The C. N. A. T. - Page 102

Originally posted by: shyam09

Ek Maa Ki Santhane Part II

Part 1 brief synopsis:

Arjun fires arrow, Karna hit but still alive, Kunti doesn't know this and in efforts to save Karna, she makes things worse. Kunti reveals that she was the reason Abhi, Ghatotkacha, and Iravan died -- to save Karna.

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(last few paragraphs from part I)

"Jyesth bratha!!!" Arjun leaped up and embraced his brother. "Forgive me for killing you. I was just so blind because of Abhi."

Karna managed to smile. "It's ok. Honestly, I raised my arms to embrace you. It was a surprise to me that you killed me. I had hoped that we would be able to get along some more."

Arjun's heart crumbled, but not as worse as Kunti's who was now beating Karna's chest out of despair.

He could not take the shock any longer. He picked up his Gandhiva and aimed an arrow exacty 90 degrees above his head. Chanting various mantras, he released the arrow. Having been released at exactly 90 degrees, the arrow traveled as high as it could before heading straight back down, aimed for Arjun's head.

Karna, seeing this, struggled to his feet. His head was throbbing and his entire body felt as if on fire.

"Arjun!!" He yelled and tackled his younger brother, pulling him to safety, but not before the arrow went throw Karna's leg.

"Ka!!!" Arjun screamed. "Why did you save me! It was better for me to die for having killed you."

Karna smiled. "It's okay younger brother. I followed the path of adharma so naturally I had to die. Mata Kunti's multiple murders of my dear and beloved nephews could not have saved me."

Hearing this, Kunti broke down into aggravated tears and cries. "There is ..." she sniffed, trying to clear up breaking voice. "There is actually more than that."

Karna and Arjun both lifted their eyes and stared at Kunti. Arjun was the first to speak.

"What do you mean more' to the story? How many other children have you killed mata?"

Kunti lips quivered. She wasn't sure if she should reveal the truth to Arjun, but she wanted to blurt everything out for her dear Karna.

"Arjun cover your ears."

"No."

"Arjun, I said to cover your ears."

"And I said no."

Kunti gives a pleading look to Karna who sighs. "Ju. Please do as mother says, for my sake."

Arjun grumbled, but followed the orders of his eldest brother. He placed his hands on his ears, but left enough room so he could hear the conversation between his mother and eldest brother.

"Karna. I have decided to reveal the truth to you. About everything."

Karna smiled. "You don't have to do that Mata. Whatever you did was for the best."

Kunti's frown did not disappear. She took a deep breath and said, "No. It's time I come clean."

"I was only a teenager when I had you Karna. In fear for my reputation as well as the reputation of my father, Kuntibhoja, I placed you in a basket and tossed you in the Ganges so you could float away."

Karna tried to smile. He understood the reason why his mother did so and he was grateful because he was able to meet his second mother - Radha Ma.

"Lies!!" A screech came from the opposite corner. Arjun put down his arms and everyone looked in the direction of the voice.

"Lies! Lies! Lies!" the voice came. It was a high pitch shrill, enough to deafen one's ears.

Karna tried to stand as he noticed the stranger's face. "Radha Ma!" He said, his face marked with happiness.

Radha Ma rushed forward to Karna, but not before giving Kunti a dirty look. "No no Karna. Don't worry. There is no reason for you to get up."

Kunti smirked. What was this bimbo doing here?

"Radha." Kunti said coldy.

"Kunti.: Radha Ma looked away.

"What brings you to the battlefield?"

"My son has been killed by your son."

"Your son was first my son." Kunti retorted.

Radha Ma laughed. "That's genius. Tell each son to kill the other. Ha. That's a new low even for you Kunti."

"And just what do you mean by that."

"Radha Maa..." Karna said tiredly. The weapon had been slowly sucking away all his divine energy and he was having trouble even talking.

"Shh baby shhh." Radha Maa said. She wiped her running nose with her arm, earning her a disgusted look from Kunti. She reached over to run her hand through Karna's hair, only to have her hand slapped by Kunti.

"Kunti!" she yelled, her eyes red with rage.

"Radha!" Kunti retorted. Having commenced the murder of three of her grandchildren, she was easily able to control her emotions. The old Kunti would have been more sympathetic and understanding towards Radha Ma, but not the new Kunti.

"You touch my son again, I'll burn you to a crisp." Kunti said, staring deep into the soul of Radha ma. "You ever touch my son again with those putrid hands of yours, I swear to his father, I will bury you right here, right now."

"I'd like to see you try, you old hag." Radha Ma licked her lips. Pulling up her sleeves, she spat at Kunti.

"Matas!" Karna whispered, but neither mother heard him. At last, he turned to Arjun. "Anuj." He said sadly.

