Ch-4 The Cultural Festival

When Jasper came back to his senses he realized that he was lying on an unfamiliar bed inside a closed room that was decorated with ordinary design found in most of the houses. Jasper was confused as to how he had ended up here when he saw a man appear in front of him.

The man looked to be around the age of 25 with a smooth face and clean mustache. His nose was straight and his eyes sharp like swords. From his facial features Jasper could tell that he was not a native. He was wearing a weird getup which Jasper had seen before in a karate movies thus giving him an idea of the profession the man might be in.

"Where do you live?"

This was the first question asked by the man to Jasper. Jasper was about to answer the stranger routinely when the memories before Jasper fainted came back to him. He immediately became vigilant of his surroundings and asked the stranger," Are you another kidnapper?"

"Hmm, that is a rude way to address your saviour but anyway tell me where you live so that I can drop you home."

'Saviour' Jasper almost scoffed aloud at the mustache man. Jasper knew that someone had attempted to kidnap him and he was probably kidnapped right at this moment but he did not know what happened after he fell unconscious. There were many possibilities but being saved by a complete stranger in that situation was the least probable one. Jasper could not risk telling the stranger his address lest it worsen the situation and could also prove to be disastrous. So ,he kept quiet unwilling to comply with the mustache man's request.

At the beginning the mustache man was puzzled as to why the kid would not disclose his address but after thinking about the matter for sometime he realized that the kid had just experienced an attempted kidnap and it was normal to be vigilant even for a eight year old. The fact that the kid had not burst into tears was something to be commended. It seemed that his lack of dealing with children had twisted his common sense.

After realizing this his expression softened giving a declaration to Jasper," I will keep you with me for a day but if you have still not disclosed your address then I will leave you with the police.

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Jasper returned back to reality after daydreaming about the past events upon the hinges of the door opening.

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Later that night, Jasper was sleeping in his cozy bed when wakes up upon hearing the bell ringing. Jasper then remembers that his sister Jennifer was visiting them today and changes quickly.

After changing he comes out of his bedroom to see his elder sister talking with their parents about something.

If someone from the Dragon Bright academy was present her they would be surprised to see the appearance of one of the 4 jewels of their academy. Jennifer who was a 'Level 30' user, it was a simple matter to increase her beauty or decrease it. The Arcane World had very strict rules for people who travelled to the Blue World.

One of them was that they could not use magic to enhance their feature here. As a magic uses mana increased ,their beauty or handsomeness also increased. It was very easy for them to enchant the normal crowd of the Blue World. They made this rule to prevent these occurrence from happening.

Not following them could lead them to a lot of trouble with the Magic Council. It was also recommended to decrease their beauty if wanting to have normal time here

Jennifer notices him coming out and suddenly comes very close to him and hugs him fiercely. Jasper was surprised but hugs his sister back, only quietly.

After the hug Jennifer asks him ,"How are you doing, Jasper?"

Jasper replies back," I am good just a little tired after the exams finished i guess."

Jennifer knew the reason Jasper was feeling tired and so after hearing this reason, she started looking at him intensely. Jasper was stunned by such a gaze. He was suddenly reminded of their childhood ,where he was never able to lie to his sister. He always felt that his emotion were naked in-front of her. It seemed this feeling had not disappeared completely even after growing up.

Only right know he had not lied, instead he had told them half of the truth. Jasper became a little nervous and started changing the topic ,"Can I have my gifts, Jennifer?"

Jennifer replies, "Not yet. It will remain a surprise till tomorrow ."

Jasper throws his hands in the air and say," Oh come on, I want it right now. Give it me.

Jennifer looks at Jasper angrily and replies back," I have already said no so just accept it. Don't forget I still have the present and I can always not give it to you."

Jasper immediately shuts up, not because he was afraid he would not get the presents instead because he was reminded of nightmarish time when his sister got angry. Right now she was pretending to be angry so it was fine but he wanted to avoid making her really angry at all costs.

Jasper looks at the clock and says," Oh, Its already 7:30 pm we should get ready for the cultural festival."

