Pruthvi pulled his glasses down and wiped all the dust away with his torn shirt. His eyes felt swollen. The prick around his amber eyeballs got worse, turning into a deep burning sensation and it wasn't due to the streaks of blood slithering down from his forehead dropping into his eyes making them bloodshot. He blew into his specs-twice -before he put them back on. He cleared his throat and coughed. Perhaps the feeling of revulsion bubbling like acid in his guts caused him to hack up.

The absolutely obnoxious woman, without looking at her great-grandson, walked aside at the stacked up rocks, Pruthvi's disdainful glare following her momentum. Her stick and the wooden slippers were creating sharp reverberating sound. The same, messy and crinkled saffron saree draped across her bony body covering from head to the ankles, her hand holding the crooked stick firm to support her hunched back. Her swagger was as slow as snail, but her saggy face and time chiseled eyes carried an expression that forever reminded him of a wild boar.

She gently dropped her stick down, and then herself to sit on the floor cross-legged, facing the rocks. Her thin, skeletal limbs shivered having them to bend over. The sound of the footsteps died and the quietness fell in the underground dimly lit chamber. Nevertheless, this sort of tranquility screamed all her sins. Pruthvi blinked, the burning sensation in his eyes getting intolerable when he thought of his parents, his innocent and disabled sister's parents, his complete family destroyed by this person who unfortunately was also a family.

Zarina Khan's jaw slightly dropped, her thin brown lips over the toothless gums finally moved. "You killed him."

Pruthvi's eyes averted from her to the rocks where the body laid crushed, and then back to her. "Oops!" He simply replied.

His reaction from outside might have sounded mild, but his insides felt heavy, burdened with a sudden guilt. For the first in his life, he has knowingly killed a person, although how deserving the later was.

"Shashi isn't going to be happy about it," she said, still staring at the rocks.

Pruthvi slightly flinched hearing Shashi's name but he tried not show it upon his face. "Is he here too?" He asked, with an edge in his voice, "What are you oldies doing down here, playing rummy?"

He took a few slow steps towards the rocks, his fist clenched holding the bag tight. His heart hammered with a surge of a fear and hatred at the same time, his gaze wandered around the hall as a measure to stay cautious.

"So you are hiding here?" he asked looking down at her, finally giving a halt to stand in the middle of her and the rocks, "And Doctor is shaking hell and heaven to find you."

"Perhaps you should go and give him my address," she said, her voice shaky.

"Oh, I so will," Pruthvi said, taking a step back, dropped his bag aside and comfortably sat on one of the rock, placing his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands. "But first, we talk."

Zarina raised her tiny lashes, getting a good look at his face glistening with blood. Pruthvi twisted a smile, studying her eyes that had grown dull and cloudy as a result of too much suffering living in this closed area with a psycho.

"Why would you possibly comprehend that I would accept talking to you?" she asked.

"That's a good question," he said immediately, scratching his head. "Well you see, when I say we talk, that means I ask questions and you give straight answers, not the other way around."

Zarina scoffed, "You must be dreaming." She held her stick and tried lifting herself up to get away from him.

"Earthly Bind!"

Cage shot up encircling her and that immediately made her drop down to sit in her earlier position.

"You cannot force anything out of me," she yelled, her voice full of vigor and threat.

Pruthvi paused, staring at her sharply. He was certainly reluctant to use his muscular strength upon her, unlike how he had done it with Dhanunjay. His moral norms wouldn't allow him to touch the weak, fragile woman. But wasn't she too infamous for her vicious and tyrannical affairs? No way he could simply let her go. Currently, for now, it seemed she was living alone here. Shourya had given them an opportunity to knock, he just has to open the door. There must be something that could make her spill the beans all by herself, without any need to force, something that could delight her.

Corner of his lips curled when the idea popped into his brain. He wiped the blood drained over his eyebrows with his thumb and without taking his eyes off the woman, he bent down, unzipped his bag and sought for the envelope he was now obligated to utilize.

Thank you, Doc!

Zarina's eyes at once twinkled as if Pruthvi was holding diamonds and gold in his hands. She inhaled the smell of the money deeply when he dramatically rolled the pack of Rupals.

"M...money," she drooled, and extended her hand out of the cage, "Give it to me."

"You are not having all of these at once," Pruthvi retorted, drawing the pack slightly back, "Hundred Rupals for each answer. That is how it is going to be. Ever heard of the saying Quid Pro Quo?"

