Chapter 25: All good things'.Piya, Misha and Sid walked slowly towards Mrinalini's shack. Piya thought it odd that she lived all alone, and so close to the forest too. But as she had already determined that Mrinalini was rather unusual, she let it go. Misha, as usual hadn't wanted to go, but Sid had cajoled her into it. They walked arm-in-arm, slowly. Piya grinned as she looked at her tomboyish half-sister clinging to a man like he was her lifeline. This was totally unlike Misha, and Piya thought it rather cute. They reached the shack and knocked on the door. Mrinalini opened it, grinning widely.
"Hi girls! Hi Sid! Come on in. Welcome to my home." Said Mrinalini.
"Wow Megha! I really like your place." Said Piya. She moved to examine some rather interesting looking antiques on the mantel. Misha said nothing, just smiled politely at Megha. She hadn't forgiven her for clinging to Sid so closely last night. Mrinalini moved closer to Piya to tell her about the antique and where she'd found it. As they were chatting, Sid's phone rang. After a rather hushed conversation, he turned ruefully towards the girls.
"I'm sorry Megha, I have to go. Plumbing emergency at the Raichand mansion and Haseena will have my hide if I don't have it fixed when she gets back. I'll try to come back in an hour or two, if things are sorted out."
"Oh! I'm sorry to hear that. Do come back, Sid. We'll save you some food." Said Mrinalini politely, her eyes gleaming with excitement.
"I'll go with you." said Misha.
"No, Mish. You stay with Piya. It's not polite for all of us to up and leave. After all, Megha's put effort into this. I'll come back as soon as I can." Said Sid. He left quietly after that.
They dug into lunch after that. And what a good lunch it was. Mrinalini was a phenomenal cook, and she really had surpassed herself. She'd made it, thinking she was serving them their last supper, so to speak. So, they made inroads into hot Pita bread and freshly made hummus and tabbouleh, along with falafel. They were just finishing up a delicious dessert of Baklava, when there was another knock on the door. It was Danish and Panchi. Panchi looked tired and cold. As planned, Danish had lost himself and her in the jungle. Mrinalini was extremely hospitable. She made them hot chai and served them lunch too. After they finished eating, Danish asked for directions to the main road where he'd parked his car, Mrinalini's house was on the edge of the forest and could be accessed fairly easily by a side road. He wanted to bring his car as close as possible, he said, so Panchi didn't have to walk anymore. Mrinalini shut the door behind him, and smiled to herself. Finally, the moment she'd waited for was here.
She turned towards them, and spoke.
"We need to talk." She said. She walked towards them, her walk more confident, her tresses looseining themselves from that tight braid and framing her face. Her eyes turned electric blue and her voice was more piercing than they'd ever heard.
"What the hell!" asked Misha, and she was flung across the room for her impertinence.
Piya and Panchi rushed to Misha, and helped her up. "What is with you?" asked Panchi.
"Shut up bitch!" said Mrinalini.
"Megha, whats going on?" asked Piya, her eyes puzzled.
"What's going on is that I am going to be the most powerful sorceress in the world. And for that to happen, I need you three."
"Sorceress! What rubbish!" said Misha. This time, Mrinalini raised a hand imperiously, and Misha flew into the air and hung there for about 5 seconds before Mrinalini let her fall with a loud thud. Her nose was bleeding and she'd bruised her face in the fall. Piya and Panchi stared at her, bewildered. Piya placed a warning hand on Panchi's arm, preventing her from saying anything. Misha just lay there, groaning.
"What do you want from us?" asked Piya. She at least had been in a slightly similar situation before so she didn't lose her wits completely.
Mrinalini walked towards a large wooden chest and magically lifted the kalachakra out of it, without laying a hand on it. It hung in the air there, half wooden, half precious metal, radiating white light that almost blinded them with its brightness. "I need you sisters to invoke the power dormant within you and touch 3 spokes of this wheel simultaneously." Said Mrinalini.
"OK, Crazy chick, you may or may not be a sorceress. But you've got the wrong girls. We're not all sisters. Only me and Mish." Said Panchi. Piya and Misha looked at each other. Mrinalini laughed. "God! She doesn't even know. This is hilarious. But Piya knows. And from Misha's expression, I can tell she knows." She said.
"Knows what?" asked Panchi, surprised.
"That the 3 of us are sisters." Said Piya quietly.
"What? What nonsense. Have you been smoking what this mental case has?" asked Panchi.
"Its true Panchi. Dad had an affair with Piya's mom." Said Misha. Panchi looked shell-shocked. "And you've known this for how long?" she asked Misha. "I only found out recently but Piya's known forever."
