Rebirth (1) : It's me dad!
**(Yr. 2220 of 4th Yuga - Dandakarnaya Forest | Bhulok)
[*opens eyes*]
As the darkness lifted from above my pupils, I felt a familiar sense of belonging from the lush green forest that spanned for unmeasurable distance.
I was sitting upright against a tree that was bigger and sturdier than the 100-year-old Banyan tree outside the lower-earth military camp. Being stationed there as a Priest, all I ever did was just read books in the library.
'Aaah!'
The migraine hit me just as my eyes had started to adjust to the bright light. However, not only my head, instead, I felt a numbing pain throughout my body.
[*tries standing*]
"...Wh... WHAT!?"
Just as I stood up, my knees grew weak. I stumbled and balanced myself but it still felt as if all the blood had rushed over to my brain in an instant.
(*thud*)
I lost control of my legs momentarily and kneed the ground holding my head as if I was a rockstar on the stage.
"... Aaahhhh!!"
The blurry vision took over my perfectly normal eyes and the saturation in them skewed completely towards a hue of gold..."Aaaaghh!!", another migraine attacked my head, severe than the last one.
[*golden light*]
The pain and the light both hit my temple. I could not do anything as my screams echoed through the thick tracks around the tree.
[*faints*]... *thud*... [*collapse*]
---------------------
**(Public Hospital, Mahismati | Bhulok)
[*opens eyes*]
'Where am I?'
The bed was shaky and made creaking noises. (*creech*) Even the bedsheet was like overused sandpaper.
Although the bed's structure was very rudimentary and it left much to be desired on the aesthetics, it was still a nice change of pace from the secret labs and the green forests. In fact, for someone who was imprisoned for two decades, that crude bed was like heavenly silk at the moment.
'but what happened to me?'
As I looked around the small room, I felt lost in time. The only tapestry on the right-side wall was a painting of some archaic God from a bygone era and nothing else, not even a table or a chair.
'It might be someone's prized possession. Whoever owns this room must like ancient paintings made with bronze-age technology!', I thought.
Although I had collected some ancient statues and swords in the past, I was by no means an expert on Arts. However, not even in a million years would I have guessed that the painting hanging on the right-side wall was just a cheap decoration but from the main bazaar in town.
As I got up, I had a sense of unfamiliarity. It felt like my senses were deceiving me, the ground looked a lot closer and the ceiling much farther, it was as if I had shrunk in size.
'What!?'
I was surprised that I hadn't groaned even after waking up, for some reason it felt like I had woken refreshed, something which was impossible for my 100-year-old body.
My hands and legs were way too nimble for them to be called old. The calluses in my hands and legs were gone.
'Why do I feel like I'm suddenly 30 years younger?'
'...wait', a state of dereliction and awareness was felt at the same time.
[*touches his face*]
The surprise didn't stop. The wrinkles were gone, and I couldn't feel the staple dryness of the old age skin.
"What is happening?"
"Where's the mirror?"
I glanced at the room, but there were no mirror or dressing table in the area. The whole room was very simple as if it was a getaway cabin of a psychopath.
Not wasting any more time, I ran outside from where I could hear faint noises of people walking. I knew that I was not alone.
[*opens the door*]
.
'What!?'
.
[*I was petrified*]
.
Up beyond the simple wooden door with bolts sticking out was a background that rendered me utterly speechless.
..
'No... This can't be happening!'
..
I couldn't move. The shock was too much for my brain to process in a moment. Notwithstanding the rationale of whether everything was real, I unconsciously blurted out the words I had wished to speak for decades...
"baba!?"
I knew not what was going on.
I knew not whether I was simply dreaming or it was a nightmare.
[*tears appeared*]
But I saw someone who I had not seen in more than a century.
I saw the man that I used to call "baba" day in and out. The tears continued to flow unconsciously and the white clothes I was wearing were soon soaked wet.
"..."
My mind had gone blank, I had nothing to say, nothing to think.
What was it? Did I die and this is heaven? Did I deserve to go to heaven?
I tried to imagine what I was doing before I went to sleep.
'Right!?... I was imprisoned. and then... Ughh!!!'
I couldn't remember what had happened, what was happening? Did I lose my memory after the lab incident?
"Kshitij!!"
His voice was exactly the same, just like that day in the forest several decades ago.
"Ooh Kshitij!!", he started running towards me.
'Who is Kshitij?'
Why did he call his name with such love and compassion?
