I gently laid an unconscious Nazira down on the rickety cot, finally getting a chance to get a good look at her condition if any better. Despite of being feeble and fainthearted as she has always been, her increasing frailty led me think how vulnerable she looked. In addition to it, this sudden incident had taken away her leftover charm that I associated with her. A pang of guilt for forgetting her behind trickled me. Unable to look at her in that condition, I dropped my eyes on the floor and walked away from her.

Ira Zutshi walked by and placed a damp cloth on Nazira's forehead to cool her temperature down. She gently rubbed her hands and wiped the black marks off her face. I walked further aside to give Ira some space and stood with my back against a wall, thinking about him.

I so wanted to believe that everything that had happened in academy was only a nightmare, and that I was going to wake up anytime now, for this episode to just vanish. It was difficult to put up with the fact that my best friend Tyrell Kissler was the reason behind this mess. His eyes, so lifeless and apathetic. His voice, remorseless. And then I remembered his warning, which seemed more like a threat. Was it a taunt? Did he doubt my capabilities as a Samagraha?

Mrs. Zutshi must have noticed that I was too quiet since she had opened the Gates and so she tried to make a conversation. "Are you hurt too, hun?"

"Not exactly," I said, my voice breaking, "I am fine. It's just...my hands are burnt."

She smiled faintly and said, "Fire of Vengeance with burnt hands?"

I tried my best to not to take her comment to heart. "Yeah, something to think about, right?"

"Ashwant will be here any moment," she said, still having that gentle smile on her face, "He might help you out with that."

I nodded slightly rubbing my hands, "Will Nazira be okay?"

She set the wet cloth on her face straight and pulled a blanket around her. "She is very weak," Ira said, "But she is only unconscious. She will be alright. Don't worry."

"I will just wait outside," I said, and walked out of the room till Ira was done with Nazira.

I was now standing in the living room of Ashwant's huge hut, built especially for the leader of the Clan of Matsyasvi. All the walls of this hut were constructed with shells, roof with vintage rocks and pebbles. The curtains against the windows were nothing but a slick black mesh nets. Smell of fishes was always there and it was adequate. Two upholstered rocking chairs at the opposite corner of the hall and, a rustic table in the middle of them, facing the fireplace filled with logs, added contemporary panache to this living room.

Fireplace wasn't aflamed. Dakshinpur was kind of a place where the fireplaces were never left alone without burning. That made me sense the air inside the hut wasn't chilly at all as it was supposed to be. It was the month of August and the last time I was here during this month, it was bone chilling. I rubbed my nape trying to push my unnecessary thoughts off my mind. I had enough problems on my plate to worry for now, I couldn't care about the weather whatsoever.

I opened the entrance door and stepped outside. How hard I tried not to, I couldn't help but notice it. I was ridiculously and profoundly impressed with this weather. It was probably a little after the noontime, with the clear blue sky and the friendly sun. No dark clouds, no snow, just the tincture of pleasant wind providing the subtle movement to the grass on the embankment. The best thing about this area was it's waterfall, the cascading water tumbling down the hill forming turquoise colored water pool. The trees surrounding the waterfall all over the hill were an addition to this beauty.

I dragged my eyes to watch a few mer-people sitting by the pool under the shade of the only huge tree with rhomboidal leaves. A group of five, their long fish tails down touching the water and their humanly upper bodies were covered with bandages and gauze. I frowned upon the few of the huts that seemed to be getting rebuilt, with a villagers sitting on the top of the hut fixing the roofs and walls.

"Hayden!"

A well known, but extremely worried voice echoed in my brain. It was Pruthvi,  and wished to have contacted him before he could. Undoubtedly, he began showering his anxiety filled questions upon me. I immediately responded to each of his concerns, and filled him up with all the details he was required to know.

"I had no other choice but to bring her here," I said, "Don't worry, Ira told me she is going to be fine."

He was getting even more stressed with all the information I was giving him and it was difficult to calm him down when he was speaking all gibberish.

"That is what I am trying to tell you," I said patiently, "I will ask Ira to help you out..."

A shadow suddenly casted itself upon me and on impulsively looked aside I found the person I was waiting for, a thirty plus year old man, Doctor's adopted son, Ashwant Veer walking towards me.

"Listen, I'll talk to you later," I said under my breath and cut my connection with Pruthvi.

Ashwant grinned as he walked closer, his mustache trimmed well since the last time I had seen him in the academy. Lean personality with rugged face, in his white shirt and blue jeans, he looked rather elegant and for once I wished to see how he looked as a mer-man.

"So you are finally here, after a long time," he said brightly, extending his hand, "Ready for the trip?"

I shook hands with him to return his friendly gesture, and enduring the slight pain I received on contact. "Yes, totally!" I replied.

"As expected," he said and then he looked down at my hand, "Hey, are you hurt?"

"Er, yeah," I said, letting his hand go, "Academy, it's.."

It was difficult to find words to explain it exactly. On the second thought, I wondered how Doctor would even know anything about it. Sighing heavily, I did my best to explain everything about the situation I had to face in the academy. But surprisingly, he didn't react the way as I was expecting him to.

