Part 2 of The goodbye letter
Aditya froze. His breaths intensified. He held his sister’s arm and fell to the ground. The hall was silent. All eyes fixed upon him. Nisha bent low and hugged his brother, channelizing all her love and energy to his broken soul.
Aditya opened his eyes gently. His head and body were aching, but he gathered himself up and sat straight, leaning onto the cold wall. He was in a dark room, and he wasn’t alone. He heard snores of men sleeping soundly beside him. Where am I? he thought to himself. All he remembered was reading a mysterious letter from Nysa and then the world swirled around him and went dark. He tiptoed to the door of the room, latched it open, and made his way out.
It was a full moon night, the magical rays of the moon gracefully falling upon Aditya’s cold skin. He sat on the ground, breathing in the fresh air. His mind wandered restlessly, capturing beautiful pictures and moments of Nysa and him together. He was missing her. They were supposed to be married, tied with the knots of a forever. But she left. Was all that she said true? Was there any prophecy and an 800-year-old story and a curse? And if all of it was true, she was in danger. She would kill herself to find the sword. ‘I have to find her. Even if it means fighting the world, I won’t let anything happen to her. No curse can separate us’ he thought to himself and sobbed.
“Isn’t it cold out here” he turned and saw a man smiling at him.
“Where am I,” asked Aditya to the stranger as he walked and sat beside him.
“On the top of some mountain maybe” the stranger replied with a soft smile.
“And why am I here,” Aditya asked, irritated with the stranger’s reply that he found creepy.
“You fainted in your marriage hall. And then you were hospitalized. Well, we kidnapped you and brought you here” he said.
Aditya frowned. “How much does my life cost then?” Aditya asked.
“We do not kidnap for money.” the man replied patting Aditya’s shoulder.
“Why am I here”
“I don’t think you are of much use to us now. We tried everything but you do not know anything. ”
“About what”
“The letter. About the curse. Storytime” the man cheered and continued. “My father was an archaeologist. A few moments before his death he revealed to me a seal that was 800 years old with a strange symbol. All he said was to find the man and the other seals and decipher what it means. What I did not know then was there were 5 seals with a word on each one of them. The men sleeping inside are all sons of someone who once possessed these seals. Mysteriously their fathers died with the same message as their last words. After years of wandering, we began finding each other. And then a week ago we found you. We had our friend hospitalized and there we saw your sister with the letter. ” he breathed and looked up into the sky.
“Mysterious, isn’t it? An 800-year-old story bringing all of us together. ”
“where is the seal? Maybe I can read it?” Aditya replied.
“No. you already tried yesterday.” he frowned.
“Do you know anything about the curse or a sword?” Aditya asked.
“No. I am sorry for you, we know about Nysa. It would be difficult. And we are sorry we bought you here. Kidnapped you. Tomorrow morning you may return if you wish to.” said the stranger.
“I am not going home. Not until I find Nysa,” replied Aditya firmly.
“We can help you find her. You are the man we had been waiting for for years. Our answers lie within you.”
Aditya nodded and smiled back at the stranger.
“By the way Aditya, what were your dreams? You raising a sword at a queen? You read the letter out to us yesterday and since then I have been wondering about those dreams of yours.” the man asked.
Aditya closed his eyes and took a deep breath “the dreams” he whispered and began his story.
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