Vol 2: Chapter 10: Reunion

Em urged to Ram that it was time for them to wake up, to come out of their Mind World, where they relived a memory or dream from his childhood. There he saw the proof that Aunt El and Sheila were Soulmates.

More shocking was the fact that Em was created by Sheila as a companion to him that would stay with him forever. Em was tasked to protect him when his ignorance. Which was a result of his Aunt El's overprotective upbringing.

He didn't blame Aunt El for that. Even if Ram got another chance, he still didn't want to change anything that had happened previously. Well, except of him kissing Sandhya.

He woke up to see two faces looking at him anxiously through faceplate.

One was the familiar to him. Sheila. So many emotions surged through Ram as he saw the familiar bright blue eyes. He could also glimpse her waterfall hairs through faceplate, that resembled even less like strands of human hairs. She was in her spacesuit with an emblem W at the center of her chest. She chided him for that, calling it as her armor. But he still like to call it as a spacesuit with a faceplate.

The other one was that of an old man. He could glimpse his blue hair through his faceplate that was in disarray. He has no facial hairs, not even eyebrows. His eyes were similar to that of Sheila. Blue eyes. While Sheila's eyes were bright blue, his was dull blue. Weariness could easily be seen in the creases of his forehead. He was also in spacesuit similar to that of Sheila, with an emblem of W. There seemed to be cracks across the emblem.

He must be Shukla, Sheila's father.

Shukla looked at him with such distaste that he wondered what he had done to him.

He turned his gaze away form Shukla. He focused on Sheila instead.

She was chewing her lip. "It's good that you are awake now. I almost thought that you were gone. What happened?" Sheila asked.

Ram gave her a grim smile. "I lost almost all of my Soulfire," he said.

Dr. Shukla cleared his throat and Ram turned to see him frowning at him. "I meant this as no disrespect, but there was no way that you are a Merged Soul. I cannot detect another living being from you," he said.

Ram wondered whether he could trust him or not. He glanced at Sheila, whose eyes widened. She seemed to be surprised that he trusted her, especially after dropping the fact that she were his Aunt El's Soulmate.

He would not have believed her so easily, but the memory was the final deal.

Ram also realized that she still did not know that he remembered some of his past. It made him remember the dream once again and he struggled to control himself.

"Ram, I don't know whether we could trust Shukla or not. Until then, why don't you control yourself until we were alone with Sheila. Then you can let go of your emotions and do the things humans would do at reunion," she said.

Ram wanted to agree to her words so badly. But he couldn't.

He clenched his fists and was momentarily surprised to find that he was in his Human Soul Form that was made of orange flames. He looked at himself again to verify and he didn't change.

He glanced at Sheila once again. She was on the verge of crying herself and he couldn't control himself anymore.

"Aunt Sheila," he said.

Sheila trembled, her bright blue eyes watered and her faceplate fogged up.

She couldn't compose herself and she produced a device that resembled a small disk with a button at the center and pressed it.

She pressed her W emblem and removed her spacesuit, or rather her armor. Ram saw her features more clearly. He saw her familiar face, her bright blue eyes, her waterfall hairs and he forgot about everything.

It felt as if he was back a small child. His recent dream made it even worse. It felt as if he had experienced just couple of minutes ago.

While back then he was hateful at her because Aunt El loved her. But now, he was willing to let the both of them together, let both of them get what they had deserved.

To let them be together for the rest of their lives.

He forgot about everything else and flew towards her, throwing his arms around her and hugged her. Harder.

She stumbled for a moment, before straightening herself and hugged him back.

She was sobbing. He was even worse than her. Ram didn't know whether anyone heard their embarrassed reunion. But he didn't care.

He let go all of the emotions, worries, and fears he felt for the past few days and buried himself in her hug.

He felt safe, safe in a way that was different from Em. While Em was his friend, she was also prone to mistakes. She was also just like him in many ways, lacking the comfort that one could only get from someone like his parents.

But Sheila, like Aunt El said in his dreams, was supposed to be Aunt El's wife. She was supposed to be his aunt, just like Aunt El. It felt as if he was hugging Aunt El.

He hugged her even harder, just to make sure that all of this was not a dream.

When he realized that she was not a dream, he resolved to himself once again that he was going to do anything in his power to get them back together.

