4 The Legend of a Key

Sofosys' POV 

I saw a shadow pass over Cassadrei's face on the mention of The boy's name. Who was this guy? If what I have assumed is correct, he is capable of changing our destiny in a way that I had never dreamt of. A key? Can this all be true?

I have always thought of it as a folklore. There's so many of them in Mafhaelore that it's hardly possible to seperate a truth from a tale. It's like searching for a chaff of grain among sand. However, this doesn't seem like a bluff anymore.

A key to unlocking a Goblin's powers is a concept well known among the magis. It is believed, that Goblin's are most powerful at their home grounds...and anywhere else, their powers would diminish ever so slightly. While Goblins of Mafhaelore particularly specialize in healing, ancient magic, teleportation and battle arts, there are always permutations and combinations of different kinds of power among different people. It's those slight differences which, perhaps distinguish our kind. Like, Cassadrei's uncanny way with beasts, that is a power never seen before.

Sometimes, a Goblins power is amplified when they are in contact with someone they love, cherish or something who that triggers their inner positivity. The reverse also happens to be true. In untoward circumstances where a Goblins is under great physical or mental stress, sometimes their powers are diminished too. In such situations, the only way to restore their power to normalcy is to exude positive energy inside them. So, anything that will exude that positivity is therefore, metaphorically called as "Key". 

There are many examples of such and Cassadrei's happens to be one of them."- I thought. Cassadrei was always promising, a docile and kind child with strong sense of perception and emotional core. She required nurture and love, but her parents never had much time for indulgence. Queen Iphigenia, strong and mighty as she is, motherhood never suited her. Iphigenia was born for battlefields not nursery. She was born to be a ruler but not a mother. She went to battles, when Cassadrei was only a year old and never showed much softness to her only heir. Iphigenia was never a soft person, I sighed thinking.

Rahthaerys, on the other hand was Iphigenia's polar opposite. How they had ever managed to fall in love remains a mystery to many. Rahthaerys liked to read and write, he preferred the solitary confinement of a library, to the hustle bustle of court and children. The resultant was a highly imaginative, provocative, deeply emotional and lovesick child,Cassadrei.

As she lay in that hospital bed, I looked into her eyes. She still looks like the child that I had brought on this planet. Only, the innocent deep green eyes have been replaced by something cold and impersonal. Her aura has changed drastically since. Only I happen to know, beneath all that hard exterior, there still remains a soft lingering remnant of the  unblemished girl that she once was.

Her powers had completely vanished after arriving on Earth. Initially, I thought it was a severe trauma response, I thought given a few days, she'll come back to her original self. Eight years have passed, she still haven't regained her powers. Until today. We were scared that she would remain such helplessly and probably we'll never return...but I can see a ray of hope now.

"So, what does this mean, Sofosys?" Cassadrei asked, breaking my reverie.

"I don't know my child. It seems, the boy exudes that positivity in you that can be a key to unlocking your dormant powers. I don't know why or how any of this is happening, but I'll find out. Meanwhile, we'll have to find this guy...to know if this was a mere coincidence or something that's worth pondering upon" I reply.

Cassadrei grimaced. "Do we know anything about this guy?" I shook my head. Cassadrei threw her hands up in the air in a gesture of exasperation and said, "Well, then we can't do anything, can we? How are we ever supposed to find him in the huge sea of students?" She said.

"We'll try" I managed a smile.

Cassadrei was right. It was rather difficult to locate The boy among the hundreds of students of the University. We didn't even know which stream he belonged to, or where he stayed. I didn't even know how he looked. We began scrutinizing through all the photographs that were taken at the carnival, available on the internet and on all social media accounts. There was just one picture of him, a little hazy as he was caught in a scurry of movement. But, he was recognisable. He was lean, tall, a thick mane of jet black hair swept messily over his head with deep probing eyes.. wearing a medic t-shirt, probably a first aid volunteer. That would be easy enough, all we had to do was gather information about the first aid volunteers of the event. I set Cassadrei up to the task. 

She returned few hours later, gloomy and angry. "They said, they can't release names of the volunteers. It is apparently confidential." She rolled her eyes.

Well, I hadn't considered this possibility. 

I have never seen this guy in my Arts department, so I assumed he's from the Science Department. However, there's a catch...we don't even know his name. How are we going to locate him amidst so many science students of the University? If only I had the slightest bit of clue!

Cassadrei and I continued our interrogations, through Linda who seemed to have too many friends in every department. "Oooooo….Cassy, tell me about this guy huh! Do you like him?" A dishavelled and bedridden Linda had smirked when Cassadrei sought her help. I couldn't suppress a laughter, when I saw Cassadrei visibly blushing and extremely uncomfortable. She mumbled that she needed to thank him for rescuing her, winning another series of Oooooos from Linda. These Human Females continue to baffle me.

Despite Linda's best efforts, this guy seemed to be untraceable. 

I was beginning to wonder if he really existed...if he was not a human? Was he a Goblin or any other being stranded like us on Earth. Surely, someone must have known him if he was from the University. I asked all my colleagues, but no one could identify him. Linda's friends never saw him, they were usually a bunch of dim witted people, still they were social. They ought to have recognised a student, had he truly existed.

As the days passed, Cassadrei got even more frustrated and I was more curious. Who was this mysterious guy? Where could he be?

My train of thought came to a halt when Jacob Brooks, the laziest student I have ever seen, entered the classroom. He was, as usual late for his detention classes. 

He was visibly out of breath as he talked. "I'm sorry, Sir… err.. I was almost in an accident today. I tried to save a cat from a incoming vehicle, so I almost jumped.."I stopped him before he tried to make up further stories. Usually, I found these stories hilarious, but today I wasn't exactly in a great mood. 

"Come" I said sternly.

Jacob looked like he had just been chased through the streets of Milford before he arrived. His hair was dishevelled, his glasses at a weird position and he was clutching a thousand stacks of paper that desparately wanted to find a route to escape. 

"Did you complete your assignment?" I sighed. This boy was one of the most brilliant and imaginative pupil I ever had. Yet, his extreme aversion towards anything academic, made him a below average student always on the brink of expulsion.

"Yes, Sir...wait let me find it.." Jacob dumped the huge stack of on my table and started tossing everything one by one, searching for the elusive assignment. I nodded patiently. 

"I had it just here, where has it gone…. I just completed the paper yesterday, I was awake till three AM to do this, Sir...you won't believe... I didn't even copy it from the Wikipedia, I used three books for reference. Well, my roommate told, that you'd know if I copied from the Wikipedia and I said you won't care…." A piece of paper flew from his hands and landed on the floor, and I hurried to pick it up as I wanted to avoid his rapid speech.

I picked it up and froze. There he was, The Boy. It was a picture of Jacob, putting his hand on the shoulder of The Boy, who was grinning uncomfortably. This was the same guy I saw in the photos, I had absolutely no doubt about it. 

"Who is this guy in the picture with you, Jacob?" I inquired.

"Sir, please call me Jake" Jacob said with a lopsided grin, "and that is my roommate Michael Dumas Sir, you may call him Mike."