp was lifted higher and while they looked similar, Basim's features were older and rugged. The corner of his eyes had faint crinkles from how often he smiled and his jaw more defined.
The one in front of him was maybe younger if only judging by his smooth, marble-like skin and the lacking warmth in his abyss-like eyes. Basim had never looked at him so coldly like that.
The twinkling city lights were replaced with faraway stars and pale flowers. Tanaka felt as if he was dropped into icy waters.
"Young Master Thomas," Amir called out, neither sounding surprised or nonplussed. He had a raised eyebrow, his eyes full of amusement with a twinge of something else as he looked down at the little one's thinly-dressed state. "What is Young Master Thomas doing in the gardens at this time of night?"
Maybe most people would redirect the question back, especially since the butler was dressed as if he was going out or had been out, but Tanaka stared directly in those black-as-the-void eyes, seeking something beyond the darkness it held. "...Stargazing," Tanaka answered as absentminded and as blank as his face.
"...Stargazing," Amir deadpanned, his eyebrow still raised only with a hint of suspicion. Tanaka didn't mind his disbelief and turned his gaze back to the sights above them but no matter how many times he looked up, he couldn't recognize any patterns of constellations, if there were any.
The lamplight seemed to make the young boy's eyes glisten in the dark, creating a lively mood unlike his personality, and though the shadows grew deeper by its presence, the imagery wasn't as gloomy as one expected. Hidden in a corner of a garden full of flowers and foliage, it was almost like finding a small animal, innocent and unwary of the dangers of being found by a predator.
"...Constellations..." the little one suddenly articulated with an airy tone. Amir paused momentarily, his dark eyes narrowing, and before he could answer, the youngest Rosetta turned his earthly-brown orbs towards the butler which sparkled faintly like the stars above. "...Do you know any constellations?"
The Zafarian blinked, his expression neutral as he stared back the child, the night making his features especially grave-looking before leaning his head back as Tanaka had done earlier. "Do you see the bright orange star next to the smaller blue one?" With a curious expression, Tanaka looked up as well and tried to locate the stars Amir had described but there were too many orange stars and blue stars to pinpoint out. Regardless, the butler didn't even wait for the child to find them and continued. "The orange star is the neck and the blue star the front short legs. From the orange star, it's connected to a small white star, and the white star has two other stars that would make the legs. That constellation is called Kawzir: the Forgiving Ahmaqkin."
... What in the world is an Ahmaqkin? It sounded like the constellation has four legs... Was it a mammal? Reptile? Amphibian??? Maybe a four-legged bird?? Ah, but wait, Amir never mentioned any wings...
"The constellation was based on the Legend of the Ahmaqkin and the Aqrab. The Aqrab also has a constellation right next to the Ahmaqkin and it's called Saminfir."
Well, Tanaka knew that 'Aqrab' meant 'Scorpion' but Ahmaqkin...
"What is the legend of the Ahmaqkin and Aqrab?" Tanaka finally decided to ask, tilting his curly head towards the butler in a curious manner.
Amir finally turned his gaze from the heavens and looked down at the small child with an incomprehensible expression. He seemed to be pondering something, though his handsome face gave nothing away.
They stared at each other for a long minute and while Tanaka didn't even make an effort to figure out what the older man was thinking, Amir was the opposite. His black, lightless eyes were intense, enough to make a grown man tremble and sweat out of anxiety, but the youngest Rosetta didn't even falter under the butler's immense pressure and sat there obliviously, ignorant of the scrutiny.
Finally, the Zafarian looked away and began the story in a low and soothing voice.
There was a silly and naive Ahmaqkin that lived in a beautiful, green-filled oasis called the Blue Jewel of the Desert. It was given the name 'Kawzir' by one of Rayan's divine messengers known as the King of Mirages, Shasarab, who loved the creature for its kind and gentle nature. In order to keep unsavory characters from taking advantage of the beloved creature's trusting heart, Shasarab hid the oasis behind a series of mirages so that no other being may find it.
One day, though the Ahmaqkin lived a peaceful life because of Shasarab's protection, for the first time since it was born, it stepped out of its home and outside of the oasis. There it met Saminfir the Aqrab, a creature birthed by Himasamm, the Divine Messenger of Venom.
Saminfir was a creature that awoke when the light faded, feared by all creatures due to its cunning personality, cold temperament, and deadly toxin. It traveled through the sands alone, using its claws to ward off anything that came close to it. Including the Ahmaqkin, which almost stumbled upon it with its clumsy paws.