I felt a slight pain in my heart when I heard him call out someone else's name. He was coming in my direction, but he wasn't quite looking at me.
"...sorry?" My response was automatic, but I was ignored.
My father ran past me brushing me aside as if I was air. He walked into the room from where I had just gotten out.
Horrified by the possibility of being unloved and ignored by my own father, I still somehow arranged myself to turn back and look.
On the second bed, which I had totally ignored a few minutes back, there was another boy. He wasn't any older than 10 years old and resembled his father quite a bit.
'What?'
What kind of "heaven" would this be? It must definitely be another Hell? Is this a test again 'Natraja'? Are you punishing me for something?
Before I could utter another word, one more shadow passed by me in a hurry.
She wasn't even half as beautiful as my mother was in the past, but the worry on her face was as real as it gets. She genuinely cared for whoever was on that bed besides my father.
I felt at loss. Who is this boy? Why would my father care about him so much? Who is the woman beside him? Where is Mother? and Where am I?
I looked around the hallway and amidst the vacant seats in the corridor and numerous wooden doors, I saw a sign. It was in Sanskrit and it read [Kaksh 11] (room 11).
'Is this really Hell? Did I switch dimensions again?'
It wouldn't be surprising if it was. I had been to Hell before after all, In fact, I had lived for almost a century with nothing but darkness as my companion in that hell.
'Is this my punishment Natraja?'
I looked at the ceiling imagining the sky that must have been above it. I didn't believe that the God I had spent praying to my whole life would do such injustice to my orphan self.
'Anyway, what do I even have to lose? Hell or not I should first find out what is going on!?'
This was the beauty of having a mental age of 200 years, very few things really startled me. Even in a ridiculous situation such as this where my dead father was suddenly alive, I somehow found ways to march ahead.
"Uhm! Hello"
I said whilst stuttering, trying to break the ice.
Father turned to look at me. He glanced at me from top to bottom, as if he was trying to figure out the kind of person I was.
On my call, father immediately turned. My legs and hand were shaking without my control as I saw my father walk towards me.
"Thank you for saving my son!", he exclaimed while bowing his head.
"Huh?"
"I'll make sure to properly reward you. He is a troublemaker but his heart is in a nice place!! Please forgive him if he offended you somehow."
'What!? Who saved whose life? Huh?'
I looked at the boy named Kshitij who had just gotten up and was sitting at the bed lost in some bizarre thoughts of his own, he was only a 10-year child after all.
"I haven't done anything worth inviting your gratitude", I replied after a second. It was weird to talk formally to my father, but what could I do? He was acting as if he didn't even know me.
"No! No! How can you say that. Kshitij told me that you saved his life from Level 1 beasts."
'Level 1 Beasts? What is that?'
I was confused, but I couldn't just directly ask them what was that. It just didn't feel right considering how the situation was with my father's eyes bursting with tears for someone who could apparently even be my 'step-brother'.
"If I may ask, what is the honoured sage's name?", dad spoke again.
"Sage?"
I looked at my father weirdly. 'Why are you treating your own son like a Sage?'
Sages were old hermits who lived their life away from society. Even in Union, there were hardly any Sages and only Gurus. Why was he calling me a sage?
He ignored the confused expression on my face and continued...
"You are so young and have already become a Sage... You must be from a famous family!"
'A Sage can have a family? aren't they astetics?'
'and what is this about me being a young age?'
It was too much, I was scared for my father, I thought he had lost his mind.
Even despite my rather middle-aged looks even at 100 years of age, I was still far away from being called young, at least not by someone who looked in his 30s.
'Aah... maybe I look different in this Hell?', I remembered a peculiar detail about the Hell I got stuck in last time. Do I look like my 15-year-old self again?
If it was a "Hell" like the last time, then a lot of things would start to make sense.
I needed to quickly find answers, so I diverted my focus inwards. Going for a brief moment of concentration, I immediately found a solution to one of my questions.
'Ohh! I still have Prana!! Let me try that.'
I gathered the flowing Prana in my body with slight effort and conjured it in my hand.
[ Neer Sheesh !! ]
I chanted the mantra in my head and crystalline water materialized in front of me. It wasn't a perfect mirror but would do the trick for now.
(*gasp*)
Just as I conjured water, I heard multiple gasps in the room. I ignored them for now, I had to figure out what was happening after all.
I looked into the water mirror and it was my turn to gasp at the sight.
'Who the hell is this person?'