SZ-SKS06 (Sep 15, 2023)
Puzzle
“A self-portrait à deux.”
Research | 3 Words
Clue
Hover over the clues if you require!
Clue 1: This puzzle's about a 'self-portrait', written by a Shaka...does that sound familiar to a certain Trivia?
Clue 2: Well-known self-portrait of two versions of the same person.
Clue 3: Painted by a Mexican author famous for her numerous portraits.
Clue 4: Use the Spanish name.
Answer and Explanation
Answer: Las Dos Fridas
Explanation: 'Self-portrait' refers to a painting, which makes it very likely the old Shaka's trivia. A relatively well-known self-portrait of two people ('a deux') is called 'The Two Fridas', or 'Las Dos Fridas' in Spanish.
Summary of Receipt
Summary
Transcript
Receipt: SZ-SKS06
Author: Shaka
Status: Shaka Secret
Subject: Another Debt
If you are reading this, then I must be dead. Of my own volition, I assume. Many have tried to kill me, and all have failed thus far. In fact, around the 12th or so Sphere, I had earned such a reputation that all attempts on my life came to an end. I suppose I had earned an air of invincibility by then. I had become so much more than myself. I had become Shaka, the Miracle Worker, the Mysterious Benefactor, the Thaumaturge of Secrets. However invincible I may have seemed, I was still certainly mortal. Though my title has now been passed on to you. Well, the two of you, I assume. If all has still gone according to plan, there should be two Shakas. A novel idea, I suppose. One that I might have picked up from watching the Eight split so many times.
If things have occurred as predicted, I should have died six months ago as of yesterday. Six months may be short, but I am certain the two of you are up to your necks in cosmic intrigue, deadly cults, and unimaginable esoteric affairs. It is the life of Shaka, undoubtedly. The life of a greater cosmic entity, a playmaker among the forces of the Universe. Though, I also suspect it has not been easy. It never is. But I also left you with the seven Miracles of Secret. Even so, the weight of being Shaka must weigh heavy on both of you without my years, lifetimes, and eons of experience and magical mastery. But that is why I am writing this to you. I have one last secret to share with you, and I feel that now would be the best time for you to hear it.
I never had any magic. Yes, I had the same seven Miracles you share, and I wouldn’t dare discount the advantage that gave me. But Miracles are magic that belongs to another. In my original Sphere, I lost the ability to cast magic at the young age of thirteen. I lacked the basic talents of any ordinary demon and certainly the advantages the other greater cosmic entities reveled in. None would suspect I was unable to perform magic, as the Miracles certainly hid that well enough. Additionally, being the son of an Elder such as the Secret, many suspected I would have inherited all of his powers, and I suppose his immortality as well. I did not.
And that, my dear replacements, is exactly why I chose you. Alex Gálvez and Amber Ingram, neither of you has ever shown any interest or talent in magic. You both have excelled far without those cheap shortcuts.
Assuming you are both still alive—and I am certain you are—I hope you haven’t felt too weighed down under the expectations of who I was, for I, like you, was as human as it gets.
-Aayush Shukla