Alas, Kawzir during its 'adventurous exploration' wasn't fazed by the Aqrab's attack. In fact, the silly Ahmaqkin was overjoyed. The scorpion was the first creature it had met outside of its oasis and it was looking forward to making it their friend.
Unfortunately, Kawzir's big awkward self tripped over Saminfir's tail, injuring it, and as compensation, Shasarab's beloved creature foolishly invited the scorpion into its home to recuperate. Recognizing this opportunity to enter into the King of Mirage's Blue Jewel, Aqrab slyly agreed and let the naive Ahmaqkin lead him to the oasis.
Kawzir was unaffected by the mirages that protected its home, unlike the Aqrab, who nearly went towards the other direction several times in between the journey, but due to the silly Ahmaqkin's guidance, they both made it safely into Blue Jewel's lush greenery. Kawzir gave Saminfir its nest, which was shaded under a palm tree and full of soft foliage, and promised to take care of the scorpion until its tail had been healed.
Stunned by the Blue Jewel's beauty and its riches, Saminfir developed greedy thoughts for the oasis. It was well known by all Desert Creatures that the Ahmaqkin was loved by the illustrious King of Mirages, who was also known as the King of Riches, and one could only imagine the extravagant life the Ahmaqkin was spoiled with. So the Aqrab used the Ahmaqkin's eagerness and naivety to procure its treasures.
Saminfir asked for three things: a gold fortune, a sparkling jewel, and a part of Rayan's Divine Scriptures of Magic.
Kawzir didn't seem troubled by the request and earnestly went around the large oasis to meet the scorpion's expectations.
The Ahmaqkin first brought back the 'gold fortune' to the Aqrab, but they were not what the arachnid was expected. In front of Saminfir were two different 'golden' items: a pile of sand and a gold-petal orchid, one of the deadliest desert flowers known to all living creatures.
Obviously, Saminfir was unhappy with these 'gifts', but sensitive to its current situation and the fact it was within the King of Mirages territory, the Aqrab was unable to express its thoughts. Thinking that the big animal was too dumb to understand subtly, it questioned the Ahmaqkin of what other gold items were in the fool's possession, but the scorpion soon realized that Kawzir did not have any precious metals hidden away despite being Shasarab's beloved.
Kawzir, for all of its air-headedness and simplicity, could detect the Aqrab's disappointment, but the Ahmaqkin only knew 'gold' as a color and not as an object. None of the golden things that it brought made the scorpion satisfied, so it tried seeking for a 'sparkling jewel' instead.
Just like before, the Ahmaqkin brought something else against the Aqrab's expectation. On two large palm trees were sparkling droplets: a bead of water from the oasis' pool and a bead of nectar from the same poisonous flower earlier ago.
Forcing down its anger, wondering if the Ahmaqkin was trying to make a mockery out of it, Saminfir prodded the foolish creature for answers once again.
Kawzir had lived its entire life in the oasis and though it knew that its home was objectively beautiful, it held very few 'sparkling' things. The only thing more sparkly than the oasis' waters and the nectar it drank from the golden orchid were the twinkling lights on Dhat-Noura's Canvas. But the Ahmaqkin had no way of obtaining those lights and since its home was called 'The Blue Jewel', surely the sparkling thing had to be related to the oasis.
The explanation only made the Aqrab more enraged. Saminfir didn't believe that the Ahmaqkin lacked the items it sought and assumed that the King of Mirage's beloved was playing dumb. Frustrated, the Aqrab told the silly animal that if the Ahmaqkin couldn't give it a Divine Scripture, the scorpion would probably die from its injuries and they wouldn't be able to become friends anymore.
Of course, it wasn't a serious declaration. The Divine Scriptures, an endless scroll that enables creatures to be able to use magic, were only exclusive to the God Rayan and Rayan's Divine Messengers; no mortal being would be allowed to keep one, much less be allowed to touch one. The Aqrab was only trying to guilt-trip the Ahmaqkin to give it what it wanted.
Earlier, it had mentioned the Divine Scripture to determine whether Shasarab was generous enough to gift a part of the scroll to his favorite creature. The scorpion later judged that considering the Ahmaqkin's blank and vacant look, Kawzir was unaware of what the Divine Scriptures were.
Tired of interacting with the dumb animal, Saminfir turned around and moodily began to ignore the Ahmaqkin. Eventually, the Aqrab fell asleep, not noticing how Kawzir had disappeared when the sun had set.
