Hinn Ch. 07-09

"And we begin, Master. Forgive me, please."

Forgive her? And then he thought he understood. His entire world was suddenly pain. Everything burned, and worst of all, none of it blocked out any of the other horribly painful sensations. His shirt melted through his skin even as his groin blazed alight. Each strand of hair all over his body was its own inferno just as the chair he sat on shot sparks and tongues of pain up through his whole experience, his entire life.

His whole rwh.

She was burning his rwh.

Then something new was worming its way into him, in ways he'd never considered. Ways he could never have imagined before experiencing them.

It hurt worse than the flames of everything touching him. His body's horrendous pains he knew how to deal with, knew how to experience it. Physical pain was no stranger to the active life he'd lived. It wasn't a favorite sensation, but he knew it and how to move past it. But pain caused to his rwh? That was new, and he cried like a baby as the unique sensations struck him completely unprepared.

Some infinitely long time later, the pain stopped. It didn't fade -- it just was gone. He'd fouled himself, his face wet with tears and worse, and things were different. Everything he looked at now announced itself to his gaze, and he knew it. He knew what it was, how he could use it to attack, how to use it to defend. He felt each contact every item he gazed on ever had with the fires of its creation -- the intimate details of how, where, and when each had burned its altered self into reality.

He was suddenly clean and dried. The foul odor disappeared, and he turned.

Tauriz was beautiful -- even more so than she had been in her newest flesh, her 'soil.' Her rwh, her samum spoke directly to him, whispering stories of ancient days, pleasure and pain, shattered hopes, of enduring and surviving.

She was literally in no way innocent, having been through the hands of relatively beneficent and demonically malicious Masters since long before humanity even existed. She had been abused in horrific ways and brought back to fresh abuse again and again, but she had never folded. She had bent under those sinister forces, but she had never broken.

Ray had never seen anything, anyone so inspiring, so pure, so wondrous.

And she was with him. He felt her gaze on him and her understanding of his innocence, his hope, his naivete. She felt his acceptance of her as she was and her joy was astounding. She didn't love him as much as she fully understood and accepted all of him as he was, but there was love there too. Of course, such an ancient and powerful being would experience love differently, but he had no doubt she loved him.

Everything she'd ever known, ever been through, ever dreamed of was there, at his beck and call. He felt it, waiting on his slightest desire.

The pain had been mind-blowing, soul-scarring, but her complete acceptance? Her knowledge? It was too much, too quickly, and Ray's world went black.

Chapter 9

Ray woke in Tauriz' arms, curled up like a child in her lap. She held him without effort even if he weighed at least half again as much as she did. Idly, in the back of his head, he was impressed by her physical capability, but his heart was too tied into hers for that to be more than a single harmonious note in the back of the chorus seemingly containing all the voices of the world.

"Welcome back, Master."

"What did you do, Tauriz?" he wondered.

"You are now Hinn."

"Hinn."

There was a pause. So much went on without words, meanings, and emotions passing silently between them.

"That's so incredible, my dear. It's too rich, too much. Can we please just talk for a bit?"

"Of course, Ray. You will need to practice it, for it will become more useful for both of us, but that can wait a while. We have time now."

"A millennium, you said?"

"A millennium, not including what occurs as you utilize wishes, samum, and whatever else we find."

"Incredible."

He looked at his watch, only to realize he was nude in her lap. His clothing hadn't survived the change.

"Tauriz?"

"Yes, Ray?"

"Having more Hinn was a goal of yours?"

"Having Hinn I can trust and rely on remains a goal of mine."

"I'm sorry, I'm still learning the terms here. As you used it, is Hinn singular or plural?"

"The simple answer is 'yes,' Ray. First, at some point, I desire to continue to recreate my kin beyond just you and myself. That will only happen when we are both ready for it, so please do not concern yourself about it yet. Second, Hinn are more than individuals. We are all tied the one to the whole, the one to the other. Those of us enslaved are less capable of reaching each other for reasons we have never understood. Yet we are also individual and unique. According to what I have learned, this worried the angelics that created the first Hinn. None of the other creations of the angelics have had this, to the best of my knowledge - Angelics, Jinn, humans, and perhaps Jann being the only significant groups of beings still living. There are many minor groupings, altered one way or another off of these groups, but they tend to have much of their parent group's attributes usually."

