Chapter 13. Stairs Made of Arrow’s Reaching the Mountain’s Top (Part 2)

Finally, Advik stopped beaming. He saw the kid, "…Eh, no he didn't." He felt the way the brat said the name of the Prime Minister was not in any good and disrespectful manner. He felt the kid didn't like the Prime Minister that much or maybe their relationship was not good hence Samay's tone was so rude when he said the name. He thought carefully then continued, "I came to find you on my own just to help them. I thought it'd be easier if more people would try to find you."

Samay doubtfully squinted, "How do you even know them or me? I don't think I've seen you ever before?"

Advik was silent for some seconds before he sighed and said, "Prime Minister Svapn said that I have died nearly two thousand years ago. When I opened my eyes he was in front of me. I had no idea what was happening to me. I have lost most of my memories," he lightly smiled at the kid, "Prime Minister Svapn said that I was roaming around for years and somehow ended up in this realm. I had lost my intangible heart, mind, and memories, he found them for me."

His heart became heavy as he continued with a heavy and stinging heart, "I… I don't know how much of what they have said is true but I don't know anything or anyone here, therefore I am trying to believe them because… Because that's the only thing I can do."

Advik looked into the kid's eyes. Samay was undoubtedly shocked, surprised, or confused but he was carefully listening to him without asking any question. He was silently staring at him. 

"Right now I just want to find a way to go back to wherever His Highness Shwet is. I just want to find him. I do not remember much of my past but I know he is someone very important even though I can't even remember his face. I want to find out what happened to him," Adivk looked at Tara who was too quiet like she was also understanding him. 

He looked down and then at Samay, he smiled with reddish eyes, "I am just trying to look for the answers to my questions." He smiled again, a very bright and pleasant smile but the three of them saw the pain and suffering and struggle Advik was putting to smile like that. 

Samay wanted to say something, anything to comfort the person in front of him but he was no good at comforting people in any way. He remained soundless, just staring at Advik with pity. Even Vismay and Tara were not daring to even speak a word.

Some minutes passed in silence. The wind howled and touched their skin. 

Advik turned his back to Samay when he felt he couldn't hold his tears any longer. He wiped off his eye but the water was not stopping. It's this thing that maybe everyone hates about tears; the more you want to hold them the more they drop, the tighter you close your eyes the more reasons you'll find to cry. 

Samay knew Advik was crying but he chose to stay quiet and only stare at the man's back.

After a while, Advik turned around on his own with a grin, "Let's stop talking about my tragedy." Samay blinked seeing the sudden change. "Aren't you afraid of Vismay? He can talk, even I was surprised when he first talked to me."

Seeing Advik trying to cool down the atmosphere, Samay also shook off his head. Going back to his usual personality, he smirked, "What do you think of me? I am the best disciple at the palace. I have seen many more dangerous and horrendous things than a Fireball that can speak. He is nothing new to me." 

Crossing his arms, Advik raised his eyebrows. This brat is even more overconfident and self-centered than my younger self. He sighed softly.

Abruptly, Tara came close to Samay. He felt strange so he retraced his steps. However, Tara still followed him. Trying to sit down on him maybe? He recoiled, he was definitely irritated by her in just some seconds. The brat tried to shoo her away, "Hey! Don't come close!" He was bewildered, waving his hands everywhere, "Stop it!!! Stop this thing!" The more Tara was coming closer the more Samay's voice got louder, "Stop it!! Stop it right now!!" 

Advik did not notice this uproar because he was still dealing with those uninvited emotions. However, when Samay started to shout and scream that much, he noticed him. He sniggered then started to laugh.

The brat was staggering, "Don't-don't come! Stop this thing. I don't like bugs! Stop her, right now or I'll use my sword!" His one hand was on the hilt of his sword which hung on his waist. 