"It must be Rahu Kerenza, right?" he stated, "And I thought academy would be the last place he could ever get his hands on."

My hair at back stood on hearing the name, I and my friends had been avoiding to talk about.

"Why...why would you say that?" I asked.

"Didn't Doctor tell you?" she said, raising her eyebrows, "He is hailed as the Rahu Kerenza these days, creating so much havoc in Dakshinpur lately, destroying people's only means of living, hurting them senseless. He tried to sabotage my clan too. Look at those burnt huts. It's all because of our dear friend."

"What?" I said, calmly and with slight embarrassment. I flicked my eyes from him to look at the huts getting fixed, "He is doing all that?"

"Yes," Ashwant replied, "I think he was here to steal more Chandrika powder. But he left as soon as my father arrived to save us. Otherwise we would have easily fallen in the middle of the streets by now. Can't believe it is same Tyrell we always knew."

I gulped. "It's Rahu Kerenza."

"Of course," said Ashwant, "He is in bad influence, Hayden. He needs to be stopped."

"Yeah," I said, absently, still feeling downhearted about my friend getting infamous. "Pruthvi and Leena are going after him. But not right away. They have to attend Princess Lithika's wedding first."

"Wedding, right. That reminds me, I and Ira need to start preparations to deliver the menu on time." said Ashwant, inserting his hands inside his pocket, "Month of the fest is here. "

"I am sorry?" I asked, staring blankly at him as my stomach suddenly began rumbling.

Ashwant snickered as I awkwardly placed my hand on my stomach. "Let's go inside. Ira shall fetch you something to eat."

"Thanks," I mumbled, and that was the only thing I waiting for him to say.

As we walked back inside, Ashwant gestured me to sit before he went inside to pass on the message to Ira. I was almost reaching my limits now. I only wished for Ira to come out as soon as possible with anything to eat. I doubted if I might just eat anything that came my way. Tell me again, how am I going to survive in Parallel Universe?

Coming out of the room, Ashwant didn't forget to bring the first aid box with him. He began applying a applying a cool creamy paint like substance over my burnt palms. It felt as if something was crawling over my skin, giving me slight itching sensation. Finally he finished it with coiling a bandage over it.

"Thank you," I murmured, when he let my arms go.

"Learning a few stuff from my father," he said sitting on the chair beside mine, "Comes in handy sometimes."

Until Ira brought something with her, I passed my time inquiring more about this new topic. "So you were mentioning something about the Fest?"

"Yup, The Fest of Vrindahina," said Ashwant, as enthusiastically as Nazira had been, "We celebrate it in a utmost grand manner, to commemorate the new cycle of the stars that gave us Constellia. We consider these days as very auspicious. All the weddings of Paramarashtra are held in the month. The offerings to the deity, cultural activities as in a carnival, great food, there are dozens of reasons to wait for it for complete two years. Even the weather is fantastic during in and around month. It's just the best."

It then suddenly reminded me of the schedule Doctor had given to me an hour ago. I instantly checked my pocket and unfortunately I found nothing except my stone. Damn! I must have lost it in the fire somewhere.

"It shouldn't be auspicious to some sections of people though, right?" I asked.

"Yes," he said, nodding, "You did gather some information before you go to Parallel Universe, didn't you?"

"I had to," I said, "You know Doctor's mentality. He just doesn't give a lot of information that he thinks I should find out on my own."

He sniggered. "Ira told me Dark magic doesn't work in this month. The people who practice it, they just wait for the month to pass and never to return."

"What's so special about this deity?" I asked, "Vrindahina?"

"We believe Vrindahina is the one of the deities who came down and handed Lady Chandrika the Diamond and created Naag and in return the rest of the Samagraha. Not to mention, she is the one who made Tears of the Maiden the most precious gift."

The table clanking sound interrupted us. It was Ira placing few snacks and plateful of cheese sandwich on the table. I instantly grabbed one and began devouring before even she could formally offer me. I didn't even pay attention to the sudden sadness surfacing on Ashwant's face when he said, "I wish the old days come back already. Dakshinpur was always front-runner to celebrate this fest. And it was known for it's own identity until the Temple if Chandrika on Selvyn hill had to shut down."

----------------------------------------------------

A low pitched bonging sound jerked me into awareness. I was slouched down on the chair and I immediately sat straight rubbing my eyes to come out of my sleepy mode. I ran my pain free hand over my hair finding myself alone in the living room. Last thing I remembered was Ashwant suggesting me to rest as much as I could before I get to leave for the job...today.

I had no idea for how long I had been sleeping, but I felt quite invigorated. My stone was obviously burning. I took it out and held it in my hands to cool it down.

I walked around the living room and pulled the curtain to peep out of the window. It was indeed early in the morning, with birds chirping, with slight frosty atmosphere and a fine number of mer-people gathered around, taking dips into the water of the pool.

Bonging sound repeated and I realized it was coming out of the room where Nazira was resting.

Nazira.

Hours had flown by and I haven't received any updates about her condition yet. Nervously, I walked towards the room finding the door ajar.