"What are the Jann like?"

"Jann are simple beings, happy to be left alone or with company. They are hardly ever malicious, but they are vengeful if harmed, and can be quite impressively destructive if they feel the need. Before my sleep, the Jinn had been provoking conflict between different segments of the Jann population, causing them to bleed each other before the Jinn decided they were weak enough to oppose openly.

"Their rwh contains neither manij min mar nor samum, but rather qalb al'qamar, the Heart of the Moon. It may be nearly as subtle as manij min mar, but it is unstoppable much as the moon never ceases to appear. 'Relentless' or 'dedicated' may also be reasonable translations of the concept."

"You are unable to discuss Jinn or genie that you cannot see. Can you detect if any Jann remain?"

"I do not sense any, but I cannot reliably find Jann. Their nature is perhaps too subtle, or they have skills that work against samum."

"Absolutely fascinating."

Comfortable in her arms, he sighed when he saw the clock. "Noon. Typically I meet a couple of other professors for lunch about now. Are you hungry?"

"I have usually eaten but twice a day, my Master, before dawn and just after dusk."

"We typically eat three times a day, on rising from bed, midday, and sometime after the workday. The last one can vary from immediately after work to late in the night, depending on circumstances."

"I know, Ray."

"That, right there, is an unfair advantage."

"It is not, Master. Either ask as my Master, and I shall tell you or, as Hinn, you can recall my memories as you wish. I have no boundaries that you are not welcome to cross."

"Humans are deeply driven towards privacy in the modern-day, even as we take actions that substantially erode that same privacy. It's a dichotomy many of us are growing ever more concerned about, but there's little we have found as mitigations.

"As such... Wait a second. Tauriz, would you be able to grant a wish that would allow you to fulfill your own wishes?"

"Much as I'd mentioned earlier, separating granting wishes from complete obedience to a Master is simply dangerous. It is a matter of unending debate among genie, Ray. It is a fact that it has happened at least thrice in history, but there are many lightly substantiated legends and rumors of horrible occurrences that inevitably follow such a being's creation. These hints and stories seem to indicate that all genie who have had such power were destroyed, as were their Masters and all those that benefited from the genies' wishes."

"Then perhaps I shouldn't make that wish yet, hrmm?"

"Perhaps not, Ray. I thank you for the thought, however. That brings up a few thoughts of my own - might I suggest some wishes for you to ponder the usefulness of?"

"I would be glad to consider any suggestions you have for me, my dear, be they wishes or anything else."

She smiled at him, "You are kind."

"You deserve kindness."

"Before we get completely distracted, Master, I would suggest that you wish to copy my understanding of samum and its use."

"I wish to copy Tauriz' understanding of samum and its use."

"Granted, Master."

His world froze for an endless fraction of an instant. Knowledge poured through Hinn, sharing not just information but also millennia of practice in both arcane and practical usage of that information.

He knew then that he'd never be the same, that he'd changed irrevocably. It wasn't a painful experience, but it wasn't pleasant, either.

His perception of time resumed in the middle of her next statement, "... suggest wishing for perfect health."

"I wish for perfect health for myself and Tauriz."

She blinked, then smiled, "Granted, my Master. Thank you."

"I intend to provide for you as you provide for me. Partnership, not slavery."

"I understand, Master, and again I thank you for your consideration."

"One more wish before lunch?"

"Very well, Master. I would suggest you might consider acquiring the ability to adjust your appearance much as I can from the genie cloud."

"That would certainly save some near-future embarrassment," he chuckled. "Something like I wish to gain the equivalent of the ability of a genie's cloud form to take any shape or form, complete with clothing and other relevant accessories?"

"That would be a wish I could grant, Master."

"I wish to gain the equivalent of a genie's cloud form ability to take any shape or form, complete with clothing and other relevant accessories."

"Granted, Master."

Time froze again, and Ray felt a small change to how he perceived himself. It was an allegory for his current condition, appearing in his mind's eye as himself standing in the archetypical Leonardo da Vinci 'Vitruvian Man' pose, nude. He imagined clothes such as he'd worn this morning before opening Tauriz' sheathe appearing on his form, and he felt them on his skin. The imagined clothes stayed put on the imaginary copy of himself, even as he stopped focusing on them.