Advik's stomach started to hurt laughing out loud that much, he was still laughing, grabbing it. He creased his eyes. It was a hilarious situation; Samay was running in circles around him to stay away from the Firefly, Tara was trying to catch him simply because it wanted to comfort him, hug him, and Vismay was still beside the laughing idiot nevertheless he was advising them to stop their childishness but they were not listening to him at all.

Advik was still holding his stomach while laughing hard. Samay scurried and came behind him. The kid clutched the man's shoulders from behind, "Please stop her! I'll do anything you want, just stop this thing!!!" He was grumbling and shivering. Sweat was dripping from his forehead. Even his voice was hoarse.

Advik saw the kid, felt the actual fear of the brat. He was clenching so tight on Advik that he felt his nails poking his flesh. His smile disappeared. He understood the fear of Samay. While narrowing his eyebrow he said, "Stop Tara! Stay where you are, please." 

The other two were astonished when it stopped moving in the midair. Vismay said, "This little girl never listens to me but now she is listening to you. She is listening to someone she has just met… Sigh… I think handsome men have it all, after all!"

Advik chuckled hearing that, glancing at Vismay he replied, "You think I am handsome!?"

Samay popped up his head and glanced at the Firefly from behind Advik's back. Tara was innocently flying at a safe distance from him. He left the man's side and came forward while unblinkingly looking at Tara to make sure she was not coming for him anymore. He got his old hostile self returned, "Handsome my foot. You are just average and this dirt and awful smell on you is making it worse."

"Hm? Really?" putting his hand closer to his nose he sniffed, "Because of all the drama and running for hours I didn't realize before but I am really messed up right now!" he grimaced. He worriedly turned to the Fireball, "Mr. Fireb-Vismay do I smell that bad?"

"I don't know, I don't have a nose."

"..."

Samay, "Pfft". Advik tried to sniff himself again and looked at the insect. 

"Do I smell, Tara?"

"Are you stupid? It cannot speak!"   Samay rolled his eyes while crossing his arms. 

"Oh, yeah! Then you tell me do I smell? Am I that filthy? Why don't I have a mirror!!?"

"Yes, you are. I don't even know how Svapn stayed with you in that room because he is such a clean freak. He can't even bear the smell of one-day-old clothes and you're saying you were with him. Had he forgotten his eyes and nose somewhere?"

Advik brushed off the dirt from himself, "I have to clean myself or I'll die by this awful stench." Although, his every effort was going in vain because no matter how much he was trying to clean himself it was not enough.

Of course, he was looking like shit due to not bathing for nearly two thousand years!! Even if he was just a soul still he needed to clean himself at least for the sake of people and their noses around him! However, who can blame him for roaming like that when he was not himself. When he didn't even know where he was or what he was doing before coming into the Lost Soul's Realm.

Samay frowned, staring at the messed-up guy who was panicking merely because of the dirt, "Hey! Are you a clean-freak as well?"

Without stopping himself, Advik answered, "Nope, I am not a clean-freak. I just like cleanliness, is there a problem with that?"

This time Samay couldn't hold his laughter, "Hahahaha! A soul who is also a clean-freak! What a joke!!!"

"Stop playing! Advik stop your childishness over dirt and you, Samay stop laughing," both guys stopped in the middle of what they were doing at once by Vismay's commanding tone, "We should head to the near village, Bhayabhoomi. We can find an inn to stay there."

Advik was puzzled but still scoffed, "Bhayabhoomi?! What a horrible name?"

The Fireball continued, not minding the foolish soul, "That Bhayabhoomi village will be much safer and secure than this hunting zone for the demons. Also, there we can find some clothes, food and other necessary things for us."

Samay spoke with much more attention than ever before, "Bhayabhoomi?" He looked at Vismay, "I've heard and read about it. People say it's one of the smallest villages of Lost Soul's Realm which somehow became the wealthiest village overnight." Advik gave him a disbelieving look. 

The kid's eyes were glittering with excitement, "Yes-yes! We should go there."

"No, we should not," Advik was serious, "You don't know but Prime Minister Svapn and Chief Minister Sidharth also came here just to find you. They left me behind so I don't know where they went but I think they have returned back to the palace after not finding any trace of you. Let's go back to the palace."