"And Dad? Does he know?" asked Panchi.
"No. And he must never find out." Said Piya.
"Why? He deserves to know Piya. You are his daughter. He needs to provide for you. You grew up in an orphanage for heavens' sake." Said Panchi. She pulled Piya into a hug. "I can't believe you girls' hid this from me." She said.
"Very touching. I hate to break up this family reunion, but I'm sorry to tell you that Mr.Dobriyal is going to be heart-broken when he finds out all his kids are dead. Now, chop-chop. Need you ladies to get the kalachakra going."
"We don't even know what you want. I don't understand any of this. We have no supernatural powers." Said Piya.
"Wrong. You have no supernatural powers awakened. Plenty lie within you, dormant. And it needs the three oof you together to awaken your powers, And once it is channelized, you will give it up, and along with it, your lifeforce to the kalachakra." Said Mrinalini. She sounded crazed now.
"Err. Sorry to interrupt, but news flash. You're insane." Said Misha, who needed more than a bleeding nose to be cowed down.
"I don't want to hurt you more than necessary. So, if I were you, I'd watch what I say" Said Mrinalini softly. She lifted an arm and ran a hand through Misha's hair. Misha screamed, as her head throbbed with pain like she'd never felt before.
"Please don't hurt Misha." Begged Piya.
"I don't want to. Just do as I say."
"Even if we wanted to, we wouldn't know how to do what you say." Said Piya, crying now.
"Don't cry Piya. You know I hate to see you cry." Piya turned around at the sound of the familiar voice.
Abhay stood there, flanked by Ivan and Sid.
"You will pay for this. Your daughter won't make it till sunrise." Said Mrinalini to Sid. Sid looked at her fearlessly. "I'll find her, never fear, dear Mrin." Said Sid. She raised an arm, but Abhay was too quick for her. She was flung across the room, and landed like a cat on her feet. Sid rounded up the girls and moved them to a corner of the room.
Abhay and Mrinalini fought furiously. She held nothing back, lobbing curse after curse at him, all of which he deflected with ease. Misha's eyes grew rounder and rounder as she saw what was happening. A supernatural duel was being fought. In front of her. On planet Earth. She was stoked. Panchi looked shocked beyond belief. Piya's eyes darted from one to the other worriedly. Sid and Ivan stood by nonchalantly, watching them duel. Piya poked Ivan who waa examining his fingernails lazily.
"Why aren't you helping?" she hissed furiously.
"Against the code of conduct. Duels are fought between 2 people only."
"Listen. This chick is evil. Evil and crazed. She isn't going to play by any rulebook. Would you please get off your ass and go help Abhay!" said Piya, sounding hysterical now.
"Abhay doesn't need our help. He's more than a match for Mrinalini. After all, he just found the lost treasure of Eretheus the first along with Aseem and Damini." said Ivan, quietly confident. Misha and Panchi's eyes grew rounder and rounder.
Abhay had just deftly defelcted three green spears of fire aimed at him and sent some of his own back for good measure. Mrinalini was brilliant. There was no question. And she was enjoying the challenge. Sweat beaded her upper lip. Her eyes were focused and sparkled with excitement. Suddenly, she flung a heavy table in Piya's direction. Ivan put out an arm and it shattered. Sid stepped up, his eyes angry.
"Stop it Mrin." He said. She looked at him, a little angry, a little upset.
"Out of my way Sid."
"No. You'll have to get past me to get to these girls." Said Sid. He motioned to Ivan and Abhay to move away. It was between him and Mrinalini.
She sent a half-hearted curse his way. He didn't even bother to deflect it. It hit him. He keeled over. She screamed. "Sid! Sid! Are you OK?"
He sat up slowly. "I'm fine Mrin. Now stop this madess. You don't want to kill these girls. You don't want to be the most powerful sorceress in the world. You want to be happy. You want to be loved. Trust me Mrin. Stop this now." He spoke softly.
She looked at him, tears pooling in her eyes. "Yes. Yes. You're so right. I just want to lead a normal life. NOT. Don't give me this sentimental bullshit Sid. What are you, Oprah?" I'll kill these girls and I'll kill your daughter if that's what it takes." She sent a powerful spell his way. He was too quick for her. He sent it back to her. She was a fraction of a second too slow to react and it hit her squarely in the stomach. She fell over and lay there, lifeless. Sid walked to her slowly and closed her still open eyes. He caressed her face lightly, then walked away.
"It had to be done." Said Abhay softly to Sid.
"I know. But she loved me." Said Sid, in a tight voice.
"Did you love her?" asked Misha, intensely interested in the answer.
