After reading your epilogue (or continuation, as the case may be) for the Secrets scenario, I was haunted by the implications of Spark’s decision to stay with Vahaadi. It’s true that Vahaadi couldn’t live long in the lush, mild environment of Lunarious–but would Spark fair any better in the wastes of the Azaharian desert?
While I was mulling the idea over, an unexpected voice came into my mind with a potential solution…and a serious price.
Kala holds up a rounded vial. A glowing fluid swirls inside, casting reflections into her sober eyes.
“If you really want to stay with Vahaadi, you may need this,” she says, meeting Spark’s gaze steadily. “It will transform you into a djinni. It may be the only way you’ll survive the harshness of the desert.
But, Spark…
if you drink this, you’ll lose your powers.”
I had to draw this pic four times to get it right. @_@ Two pencil sketches I didn’t like, a digital version that died when my computer crashed, and finally this one.
My mind went a bunch of different ways after reading your epilogue so I have more to add to this, but I just wanted this version to stand on it’s own, since the idea took my breath away when I first thought of it.
Woah so intense! Thank you so much for drawing it so many times. This is not an idea I would ever have thought about, though I did realize she’s about as suited for his world as he is hers. Talk about a tough choice! So, I should wait then? Or is this the option I should present to Spark?
You can present it to Spark and have her respond or we can just talk about it. n_n either is fine.
The truth is, it’s not unheard of for humans to live in the desert in the oases or near the mountains where water can be found so she doesn’t strictly need the potion. And frankly, if Kala can make a human into a djinni then it stands to reason that she could make Vahaadi human. He has a lot less to lose by changing, and he would be able to live comfortably in the paradaisical Lunarious with Spark. BUT, the whole idea here is to find out just how much she’s willing to give up for a friend very much in need. Sooo, for the purposes of this exploration, the stakes are unecessarily high.
“A bird may love a fish, but where will they live?”
What a sad quote! Well I guess I meant should I just wait since you had more to add? Or should we explore this? Why don’t you go ahead with what you were going to add and I will ponder how Spark would react to this. I’ll let you know in a bit.
Let’s explore this, because the other idea I had was connected more to the story you linked me to of the Happy Prince. I want to draw something for that but I’m not emotionally in the right place for it right now because it is sad. D:
((Sorry if this isn’t what you expected; I think I mentioned earlier it wasn’t what I expected. I knew this whole situation would cause Spark to grow, but I didn’t know it would mean spiritually as well. I kinda thought that wasn’t possible for her. It was nice, if not a bit odd, that happened.))
“It will transform you into a djinni,”
Spark stared at the vial, her breath stopped short.
How many times had Spark longed for that very thing to be true? To be of the same enchanting, irresistible race as Vahaadi? To finally be able to belong with him? Her heart soared and she opened her mouth to ask how such a thing was even possible. Why had no one ever told her this before?
“But Spark, if you drink this, you will lose your powers. You will never be the same.”
The words of Kala’s warning felt like bullets ripping through Spark’s chest. Instinctively she shrank back, withdrawing her hand which had reached out to take the bottle. “Lose, lose my powers?” She asked haltingly, agony on her face. Spark’s mind was swirling with a million thoughts all at once. To be a djinni, to stay with Vahaadi, seemed like a dream come true. But to lose her powers… it was like asking her to lose herself.
“My powers are all I have, they are me. Without my powers how can I stay myself? I need them, I need to heal, I need to ignite and combust, I need to fly…” Tears brimmed in Spark’s eyes as she considered what it would be like to never do any of those things again. A small voice began to argue in her mind “But my powers are what alienate me. My powers are what make me so darned hungry all the time, so antsy, so full of wanderlust and the desire to be destructive. My powers keep me prisoner from being sane.”
The tears began dropping to the floor, slipping through her fingers as she hid her face in her hands. “But that’s why Vahaadi and I understand each other. We’re both crazy.” Spark shut her eyes, squeezing them until she willed the tears to stop. She imagined where Vahaadi was at that exact moment. She remembered the blank stare he’d had when the brothel owner had tended his wounds, how little it had mattered to him if he made it through the next night. His haggard expression, his empty voice, his utter rejection of himself. Her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest when she remembered the way he’d tried to keep up the act, even then, to please her, “I can’t play with you today, Spark.” A phantom sensation still gave her the feeling of the weight of his embrace when he wept on her shoulder.
Sniffling, Spark angrily wiped the tears from her eyes on her sleeve. Why did love have to hurt so much? It burned, like a scorching coal inside her, but if it ever went out her heart would grow cold. Shakily she drew in a breath and took the vial from Kala’s outstretched hand. She rolled it around in her palm, fingers gently encasing the round flask. “Thank you, Kala,” she whispered, her head ducked and her eyes still blinking back tears. “I will miss my powers,” she started, her lip quivering. Biting down on her lip, Spark drew in her arms and shut her eyes as silent, violent sobs threatened to erupt from her. She shook her head until the cries inside her went away and she was able to speak again. “But I keep thinking about if it were me,” she managed, her voice tight. “And if I were rejected and alone and heartbroken and sorry for everything… and if I were going to die… I’d want someone to stay with me.” A small, self conscious laugh bubbled up from the tightness in her chest and she glanced at Kala apologetically. “No matter what I’d done, I’d want somebody to tell me that I mattered. …And Vahaadi matters a lot to me,” she said quietly, cupping the vial in her hands.
Spark stared at the liquid without really seeing it. Inside her a story from long ago began to paint itself in her mind. That was also part of what the Great Prince had done. He had changed, taken a different form, and come down to a different world to love a lost and desolate people. Spark suddenly felt a kinship with the Great Prince, unlike anything she had ever known. An ache that simultaneously hurt more than she could bear and yet behind it a freedom and relief and love like nothing she had experienced before. In her heart she heard a voice, a voice that was kind, strong, tender, compassionate and brave: “Love others, just as I have loved you.” Spark wanted to argue. She wanted to say “But Great Prince, you don’t know what I will have to lose!” But in that moment Spark understood that whatever powers she was giving up, surely he had surrendered more. “You may be the only taste of my love Vahaadi will ever know. And I love him,” she felt the Voice say. “Did you think you were the only one who does?” Spark had thought that. Humbled, and utterly thankful, Spark felt lighter than before. She had never spoken to the Great Prince like that. It was… exhilarating. Much more gratifying than the types of stunts she pulled to generate the same effect through her powers. Spark decided that when this was all said and done, she had a lot of time to make up for with the King and his Son. But in the meantime, she had a mission.
“You may be the only taste of my love Vahaadi will ever know. And I love him.” This is so beautiful. Is it OK if I write out a prose describing the transformation? It may have to wait for a few days, but I want to write out Kala coaching her through the process.
“is it okay”
IT IS ALWAYS OKAY
i can wait!
Haha you are the best. <3