Laying down on a wide couch, Alaukik finally allowed himself to relax, knowing that at least for now, he was safe. Looking beside him, he saw Divya, who was nodding off. She only acted differently when Asha was around, although he didn't understand why. Right now, since Asha had gone to bring them some snacks, she had returned to what Alaukik now called the 'Dead Phase'. Hearing footsteps coming towards them, Alaukik turned his head towards them and saw Asha walking towards them, her hand carrying a serving tray filled with food. Turning to Alaukik,
"So, do you want to explain why you're here? As for this girl," she said, smiling at Divya,
"Young girl, why don't you go lie down in one of the rooms upstairs? You look really tired. Rest for a few hours, and I'll bring you dinner later, okay?"
Hearing this, Divya's eyes lit up and she nodded her head, quickly making her way upstairs.
"Really? That's how it's going to be?" questioned Alaukik, noticing the difference in their treatment.
"Yes, now, are you going to explain why you came here? Or not?"
"Fine, fine. Here I was, thinking you would be happy to see me."
"I am happy to see you, but I am more confused as to why you came to me." Making sure Divya had made her way into a room, she continued, "After all, as a Major, you should've gone to your General first, and then the RC would've called you. Instead, I come to learn that you've disappeared from the army's radar, and now appear in front of me? Obviously, something has happened."
"The General, the RC, aunt, I'm no longer willing to play along in this game," said Alaukik. Hearing this, Asha's eyes opened wide, but before she could say anything,
"Don't be so surprised aunt, you should've known that I wouldn't have stayed there for long anyways. I just followed what the RC told me because there was something I needed from them, and now that I have it, there is no longer any reason holding me back," continued Alaukik.
Not sure how to feel, Asha asked,
"And what was it that you needed?"
Hearing this, Alaukik simply removed his sunglasses, showing Asha what lay behind them. At first, Asha couldn't process what she was seeing, but in just a moment,
"You got your eyes back?! But how? When? From wher-" sighing, Asha stopped questioning, and instead burst out into a big smile.
"Congratulations, Alaukik. I'm really happy for you."
Hearing this, Alaukik also smiled for a bit, before going back to his expressionless face.
"So, what are your plans now? And don't worry about handling the RC, I'll take care of them somehow."
"You won't need to aunty, I have a feeling you won't be able to stop them this time. After all, I just stole a very important weapon from them," he said, pointing to himself.
"In fact, this is one of the reasons I wanted to meet you, to let you know what I'm going to do from now on. Since I'll be leaving the military, I was thinking I would like to enjoy a normal life for a while. At least, that was the plan, until it had to be discarded due to a few .. complications. So for now, the first plan of action is to remove a few thorns in my path. And I'm afraid you might not like what I'm going to do, but I'm afraid you won't be able to stop me, aunt."
And although Asha already had a slight idea as to what Alaukik was talking about, she still asked,
"And what exactly do you mean?"
"I'm going to kill Jamshed," replied Alaukik; no expression on his face.
Taking a moment, Asha sighed,
"I had a feeling it would come to this."
"You won't stop me? Weren't you and him college friends?"
"And where did you hear that from?" Asha asked, her face sporting a quick smile, before once again becoming sombre.
"Indeed, me and Jamshed were once very close friends. We first met in a club during our university days, and quickly became close friends. We both wanted to make the world a better place for the people to live in, and worked hard for our goal. But somewhere along the way, our way of life changed. Jamshed became willing to sacrifice anything to make the Federation a better place for the people to live in, while I wanted to make the world a nicer place for magicians and people alike. He didn't shy away from using unethical or immoral ways, if it meant that the majority of the population could get better from it. He was the kind of man who would sacrifice one for a thousand. And I'm not saying he was wrong, or that I am right. At my age, you realise that in life, there is no right or wrong, black or white. It's all grey, and everyone is just making decisions that they believe is the right one. However, as they say, 'Every action of yours will one day come back to you'. Karma exists, and it binds everyone. And this is what his actions have led him to. There have been countless times where I've warned him, tried to reason with him, but he has been stubborn. Especially after what happened in his past, he became more convinced in his path," she said, leaning back into the couch, sadness evident on her face.
For a while after this, silence occupied the living room, until Asha suddenly straightened up again.
"But let's leave that aside. You still haven't told me why you came here!" she said, glaring at Alaukik.
"Oh yea, I didn't, did I. Well, it's a long story, so you might want to get comfortable," he said. "A while back, I received a new mission..."
About half an hour later, Alaukik had finished explaining everything to Asha, from the very beginning where he was assigned the mission to this morning, when he found Asha. Of course, he didn't go over every single detail, and glossed over quite a few.
"I'm glad you made it out safely," was Asha's first sentence after Alaukik stopped talking.
'You probably hid some other information from me, but I'm glad you've started to open up at least a bit,' she thought, a smile creeping up on her face.
"As for this mysterious man you talked about, I have no idea who he could be. However, this changes a lot of things. For him to be able to incite the GAU into launching an all out attack on the Federation, he might just become the biggest problem we have ever faced since the creation of the Federation. And regarding Divya, I don't really have any clue as to why she is behaving like she is, but I'll try to find out more. But, promise me Alaukik, you won't do anything bad to her. She has gone through things no child should ever have to go through, and I don't want her to suffer anymore," she said, looking at Alaukik.
Feeling her eyes on him, he sighed and said,
"What do you think of me, aunt? A monster who kills randomly for fun? I won't lay a hand on her, I promise."
"Very well," Asha replied, a slight smile on her face.
"As for your last problem, I suppose I have good news for you then! Do you remember how I went deep into research a while back! Well, recently, we had a breakthrough, and we were able to make what we were looking for! A binding spell! Before you got your eyes, I realised that most of your trouble came from you not being able to control the immense power that your body carried, and so I decided to come up with a way to control those powers of yours. And while Starfall* might also contain magic, it also decreases your control over magic, which is what we want to avoid. Instead of damping your magic, the spell we created allows a magician to basically cut off a portion of their subconscious, and store their excess magic there! Of course, it can also be used to completely prevent one from accessing magic at all, but that's a different matter. For you, we can basically take the other part of you, separate him from you and use him as a storage for all your excess power! This would make sure you don't lose control again, like how you used to, and will deal with your other side," said Asha.
"And the drawback?" asked Alaukik, not believing something as convenient as this would exist.
"There is indeed a drawback, but it's already been solved. The main ingredient required to cast this spell is a person who can use mind manipulation magic, to part your consciousness, all the while making sure it isn't completely cut off forever. However, lucky for us, you found someone who perfectly fits that bill."
"So basically, this spell is useless to me. I mean, I already have perfect control over all my powers, and I only need Divya to split me and OG once again," stated Alaukik, his expression showing that he didn't see any importance in this spell.
"That is what it might seem like, but part of the problem you're facing can also be from the fact that the two personalities** inside of you are fighting for control over your powers. Reducing them will allow you to have a firmer control over them."
"That might be true..."
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*= the mineral from the meteorite that could block magic
** = he explained his problem as SP, and not that he transmigrated into the body
Yoohoo! I jus realised as I was writing this chapter, but damn, it feels like so long ago that Alaukik was leaving on his mission, which he believed would be the beginning of a nice and happy life! And look at him now, enjoying life as he wanted to. There's still much of the journey to cover, but I am planning to start writing another book for WSA! Not that I would sign a webnovel contract for my books. Of course, I will begin writing that sometime in April/May, by which I hope to bring RMM to a proper close! But anyways, there's still a long, long way to go for that!
Edit: Yea, none of the above happened. - I really am an amazing human being.
And as always, thank you for reading and have a nice day ahead! :)