Jennifer then looks at the clock and nods her head ,"Alright let's get ready in 15 minutes and go to the festival."

The siblings leave for their rooms to get ready for the cultural festival.

Sitting nearby watching the whole banter between the siblings, Mr. and Mrs. Pierce looked at each other with gentle smiles. The moments when their daughter arrived made the house very lively and made the family complete. They wished that it could stay like this forever.

They also leave to get ready for the festival.

After every member of the Pierce family was ready. They started heading for the cultural festival that took place in their vicinity.

Different places in the Blue World celebrated different cultural festivals. These festival may occur at the same period of the year or may not.

But for that particular place, the cultural festival holds a lot of importance. The sceneric view while the main event of the festival occurring is always beautiful, flashy and exilariting.

The story behind the cultural festival may also differ depending on different regions. After all different people believe in different myths and gods, so the story behind them are also very different.

The Pierce family arrive at the festival just as the main event was about to start. The festival they were attending was occurring at a very small scale with a low budget. So instead of booking an auditorium or anything posh they set up a podium and arranged chairs in front of it.

After finding four seats together , they sit and start enjoying the festival. But they were suddenly interrupted by some lady waving her hand in their direction. Mrs. Pierce confused asks all of them," Does anyone know that lady waving ?"

Hearing this, Jasper looks in the direction his mother was pointing and his expression stiffens. It was the lady from before, whose child had been saved by Jasper. She had spotted him a few moments ago and started waving at him enthusiastically .

However, unexpectedly another women sitting behind them started waving back at the child's mother . These two womans were actually good friends. So she had assumed that her friend was waving at her.

Luckily for Jasper this matter ended there as everyone unconsciously thought of the same thing including the Pierce family except Jennifer. After all she knew the whole truth of the matter. She was also observing Jaspers expression while this occurred, to try to understand his feelings about the incident.

At the podium, there was a figure made of wood with 10 heads and 20 arms . The figures name was Ravana . The storyteller climbs the podium and starts telling the tale of Ramayana.

"The Ramayana is a great epic in the world. It is written by Valmiki. It deals with the story concerning the life and rule of the honest King Ramachandra of Ayodhya.

The royal dynasty of Ayodhya faced a crisis. The king Dasaratha wanted to offer the crown to Ramachandra before going to the forest. Dasaratha had three queens named Kausalya, Kaikeyi and Sumitra. Kausalya was the mother of Ramachandra. Kaikeyi was the mother of Bharat. Sumitra had two sons named Laxman and Shatrughna.

As per the hereditary rule Ramachandra was to inherit the thrown because he was the eldest of all four sons and he was the son of the eldest queen also. People of ayodhya became very happy at this news.

But Ramachandra could not be the king. On the con he was sent to the forest on exile. It happened due to the villainy of an old maid-servant named Manthara. As her evil persuasion, Kaikeyi asked the King to fulfill her boons which he had earlier promised. The two boons we that Rama must be exiled and her own son Bharat must inherit the thrown.

Dasaraths, who was bound by his promise, granted these two boons. Thus, Ramachandra was sent to forest for fourteen years. At that time Bharat was away. When he returned, he was shocked to hear this development in the palace. He refused to become the king. However, he ruled the country as a faithful represent of the real king Ramachandra. He placed Rama's sandals on the throne. Although he tried to call back Rama to Ayodha but he became unsuccessful. Rama went to forest with Sita and younger brother Laxmana.

Rama was in the forest of Panchabati when his wife was forcibly carried off by Ravana, the demon Lanka. In order to rescue her, Rama had to fight with Ravana. He made friendship with the monkey tribes of Kishkin and got their help in the war against Ravana. With help, Rama built a dam across the ocean and led his army to Lanka. Finally Sita was rescued. Ravana was killed."

"To celebrate the rescue of Sita and the death of the villain called Ravana we burn him in fire."

At this moment someone climbed up the stairs with a firestick and started slowly burning the hideous figure of Ravana on the platform. Everyone present there started clapping their hands.