Pushing the door completely out of my way, I immediately let out a relaxed sigh. Nazira was awake, her outfits now was changed to jeans and red tunic top. She was sitting down on the bed and helping Ira with her few magic appliances. My eyes were stuck on her, watching her keenly, making sure if she was completely alright.

"Finding a dress for you was a chore," Ira was saying, "You are too tall and slender girl!"

Nazira suppressed her smile, dropping her eyes with exceeding shyness she didn't want to show.

Ira picked up her fallen things off the floor and in the process she spotted me, when I wantedly walked inside to get noticed by Nazira.

"Oh, sorry hun," Ira said, "Did we wake you up?"

"No, it's fine," I said still having my eyes on her, in a hope for her to look at me. "Is everything okay?"

Ira understood the inner meaning of my question. She went ahead and placed her hand on Nazira's shoulder to seek her attention, "He is awake. Didn't you say you want to talk to him?"

Her eyes slightly widened before she turned towards me, and stood up smiling. She was really back to her normal state, to her level of health and fitness.

"Poor girl, woken up by a bad dream," said Ira as she walked out of the room.

Nazira and I gazed at each other, waiting for anyone of us to start.

"How are you feeling?" I asked, when she was still hesitating.

"Better," she said showing her thumb up.

"And your feet?"

"Ashwant treated me. It doesn't hurt anymore."

"Good," I said, "You wanted to talk to me?"

She walked upfront and that constricted my heart so tight that I thought I might asphyxiate myself.

"Mrs. Zutshi told with what happened," she signaled, "Thank you for saving me...again."

"Don't," I said slightly shaking my head, my voice automatically sounding low, "I thought I almost lost you."

She frowned. "Sorry?"

"I mean..." I said bending my head low and scratching my forehead, "I almost forgot about you...caught up in something else."

She smiled grimly and then asked, "Do you know what happened to Maruthi?"

I stiffened. I barely had time to get the rest of my stuff, heck the sudden disaster had made me forgot all about her, Maruthi was definitely farthest thing off my mind.

"I..I don't know," I said, tentatively, my voice breaking, "I didn't see it...him."

She looked down disappointed and then signaled, "Is he atleast alive?"

Her voice in my mind began quivering. When she raised her eyes up to read my lips, they were already filling up.

"I am sorry," I said, "I really hope Pruthvi to have taken care of it, but I am not sure. I'll try talk to him about this."

Her face dripped in total sadness. She was trying hard to blink back her tears. I wished I could do something to make her comfortable. If it was Leena or Celina in front of me standing in her position, I would have atleast managed to give them a consoling hug. But it was her and my courage wasn't enough to dare to do it.

"So," she signaled, wiping the tear that was about to fall, "I should be with Pruthvi and Leena, right?"

"What?" I said, frowning, unable to understand what she was asking or may be I was still imagining myself hugging her. I quickly raced my mind and remembered the conversation we had in the training room. Of course, she was supposed to go to the wedding with Pruthvi and Leena. That was the plan.

"Right," I said, "I'll talk to Ashwant to make arrangements."

"Talk to me about what?"

I involuntarily stepped back, as if I was interrupted of doing something else rather than just talking to her.

"Slept well?" he asked, placing his hands on the top of the door.

"Yeah," I said, "Where have you been?"

"Told you I had to deliver meals. Month of the fest starts today, " he said, "So what was it you wanted to talk about?"

He walked away from the door to stand in the middle of the living room. I gestured Nazira to come out with me to discuss the matter and settle it once and for all. Ashwant has always been way cooler than Doctor was. I really wished him to accept my proposal to send her to Sharad Dynasty where Pruthvi and Leena were about to visit.

"It's a request," I said "Doctor asked me to take Nazira with me on the job, but we both think it's not a good idea..."

"My father asked to take her with you?" he interrupted raising his eyebrows, and folding his hands across his chest, "He didn't tell me that. But why would he do that?"

"I don't know," I said shaking my head, "He says she shouldn't be left alone and that it would be safer for her if she stays in Parallel Universe..."

"Is it?" said Ashwant, interrupting me again, "Then I think you should do as he says."

"No!" I gasped, my hope beginning to crush, "I was trying to tell you, it's going to be rather dangerous if she comes with me. I don't know if I am ever going to return..."

"Hayden, if Doctor says something to do, you should do it."

I sighed heavily and then walked closer. "Ashwant, please try to understand. She is an innocent, soft girl and I am not in a position to see her getting hurt. What if something happens to her, what if she gets stuck with me for next two year and I can't guarantee even after that."

Ashwant's features lightened before he said something really unexpected. "What is this, you have a thing for Zarina Khan's great grand daughter?"

"What!" I gasped aloud, instantly stepping back. I so wished Nazira to have not read his lip. I would be so busted. "No, it's not like that. She is not only related to Zarina but she is my friend's sister too. Look, I just don't want to be held responsible if anything goes wrong."

Ashwant stared at me for a while, dropped his hands and said sternly, "Hayden, you have to take Nazira Khan with you. And from what I can see, my father is just so right about you."

"What do you mean?"

"You are behaving exactly like King Harsh!"