Ramayan: Untold Romance

10. Off to Naglok

'WHERE IS THAT COWARD I ASK?' a loud angry voice echoed and was followed by dead silence. Nobody among the brave and powerful men of Ravan's army had the courage to face the wrath of their Crown Prince. The Rakshas army was known to be mercy less, brutal, no morals, no values amongst many other terrible qualities. But unfaithfulness was one of them. They all could die for their king and his stupid egoistic demands. Prahasta was no different. There was no way he would back off from a mission like this. Meghnath was so enraged and disappointed at him, if he was infront of his eyesight...he would have been burned to ashes. Why? It bothered him so much. What is his problem? Why did he back off? Even if he couldn't get Prahasta back on the mission he must get answers to why? He needed a reason, he must. He takes a few breathes to calm himself. His tone however, remains formal and commanding. 'Anybody knows where he went?' Although no one speaks up Meghnath can make out some mumbled whispers of 'Naglok'. Naglok. Prahasta's home. His rarely goes there unless it's something special.
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Meghnath's POV-
It's quite beautiful though. Naglok. The realm of snakes. Prahasta rarely comes here. By character, he is more of a demon than a snake. It is said to be under the rule of Adhishesha who comes here like....once in a 1000 years. He is obviously not a king. Ofcourse he is not a king. For he is a devotee, of Narayan. Narayan. Father won't like it if he knew I came here. But I didn't have any choice now, did I? Seems like I never have choice, be it obeying my father or something else. Actually I did. I always have a choice. But I need to know why Prahasta left. Just like I need to obey my father. Even if I did a real choice I would still chose this.

Is it some sort of Nag-festival? Is that why Prahasta came here? Everything is so decorated as if celebrating something grand. Last time I had seen Lanka like this was when I came back after capturing Indra. Oh the good old days when Granny used to stay with us. When father was not the brutal lustful man he is today. When mother used to smile wholeheartedly at me and father....proud of us. Specially me, Mom was always proud of her powerful invincible Meghnath. But now she wants me to leave my father's side for good which is impossible. Now she just stares at me with pleading sympathetic eyes. And father obviously changed. He changed a lot. Hell, even I have changed...not for good. Everything has changed except my devotion. It shall never change even if father is waging a war against god.

Meghnath's POV ends
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Indrajit looks at the gates of Naglok with a long tired face. Tired of being the best son to the worst dad. Someone else would have peeped in, crawled in with caution for he was entering without permission. But this is Indrajit we are talking. He needs permission from no one and he fears no one. He walked in with his usual bossy attitude keeping his head high. And no one stopped him. For he was void of his weapons...a rare sight..so he was not a threat. And no one dares to stop Meghnath unless the need for defence is felt.

While the guards let him go with fear, the people inside didn't even bother to acknowledge him. They were all busy, rushing to a certain gathering where a miracle was probably happening. Meghnath pushes through the crowd to get a proper view. There he is! Prahasta is sitting is the middle, where all people surround him, telling a fascinating tale. It seems to be fascinating given the reaction of the listeners. Meghnath leans to listen.
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Okay now who transferred a spirit of a toddler into the heartless demon-snake known as Prahasta. He was jumping with excitement, nervousness, anticipation all at the same time. He was standing a o table while trying to gather all the people he could.

"Arggss hissssh piersssss russ's?" Some serpent spoke in. "Yeah Yeah! I will start now. Most people are here." Then Prahasta begin telling all about 'The Mithila incident'.

Prahasta- So as you all know I work for Lankesh. And he was apparently insulted by this Prince of Ayodhya and one Princess of Mithila. So we were supposed to capture all Four Princes of Ayodhya and all Four Princess of Mithila. Now I don't really now what happened between them but yeah. This one Princess was...er..spotted. So I was send to 'get her'. Easy right. I went towards the site totally unaware of what miracle was gonna happen. So I just pounced at her. But when I was about to attack, I noticed, her milky white skin, her freely flowy hair like waterfall, the movement of her sword like waves. And then my eyes darted to hers. Oh! That divine moment. Those understanding, sacrificing eyes. Those eyes that held thousands of unshed tears. Those eyes that stare at me furiously.