With one final squeeze, he let go of her. He was surprised when was reluctant to let him go. He thought she had hated him. After all, he used every chance he can get to tell her that he will not let them be together, that he would get back Aunt El's love all for himself.

What's even worse was that he was the reason they were separated form each other. But she seemed to have changed during these past few years.

The fact that she was loving towards him proved that.

"I never thought you are going to accept me. I am truly grateful for you Ram," she said.

Ram wanted to say something to her, but when he tried to open his mouth, nothing came out. Finally, he settled to give her a smile instead.

"Are you sure you want me to marry your aunt?" she asked once again.

Ram nodded.

She smiled, but it was not what he thought. There was no relief in her face. She seemed to be thinking that he was still against them being together.

He cursed at himself, urged himself to speak. "Aunt Sheila, please forgive for the way I acted when I was a child. Just like Aunt El said, I was silly back then. I am just ignorant, but I am no longer that silly child not willing to share Aunt El's love with you. Aunt El had been devastated when she saw Fathima's betrayal. And I think she was even more devastated when she thought I died," he said.

Sheila choked. "What happened?" she asked.

Ram realized that Shukla was still there and he turned towards him again.

He was looking at Ram with annoyance.

Ram turned his gaze away from him, towards Sheila.

She nodded. "He is my father and you don't have to worry that he will betray us. You can tell us anything," she said.

Ram did the same.

He started it by telling how Aunt El had erased his memories, to make him stay alone as an orphan. How she tried to protect him from others who got powers.

He told her about how he killed Aunt El's father accidentally, how he became an Elder of Time.

Aunt El chuckled. "It was not how Powers of Time works," she said.

Ram gave her a grim smile. "I didn't know about that at that time," he said.

She nodded.

Ram continued with his story and when she tried to interrupt him, he gave her a glare. "I couldn't continue if you keep on commenting. I will finish first, then you can say what I got wrong," he said.

She nodded and that was what he did. He told them how he thought he was using Powers of Time and on and on till he ended his story with Em using The Bead of The Institute to merge with him.

When he was finished, Sheila frowned. "You said The Twins, Nano and Rita, inserted The Bead of The Institute into you?" she asked.

Ram nodded.

Shukla had been patient till now, but it was clear that he wanted to interrupt them. But he controlled himself. When Ram finished the story though, he finally lost control of himself.

"Damn those bastards. I thought we were the ones who were close to detect how to create a stable Merged Soul, but they were one step ahead of us," Shukla said.

Ram frowned. Shukla was talking as if he knew Nano and Rita. "You knew them?" he asked.

It was Sheila who replied to him. "We do. They are our rivals. It's very complicated for me to explain the exact situation, but can you tell me anything you know about The Bead of The Institute?" she asked.

Ram thought hard about it and he couldn't. He summoned Em reluctantly.

They were in the appearance of Em, who was in her late teens just like Ram. She had green hair.

She grinned at Sheila. "So, you are the one responsible for creating me?" she asked.

Sheila gave them a gasp. "You.. You…" she trailed off, pointing at Em. Finally, when she composed herself, she asked. "You are Emily Roxane? Does that meant you have the Powers of Time from Ella's father?" she asked.

Em shook her head. "Not exactly. We can't use The Powers of Time inside Soul World. Before I could give you any information about The Bead of The Institute, can you explain about whether it was Ram using the Powers of Time or me?" she asked.

"If Ella's father hadn't changed anything about you when I left you with him, then it would be you using the Powers of Time. And before you could go and blame yourself, you remember that you were just like Ram, ignorant in many ways," she said.

"But if what you said was true, then I am the one to blame. I was the one who stopped The Flow of Time when Ram couldn't control himself and he kissed Sandhya. I am the one who was almost responsible for the disaster that we had caused earlier," she said.

Sheila wanted to say something, but Shukla interrupted them.

He placed a hand on Em's shoulders and it felt very comforting. It looked like Em couldn't feel the fatherly feeling Shukla was emitting because she shrieked.

Ram took a moment to take control Em. Ram's head was swirling with Em's powers as she was processing everything so fast. He gritted his teeth. "She can't feel touch and pain just like I do. It's better if you stop with them," he said, then gave the control back to Em.

When he calmed himself down, he realized that Em also calmed down.

"Sheila, it's amazing that you could create an A.I. that could display emotions just like a human could do. It's almost as if she was a human," she said.

