CHAPTER 41

"Oh, I have all sorts of things in here." Ratu walked toward the door, and Beth followed. "Yes, the kimono is magical. It's something I made to keep the important things on hand."

"Like tea?"

"Like tea."

Ratu stopped outside of a doorway and gestured inside. Beth walked in and found a small sitting room with a serving table and some comfortable chairs.

"This is lovely." Beth took a seat and watched the naga put some loose leaf tea inside of a metal ball, then lay it in a teacup.

"Thank you. This pagoda has been my home for many centuries, and it has served me well."

"Wow, centuries? Do you just take it with you?"

"Oh yes. It takes some doing, but the whole thing comes down much like a tent, and can be rebuilt at a later time. It has been convenient being able to move about without leaving all my research behind."

"Have you moved often?"

"Indeed." Ratu pulled a pot of water off of its serving dish and held it in the palms of her hands. Her palms glowed with heat, and a trickle of vapor squeezed out of the opening. "It was actually a stroke of good fortune that Emily found me when she did."

"Oh?"

"Yes. I found myself in a bad situation with little hope of a favourable outcome." The vapor from the pot was already turning to steam. "Are you familiar with the naga?"

"No, I'm not."

Ratu smiled demurely. "Once, there were many of us. It was our job to guard the sacred waterways and treasures of the mortal world. I won't bore you with the details, but I was known to get rather curious about the treasures I was guarding. I was seen as a bit of a troublemaker in this respect. The naga migrated across Asia from our home in the mountains, seeking out new waterways to guard, or even mortals to watch."

"So what happened? To the other naga?"

"You would know it as the Industrial Revolution. Rivers being poisoned and drying up sickened the naga, and many of them fell prey to mortals or other magical beings. Naga rely on their connection with the earth to maintain their health, both mental and physical. I was one of the lucky ones. Due to circumstances beyond my control, I was forced to relocate to the Philippines, and had spent many decades hiding among them from one of my own kind. I avoided some of the unnecessary wars and pollution of the mainland, and was able to lie low when trouble came about."

"Interesting. So you came from the Philippines?"

Ratu nodded, then poured the water into the cups. "Let that steep first. Yes, I lived there for a very long time. It's why I look the way I do. Most naga would appear as Indian to you, but we prefer to say that Indian people look like the naga."

"So you can change your human form?"

"Only during a proper shedding." Ratu smirked. "During my next shedding, I could choose to look like you if I wished. But then I would be locked into that form for quite some time, and you would come to resent me as you grew old and your own beauty faded."

"I doubt I'd resent you. I would totally rock my old lady bod."

Ratu laughed. "I have no doubt. Anyway, while living in the Philippines, I chose to change my facial features to minimize detection, but otherwise remained in this general form. I even lived as a human a few times. It was not hard to find a home in the mountains by my river, and I even partook in human culture, though rarely for long stretches of time."

"So I could run into a naga almost anywhere?"

"Not quite. They need to live in an underground space with an ample water source, much like the Labyrinth. We like to be connected to the world in this manner. Many of them rarely venture out, but I've always been a bit more... curious."

"If naga can change their shapes, how do you find other naga?"

"We always know. Think of it like true-seeing. Though I may change my face a hundred times, my identity would be known immediately." Her face darkened, and she looked down at her tea. "That is a story I do not wish to discuss."

"I won't ask. I'm just curious about your people is all." Beth lifted the tea to her lips and paused. She could feel the heat on her lips from the liquid, and assumed she would burn her mouth. "So there are male nagas out there?"

"Indeed. Finer men you will likely never see, but such is the gift of the divine."

"Do all naga have the patterns like you do?" Beth pointed at her own neck for emphasis.

"Only if they choose. I do it as a reminder that I am more than just this human form."

Beth sat in silence for a few moments, but had to know. "Are those patterns everywhere?"

Ratu laughed. "You are a rare individual. Yes, those patterns are everywhere, and yes, it does feel different from regular skin."

A wave of heat filled Beth's cheeks, and she sipped her tea to hide her embarrassment, promptly burning her tongue. The two of them chatted for awhile about nothing in particular, and it occurred to Beth that she had never really had a chance to get to know the naga on a personal level. Ratu preferred the solitude of the Labyrinth, away from the others, and now Beth wondered why that was.

Eventually, Sofia returned with Yuki, who wore a look of concern on her face.

"Is Mike okay?" she asked upon seeing Beth. "Sofia said there was an attack."

"He's fine, though his ego might be a little bruised. He did get beat up by someone half his size." Beth had just finished her second cup of peppermint tea, and she was feeling much better about what was to come.