Ikshan

That was not what I expected. I should know better though. Nothing ever happens as expected. It reminds me of the time when I wanted to expand the library. I had a solid plan. I had checked every corner with an experienced sorcerer. All the options had been considered. Except for the one that actually happened of course, i.e. the energy from the worksite disturbed a magical object three rooms away, and its instability turned it into fireworks. It was a nightmare.

Well, this is a bit like that. Almost. Actually, it's another kind of fireworks. And it's not a nightmare.

Because in front of me stands the most beautiful person I've ever seen in my life.

The eyes, the hair, the stature. The hands. How on earth have I already noticed the hands? I don't know. But I'm stunned.

"Umm... Ikshan?" Zoé says. "There's a guy in my living room."

I keep on staring. The neck, the nose, the shoulders.

"Ikshan?" She asks again. Then louder: "Ikshan!"

"What? Oh, yes."

The unidentified person has bare feet, ragged clothes, disheveled hair, and dark circles beneath their eyes. They were like in a trance at first, their gaze unfocused and a blank expression on their face, but they seem to come back to consciousness now, and there's a look of terror in their eyes. They scan the room, panting. Their gaze stops on us and they take a step back.

"We're not going to hurt you," I say without even thinking.

Zoé's head turns sharply to me, like a spring, her eyes wide open. "We're not?"

I frown at her, and she scowls at me.

"Umm, Ikshan, I really like you, but half a second ago there was a monster in front of us, so maybe it would be wise to, I don't know, be cautious. For once."

While we are arguing, the person stumbles and looks at their hands. They try to speak but no sound comes out of their mouth. Then they look at us again, more and more confused.

The hands.

"Sure, sure. Caution. Right," I say, without a look at Zoé, my eyes locked on our visitor.

I finally turn my head away from them to see Zoé staring at me with dubious eyes which are screaming What the hell is going on with you?

I'm going to open my mouth to answer, while our uninvited guest suddenly vanishes.

I gasp. "Oh, so we didn't break the curse then," I say.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, not only they imprisoned this person into the golden piece of metal, but on top of that they turned them into a monster."

"So you mean, the entire time, I was chased by this guy?"

I nod. "Yep."

"Okay. So maybe they are less dangerous in human form than in monster form. Progress, right?"

"Maybe they never wanted to kill us."

"Well, the important question is: why does one feel the need to trap someone like that?"

I look at the space formerly occupied by our ex-monster and I sigh. "That's a good question, my friend. A good question indeed."