They flew on the flying carpet Hardik, hundreds of miles away from Shashi's lair. Pruthvi heaved a huge relieved sigh and caught a frightened Leena in a calming hug, quietly reassuring her.
"It's okay," he said, "We are safe now."
She sighed shiveringly and leaned on him, trying to sit comfortably and said, "Oh my God Pruthvi, for an instant, I thought we were dead."
Hardik was flying high in a constant speed and didn't show any inclination to stop till they reached Paschimgarh. He was glad that Hardik was smart enough to act quickly in Shashi's lair otherwise things could have turned ugly in getting out of there if they were caught.
Sun had set and night fell instantaneously. It had stopped snowing and the moon peeked languidly now and then through the still present clouds. Hardik flew swiftly that Pruthvi wondered if it was indeed terrified as they were. He checked his watch and it was half past two in the morning. Leena lay quietly beside him, her eyes closed, her hands completely wrapped around her chest, curled within his arm.
It was too dark now to see anything clearly, but the thick forests suddenly shrank to form huge clearing, which confirmed Pruthvi's intuition that they were entering into kind of a community. Hardik did not reduce its speed but Pruthvi's heart leaped finding the carpet gliding towards one of the many two storey huts. Every hut in this place was either two or three storey one. Some of them were built upon the hills that were sitting in the middle of the village.
"Are we falling down?" Leena asked as she changed her position in her sleep.
"Leena," said Pruthvi "I think we are in Paschimgarh."
Leena quickly sat up in excitement. She looked around the place. Hardik took a turn, without slowing down, it flew towards one of the huts. Pruthvi took a deep breath as Hardik soared towards an opened window. Pruthvi and Leena bent their heads low as they neared the window and then within a snap they were in. Hardik floated down and settled on the floor.
"Whoa, that was fun," said Leena as stood and stepped away from Hardik.
"Where are we?" said Pruthvi looking around the hut but in vain.
Leena walked around when Pruthvi folded the carpet into his fists
"Why did it choose this hut?" he asked looking at it.
"Because it's Quinn Dimuro's," Leena said, making Pruthvi's hair stand.
She was standing near the wall opposite to the window they just entered, looking at the picture that hung on it. Pruthvi instantly walked nearer to her. He took the picture off the wall and wiped the grime off with the edge of his palm. Observing carefully, at one corner of the picture engraved were the letter 'Q.D' on it.
Pruthvi and Leena glanced at each other uneasily; first shashi's cave and now this; Pruthvi glanced at the carpet in his hand with dawning suspicion wondering if Hardik actually missed Quinn, but then he bit his lip and said to himself- It's just a nonliving thing, you idiot.
"I wonder whether Shashi already visited here," he said still looking at the woman in picture. She was dressed decidedly in western attire which would have shocked most people in Paramarashtra. She stood leaning on a tree almost negligently her eyes and thoughts gazing far ahead; she wore an armless checkered halterneck top and skintight jeans with moderately slanted high heeled boots. Her waist level blonde hair hung in waves beneath the white stetson hat on her head. She must have been a shocking novelty and a taboo for the natives.
What in the world had a westerner been doing in Paramarashtra? How was she connected to anything? It was going to take a long time to make sense of this.
Tucking the picture into his pocket, Pruthvi then walked towards the middle of the room. Moonlight lit the room dimly to show a completely empty room, with a staircase around the corner. Pruthvi took his jacket off, feeling suddenly warmer in here.
"This place might easily be a trap," said Leena still looking around.
"Then we better be on our guard!" he mocked her.
"Stop it! This is serious and hardly the time for your sarcasm" she whispered furiously. She moved around trying to find anything. "Let's contact Hayden and others and exchange info so that we may be up to date with the happenings; connect with them okay?"
"Leena, it's only three in the morning."
"Do you think they will be having a good night sleep on a cozy bed somewhere in Dakshinpur?" she said, "Come on Pruthvi, connect to one of them and please tell me they are okay."
"Yes ma'am," he said quickly pictured Hayden in his mind, "Hayden can you hear me?"
"Pruthvi!" Hayden shouted quickly, "Pruthvi are you okay? How is Leena?"
"We are fine," he said, "We just reached Paschimgarh."
"Oh that's great..."
"Where are you guys? Leena is kind of worried for you."
Leena was now motioning him to follow her as she climbed up the stairs. Pruthvi walked behind her, as he spoke to Hayden.
"Tell her we are okay," he heard Hayden, "We met doctor. Now we are going to meet Shourya."
"Shourya" he said, "Are you crazy? After actually lecturing me not to trust him, you want to meet him?"
Leena whirled around when she heard Shourya's name, frantically signing him, asking if they were okay. Pruthvi nodded and he waved his hand asking her to relax.
