What She Teaches ( Part 2 )

Vajradhaara who was perplexed about why he was tortured in this game of wits on a relaxed Sunday morning, finally had his answer. Smiling slyly, he said, "Well, there's one thing I can still do…"

Vajradhaara who knew his pieces from three sides of the board like the back of his hand, frowned wondering why his honest big brother wouldn't accept defeat. "There's nothing you can do big brother…" he said heavily.

Vajradhaara flipped the board around until the Rtadhara side was facing his big brained little brother. Cactus could play three games at the same time, Vajradhaara's meaning was obvious. "I can do this," he grinned and winked.

Enraged, Vajradandaka howled and threw his milk cup on the chess board, scattering the pieces. "Well, that's just cheating, isn't it?" he threw a tantrum while running away. "It's not like I'm ever going to take your place…!"

In the memory cum dream before waking up, Vajradhaara saw this scene happening in his mind's eye. But instead of his brother's String Heart Palace with its extremely high ceilings, contrasting narrow walls, red paint with pearl vein overlay, he was seated in the void instead. His brother was not his brother, but the gandharva.

Vajra didn't like this androgynous, inclined to be masculine person from the beginning since he made him change his choice of being the crying baby. And now he was alarmed when he suddenly took the place of his brother. He screamed his brother's name in the memory, looking for any sign of him. But the gandharva just sat there peacefully with a little smile, as if telling him the person he was seeking was right in front of him.

'You're not him!' Vajra declared angrily as he left the place, 'I'll find him myself if you won't show me!'

Only, he didn't know why he was arguing with that person or what control the gandharva had over his life.

Waking up in a sweat, he found himself being nursed by his sister. He was naked in an airy room in a tall tower. He assumed it was the Crystal Arrow Palace. The refractions of the crystals on its surface plus the height made this place immune to arrows from assassins targeting him from outside.

"Sis, you are doing it again…" he muttered groggily.

Bhupriya who also just noticed her brother woke up flushed into a beautiful smile. "Doing what?" she asked in a chipper tone as she wiped him down with wet cloth.

Vajradandaka was dazed by that brilliant smile. He had never seen such a look on his second sister's shy and reserved face.

Still, finding himself in a rather uncomfortable position, the little prince couldn't help but complain. "You're washing me yourself…Why are you doing this?"

"Oh… Little Cactus is shy, is he?" Bhupriya teased gently. She fell silent pondering and then said seriously, "Why, you ask? The servants could hurt you if they're not gentle. I guess that's why…"

"Sis, they won't hurt me. Besides, I don't even need a lot of help now…" Saying so, he got up slowly and covered himself in a robe.

As he faced the morning sun, his elder sister hugged from behind. He nearly disappeared into her, considering he was all skin and bones. Besides, the gentle and reserved Bhupriya was actually the tallest of all the sisters with a strong bone structure ideal for warriors.

"Alright Cactus, if you're sure, then sis won't embarrass you…" She planted a kiss on his cheek, holding him close.

"Sis seems very happy," the little prince commented.

"Why wouldn't I be…Little brother is getting better. I am very happy to see that." The thrill in her voice was unmistakable. For twenty whole days, she spent nearly every second in her little brother's room. At one point, she believed she lost two brothers at once.

"I see," Vajradandaka said in a flat tone. He didn't seem intent on sharing her enthusiasm.

Feeling a pinch, Bhupriya turned him around and kneeled, so she could face him. Her watery eyes studied every inch of his taciturn face. "Cactus, big brother is gone…But you're still here, and we're still here with you…Not too long from now, you will be monarch…The people of Rtadhara need you, ok?"

Bhupriya was a silent dancer and a string musician. She was surprisingly nimble for her tall body. But she didn't much like to talk, wasn't wordy. These few words summed everything she wanted to say to her little brother over the past weeks. She understood that Vajradandaka broke down because he didn't want to face the loss of his brother and the abandonment by his father. Although it looked like he was unable to bear the pain of his injuries, causing his mind to break down, his second sister knew that the true pain was in his heart. So she said everything he needed to hear the moment he surfaced from the pain, lest he falls prey to it again. Bhupriya knew he was born with the strongest of minds. It wouldn't be easy to suppress its brilliance for long.

"Ok second sister…" the boy said, motioning a servant to help him to the bathroom.

His tone was still dull, but when he turned away from his sister, there was a slowly forming resolution in his eyes, a firmness that may soon serve as a pillar of an entire nation.

In the Crystal Arrow Palace, the Heaven Room is a room completely made of crystals. Better than a room, it could be called a balcony and a terrarium growing exotic plants. The room did not have any walls, but the several crystal pillars refract light in such a way that the outside world looks like a vague two dimensional screen on an illusory wall instead of a three dimensional real world. It was said that in heaven, gods look at the mortal world from little mirrors and screens. This is how they know about the humans and how they monitor them. The Heaven Room was supposed to bring you that experience. Meanwhile, four or five terrariums built within the expansive room are each maintained at different temperatures because of how the crystals gather or scatter sunlight, raising or lowering temperature and humidity for the plants. This provides a diverse varieties of small scale environments in each season, conducive to the growth of exotic plants which otherwise do not grow in the drylands. Consequently, the Heaven Room is a colorful place with golden silhouetted plants, blue sky that looks as though painted on a wall and a rich floor covered in maroon carpets of the richest silk.

"God, I hate this room," Vajra murmured the moment he entered. The room is full of optical illusions and garish colors that he couldn't care less for.

"Really?!" A little head popped out from behind one of the bright green rainforest plants in an open terrarium. "I thought it's fantastic!"

A nimble and slightly chubby, cute body wriggled out from the narrow hiding place, a big grin plastered over its face. "You look even worse than before!" it remarked happily.

"And you're as insensitive as ever," Vajra smirked, folding his spindly hands across his chest. "Where's your teacher?"