Chapter: 12 - Roger's Rant

"So that is Juwan " Old Roger asked his baffed granddaughter as he made three cups of coffee. Since Jenny's parents were out on a conference, they had to welcome Juwan on their own.

"Yes." Jenny nodded trying hard to hide her shock.

"Seems like he is a weirdo. What the heck is he doing here and why is he covered in sweat. Was he in a hurry to get here?"

"I don't know how he knew the address. Only Riya knows the address. And why did he have to pick such a late hour for a visit." Jenny wondered aloud as she noticed the time to be five past ten. She was totally creeped out and beginning confirm that Juwan indeed was a nut-job.

"So, Juwan...." She gave him a cup of coffee and tried to find the right words but it was all in vain. She didn't know what to tell him. Looking at the baffled expression Roger really wanted to help but he knew it was her battle and so maintained his distance.

"Why are you here so late Juwan? How did you know the address?" She, at last, came up with a sentence, "Did you want to say something to me?" She added innocently.

"No, it was the funeral parlor that I was searching for, but someone was following. I got scared, so I knocked on your door. I am very sorry for intruding." Juwan blurted out blushing red. It was not a good situation. He realized how it all seemed and he badly wanted to explain that it was all coincidence but he couldn't bring out the proper words to express that. a

"The funeral parlor??" Now Jenny felt even something even weirder. 'What the hell is he doing out, searching for a funeral parlour at such an hour? And who could have followed him?? Burglars? There weren't a lot of them, but there is enough to disturb the peace of the entire town.' Jenny's train of thoughts was broken by Rogers interception.

"The funeral parlour? What do you want from it? I run it." Old Roger said, coming out of the kitchen. Juwan was petrified to see him suddenly coming out of the kitchen. He had even thought that Jenny made the coffee.

"But father manages it, right grandpa?" Jenny was surprised by her grandfather's unexpected talk.

"Yes, but he inherited it from me. And I, from my father. My father, your great grandfather started it during the war. The town lost a lot of men and my father readily gave up everything for the honour of the dead." As he continued Roger felt that he was just boring and deviating them from the actual subject. As old age has had its toll he at times felt the need to convey the whole story and the reason for his father to start a graveyard, though it was completely unnecessary.

"So, tell me. Why are you searching for a funeral parlour at such an untimely hour?" Roger was quite surprised. Juwan would have gone there at a better time if only he had any choice. The visiting card specified that he should go there after 9 pm.

"Axile gave me this." Juwan gave the visiting card to Roger and waited for his reaction. Roger's grey eyebrows widened at the sight of the card. He had only made one of those and that too it was many years ago. Roger froze with fear. It could mean only one thing. 'Could this boy be a heret? Axile's heret?' Roger asked himself mentally.

"This...This....." Roger was at lost for words. That's when it struck him hard. 'What the hell happened to Susan. Is she in any trouble? Has something happened in the past two years' Roger was worried. He turned to Jenny.

"Jenny dear, wait here. I have some business to take care off." Saying so Roger beckoned Juwan, "Follow me, kid."

Roger led Juwan to a room adjoined to the kitchen. The room had two doors. He opened one of them to reveal a small narrow path, that connected the funeral parlour to the house. As he exited the narrow path, Juwan found himself in a dome-shaped room. The room gave a chill in the spine to Juwan. His right eyes felt a sharp sting that increased irritatingly by each passing second. He could feel his pupils enlarge. The room became bluish gold to Juwan's eyes. It wouldn't take a genius to realize that it was due to the powers that he had inherited. In the shiny background, Juwan could make out that the dome might be painted black but it had a lot of sigils and mantras inscribed on it. Juwan was sure it was not odd scribbling but meaningful enchantments. Slowly something weird started happening. The shine increased and Juwan felt a glare striking his eyes. The whole view blinded him. Soon he could barely see old Roger.

"Here drink this." Beyond the shine, Juwan could make out Roger with a glass of colorless liquid. He somehow managed to reach out for the glass and gulped it down without a word. It was just plain water but it had a surprising impact on his vision. Slowly the blur cleared.

"What is it? And what are those symbols?" Juwan asked Roger hoping for an answer that wouldn't bewilder him like the events that have taken place recently.

"It is pure magic drawn from the pagans. The sigils acts as a seal and glue to absorb and contain the pure power from nature. The magic is then molded accordingly. Inside here any evil is vulnerable. And you, I assume carry something unholy and so even you became vulnerable. The water is purified from the black abyss eons ago. It can break all kinds of pagan magic." Roger explained hoping Juwan would at least understand something out of what he said.

"I know that I have powers but am I unholy too?" Juwan didn't really care where his powers were supposedly from but yet he asked. Roger chuckled.

"You have demonic powers and you think it is for the good?" Roger said. Juwan shook his head in shame. How could he not figure out such an obvious thing?

"I just don't want to be weak," Juwan muttered. Even though he had a place in the university, the incident that happened to him in the dorm still haunted him. On hearing Juwan, Roger was puzzled. 'Isn't he strong enough? From the stories Jenny had told me, he supposed to be a psychopathic bully' Roger thought for a second and tried to merge Juwan's features to the stories he was told. Juwan could be an easy target. His bulky physique could give him a considerable amount of strength yet he couldn't possibly beat up to ten guys, could he?

