Unfathomable

Ever since the emergence of this new leadership by De voe, the training of young warriors has been hindered and neglected. During these periods, Zain was busy with numerous scientific experiments and research and studying different books and ancient scrolls. This has also made her able to spend much time with her father; Munt Porter, and younger brother; Leo Porter. Things had been so difficult for her family. Her father was blind, he walked by the aid of a stick, and was led every morning by Zain to the temple. Leo her brother, had a very terrible ailment right from his infancy, which made him live with constant fever and be bedridden. She always spent time with him, science and mathematics with a wooded abacus she made for him, and taking care of him. Leo was just an infant at the time their mother died. The death of his mother deprived him of breast milk which was essential for his health. At a tender age, Zain took it to herself to fill up that vacant space of responsibility for her brother. She provided cow and horse milk, which she treated herself, to substitute the breast milk he was deprived of. The milk didn't seem to last for long, ask Leo began to develop diverse illnesses and diseases that couldn't be cured by the physicians. Zain dedicated her life since then, to finding for her brother a cure.

After preparing dinner at night, Zain served the food in bowls and placed them on the dining table. Her father was already seated on his chair, waiting for the meal to be served. She went to her brother's room to call him. When she got there, she found him sitting on top of the bed, busy with an abacus. She leaned her back against the door post, smiling and observing him with interest.

"How's it going?" she asked him.

"Guess what?" he said shortly.

" I've gotten the answer already, look at it," he said, showing her the abacus, and grinding from her to ear in excitement.

"That's my smart little brother," she said, as she came close and sat with him on the bed.

"I can't wait to start algebraic lessons," he said.

After she heard what he said, she had a slight change of mood, but she didn't let him notice. She had always wanted Leo to join the lessons, but disabled students were not qualified for them. Leo was partially lame, he wouldn't be accepted. "If only he was cured," she thought.

"I so love it when you're happy Leo," she said, as she hugged him tightly.

"Dinner is ready, come over to the dining so you can eat," she said with a look of concern.

"But I'm not hungry," he said, as a frown invaded the smile that lasted on his face seconds ago.

"Leo I know that you are hungry, I'm a scientist," she said.

"You need to eat so that you can take your drugs," she added, with a persuasive look on her face. There was a moment of silence now.

"But why is life so awful?" said Leo, breaking the silence.

"Why am I like this, unlike others?".

"Why do I need drugs to stay alive?" he asked.

"I never choose to suffer like this, I guess life is just so unfair".

Tears were already blurring Zain's vision. She tried to avoid them escaping her eyes. She kept them wide open, trying to avoid blinking. But at last, a drop of tear trickled down her left cheek. She quickly whipped them off with her shoulder to avoid being seen by Leo.

"Are you crying?" asked Leo, observing her movements.

"Let's go," she said silently, leading him to the dining.

"The food smells delicious," said their father, as they sat down to eat.

"Thanks, Papa," she said.

She helped in feeding her brother, who moaned in pain as he chewed the food. Leo suffered immerse pain while attempting to eat. Because of this, he ate less, developing a skinny appearance. After dinner, she gave him some drugs to take. After that, she took him back to his room and tucked him into bed.

The house was quiet now, Zain proceeded downstairs to her laboratory. She was always worried about the health state of her brother and father, she really wanted a cure for them, but all of her efforts to find one were to no avail. She remembered the healer's flower, which could heal any illnesses instantly, the way it healed her like magic in the Badlands. If only she had with her a single petal of the flower, her brother would be already well by now. She thought of stealing it back from De voe, but she knew that it would be impossible to do. She commenced with her experiments in the laboratory. She mixed and diluted reagents, tested chemicals, and kept records. The result was a greenish liquid, which was transferred into a bottomed flask, and placed over a fire on a tripod stand. According to what she wanted to prepare, the greenish liquid was supposed to turn colorless on heating, but instead, it kept on foaming and generating an awful irritating smell. Zain repeated the process again and again, but there was still no progress. She was becoming more infuriated than ever, as sweat soaked her clothes. She felt the frustration growing from within her.

"Why won't you just work?" she mumbled to herself. She wanted to shout now, then she remembered that she wasn't alone at home. If she do so, she would be disturbing the sleep of both Leo and her father. Right now, her head was already boiling in anger, like a kettle upon a furnace. She started stirring the liquid with a stirrer, vigorously and violently. This wasn't part of the process, she was just displaying her anger, frustration, and aggression. As she stirred, the glass vessel containing the vessel shattered instantly to pieces, allowing the liquid to put out the fire.

"Epic fail !!!" she shouted, at last, melting down into a wooden chair.

As she stared at the shattered pieces of glass on the floor, with foam in her mouth, and a grumpy look of disappointment on her face, she heard screeching sounds of an opening door from upstairs. She knew at once that it was her father's room door. She felt it in her bones that he was woken up by her noise-making, and that he was coming down to ask what happened. Moments later, she began to hear footsteps coming down the stairs. She had already studied her father's movement, the time taken for him to make a step, and the rhythm created due to his additional leg. She sprung up at once from the chair and began to pick up the pieces of broken glass. She didn't want him to notice them on the floor. As she hurriedly picked up the broken glass pieces, a sharp and pointy piece, accidentally sliced through her palm, creating a very deep and painful injury that soaked her palm with bright red liquid.

"Arhh...!!" she whined, favoring the injured right palm. She managed to pick up all the pieces of glass with her one good palm, to avoid further injury. When she came back from disposing of the broken glass, she met her father standing by the door that led upstairs.

"What's that smell?" he asked, sniffing out the awful smell generated from the already spilled liquid.

"Is everything alright?" he asked, with a concerned displaying tone.

"Everything is fine father, I've got it under control," she replied with a shaky voice, fully aware that everything wasn't really under control, but convincing him that they were so that he can go back to sleep. Zain couldn't help but get uneasy, as she pretended to be busy, doing several things at the same time.

"Sometimes to achieve something, you just need to empty your mind, and take a break".

" It's too late now, go to sleep," he said, at last, advancing back upstairs. After her father he'd gone, she hurried immediately to clean up her wounds and give herself treatment. But as she was about to clean up the wound, something mysterious and unfathomable was detected. She couldn't find the wound anymore. She looked close and carefully at her palm, but the wound was gone, there was no sign of it. Zain came thinking, was the whole thing a mirage, or was she in a trance? She couldn't even feel the pain she felt when she got injured. She fell back to her chair, and began to question herself, and doubt;

"Did it really happen, or had she begun to lose her mind out of stress?" she thought. But seeing the blood stains on her palm, and drops of blood on the floor left her in a more puzzled state. This was something unfathomable. Her head began to get heavier by the moment. She began to feel more and more wiery and dizzy. This was much to bear, much to comprehend. She managed to climb upstairs to her room, dozing away.