"Shourya showed up, yesterday," Hayden continued.
Pruthvi stopped moving "And?" he asked.
Hayden sighed and said, "Look Pruthvi, just stay calm and listen. He said something I don't want to believe but...He said Leena is in danger."
Pruthvi frowned. "Yeah, from him."
He walked up the stairs quickly and went to stand next to an anxious Leena.
"It did not seem to me like that," Hayden said, "Shourya is not the one looking for her but Shashi is?"
"Hayden, Shourya works for Shashi." He rolled his eyes.
"No you don't get it. Shourya is trying to save her. He was trying to tell us how but he got interrupted. That's why we are going to search for him."
Pruthvi didn't like the idea of them going after Shourya but he had to trust him when he realized it was for Leena. Speaking about Shourya, he quickly remembered the men talking in Shashi's lair.
"He is in Rawat," he said quickly trying to help him.
Hayden paused for few seconds and then said, "King Harsha's dynasty? How did you know that?"
As he turned around, to his surprise he found huge golden trunks placed side by side on the dirtiest part of the room.
Air was different in here. It smelled like a bakery store where a hot fudge cake was freshly baked. Leena looked at him miming opening the trunk when he motioned her to go on.
"I can't tell you exactly," Pruthvi said looking at Leena opening the trunks, "it's a long story. But somehow we reached Shashi's lair. (Pruthvi could feel the tensed silence on the other side) He was not there, don't worry but we heard his men talking. They mentioned Shourya went to Rawat for some business."
"Did they see you? Were you in trouble?"
Leena closed her eyes shut as the first trunk she opened emanated dazzling bright light, lighting up the whole room. Pruthvi quickly moved forward to see and pulled the lid open completely. It took a while for his eyes to adjust when he saw ethereal crystals or whatever they were emanating the spectacular light.
"They are beautiful," said Leena half breathing half whispering, and reaching out a tentative arm to touch them.
"Pruthvi, are you there?" Hayden spoke in his mind bringing him back to reality.
"Yeah...yeah..." he said scrutinizing at all the exquisite and luxurious jewels made with those crystals and gold, "Not exactly, but we ran away before they could attack us. Look Hayden, forget Leena and worry more about yourselves. Shashi is like...he can't wait to see you dead."
Leena moved to the second trunk and it seemed like she couldn't wait to see any of it. Pruthvi was more engrossed with the conversation and the previous trunk that he did not pay enough attention to what Leena was doing, other than keep her in his sights.
"Yeah I know that," Hayden said, "He wants all of us dead."
"No, listen to me. You are his main priority. It seems only King Harsh knows how to kill you."
Hayden was quiet now and it gave him the chance to see what was in the other trunks, as Leena opened them with lots of enthusiasm. One of the trunk was filled with gold bars.
"Oh my goodness," she said and closed it slowly, "Are all these Quinn's?"
He simply shrugged. Leena went on to the next and then she veered towards the corner of the room peering at something.
"King Harsh is dead," Hayden said then, "Now don't tell me he is planning to bring him back or something."
"He is not bringing him back, but..."
He stopped when Leena stepped aside letting him see what it was. There was black colored pole, shaped like a slashed wooden branch of a tree.
"But what..." Hayden said but Pruthvi wouldn't answer him anymore.
Leena said clearing his doubts, "I think this is it."
"Hayden, got to go," Pruthvi said, feeling his mouth dry, "And I'll contact you later. Bye."
Hayden must be pissed with him for cutting him off without properly relaying anything, but this was more important. He walked closer to Leena who was looking down at the pole. It had a hollow center which was filled with shimmering water. He stared closely and noticed there was some writing at the bottom.
"Do you think it is..." he asked but she completed him.
"It's the Holognome."
She pointed at the front of the pole where the word Holognome was imprinted on it. Pruthvi couldn't express his feelings. He gripped Hardik tight and unwillingly thanked it for bringing them here.
"There is something written down there, isn't it?" she asked.
"Yeah," he said nodded and adjusting his glasses, "But it's not clear. Can you do something about the water?"
"I wish Hayden was here," she said, wishing for light, "but let's see. Aqua Turbulence Formation!"
Slowly the water moved on the either side of the pole. Leena put her hand in a position in order to push away the water making the writing more visible. It was still unclear because of the darkness and so Pruthvi needed to lean much closer to the pole, almost burying his head down to read and it said-
Wish to talk to a deceased?
Here is your only chance.
Ten minutes and only ten.
Go ahead, push the button and consider a name. Get Amazed.
P.S You can use it only once. So better talk to someone important
-Quinn Dimuro
"So it can really let us talk to a dead person!" Leena said reading from the side.
