Sunblind Serpent: The Zodiac Without A House

"You spent hours trying to find me just to say no? Tch."

"Yes," Rhovan replied.

Marek narrowed his eyes. ’I can’t get too irritated by this guy. It will only stress me out so much.’

"Well, you know what... talking to you is quite an experience," Marek replied. "That’s a talent worthy of praise... really..."

Dario, who had been listening to the two mind-fuckers, slapped his forehead. ’What’s going on inside these two’s minds? But at least Rhovan met someone like Marek. Now we don’t have to deal with him every time he talks. That’s it!’

Dario proudly nodded in agreement with his own thoughts.

Rhovan looked at him. "Nobody asked you."

His jaw dropped. "But I didn’t speak."

"Well, your face did."

Marek seemed amused by the exchange, but he kept his face flat. He would not want Rhovan to misunderstand him.

Rhovan turned to Marek once more. "Well, going back, I want to ask you one question. Who taught you that distinction?"

Marek’s forehead creased. "Isn’t it logical enough on its own? If I tell you to hold my notebook right now, would you call it yours already? There should be an established transfer of ownership before one can say the thing transferred is already theirs. I overestimated how obvious that would be. You’re just counting grains of sand."

’I’m now certain he’s from the Prime Continuum. At that age, on Earth, unless you’re incapable of thinking logically, that’s just simple logic. Alien education must be terrible," Marek thought.

Rhovan did not answer immediately. ’So, he arrived at that conclusion by himself. I wonder what he would figure out next.’

"What?"

"The notebook example is quite simple," Rhovan finally said.

Marek raised a brow. "So we agree?"

Rhovan shook his head. "Not exactly."

’Is there something else deeper than the logic I presented?’

"Giving someone an object to hold does not magically make them its owner. Any person with at least a passable brain capacity to understand the logic would be able to discern it."

’Oh, perhaps I misjudged him?’

Rhovan crossed his legs as he tapped the table’s surface with one finger. "The strange part about this is that your Mark apparently agrees with you. I have met Ophiuchus bearers learn what they can contain, what they should refuse, and when something may enter their custody, specifically their scales. That’s not unusual."

’Hmm, that’s certainly something else. What’s he doing here? What does he want with me? Is he in cahoots with that silver-white-clothed woman who took Mara? Well, that’s impossible. After all, he could’ve used Mara to get to me if they were in cahoots. Perhaps they know each other, just not close enough at that level.’

"Then what about me?" he asked, pointing at himself.

"You treated compatibility as capacity and acceptance as permission. Then, you added another distinction on your own. Holding something does not make it yours."

"Obviously. It doesn’t."

Rhovan looked at Marek in the eye and said, "Exactly."

"Which means? What’s strange about it?"

"Well, the logic itself is certainly not strange. However, what’s strange to me is that your Mark recognizes the same distinction the logic does. There are already countless Ophiuchus bearers who know the concepts of refusing to accept a condition and examining one without taking it. Even some can explain the procedure properly."

"Then, how am I different? How is my Mark different?" Marek asked, pointing at himself.

"Most of them know what to do because someone taught them how to do it and what to do exactly," Rhovan replied. "They know when something can—"

"Just get to the point. Tch."

"I’m getting there," Rhovan said. "Well, basically, what I’m trying to say is that if you ask those Ophiuchus bearers the reason why those things are separate, they would just go back to explaining the procedure."

Marek blinked. ’Isn’t that just blatantly avoiding the question? Is their education really that bad there? Maybe when I get there, I could get a job like a mentor or teacher. Perhaps I’ll earn some money.’

"But you didn’t do that," Rhovan continued. "When someone tried to enter you..."

’That sounds a bit...’

"When that transfer reached you, you had the thought that being able to take it didn’t always mean you had agreed to take it inside you."

"It goes without saying that these aren’t the same thing at all."

Rhovan nodded, his face unusually serious. It was quite different from the demeanor he showed earlier.

"Then, what are we arguing about in the first place? If we were in a running competition, we might have already finished twenty laps."

Dario quietly nodded.

Rhovan looked at him again.

’Why does he look at me after nodding? I didn’t say anything, weirdo!’

Rhovan’s attention returned to Marek. "There are old records concerning Ophiuchus that I have been studying for a long time."

"How long did you study it?" Marek asked, his voice carrying a hint of suspicion.

"We’ll get there," Rhovan replied.

Marek waited.

Rhovan continued, "The records contradict one another. Sometimes, they contradict institutions preserving them."

"What kind of records are you talking about? Make it clear at least."

"There were once old legal systems that recognized all Thirteen Signs. Some buildings were built in the past with political chambers; that is, despite everyone believing there are only twelve recognized Signs," Rhovan stopped.

Marek’s forehead wrinkled.