"If you are Axile's heret, whom did you inherit it from?" Roger's concern puzzled Juwan.

"Does Axile have a lot of herets?" Juwan asked back

"A few. Less than Magdalene but definitely more than Octave. Anyways, who is your predecessor boy?"

"Ms. Susan." Juwan replied short hoping he would know Ms. Susan.

"I am Susan's predecessor. No wonder Axile sent you to me. Susan was my son's old friend. They nearly got.....If only I wasn't an arrogant fool....." Roger banged his fist on the table beside him as his regrets drowned him.

"What happened?" All Juwan could do then was listen to Roger old backstory. As Roger narrated his story Juwan could see it in his mind.

"My father was from a very rich family. He was a landlord, before the second war, when the countries were still apart. He had five brother. The riches of the family was shared among the brothers. He married my mother who was a refugee."

By that point Juwan realized the story in itself was not of much importance but for his sake, he had to gain Roger's trust and form an acquaintance that could solve his problems.

Roger continued, "Poor fellow that was the worst mistake in his life. You see back in the day, our people had a tradition to choose the bridegrooms to marry into the royal family. My father was one of the suitors for a princess from a royal family. He was forced by his family for their own selfish reasons. Unfortunately, he was favored and the bride was in love with him. Meanwhile he had fallen in love with the princess's maid a refugee, my mother. For his love for my mother and for denying a princess's hand in marriage, my father was banished by his father. He was left with nothing in hand. Yet my mother's father, one of the first converts, helped him. He gave him his land to fend for the family. What my father didn't know was that the contract was a trap. My father had to become a heret succeeding his father-in-law. He inherited the powers with the land and used his powers and hard work to become successful.

But the success was short-lived. Though he was forced by his circumstance he turned out to be a devoted heret. He wanted a strong heir to pass on the powers. He planned to train all his children so that when the time comes he could choose the best and pass on the power. The worst thing happened, my mother died giving birth to me. At the same time, the second war broke out. My father joined as a solider putting me at the care of a fellow heret's family. He fought vigorously. His powers showed horrible things in the battlefield and eventually he went made.

Later through madness, he erected a graveyard, to serve the remains of the victims of the war. Not many were lucky enough to provide for the luxury since few died leaving behind their remains and many were erased out of existence.

As time passed I would frequently visit my father. I was thought the ways of the herets, from the very beginning and when the time came I voluntarily inherited his powers. I trained myself hard and rough. Soon I was orphaned when my father died of madness. A lone heret, hunting down rouge-demons and spirits, following the Keeper's order and taking out mission, that's how my life was until she came to me. My love. We had been childhood friends and I had spent most of my childhood in her house when our father's were away at war.. She was a half-blood like me, but by then I was a heret and she wasn't. You see, half-bloods are more common than herets. There are only only nine Keepers, excluding Asmodeus the greedy one, and each had a handful of herets. But the heret lineage has always spread throughout the world. They held powers greater than a normal humans but not enough to equal a heret. They are likely to be known as witches and wizards, if they choose that path.

We led a peaceful life until we had children. That's when my dilemma began and the third war that united humanity broke out. I didn't want what happened to me to happen to my children. I took care of my father's lands and graveyard. I set up a proper funeral parlour near the graveyard. I thought everything was fine and well-calculated but I was wrong.

My younger son turned out to be like my father. He enrolled in the third war while my elder son responsibly got himself a family. The older was weak but cunning enough not to get into trouble. He didn't have any heretic blood in him and so he couldn't learn any witchcraft from his mother. But the younger one was extraordinarily strong even for a half-blood and had inherited a considerable part of heretic lineage from the both of us. I and my wife went behind our younger son when my elder son took care of our home here. He worked hard and became a well-educated doctor. He never felt ashamed of his lineage and has always had my back yet I was a blind man then. I treasured my younger son who possessed the strength to inherit my powers. I was really hoping to make him the next heret after me. My successor.

But nothing ever goes according to plan. He had fallen in love and wasn't willing to continue the duties of a heret. That's when I first met Susan. John was madly in love with her. He wanted to get away from the job. I should have let him go then...

I lost them both. My love and my son. Broken, I reached the doorstep of my son's house. It was he who is been taking care of me till now. Two years ago I saw Susan at a function. She despised me for what had befallen my son. She tried to get away from me...And had an accident. She had lost her sight in the crash. I had to do something for the sake of my son. I gave my powers to her and helped her cope up. Soon when she became better, she settled herself. Probably somewhere far away from me.

"Now, tell me how is Susan? Is she tired of the job? Are you somehow related to her? Did she give you her powers? If so why didn't she train you? Did she think I was a better trainer than her?" Without a pass after finishing his story, Roger started firing Juwan with question and Juwan could hardly find the words to let Roger know about Ms. Susan's unfortunate passing.

" Susan's dead, Mr Roger!"