Pruthvi read it twice to make it sure. So this is the gadget that she invented. Who is this Quinn Dimuro!
"Where is the button?" he asked standing straight.
"I think this is the one," she said with a slant of her head.
Pruthvi followed her gaze. There was small black colored lotus shaped push button at the right side of the pole. Pruthvi didn't wait a second to push it.
"No wait," said Leena stopping him, "You have to actually think of a name."
"And I just know the one I need to talk to," he said and pushed it hard thinking of a name.
As soon as he did, a siren sound rang around making them to jump out of their skins. The pole started to rotate slowly and gradually increasing its speed. Leena couldn't control it any longer and she let the water to flow back to its normal state. She pulled Pruthvi away from it in trepidation. Driblets of water scattered out of the pole. Slowly the shimmering water took the shape of a human head; the water flowed and rippled forming features, the eyes, nose, ears, mouth and finally the neck. When every feature of the face took a shape its eyes slid open just like an alive hologram.
"Who is he?" asked Leena aghast.
Pruthvi swallowed and said, "My father, Ketan Krishna aka Nawab Khan."
"My boy!" Nawab Khan said. "Look at you all grown up!"
His voice, as Pruthvi noticed, was slightly screechy and distorted. Leena looked at him and then to the blue face totally flabbergasted.
"I can't believe of all people you picked me, not even your mom with whom you were the closest!"
"Why would I pick my mom," he said, tears forming in his eyes, "When all the answers are with you."
Pruthvi's throat tightened, he blinked back tears. Leena squeezed his hand. He appreciated her efforts to calm him down.
There was a brief moment of shocked silence between sorry but angry son and a helpless father. Pruthvi was relieved for a moment. He envisioned all the happy memories he held close to his heart with his father until, he remembered what King Aghasthya had told him, how his father ran away from his responsibilities, how he was called a coward by his people.
"I know whatever I did might not be right according to many people," said his father reading his mind, "But you must understand I had no choice. I was vulnerable, lost completely after my parent's death. And when my brother died, I lost all hope. But I didn't want to die; I wanted to live. I was already married and you were just born. I wanted to protect you from all this. For once I wanted normalcy. No need to hide; no necessity of trying to kill or be killed; I wanted to keep my family safe."
"Your niece, my cousin, my sister was your family," said Pruthvi, "Why didn't take her with you?"
"Because she was...is precious. Staying with me would have brought her a worse fate."
"How can you say that?"
"I told you I had nothing left after my grandmother, Zarina khan, killed my parents. I already had a wife and a son to take care of. How do you think I could have brought her up?"
"So whatever they told me is true, she was a burden."
"No! She was never a burden. Never! Do you have such a low opinion of me to think I would do that? Don't you know me at all? Pruthvi, I have never showed any difference between you and her. I was asked not to tell anyone but now I think I have to. Son, my hands were tied. I never wanted to leave her. I was demanded to leave her behind."
"What do you mean you were demanded? Who asked you to abandon her? Where is she now?"
"I left her in some place safe."
"Where?"
Pruthvi wanted answers fast; he had only ten minutes and he had to get to the point. Reminiscing about wounded egos and blaming each other did not help his cause.
"Dad, please!" said Pruthvi unable to bare the silence, "You already kept a lot secrets from me. Please don't prolong it. Hiding things from me had not helped me in any way. I want to know everything. Where is she? Where is my sister?"
"I left her with king of the Rawat."
"Who?"
"King Harsh Thribhuvan!" whispered Leena.
"Yes! Two days after Azeem's death, I was surprised to see King Harsh on my doorsteps. He explained to me that I was going to be a Samagraha and the stone would unleash anytime. He didn't forget to mention that it was dangerous for Azeem's daughter to be with me. I was scared to death. I was scared that I could hurt your mother, or you or my little niece. I also came to know that his brother Shashi was in search for the next generation Samagraha and his evil deeds. So he demanded me to leave my niece behind and leave Paramarashtra. He even asked me to leave you behind, but your mother would not be swayed. The king could not move her; she dared him to lay a hand on you; the king had no other choice but to let you go but kept my niece behind."
Even though the voice was little distorted, Pruthvi could feel the genuineness in it. His heart ached for even give way to doubt about his father. He felt guilty for doubting him.
"I am so proud. I am proud that my son is a Samagraha and I am proud that you are looking for you cousin believing her to be your own sister. You are fulfilling everything I couldn't. What more can I ask for?"
Pruthvi nodded unable to respond.
"You might not know but two months ago I was kidnapped by Shashi's minions" he said, "They were asking me about my sister. Why is she so important for Shashi?"