"Some of the institutions now preserve the Ophiuchus procedures, but they always claimed that Ophiuchus doesn’t possess enough political authority to establish anything important, or so they say."

Marek frowned. "So you mean to say... Ophiuchus used to have some kind of political position? In the Prime Continuum?"

"Apparently."

"Apparently, huh?"

Rhovan ignored his remark and said, "The records suggest that the supposed Thirteenth Sign is politically involved. What their position in the political side of the Prime Continuum was might be the problem."

Marek closed his notebook and placed it above his lap. "And what does any of that have to do with what I wrote?"

Rhovan’s eyes turned to the notebook. "For a very, very long time, I’ve been looking at an old problem where something apparently remained while something connected to it didn’t."

’Is he that old? We’re probably at the same age...’ Marek looked at him from head to toe. ’Well, I can tell he’s older than me... just a bit dumb in a sense...’

"And?"

Rhovan looked at the ceiling filled with thick sheets of dust-laden silk spread over it.

Marek also did the same. ’What is he looking at on that ceiling for?’

"And I knew they weren’t behaving as one thing. What I couldn’t properly explain... was how the relationship between them could be distinguished and separated in the first place."

Marek did not like how he talked so much without getting over it at once.

Rhovan leaned on the table, and his eyes turned to the notebook once again. "Then, you wrote that. More importantly, you figured it out all by yourself, which all of the Ophiuchus bearers I know cannot do."

"Being able to hold something doesn’t mean it belongs to you?"

"Yes."

"This is your breakthrough moment after twenty years? It must have been hard to be that clueless, eh no? But twenty? Really, you’re honestly so much younger than I am in terms of looks, but the way you talk... you’re like an old man I’d casually meet at a bus station and then talk to me endlessly and... needlessly. It’s just fascinating to me."

"Salamat so much," Rhovan replied.

’What the hell? When did he learn to say that? That’s my language! The Prime Continuum might actually be more advanced than Earth. I just doubt it would be... if I based it on his intellect alone...’

Regardless, he looked at him strangely. "Don’t thank me. That’s not a compliment. I’m just questioning the maths behind it. Studying so much just to realize this... is a bit overboard."

"Actually, to tell you the truth. What you wrote isn’t actually a breakthrough."

"..."

"It leads me to another question," Rhovan continued.

"What question is it?"

Rhovan closed his eyes and said, "Can something still exist even after the relationship that once gave it a place is gone?"

’Hmm...’

Marek pondered. "And you got that from what I wrote?"

"It made me consider the same kind of separation. I can hold your notebook without really owning it. Your Mark, or you yourself as a Vessel, can be compatible with a condition without really accepting it. It’s like there’s no cause and effect. One relationship doesn’t necessarily establish another."

’That’s just simple logic. Basic.’

"I know it sounds simple, but you don’t get it."

"Which part of it that I didn’t get? Care to enlighten me?"

Rhovan’s expression suddenly became serious. "Because the Thirteen Sign, Ophiuchus, did not truly disappear. People still acknowledge its presence. But something that once gave it a place in the system apparently made it disappear."

"Ophiuchus, huh?"

"That’s exactly what I want to be clarified."

"So, you don’t even know about it yourself?"

"At least not yet," Rhovan replied.

’And yet somehow the stupid example I gave him, specifically my notebook, gave him another idea to ponder on.’

Rhovan sighed as he closed his eyes once more. He then pointed toward Marek’s right shoulder. "I want to see the entire process. There must be something different about your Mark. You never had a teacher, but you seemed to be aware of those terms. And you were able to extract logic from them. This is why I’m very much eager and honored to see the whole process."

Marek shook his head. "No."

"Recognition without intake. Refusal. Anything you can do without actually taking a condition."

Marek looked at him and put his notebook back into his bag. "Let’s just say if a group of strangers came up to you and asked you to strip in front of them, would you do it?"

"I’d actually do it," Rhovan replied, his eyes blinking.

’What the hell is wrong with his brain? Is he sick?’

"Erase that." Marek felt exasperated. "Let me rephrase that question. If a stranger suddenly told you to kill yourself, would you do it?"

"I would if it came with a price equivalent to my life, but I understand the apprehension. Still, I’m curious... please let me see..."

Marek shivered. ’This guy somehow became a creepy narcissist.’

Rhovan’s golden eyes seemed to brighten.

Meanwhile, Marek watched him for a moment before reaching for the movement records. "That’s not what I’m here for."

"..."

Then, Marek’s voice lowered. "Mara."

While he wanted to know their motive, the main reason he entered the room in the first place was that Rhovan and the others might give him a lead to his sister’s location. Whatever Rhovan was trying to understand about Ophiuchus—that could wait.

"Mara’s still out there in the open. Alone with a stranger. If you want to understand more about Ophiuchus, why not help me with this matter first?"