Seething, she retreated her hand back. Her whole upper lean body began to fidget, front and back restlessly. She pulled her veil over her head, covering her silvery-white hair thoroughly, glancing at the money once again.

"Fine," she said, "Ask. But after that, you have to leave me alone. You cannot inform Doctor or anyone else about me."

"In exchange for it, don't you dare lie," Pruthvi warned, a vague nauseating feeling arousing in his gut, that he was actually a Paramarashtran and bargaining was their native language, "If I ever find out that you misled me, Doctor doesn't have to torture you in jail, I can do that myself."

She kept mum, her eyes dilated with an amount of hatred that not even Shashi might have shown towards him. Pruthvi was confident that she has no other choice but to accept the deal. After all, the money was what she worshipped.

He detached a note out of the bundle and began, "Who is this man you care so much about?"

"Varchas Garg," she answered immediately, her lashes dropping to look greedily at the note.

Pruthvi waited until the answer felt satisfactory, but it seemed Zarina was done. "This is not one point questionnaire," he said, "Elaborate it or forget the money."

"He is Bhupathi Garg's cousin and Queen Premila's distant relative."

Pruthvi's brows bumped together. Bhupathi Garg? The King of Narula Dynasty?

Pruthvi tossed the note through the cage. It flew inside towards her like a feather. She quickly grabbed it and checked its front and back before she took the pleasure of its odour.

"What is wrong with him?" Pruthvi asked, "Is he mentally imbalanced or anything?"

She snorted before answering, "He was just having his meals before you brutally interrupted him. Give me! Give me!"

Pruthvi clenched his jaw, watching her literally beg for the money. But was he satisfied with the answer she had given? Probably not. He shook his head getting ashamed of acknowledging her as his and Nazira's family. He felt provoked and unhesitatingly tore the Hundred Rupal note into two and threw one of them away at her face.

"What is this?" she demanded, picking up the piece of the currency.

"Half money for half answer," he said, "You get the other half only when I feel giving it to you. Now continue. Who is this man in general? Why did you say Shashi isn't going to be happy?"

"He was Shashi's partner in crime who helped him escape from the King Harsh's prison. He was here for my protection."

"Fair enough," said Pruthvi, his discussion with King Agasthya coursing through his mind. Countless questions raged on its own but he chose to ask the most important ones. "What was he doing to that woman?"

"I told you he was having meals. He and his kind need to drink blood out of a women's veins to sustain a living and retain the dark magic."

"What!" Pruthvi wheezed, utterly astonished. He wiped the falling drop blood above his eyes, and asked, "Drinking woman's blood to retain dark magic? What does that mean?"

"I suppose that is a completely different question," Zarina snapped and extended her hand.

Angrily he pulled a note and tossed it. He found himself too eager to hear the answer, although how intimidating it sounded. "Tell me! Clearly."

"Woman's blood is considered as an elixir that induces power. Strong, negative and intoxicating power. To learn certain kinds of dark magic, besides possessing an unaltered desire of living a long life full of hatred, blood has to be in one's system at all times. And the one who drinks blood in excess, nothing but the blood, becomes demonic like Varchas Garg is...was."

Pruthvi's brain jammed for a few seconds, hearing those words rushing out of her mouth as if it was a matter of indifference.

Women's blood induces power? And these cynical people's hearts are so contaminated that they feel no remorse in divulging themselves in such an extreme act? All of this just to possess some power?

Swallowing hard, he leaned back a little. His mind began to deliberate with itself but he decided to ask her instead of making unresolved facts. "Women have been disappearing every other day," he said, "King Aghasthya once told me that ever since Shashi escaped from prison he has been barging into houses and kidnapping women. This is the reason? Shashi drinks women's blood, Jyran does too obviously. Both of them are advanced dark magic users which is understandable. So...." he faltered, gasping a little and blinked vigorously. His eyes stung with newly formed tears soaking with the blood.

"So," he continued, breathing heavily, "Is Tyrell too?"

He detached a couple of notes this time, unaware of how many in number and flung them hard at her.

"No," she said, gathering the notes, "Tyrell Kissler rejected drinking the blood because he doesn't need the elixir. He is natural in performing the dark magic. How you ask, reasoning only I can infer that he possesses a pure soul which is still somewhere in that body, making him completely different from the first two. Doctor is making sure the third generation Samagraha, all twelve of you end up emerging different."

Pruthvi moved on, although confused yet feeling slightly contended that his friend was far away from this monstrosity.