"Well done, Master. Your mental agility is impressive, very few of the humans I have ever become acquainted with would be able to adjust to all these changes as effortlessly as you are."

Rather than talking about it, Ray shared his memories of the stories, the movies, the music he enjoyed, conversations with many different people each with their unique viewpoints, the games he'd played that stretched his imagination. He'd fondly imagined those activities would keep him mentally young. He felt Tauriz' enjoyment and made a mental note to include her in some of the games he'd enjoyed when the opportunity arrived.

Tauriz pointed out some of his successes at staying mentally young. She showed him the changes he'd accomplished in his personality, overcoming some of the damage that time and relentless reality imposed on humans. She wordlessly queried if he'd like more of the scarring of his mind removed, and he concurred. Together, they scoured his personality, repairing the erosion of trust, hope, and desire while maintaining the lessons learned and the social defenses gained the hard way. It was a heady feeling, sharing such intimate details of himself and learning more about himself seamlessly.

"Shall I show you off as my new girlfriend, Tauriz? How will we address our relationship to others?"

"However you desire, Master."

"Well, as part of that -- I'll need you to address me as Ray."

"Not interested in hinting at an alternate lifestyle to your friends, Master?" she teased.

"It's not been one of my kinks, as you know, you flirt."

"Ah, well, there will be other 'kinks' we shall eventually enjoy together, Master."

"Wait. Do you enjoy those games, Tauriz?"

"If it is a game, yes, Master. Too many times, I have had them not be games in my history, and it changed me long, long ago. Now I enjoy them."

"I may have to call you willow, bending to the storm but never breaking."

"Master is kind."

"Slav... wait. Why would I want to call you slave, Tauriz?"

"You are learning to be Hinn, Master. We are sharing, and you are drawing from me as you need, as you desire, without concern or consideration. This trust you offer me without constraint is a heady experience, Master. Additionally, I have had much enjoyment while being a slave to a kind Master more than once before. With your stated desire to please me, this may well bring you to become interested in similar activities over time. Much as I find myself intrigued by those activities you enjoy.

"We are binding ourselves together, much like Hinn marry, Master, but not identically. We are sharing more than just knowledge -- we are sharing our desires and gaining each others' goals as our own as well."

"Hrmm. Clearly, I have quite a bit of learning to do."

"Some learning, Master, but less than you currently suppose. Much discovery, certainly, but you already know, you just need to find that which you desire."

Ray decided to experiment with Hinn. He shared his concern about the lack of a mundane, human-acceptable history between himself and Tauriz, and how to bring his colleagues' awareness of their growing relationship. More, their growing love.

Tauriz was unsurprised by his use of 'love' even as Ray panicked a little and tried to withdraw that aspect of his hopes for their relationship after revealing them. Her simple acceptance of the term shocked him. She truly accepted everything he offered her, he realized. She had no constraints left, truly no limits she wouldn't happily accept his breaching. It was terrifying and incredibly appealing all at the same time.

She was calm about his reactions -- she felt no need to worry, she was his, in every way, in any way, and was entirely accepting of anything and everything he offered her. She put a marker in his reactions, promising him they would return to address this soon, but later. She drew him back into what he felt was a more urgent concern.

He felt her reach into his memories of his actions and his stories. She drew out his recollection of the Aikido training he'd attended a week ago in Toronto. She tentatively placed herself in the class, and against him on the sparring mats. He confirmed the concept and accepted it, drawing it in, adding details and richness to the false memory.

She gathered more information from him and suggested that he might consider a wish to share the memory they'd crafted with those who had attended the training, and a second wish to find her an appropriate role with the university. Together they considered options and drew one out. He wished twice without words within Hinn, and they felt the changes occur around them. She was now the newest physical education instructor, teaching self-defense and Aikido classes in the coming semester as well as being the coach, sponsor, and mentor to the school's walk-on Aikido team. They felt the athletic director's acceptance of the new reality and together watched as her jointly-designed credentials came out of Hinn and into physical reality. The banks adjusted to accept her existence, as did many other institutions that neither bothered to trace fully.

Together they stood. Taking her hand in his, Ray escorted her to the door. Turning out the lights, he closed and locked the door behind himself.

In the empty room, the dim light from the windows gleamed gently on the statue of the mastiff sitting quietly in the middle of his desk.