As this occurred, Jennifer asks Jasper ," What did you learn from this story?"

Jasper did not think much about why she asked such a question and answered simply," Villains can be killed only by having companions?"

Jennifer was shocked by Jasper not only because such a lesson had never crossed her mind but she did not even understand how he came up with such a vague answer, " What??"

Jasper explains himself," You see Rama was a very strong warrior but to defeat Ravana he had to ask help from the monkey tribe."

Jennifer replies," No, Its something else."

Jasper looks at Jennifer and asks, " What is it, then?"

Jennifer says, "Ravana was a prince of a very big kingdom . However circumstances made him start living in the forest. The complete opposite of the comfort, safety and prestige he lived in. He was able to adjust and adapt without complaining once about it. This is a very important lesson for everyone but especially you Jasper. Please remember this as you move forward in your life, alright."

Jasper nods his head carefully and says," Ok, I will remember it. But why are you so sentimental suddenly?"

Jennifer replies in a rather flippant way, "Just I because felt like it."

Jasper rolls his eyes in exasperation.

After the cultural festival, the Pierce family starts heading towards a restaurant named MOM's Eatery. Their daughter had returned after a long time and to celebrate this occasion they wanted to do something special and memorable.

Anyways, the shop owner of the restaurant and Mr. Pierce knew each other very well. So they they were always given a special rebate on their meals.

Jasper remembered going to this restaurant 2 years back . The restaurant had a homey and cozy feeling to it. It was setup in a way to remind you of the good times spent at home.

From outside the restaurant appeared to be a normal house where a family might be lodging.

But this preconception was destroyed after seeing the big sign board near the house.

The theme of the restaurant was eating food at home with your family. So after entering the restaurant you could see that instead of setting all the tables near each other. The tables were present in different parts of the house.

There were a lot of tables in the living room and dinning room for people who wanted to enjoy eating in the crowd and watch the television.

They had divided the bedrooms into small compartments and private rooms. It was estimated that the house was once use to be a 5BHK. So each room could fit a family giving 20 to 30 families the chance to eat simultaneously without any outer distraction. This gave the family privacy and intimacy with each other.

In the veranda ,where a garden is normally present. There were chairs setup with many combinations like 2,4,6,8. Eating in this spot gave the people the chance to enjoy the starry night view while eating.

After reaching the restaurant, they found the room they had reserved before hand. Mr and Mrs Pierce order the chef's special to make the day memorable. The dish they ate in MOM's eatery was one of the best meals Jasper had eaten in his life.

Jennifer also praised the meal however in terms of the food she had eaten in the Arcane World which were made with mana these dishes could not hold a candle to them.

But for Jennifer, who risked her life a lot in the Arcane World to complete a mission the peaceful time spent with her family was the best gift she could ever ask for.

After finishing their meal at MOM's Eatery. The Pierce family walk back home and stop by a park on the way. It was an ordinary park made by the government for the people living in this area. Normally it would be crowded with children playing ,parents chatting and cat and dog owners. But today due to the cultural festival it was empty.

The Pierce family could have also gone for the last event of the festival where fireworks were lit up to end the festival on a high and spectacular note. However instead of spending that time in the crowd they wanted to spend the time with each other and make the memory even more remarkable.

The Pierce family were the only people present in the park so it gave the feeling of them being the only people present in a closed world. It could be said that it was an atmosphere where the world affairs could not affect them and another small imaginary world that only included the park had been formed. It was an imaginary world that was formed when people who trusted each other were together.

They sat down at the swing and the slide and enjoy the fireworks. At this moment Jennifer suddenly says," I promise that I will do everything in my power to protect our family and live to their expectations."

Jasper hears her sister statement and immediately says," Include me to ,I will also protect our family no matter the cost I may need to pay."

Mr and Mrs Pierce hear their statements and have several thoughts in their minds. But they give warm smiles to give reassurance to give their children relief.

Unknown to them, these words may come back to bite them in the future .

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