"Heard Shashi is suddenly scared of me. Why is it that my double kinetic power interests him so much?"

"Because I told him about Bhagwad El Sayed."

"Go on," he said, having a couple of notes in his hands but determined not to let her have them. Hearing his predecessors name out of her mouth slightly gave him a hunch of where this was going, but he discarded it only to concentrate on what she was about to say.

"Doctor played it really well," Zarina answered, her voice spiteful, "He and Naag, they make an impressive team. He himself put you out of the situation where you might get lured and go around chasing for more power..."

"I never asked for power," Pruthvi interrupted, "Heck, I didn't even want a stone in my pocket."

"That is why I said, the third generation Samagraha is different, born with some uniqueness. Each one of you possesses the soul that doesn't require the unnatural way to gain power. But yet, since sometimes things are bound to happen, Doctor just didn't want to take the risk. He cleverly instilled the alternate power in you, with the little help from Shourya."

"Doctor never met Shourya, not that I know of," Pruthvi said.

"They definitely had a long conversation in those years when Doctor was imprisoned. Shourya might have successfully tricked Shashi with his sweet-talk, but not me. And my mouth worked a lot, I need credit for it."

"Why would he do that?" he asked, throwing a few notes at her, getting slightly aggravated on Doctor. Hadn't he went through a lot to keep a control on both the powers? "If according to you we have the pure soul, why would Doctor comprehend that I need the alternate power."

"Don't forget," she said, looking at the notes, she collected "you're just twenty years old. A Samagraha lives for two, three or even five hundred years. At some point in time, you might go looking for more power because it is how it's supposed to be. Clearly, Doctor doesn't want you to have the same fate the First and the Second went through. Because they both died in an attempt to gain the second kinetic power, just to prove themselves better than the rest."

"First and the Second too? And now Doctor thinks that I might carry on the legacy? Sounds like gaining more kinetic power is the ability chosen to pass down to me!" Pruthvi blinked, re-evaluating the statement he had bluntly passed without acknowledging. His heart skipped a beat before he shouted. "Oh my god, is it?"

Zarina smirked, lifting his lashes up at him at the moment Pruthvi threw more amount of notes saying, "Tell me more about Bhagwad El Sayad, right now."

"Possessing a natural kinetic power is a gift. The first generation Formation Samagraha were lucky to possess it, thanks to their mother Lady Chandrika. However, they were never satisfied with this gift and craved for more power they weren't allowed to own, like the opal user who went too far to learn the dark magic. He was considered as the most powerful formation Samagraha of their generation. The rest of them, except the diamond user, was scared of him because of his potential to kill.

The other Samagraha who went to extremes for more powers was the emerald user. Reason, his stone was compared to the Shaatrumani that made him feel less powerful, doubting his own wisdom and strength. Self-distrust. His dislike towards this comparison created heated altercations, eventually resulting in a situation as serious as in wars between the Samagraha. Even though the emerald user was known for never losing against the one who can manipulate the lightning, the former still lost the war."

Zarina stopped there, giving Pruthvi a chance to ask the obvious question so that she could have more money. "How did he die?"

"It was all because of his misinterpretation of his own capability," continued Zarina, setting all her currency in an order, "Ever since the war was concluded, Bhagwad devoted his life to gain more power, with an intention to challenge the opal user once again and gain the respect he lost. The only choice was to seek for the kinetic power, that isn't illegal as dark magic is. His hustle for possessing one had eventually become the reason for his death. No one, I mean it, no one can possess and survive with double kinetic powers. An abundance of such powers is detrimental to one's wellness. Even after successfully mastering such great power, the First couldn't handle it well. His life turned around in a drastic way. He lost whatever he already had-respect and power. And therefore,  instead of challenging the opal user, he asked for a peaceful death."

Silence fell in the chamber. Pruthvi, resisting the mixture of both shock and dismay flaring in his heart, watched her extending her hand. He felt so drowned in the story that he couldn't care about losing a few notes.

"I am here now," he said, "healthy enough with double kinetic power, breathing as usual, grown stronger than ever. So yeah, maybe we are different. But this cannot be the only reason for Shashi to be scared of me. Tell me, what is going on with him?"

Pruthvi watched myriads of expression crossing her face and finally settled holding onto that uneasy frown. "Spit it out!" He snarled, growing so enraged, that she at once was startled, with the colors in her face draining.

"Because," she said, "because you are the only one who can destroy his tomb."