Arjun looked at his eldest brother and nodded his head. "Order me Jyesth."

"Stop this fighting please."

Arjun blinked. He was once between two women he dearly loved - Panchaali and Subhadra. At one point, Panchaali was extremely furious at Arjun to having brought Subhadra with him to Indraprasth. Her anger was so pure and righteous that divine flames, born from her eyes, blocked their path. He raised his eyebrows. "Uhm ... no thanks. I don't want to go down that road again. No offense intended. But you know how the ladies can get." He winked.

"No, not particularly. I've been a one-woman man. Your Bhabhi Vrushali has been my first and only love."

Arjun's jaws dropped. "You mean you haven't had a relationship with any other woman?"

Karna smiled and didn't say anything. He didn't want to reveal anything to his mothers.

"No... you dog you!!"

Karna laughed (or at least tried to laugh. It came out as a sputter).

"Please. Won't you fulfill this last wish of your brother's?"

"I thought your wish was to defeat me?"

"I did want to do that, but now my real wish is to stop this fighting."

"Gah ... fine."

Arjun stood up and turned to his mothers (now that Karna was his brother, Karna's foster mom was also his mother).

He cleared his throat. "Excuse Matas."

Kunti shot Arjun a deadly look. "Matas? Why are you calling this skank "mata"?"

Karna almost fainted, but Radha Ma smirked. "Skank? Who are you calling a skank? I didn't have a relationship with 4 men ... oops ... you never had your husband's babies."

Arjun looked at Radha Ma. He was confused. Should he interfere and speak up for his mother or should he keep silent and out of it. Things were getting out of hand. He also didn't want to offend his newly found eldest brother by siding with Kunti, nor did he want to insult Kunti's milk by siding with Radha Ma. He again looked back at Krishna who continued to be snoring gently, oblivious to the drama that had unfolded because of his urges.

Kunti, whose hand was gently stroking Karna's hair, tightened, grasping some of Karna's beautiful black locks. "How dare you insult me in such a manner you b***h!!" Saying so, she raised her hands with such force that the chunk of hair she was holding ripped off Karna's scalp.

Not wanting to be another cause of this rivalry between his mothers, he shut his eyes and swallowed the pain, much like he did his entire life. However, Arjun noticed that Kunti now held a chunk of hair and that Karna had a bald spot that was pretty noticeable.

As he tried to signal Kunti, the latter of which was busily shaking her fists at Radha ma, Karna shook his head, signaling Arjun to stop.

"Arya!!!" A sweet, child-like voice cried.

Karna's eyes opened and he whispered to himself, "Shit."

Moments later, another female had joined the party and was hurriedly kissing Karna's face and arms and at one point his legs.

"Putri Vrushali." Kunti said sweetly. "I am your Arya's birth mother. I am your Kunti Mata."

"Don't listen to her Vrushali. She is a conniving one." Radha Ma said.

"You are my Karna's wife, my eldest bahu. In fact, ever since I found out that Karna was married to you, mentally you became my favorite bahu."

Arjun raised one eyebrow. "What about Panchaali?" He didn't ask about Subhadra since Kunti had sacrificed Abhi.

"What about Panchaali?" Kunti replied.

"You said Vrushali Bhabhi is your favorite Bahu. What about Panchaali?"

Kunti shrugged. "What about her?"

"Well if Vrushali Bhabhi is your favorite Bahu, where does our Panchaali stand?"

I don't know ... wherever she wants to stand. I won't force her to stand somewhere she doesn't want to."

"Mata. You are avoiding my question."

"Arjun. Don't talk to your mother like that. Ever. Have I made myself clear?" She said, her tone raising slightly.

Turning to Vrushali, Kunti once again spoke sweetly. "Putri Vrushali. Where is Vrishasena? I long to kiss his adorable little cheeks."

Vrushali smiled at her new mother in law. "He is coming shortly. The moment I heard about Arya, I came running."

Kunti frowned. "You should have brought him with you. My favorite grandchild deserves to sit in my lap."

Arjun frowned. "What about the UpaPandavas?"

Kunti shrugged her shoulders once more. "What about the UpaPandavas?"

"You just -- "

Radha Ma interrupted. "Raj Kumar Arjun. We've already addressed this. No one cares about you and your problems."

Arjun grabbed the hilt of his sword and frowned. He was about to teaching this old hag a lesson when he noticed tears coming from Karna's eyes as if telling him not to make such a move. Looking away, Arjun stood there in silence, venting to himself silently.

"Sakhi! Sakhi!" came another female voice in the distance.