"Which I am now. Though, I still process like an A.I. I have a human body, but it's dependent on Ram's Soulfire. But I would like to add more to what Ram said. Unless the pain we are feeling was very extreme, I couldn't feel it, just like touch and smell," Em said. "I have to rely on Ram for them."

Sheila grinned at them. "You don't have to worry about that. I can fix that within a snap. But I don't know whether you want it or not," she said.

Em perked up. "You really could?" she asked.

"Yes. It would've been difficult if I have to make you respond to pain and touch just like human could if you were just in A.I. form, but whatever modifications The Twins did to The Bead of The Institute, and your wish to merge with Ram instead of using The Powers of Bead for yourself, you have can have a human body. Though, it would be difficult for me to remove your dependence on Ram's Soulfire," she said and glanced at Shukla.

Shukla shook his head. "I don't think we can ever remove the dependence. Even though I hate to admit, the Twins were amazing scientists. Though they are crazy. But I think it would not be possible even for them," he said.

Sheila gasped. "Are you really my father? Where is the real one? Did I just hear you admit the Crazy Twins were more superior than you?" she asked.

Shukla glared at his daughter. "Do you want me to vent my anger on him and also not allow you to get together with your Soulmate?" he asked.

She shook her head.

"Then don't ever mention this incident to anyone," he said to Sheila, then turned towards them. "And that includes both of you."

Em nodded and she stayed silent for a long time, before she spoke. "Can you tell me why we are not able to use Powers of Time inside The Soul World? We have seen you using The Powers of Time using your device just a while ago?" she asked.

Sheila sighed. "By integrating yourself with The Bead of The Institute, you kind of limited where and how well you could use Powers of Time. You can do any sort of crazy shit when you are inside the Domain of The Institute. But in other worlds, you are powerless," she said.

Em sighed. "Thank you. To answer your earlier questions, this is everything that I know about The Bead of The Institute," she said and showed them a 3D holographic image of The Bead of The Institute in front of them. Followed by listing of several folders.

They gasped as they looked at various folders and information floating in front of them and Shukla couldn't control himself any longer.

"Can you make a copy of it into a chip, or even a datapad if possible?" he asked.

Em shook her head. "I don't know how. But if you have any method that I could do, then it would be helpful," she said.

Shukla gave them a datapad, the length of his forefinger and asked Ram to insert his Soulfire in it.

Ram took control of Em for a moment, poured his Soulfire into it and gave control back to Em.

Em processed it for nearly 15 minutes. When she was finally done, she grinned. "This will make things easier for me to train Ram. All I have to do was imprint a datapad with the training I had in mind and once he pour Soulfire into it, he can process it as if he had learned it for years," she said.

Shukla nodded. "Kind of. But it will take few trials before he could master the art. It also depends on how detailed your plan was and how well he was able to understand it. I would not have shown it to you if you didn't have the schematics of The Bead of The Institute as well as the modifications, The Twins had done to it," he said.

Sheila snorted. "Once I meet with them, I would've shown them how to do that," she said.

Shukla sighed. "Provided I am willing to help you," he said.

Sheila looked worried. "You are going to help us right?" she asked.

Shukla gave her a smile.

Em shook her head at them and gave the control back to Ram. Who instantly turned to himself.

Shukla glared at Ram for a moment, before composing himself. "How the heck are you able to access Soulfire?" he asked.

Ram shook his head. "I don't know. Back then I had been using Soulfire to perform my illusions. I think I started to after The Twins inserted the Bead of The Institute in me. I almost destroyed myself and Aunt El saved me. I think she must've fed me Soulfire. How did she get one?" he asked.

Sheila smiled at him. "I gave essence of every world I had visited to your Aunt. She must've used it or replicated it and fed it to you when she recognized you had used Soulfire," she said.

"Then why hadn't she warned me not to use Soulfire?" he asked.

"Because she was under the hypnosis of Veera? She loved you so much that she was able to come out of his control when you were in danger. But it's good to learn that you killed him. You killed him right?" she asked.

Ram nodded. "Em confirmed me that we did. But why are you so worried about him?" he asked.