A girly sound resounded before his father could answer him. "You have used half of your time. Time remaining- Five minutes. Hope you are enjoying our service."
"Hurry up dad," he said in anxiousness. So many questions, but there was no time.
"I told you she is precious. Zarina who was once hailed for her incredible capability openly declared that your sister shall possess her powers. I didn't know much about Kings Harsh's brother, Shashi Thribhuvan then. I was already in United States but I heard that he had become one power hungry monster. May be he craved for her powers, maybe Zarina didn't want anyone to exceed her, I don't know. Only thing I know is that King Harsh assumed that her staying with him was far better than her staying with me".
"Which was a bad idea," commented Pruthvi, "She is now in grave danger. May be she could have been better off with us, growing up with me."
"I never thought it could have turned otherwise. I only listened to the greatest king ever."
"So it was King Harsh who took care of her all these years?"
"Most probably; that was the last day I saw her- Standing next to the king with forlorn tear filled eyes. It killed me that day to let her go."
"Can we know her name?" asked Leena quietly. Pruthvi was so immersed that he almost forgot that she was standing next to him.
"Nazira Khan. Zarina Khan named her."
"Time remaining-four minutes," said the voice.
"So what happened with Nazira? Do you have any idea where she could be now?"
"When you were an year old, I came to know about King Harsh's demise. I did not know that he was going to sacrifice himself in order to save me and other suspected Samagraha. The only thing that bothered me the most was Nazira's safety. I even considered coming back to Dakshinpur to find out about her. But the fact that Shashi was searching for the next generation Samagraha held me back. Your mother pleaded me not to go. I could only pray for her safety hoping that King Harsh's wife, Queen Premila, might have saved and taken care of her."
"What happened to the queen?" he asked hurriedly, "Where is she?"
"Pruthvi how can she be alive?" said Leena, "She might have died after King Harsh death."
He looked at Leena and then to his father.
"Is that correct?" he asked.
"Time remaining-Three minutes."
"Pruthvi, I can only wish that your sister Nazira is in safe hands. And now I only wish that you are safe."
"I don't think I am safe anymore dad," said Pruthvi, "No one is safe. I can't blame every Samagraha is in danger only because of our parent's decision to withhold the truth, leaving us unprepared."
"We didn't want our children to have the same life, Pruthvi. We wanted to give our children a safer life and a secure future. You cannot blame us for what we did."
"And see what happened? You wanted to give us a secure life. How do you think seeing my own family dying in front of my eyes was?"
"Pruthvi!" Leena stopped him, "We have no time for this."
And the girly voice remanded him too. "Time remaining two minutes."
"Fine," he said angrily, "Dad, so let me make things clear. King Harsh asked you to leave Nazira behind. After his death, you think Nazira could have been living with Queen Premila and god knows if she is dead or alive?"
"Yes. There is nothing else I can tell you, son. If you still think it's my fault, if you still think I am a coward like everyone else then I am truly sorry. But please try and forgive me. I can ask you for nothing else."
He hated that he couldn't control his tears falling down his cheeks. He watched the blue face fading slowly. He wanted to shout, he wanted to cry loud asking him to come back to life but he didn't, he couldn't. He just kept staring at his father's blue eyes and he felt assured watching them.
"You mother would have beamed with pride watching the sort the man you have become. We will always be watching over you, son. Take care of yourself."
The blue face was gone and the pole stopped rotating.
Finally, the masked truth was revealed. Pruthvi's heart started pounding fiercely inside his chest. He tried hard to not to think about how he had lost father, his parents all over again. His father was falsely branded and accused. He never ran away from his responsibilities, he was never a coward. Instead, he was forced to do so by a so called greatest king who was hailed for his sacrifice. Pruthvi didn't know whether to genuinely loathe the king or see him as a hero as everyone does. People would never adore a masquerader. King harsh must have really sacrificed his life for the sake of his people. But still, his father was tainted among the populace. I should clear my father's name, Pruthvi thought, only if I could use Holognome again.
"What are you doing?" asked Leena when Pruthvi was about to hit the button again.
"I want to use it again," he said, "He needs to come back."
"Pruthvi did you forget?" she said moving closer, "You can use it only once. If you want I can try."
Damn! He almost forgot. Quinn made sure it is used only once by a person.
"No," he said, "You might want to talk to someone else. I may have to find some other way to clear my father's name."
She shook her head.
"It's alright Pruthvi" she said; "I will help you out."
Pruthvi was so grateful and wondered at her selflessness and sacrifice for his sake.
He then fell down on his knees, his shoulders shuddering. Tears rolled down his eyes and he couldn't help but let them flow. Her selflessness had undone him. Leena leaned towards him and hugged him as he cried, reassuring him that she would be there for him no matter what.