"No. I felt sorry for her. I could never bring myself to love her." Said Sid. He walked over to Misha. "There's only 1 girl I love. And that girl is you." he kissed her lightly.
Ivan had walked over to Panchi who still looked shell-shocked. He wrapped a shawl round her shoulders.
"You look cold." He said kindly.
"Where's Danish? He should've been back ages ago? Did she do something to him? Will someone explain this to me?" said Panchi, hysterically.
"Sorry Panchi. Danish was Mrinalini's stooge. He was merely following her instructions." Said Abhay. Panchi just looked shell shocked. She burst into tears and threw herself into Ivan's arms. Ivan looked extremely uncomfortable as he patted her shoulder awkwardly.
"And Sid? Was Sid working for Mrinalini or Megha or whatever her name is, sorry was?" asked Piya looking sternly at Piya.
"No Piya. Sid was doing a very hard tight-rope walk. Double agent. He's one of the few of us who's trained enough to protect his thoughts from intense scrutiny like Mrinalini is capable of. So, he was selected to cultivate a relationship with her. We'd been keeping an eye on Madam Demented for a while now." Said Abhay.
"You knew all this and didn't tell me?" Piya punched Abhay's shoulder lightly.
"Sorry baby! Top-secret Amaranthine affairs." Said Abhay.
"What the hell is Amaranthine?" asked Misha.
"Hell. Long story Mish. Lets you and I get out of here. I need to find my daughter, then we can talk. I'll tell you everything."
"Wait. Wait. You have a daughter? Where did she spring from" asked Misha.
"Long story again. I'll explain. Lets get out of here." Sid hurried her out of the shack. They heard Misha arguing loudly with Sid long after they left the shack.
"OK, Panchi. Let's get you home too. And needless to say, all this is to be kept secret. I'll explain everything tomorrow." Said Abhay.
"I can see her home." Drawled Ivan.
"You OK with that Panchi?" asked Abhay. Panchi nodded. She and Ivan left quietly. Abhay whispered to Ivan to get her to take some sleeping pills so she would sleep restfully tonight.
Abhay made Mrinalini's body disappear with a wave of his hand. He also waved the kalachakra away.
"Where did it go?" asked Piya.
"Where it came from. Cave in the Himalayas." Said ABhay. "It was never meant to be found."
"Abhay, what did she mean, about me, Misha and Panchi having supernatural powers? I've never as much as won 10 bucks at the lottery or killed a cockroach." Said Piya.
"No idea." Said Abhay too quickly. "She was a little crazy, you know. Who knows what she'd convinced herself of." Said Abhay.
"Hmm. OK. I didn't think I was magical in any way." Said Piya.
"You are. Magically beautiful." Said Abhay, pulling her into his arms. "Lets get out of here. Place gives me the creeps." They walked out arm-in-arm.
EPILOGUE1 year later.
Ivan slipped a ring on Panchi's finger as she looked on beaming. She looked radiant in a lavender lehenga. Everyone clapped as the engagement ceremony was formally completed. Misha and Sid looked on, his arm wrapped around her waist. His little girl held Misha's hand. They'd had a tough time convincing her parents that a single Dad was the best choice for Misha, and were still weathering that storm. They were, however together. That much was decided.
Chaand and Haseena smiled at each other. They were excited at the thought of next month. When they would host a similar event. Only theirs was a wedding. Abhay and Piya's wedding.
Piya leaned her head on Abhay's shoulder. "They make a lovely couple, don't they?" she asked.
"Uh-huh." He dropped a kiss on her head. "Yes. Second only to us, soon-to-be Mrs.Abhay Raichand."
"Abhay, I maybe marrying you, but I'm not chaging my name. I'm keeping my last name. I'll still be Piya Jaiswal."
"OK, my independent little spitfire. That's fine. Your heart belongs to me. Call yourself whatever you like." He said.
"I love you, Abhay." She stood on tiptoe to kiss him.
"I love you too sweetheart." He swung her off her feet.
The End-Will Piya ever find out if she and her sisters really have superpowers?
-Will Arnab Dobriyal ever find out Piya is his daughter?
-Did Abhay really find the lost treasure of Erethues the first, and what does that mean to him?
-Will Misha and Sid's story have a happy ending?
-What about Trim? Does he ever find the girl of his dreams?
If the mood strikes me again, I will write a sequel and answer these questions. For now, this has been a fun experience. I am unable to give this as much time as I used to and decided to wrap it up. For now, thank you dear readers. You've made this a very special journey and kept me motivated to write even when I felt like I was down and out. Love you all. 🤗
Edited by madmaxine - 14 years ago
Cricket
Financial markets and global economy
Ishaani
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