Come morning, when Saminfir woke up, the Aqrab found a torn piece of parchment next to the nest and much to it shock, the paper was full of magical energy with a distinctive gold color and shimmering red characters etched onto the thin material.
The scorpion had only heard rumors about the Divine Scriptures and the power they held and had never laid eyes on the real thing itself; yet, something within it was convinced that the piece of parchment before it was part of the famous scroll that every mortal being sought.
Even so, the Aqrab did not immediately take the piece of parchment. If the Ahmaqkin gave it one of the most sought-out magical artifacts in the entire mortal realm but refused to show the scorpion a speck of gold and jewelry, it had to be a test of some sort.
So the Aqrab waited a day and a night for the Ahmaqkin to show itself but as the next morning passed, the big silly creature was nowhere to be found.
Since the tail was the only thing that was injured, Saminfir had no problem walking around the oasis. The watering hole was surprisingly big; it could be considered a decent-sized lake rather than a watering hole. It also noticed that other than itself and the Ahmaqkin, there were no other living beings residing inside of the King of Mirage's protective realm.
By sunset, the Aqrab had already explored every single corner of the oasis but Kawzir was nowhere to be found.
If the Ahmaqkin was not in the oasis, then it had to be outside beyond the protective layers of the mirages. This guess was only proven when the Saminfir found pawprints leading out beyond the oasis leafy barrier.
The Aqrab looked towards the outside of the Blue Jewel and then back to the piece of the Divine Scriptures near the nest the Ahmaqkin had made for it.
Saminfir turned around and followed the tracks out into the open desert.
The Aqrab had a smaller gait than its bigger and furrier counterpart so it took half the night for the scorpion to see the canyons in the distance. And they weren't simply just normal canyons.
Hidden in the valleys, carved out from the cliff sides, was once a prosperous kingdom who was led by a human known as the Sovereign of Magic. He was called as such because when he was a young boy, Rayan saw it fit to give him a section of their Divine Scriptures and from that gift, he became the most powerful magician throughout the mortal realm. He soon after had taught his people the content of the scriptures and they together formed the Holy City Hakim. Under the Sovereign of Magic's rule, the Holy City thrived for more than three centuries.
But while his part of the Divine Scriptures helped extend his life, it did not give him immortality. Eventually, the Sovereign of Magic died a peaceful death, leaving his descendants to fight over his piece of the divine scroll. This inner war ruined the city, and along with its destruction, the magical artifact was lost in the rubble.
Tomb raiders and archaeologists had scoured among the city's skeleton to find the lost part of the Divine Scriptures but it hadn't been found since.
And yet, somehow, that silly big Ahmaqkin brought that missing piece to the Aqrab as if countless mortals had not wasted their whole lives seeking for that small bit of parchment.
Even so, where was that stupid animal now?
Suddenly, the night sky deformed and the brightest heavenly body among the void, the Eye of Dhat-Noura, dipped down towards the earth followed by a stream of smaller, dimmer stars. As they descended, a head full of flowing black-hair formed. Then around the Eye of Dhat-Noura, a face. Then arms. Soon, a glittering woman with dark skin and even darker hair hovered over the desert with a powerful force that caused ripples to form where she drifted.
As she looked down at the Aqrab, her hair and her black dress full of colorful stars, drifted as if gravity couldn't touch them, and her eyes shone as bright as their namesake.
Saminfir was speechless at her appearance because there was no doubt in its mind who this woman was.
Known as the Right-Hand of Rayan, Dhat-Noura, the Lady of the Light, was one of the most powerful Divine Messengers and the Gatekeeper to the Rayan's Realm. She was also the Divine Messenger of Communication and the creator of the Divine Scriptures of Magic.
It was said that while Rayan gave all living creatures magic, Dhat-Noura was the one that allowed them to utilize it. Therefore, the Divine Scroll was born.
Was she here for the piece Kawzir had given it? But the Aqrab didn't take the Divine Scriptures with it!
Without allowing the scorpion to continue guessing, Dhat-Noura spoke in a soft but firm voice. She was here by the request of her fellow Divine Messenger, the King of Mirages, and Saminfir knew it had something to do with the missing Ahmaqkin.
Indeed, the Ahmaqkin traveled to the Lost Holy City of Hakim and in a stroke of luck, it happened to stumble upon the lost piece of the Divine Scriptures. This was all possible due to Shasarab's grace. Also known as the King of Riches, it was not difficult for him to discover lost and hidden treasures and passed this skill to
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