Kanthil Kinanthi | Tenūsa

Full Name: Kanthil Kinanthi Birthdate: 18 November 2010 Species: Human with Parselmouth

Enrollment Time: September 2022 Residence: Omah Geni, Indonesia Blood Status: Pureblood

Physical Description:
Kanthil Kinanthi has a humanly beauty which is soft but seems unapproachable at the same time. She has delicate features, framed by pale skin with cool undertones which reflect the light from the sun. Her hair falls past her shoulders. It is naturally black in colour but often seems dark brown, orange, or blonde from the dye that she applied to. Staying at one colour is never her thing. Her eyes are almond-shaped and sharp despite her gentle appearance. Though, her dark brown iris easily softens whenever she needs it. She has a slim figure that lets her to move as freely as she wants.

Mental Description:
The most notable thing about Kanthil Kinanthi is her bluntness. She doesn’t hesitate to let out her thoughts even if they are hurtful. She doesn’t hide her disapproval or judgmental gaze. She doesn’t care. Her feelings are as clear as crystal. Despite her bluntness, she is actually an attentive and caring person. She notices the little things that others often overlook and quietly remembers them. Beneath her sharp honesty lies a sneaky and cunning side, one that often acts behind the scenes without drawing attention to itself.

Backstory:
Kanthil Kinanthi was born on Thursday, 18 November 2010 in Yogyakarta to the couple Aryamurti Sastranegara and Larasati Puspaningrum. Her name was chosen carefully by her parents. Kanthil was taken from the fragrant white magnolia flower often associated in Javanese philosophy with attachment, remembrance, and things that linger closely to the soul. Kinanthi, was taken from one of the traditional Javanese macapat, symbolized guidance and a life that was meant to be led with understanding and restraint. Together, her name carried the hope to the newborn that she would have the lifelong attachment to moral teachings and the active practice of her ancestral wisdom.

Aryamurti was a well known dukun (as in Javanese druid) that specialized in Javanese divination system as written in Primbon, while Larasati was a well-known dukun beranak (Javanese Druidic Midwife). Both have established their popularity in their career that they got an offer to teach and deepen their knowledge in Omah Geni. They postponed their departure when they knew Larasati was pregnant with Kanthil. Once Kanthil was old enough, about three years old, the small family moved to Omah Geni.

Their departure to Omah Geni was well-prepared. They already got some help from the family of Larasati’s sister, Srikandi Wikrama. Their living place has been prepared by the family, a house that was built nearby. Srikandi’s son, Lesmana Asmaralaya, also often visited the house to play with Kanthil when he got the holiday. Even though their age gap was pretty big, they weren’t awkward to each other.

Kanthil’s education was taken very seriously by Aryamurti and Larasati. On the day, they would put the girl in the local study group to get the basic skills. At night, they would tell the girl about Javanese mythology and lore to deepen her connection to her ancestry. She was also taught about her cultural heritage and sometimes they would travel to Yogyakarta whenever they got a long holiday.

First Instance of Magic:
Kanthil was four years old when her first showing of magic happened. It was at night, when Aryamurti was tucking her to sleep and reading her a folklore of Roro Jonggrang and Bandung Bondowoso. Kanthil listened to the story very carefully. She wasn’t sleepy yet. When Aryamurti finished his reading, Kanthil asked him to read her more. Aryamurti didn’t have more story to tell her and this disappoint her and eventually made her angry. Her cries pushed the book in her father’s hand to fly away and hit the corner of the room. Aryamurti witnessed this event and recorded it in her developmental book as her first milestone to be a witch.

Parselmouth History:
The talent happened in a far generations before Kanthil was born, even untraceable in both the paternal and maternal side. As it is known as the sign of dark wizardy, the talent often hidden from the public, even from the relatives. Only the close one know this and some of them even didn’t dare to pass the story to their newer generation, even when the Parselmouth in the family didn’t do any shady business. They were hidden and slowly forgotten, washed by the time.

And it seemed Kanthil was an unlucky generation to show his talent. On one Summer day when she was five years old, she was playing with Lesmana and his wild chickens and his old spider Crawlee. They were near the border of the woods near their house. As always, both kids would collect rocks, bugs, and sometimes, Kanthil learned how to make some playable craft from nature with Lesmana. That day was peaceful until the children decided to take a rest under a tree. Larasati has brought them a lunch box since she knew that her daughter wouldn’t want to go home for a bit even for a quick lunch. So Lesmana and Kanthil opened their lunchbox and ate the contents. To their surprise, Lesmana’s wild chicken went into a panic. They could see something moving from the bush nearby.

It was a snake.

The creature was crawling out from the bush to the snake. Lesmana immediately pulled Kanthil to get away from the place. But to his surprise, he heard Kanthil hissing. He stopped, and so did the snake. Both snake and Kanthil seemed to have some conversation. This surely confused Lesmana, but one thing he knew, his cousin was a Parselmouth. He wasn’t sure how to react to this. Even though Parselmouth's reputation was getting better each year, the name would still get the bad side from the older generation. One thing he was sure of, Lesmana should tell his uncle and aunt.

In the evening that day, Kanthil was being seated by her parents. Both showed her anxious expressions, which made a big question appear from the little girl. Before this, the parents made sure for many times to Lesmana if the boy had heard it well and Lesmana confirmed it with them.

“Sayang, were you really speaking to a snake this afternoon?” Aryamurti asked carefully.

With a big smile and some nodding, Kanthil answered, “Ya, Ayah. I told him not to eat Lesmana’s chicken. Lesmana really loves his chicken!”

“Was that the first time you spoke to a snake, Sayang?” It was Larasati’s turn now.

The little girl shook his head. “I found some snakes when I collected some rocks before. They just passed me. Some greeted me.”

Another surprise to the parents. Both of them were discussing by themselves now, leaving the girl wondering what was wrong with them that night. Aryamurti denied that he had relatives with this talent, and so did Larasati. But they also thought, perhaps it was because this talent was often hidden, so they really weren’t sure.

To give more surprise to the couple, they saw their girl hissing in a direction. Once they followed her gaze, they found a snake was already in their house, speaking with their dear daughter.

Kanthil could sense the fear from her parents. She told the snake to get out of the house. This really confirmed the couple’s doubt.

“Sayang, what you have done was… never happened in our family. We want you not to speak to the snakes in front of others in the future,” Aryamurti said.

Kanthil gave him a questionable look. She didn’t know why she must not speak to the snakes in front of other people. Larasati, who caught the confusion, added, “Some people don’t like this talent. We just want you to be safe.” Her fingers caressed her daughter’s hair softly.

Kanthil, even with more questions in her mind, could only agree. The young mind could only remember the message from her parents and would find the reason when she grew up. While the couple, they would need to see if their family would accept this fact. The fact that Kanthil had a talent that related to the Dark Descendants.


Attribution for the snake image by Vecteezy.com