Samay paralyzed hearing that, he lost his words. Only one thing that was filling in his mind was that Svapn and Sidharth literally came to rescue him! They didn't just send someone to find him but came themselves. He never thought that anyone would come to save him but they did. He was not showing but his heart just melted finding out about this. He replied, "Really? Let's go back then. I remember that I have something important to tell them as well." 

"No, we can not go back." Both guys looked at the Fireball who said, "You can not return because Prime Minister and Chief Minister both are still here." The kid's heart twinged, Advik was just more confused than before, "I cannot find their exact location but they are here. I can sense their spiritual energy and Prana here. We have to find them."

Samay was startled and he gazed at the Fireball. Advik nonchalantly said, "Don't worry they are the Prime Minister and Chief Minister of this Realm, who can harm them? I'm sure they are really powerful and intelligent, their cultivation must be very high. We shouldn't worry about them and go back."

"But there is a problem here," Vismay's voice shook, "I… I can sense their spiritual life is gradually diminishing every second."

The face of Samay turned pale as he tried to comprehend what Vismay said.

Vismay said in a worried tone, "Maybe they are in some problem. We must find them and help them. It is too risky to let the two highest-ranked cultivators roam here when their cultivation is decreasing so rapidly. I am afraid that if it completely vanished from their bodies then they will go berserk because of the sudden change and hollowness in them. They would lose their mind and rationality because of the agony their bodies will feel as the result of shock their heart and soul would receive and finally… they would meet an extremely tragic end."

Samay stepped back a little. His eyes lost the luster in them. His eyes turned darker than the night sky above him. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. How is that possible? They are the strongest people I know. How can anyone harm them? Who have the audacity to hurt my masters? It's a farce, right? They are doing this to make me return to the palace. 

Advik looked at the boy who was standing like a doll. He didn't know what to do anymore. He asked, "Are you certain about what you've just said, Vismay?" 

"I am, very much."

Advik scanned the forest carefully. He couldn't sense anything like what Vismay just said to them but maybe he couldn't do so because he was not as strong as before. 

He sighed.

Advik could clearly see the fear of losing someone dear in Samay's eyes. He knew how it feels to lose someone you love so much, even the thought of it could make someone not sleep for days. There was just a strange similarity he could see in the boy next to him and his younger self.

He didn't know when he approached the kid and grabbed his wrist, Samay stared at him with wide and unbelievable eyes, he snarled, "What the hell are you doing?" Samay was oblivious to what was happening. Advik clutched tightly on him and tried to take him away, "What are you doing where are we going?" Samay was so occupied by what he heard that he had no strength to even release his hand or maybe he just didn't even know what was happening at his mind couldn't think about anything. 

"Vismay, tell me where we have to go. I want to help Prime Minister and Chief Minister," Advik solemnly said while moving ahead somewhere.

"Let me tell you the way to Bhayabhoomi, it will be easier for us if we can first find a more secure place for us to plan this search," Vismay flew toward Advik and Tara followed.

Advik turned his head and said, "Trust me, we will not let anything happen to them."

The voice of soul echoed in Samay's head. He nodded. Advik gave an assuring soft smile then started running again. The kid looked at the hand which was holding his wrist and taking him somewhere. He didn't know what he was feeling but he knew he was glad to meet this person who is a little weird, a little stupid and a freaking soul! Without much thought he let the other guy take him wherever he was going while the image of Svapn and Sidharth flashed in front of his eyes. 

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Dictionary:

Devakastha: It means "Divine Wood"

Bhayabhoomi: Bhaya – Fear, Bhoomi – Land

Samay: Time

Svapn: Dreams

Sidharth: Means "one who has accomplished a goal", derived from Sanskrit सिद्ध (siddha) meaning "accomplished" and अर्थ (artha) meaning "goal". Siddhartha Gautama was the real name of Buddha.

Prana: The same as Chinese qi.