"Because he was the one who was sent by Chitra to steal the Bead of The Institute from your world," she said. "Even though he was so-so when it came to using Soulfire, he learned to be a master hypnotist and had stolen one of my Powers of Time devices. He used both the powers to make him look younger or older and I even suspect he accidentally achieved time travel. Because, the version of Elder of Water you had mentioned to me was completely different to what I had seen," she said.

Ram gasped. "Time Travel? Please tell me others couldn't do it," he said.

Shukla answered him that. "Don't worry, I made sure that my daughter abandoned her project regarding Powers of Time after Veera stole the devices from her. We also destroyed every data related to it. And you said the devices of time stopped functioning at The Institute. It must be the work of Veera. It meant that other than Em, no one would be able to use Powers of Time. Even those who exist in The Institute would not be able to use Powers of Time. Since Em used The Bead of The Institute to merge with you. The reason we guess she could Use Powers of Time in The Domain of The Institute was because she had already integrated some portion of it before she decided to merge with you. As for Em possibly using Time Travel, I think The Crazy Twins might have removed that power from you when they modified The Bead of The Institute. I will have study it to confirm the same. It will take time, but you don't have it now," he said.

"You were talking as if you know more about it than Aunt Sheila," Ram said.

Shukla chuckled. "I like him. He was very different from what you have told of me," he said.

Sheila nodded. "He was so angry at me back then. You should have seen his plans as he tried to get Ella to hate me," she said.

"I am grown up now. Can we forget about our past and focus on what we should be doing now?" he asked.

"And what would that be?" Shukla asked.

"To get the hell away form Soul World?" he said.

Shukla shook his head. "You are in Soul form and there was no way that you can exist in other worlds. It's better if we look what changes the Twins did to you before we can proceed further," he said.

"Which we don't have time for. I heard that Siraj had already informed Sheila in secret of what had happened and she waned to meet with Ram. Father, can you help us get out of The Nonliving Soul World? I will take care of everything after that," Sheila said.

Shukla sighed. "I don't think it is that easy. But I will see what I can do. Can you tell me something else? How did you become a being of soul world? You were supposed to be a human being. Not only did you become a soul, but also gave Em a physical body. According to what she said, she can also exist in other worlds and not die. How?" he asked.

"I don't know. If we meet with The Crazy Twins, I think they can answer us. Until then, all we have is this," Ram said, turning into a flame form. Half his orange , other half Em's green.

He turned back to himself. "Now that you mention it, how was I even better at controlling Soulfire than others? I clearly overtook rebels and Siraj, you should have seen the way I almost squashed him," he said.

Shukla shook his head. " I don't know. But you said you were kidnapped when you were a child and your Aunt suspected it as the work of The Forces of Darkness. But I think they are wrong. I think someone from Soul World did it. They must've worked with The Crazy Twins, imprinted those memories into you using a datapad. Since you didn't have access to Soulfire, you were not able to use your abilities. But when you had access to it, your abilities started to develop. But don't think too highly of yourself. You still don't know how to properly control your Soulfire. You are loosing it too quickly to even perform menial tasks," he said.

Em agreed. She emerged for a moment. "I was trying to teach him the same thing. But he was not successful. Though, I also have another doubt. I was also able to user his Soulfire. Can you tell me why?" she asked.

Shukla shook his head. "Only the Crazy Twins can answer us. But for now, I will take you to Chitra. Remember that you shouldn't reveal to her that Em was an A.I., while Ram was a Human Being turned into a Soul inside Soul World. Even though you are a Stable Merged Soul, a Perfect Merged Soul was something that was made out of two living souls. She had been searching for one such Perfect Merged Soul, which you clearly are not. In case your secret was revealed to her, she will suck your Soulfire dry," he said. "Also, if you want to get out of The Nonliving Soul World, you should be doing some favor to Chitra. It might be immoral, but you have to. Chitra has connections in Living Soul World. So you don't have any other choice," he said.

Ram was shaken, but as he thought more about it, he realized that he had to do it.

Like he tried to impersonate Siraj and initially fooled Manish and others before they realized he was a fraud and fooled him in return. But it didn't matter.

He had to do what Chitra wanted. Because, if he didn't, they couldn't survive. The most he could do was that he would make sure there were no causalities.

With Sheila's and Em's support, he believed that he could achieve that. Provided that Chitra's men didn't force him to do something horrible.

If they do, they will have to find a way out of it at that time. But for now, he had to go with Shukla's plan.