"My God!" Arjun declares to himself. "One fellow is dying and a bunch of ladies are gathering here. None of them are young though." Hmm, he thought, I wonder which types of ladies would show up if I were to die. Better yet, maybe I should pretend to die and see what kind of ladies appear by my side. Thinking so, he laid on the ground and pretended to moan and groan, but it went unnoticed.

"Priyamvada?" Kunti stood up in shock. Once again, she did not place Karna's head on the ground, so THUMP it went.

"Sakhi!" Priyamvada screamed in ecstasy. She was running as fast as she could with the poor child (whose hand she was holding onto) flying in the back.

Letting the kid go, she stepped on Arjun's groin area (Dhotis didn't offer much under-area protection), and leaped into the air only to be caught be Kunti. Hugging and kissing her, she exclaimed in happiness, "Finally I get to see you again Sakhi!!!"

Kunti smiled. "It's been forever Pri! How have things been going?"

Priyamvada grinned. "It's been awesome. I got the nanny position at Karna and Vrushali. I've been taking care of their little Vrishasena for you." She tilted her head in the direction of Vrishasena who sadly landed face first on his father's stomach. Radha Ma and Vrushali were going crazy since Vrishasena was now decorated with the blood of his father.

Priyamvada let go of Kunti and walked towards Vrishasena and picked him up. Handing him to Kunti, much to the disapproval of Radha Ma, Kunti made faces at Vrishasena who laughed maniacally.

Wiping a tear from her eye, she said "this child will be the reason my Karna stands and lives." She exchanged a wink with Priyamvada.

Tossing Vrishasena to Priyamvada, the two ladies took off towards the south-east where Priyamvada had begun a tantric ritual (she was now an expert in the black arts which she learned on Kunti's request).

Radha Ma was in shock. She tried to stand up, but her old age got to her and she collapsed. Vrushali started to panic and she fainted. All that remained was an Arjun who was rolling on the ground in pain, and Krishna who was still sleeping.

"Anuj Arjun." Karna mumbled. "Priya Arjun."

His voice was too soft. He cleared his throat and said in a louder voice, "Arjun. Vats Arjun."

Arjun rolled to face Karna and with tears streaming down his face, he choked, "Aagya Jyesth."

"Mata Kunti seems to still want to save me by sacrificing my son. What a great mother she is." Tears rolled down his face, mixing with the blood and sweat, making him even more beautiful.

"Wonderful Jyesth."

"But someone needs to tell her that it's time for my death. Tell her not to sacrifice Vrishasena."

"I would love to Jyesth, but that stupid maid-friend of mata stepped on my --." He groaned louder thinking of the spot where Priyamvada had but a few moments ago used as a leaping board.

"Please Arjun. This is my final wish."

Arjun was silent. "You know Jyesth ... you have a lot of final wishes. You can only get one."

"You didn't complete my last final wish, so I decided to get a new one."

"Wait a second ... I did fulfill it. I tried to interfere but Radha Ma refused to accept me as her child. I wanted to experience what it would be like to have three mothers instead of two."

Karna smiled. This was his younger brother.

Radha Ma was not satisfied. "You have 2 mothers, and you want another one? What the hell is wrong with you?"

Arjun tried to get up and make eye contact with Radha Ma, but he couldn't. So he just lay there and stared up at a cloud, pretending it was Radha Ma. "Mothers are important. The more the merrier."

Radha Ma smirked. "Well, I don't accept you since you killed my Karna."

Karna sighed. "Mata. I told him to kill me."

"Don't lie to me. I heard what that witch said. This one -" she jerked her head towards Arjun. "This one shot an arrow to you when you were unarmed."

"I had to Mata, otherwise the world would not get such a righteous king as my Anuj Yuddhi."

Radha Ma looked away. "Has that witch poisoned your mind such that you continue to glorify her and her vile kids."

"Mata. You will always be my mother, but I finally got to see my birth mother. She cares for me deeply."

Radha Ma stood up slowly. As she started to walk away, Karna exclaimed "Don't leave me Mata."

Radha Ma kneeled down and picked up a sword. "I have to leave you to get my grandson back." Saying so she headed towards the south east.

T.B.C.

(END PART II)

Part III will include Vrishasena's future and the beginning to what Kunti did to the UPs while the Pandavas were in exile. Special guest appearance by none other than ... Mata Madri!!! (ETA: Tuesday or Wednesday)

Originally posted by: .Vrish.

You did say Vrishasena, and that's making me nervous. When Kunti described how she caused the deaths of Iravana, Abhi & Ghato, I could stomach it, since it's already done, but now, she's out to hunt down her babies so that Karna can get saved? 😲

I do wish Karna's Last wish #2 (or was it #3??) is fulfilled. But since it's Vrishasena we're talking about, rather than Vrishaketu, I fear that Priyamvada will succeed in sacrificing him. 😭