THE GREAT APPRENTICE

CHAPTER THREE : THE DOMINUS EFFECT

Dominus Petrus had seen off his guests. Julius found a small stool and sat. Beside the stool was a table where those red books had been. Dominus hadn't used it for the class. Not yet he said, but he wanted it close. The book had no inprint or anything to denote that it was authored.

Julius opened the first page and saw some scriblings. Nothing more than a few words. They weren't in Italian. Rather it wasn't in a different language. It wasn't English either.

The next page contained even more confusing letters. So did the next, and the next. There were some drawings too. Drawings of people seated and seemingly meditating. Some had their hands clamped together, some held their fingers a certain way with eyes closed. Julius was certain the book was an original copy. Does that mean Master Petrus knows the writer?

He hadn't thought about what he wanted to do but being a writer really didn't seem like such a bad idea. He smiled at the idea of putting his pen in an ink and slowly tracing imaginary lines that were formed by his own thoughts. How intriguing.

Master Petrus walked in just then, Julius flapped the book close like he'd been doing something wrong. The master simply smiled and sat on the other stool by the table. The opened the now-closed book slowly and rubbed his hand against the ink surface of the letters.

'Which language is that sir?' Julius asked shyly.

The old man smiled.

'This is the language in Prague' Master Petrus said.

'Prague?'

Dominus nodded nostalgically.

'But you can read it?'

Dominus chuckled.

'I should be, I wrote it'

Julius was stunned by the confession. The thought had never crossed his mind.

'You're a writer too?' Julius asked.

'Well, you've got to get the ideas down somehow' Petrus explained.

The boy looked impressed.

'So what does it say?' Julius asked.

'Same thing I've been teaching' Dominus looked at the boy and smiled.

'I wish I could read it' Julius said.

'Well, you could' Master Petrus said and picked up the other red book. He handed it to his assistant and said 'Same book, different language'

The boy grabbed it excitingly and opened it in disbelief. It was in absolute Italian but exactly the same placement as in the first one.

'Thank you' he stuttered, excitement written all over his face.

The old man stood up, patted his shoulder and began to leave. He stopped midway.

'Oh, and next time when you see a pretty girl, try not to break my cup'

Julius flushed and surpressed a laugh between embarrassment. Dominus was pleased to see him laugh, he wanted to see more but he was tired and ready to lay down.

..............

The smell of ash is beautiful. Not to mention the white smoke that comes with it. The delicious smell reminds Julius of that time, long ago, when he and his family went camping. He, his father and older brother had managed to hunt down a Bush rat. It was the first camp he'd been part of. His younger brother hadn't been born at the time.

They'd returned to their shed and his mom roasted it. The smoke he'd hated at first until he began to smell what the delicious scent of burning flesh smelled like. It was good. It was...

That day, one day. After the horror happened, he'd learned that all those who died from the Plague had been consumed in the fire. It was the government's way of making sure it doesn't spread. A ceremonial headplate was made for every single person that died but it doesn't change it.

Every night, he dreams the same dream. He dreams of himself at the camp, whilst watching the delicious meat burn. Until... Until... It becomes a nightmare and he struggles to breath. Choked by the very smoke he'd created, he clutches at his throat, trying to breathe but feeling his hand slip down from his perspiration.

Then he wakes up. Again, in the beautiful room Master Petrus had made for him. Turns out no walls can save him from the darkness. He stood up, grateful that it was dawn. He walked out of the room and began to hear sounds from the kitchen. It was Master Petrus, making breakfast.

He'd spent the night reading Master Petrus' book. He tries to make sense of aspects but he seems to have a huge number of questions piling up. Knowing who Master Petrus is, he knows he would be delighted to answer those questions.

'Good morning sire' Julius said to the old man.

Master Petrus smiled. The boy looked sleepy still.

'You know, I would have woken you up when food is ready' Dominus said.

'I want to help master' Julius replied.

Dominus said and handed him the grater thankfully. The boy began to grate the onions slowly. Matching the bits in the grater with those already grated.

'So, how was your sleep?' Master Petrus asked.

Julius was quiet. Instead he asked.

'Do you dream, Master Petrus?'

'Oh yes, everybody does' Dominus replied.

'Well, how do I make it stop?' Julius asked.

'Well, is it a bad dream?' Dominus stirred the rice on the stove.

Julius nodded. He couldn't find the words.

'Well, most dreams, especially bad ones are reflections of what we feel while awake. If you can conquer your consciousness, you can conquer your unconsciousness' Dominus explained.

'So... What do I do?'

'Have you ever tried Yoga?'

'From the drawings in your book?' Julius asked.

Master Petrus put off the light on the stove and turned to his apprentice.

'Come child' he said.

Julius followed the master all the way to the same classroom they would use in a couple hours.

'Yoga goes beyond just drawings child. Sit' he ordered.

Julius sat down on the wooden floor, looking up to Dominus as he stood. Convinced that the boy was seated as comfortable as possible, Dominus walked a few paces back and sat as well. His legs wrapped youthfully around his own self. He stretched out his hand to no one in particular and took a deep breath. His eyes was tightly closed all through the process. When he opened, the boy was staring at him totally confused.

'What do you smell Child?' Dominus asked.

Julius tried to copy what his master had just done. He knew he was meant to say something a bit enthusiastic but he couldn't find the words to lie.

'Onions' he said.

Dominus laughed then dimmed his face into a smile at the boy's honesty.

'Good. Take another deep breath. Close your eyes this time' Dominus commanded.

Julius closed his eyes, trying to relax to no avail. His shoulders were stiff and Dominus had seen that. The master had walked towards him and slowly massaged his shoulders. The pressure even made him stiff the more. The great Dominus Petrus massaging his shoulders. He remembered when one of the wards of Saint George had told him that he would be going to study under Master Petrus. One of the other children had heard and spread the news all around the orphanage.

Many of them had changed their attitude towards him. When he asked the sister why, she'd laughed saying they were just jealous. They thought he was going on some great adventure, maybe he was.

When the master stopped the massage, Dominus felt bad. Bad that he hadn't relaxed like the master wanted him to. He just couldn't.

'Come child, we'll pick this up again soon' Dominus said and went on to the kitchen. Julius followed.

...........