Nandan Chazhivat, 7th Grade
Fire. Screams. Smoke. I hear and see these things as I run past a crumbling pillar. Swarga has been attacked by Asuras. Somehow, they tricked everyone. I’m passing out. Oh no. No no no. not now. I need to go one. more. Step.
I wake up on the ground, in the mortal realm. Every muscle aches, and my head pounds to a shattering beat. I raise my head, but fall back to the ground, smashing my head on rough rocks. All I see is the dark. Endless black. Deathly silence. Abyssal void.
“Wake up. Wake up! WaAaAaAaAaAke UuUuUuUuUuUuUuUuUuUuUuUuP!!!!!!!!” I am shaken violently. Ow. Very much ow. Big ow. Very ow. “AAAAAH!” I cry, kicking out. I hear a grunt, and am picked up and stood on the ground. I open my eyes. “Atharv?” I question. “Yeah who else? Bob?” Atharv says.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where are we?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you know anything except that you don’t know?”
“I don’t know.”
Ah. Good old Atharv. Oh! I forgot. My name is Avyan. Yeah. Me and Atharv are both devatas. We used to live in Swarga, but apparently we were… evicted? Removed? Forcefully extricated? I don’t honestly know the right term, but I do know that Asuras managed to trick our guards (Kind of our fault, I mean, who decides to make kids the guards?) and we are now decidedly not in Swarga. We need to find our way back, and also make sure all the gods are okay.
After some exploring, we killed some demons, and made a house. Atharv is currently off to find the location of an unwatched entrance to Swarga. I am currently resting, as when we were fighting a demon housed in an industrial building, I hit my head and fell onto a burning pipe. That hurt a lot. Suddenly, I hear a crash at the door. I get up and rush towards the door. As I look through the window, a strange sight meets my eyes. Atharv appears to be wrestling a ball of… light? I open the door and Atharv throws himself (and the weird ball of light) through the door. He pulls the ball off of him and throws a small book at it. “Calm down!” the ball exclaims “I’m onl-” “YOU CAN TALK WHAT WHAT ARE YOU HOW WHY WHEN DID YOU GET HERE WHO ARE YOU WHAT DO YOU WANT AAAAAAHHhHHhhH!?!?!?!” I scream. “Calm down once again!” says the ball. “Stop overreacting.” Before my eyes, before my VERY OWN EYES, the ball transforms into… a small kid with an instrument. “I am Narad-Muni. Bow before me!” Says the transformed ball. “No you aren’t” says Atharv
“Yes I am.”
“Nuh uh.”
“Yuh huh.”
“Nuh uh.”
“Yuh huh.”
“I AM NARAD-MUNI. I just… lost my previous form.”
“That makes sense. You don’t look like Narad-Muni though.”
“Why were you in a ball of light?” I question.
“Because I could.” Replies Narad-Muni. “Anyway, we need to find some more demons. If we are to get to the ONLY unguarded entrance to Swarga, we need to go to Naraka.
Silence slices through the air, flame and death burning around me. I must be silent if I am to free the great Hanuman. While Atharv and Narad-Muni are fighting asuras left and right, distracting and destroying, I am sneaking behind enemy lines to free Hanuman. Hanuman is the only one that knows the whereabouts of the unguarded entrance to Swarga, known as the Demon-Gate. The Demon-Gate is a myth and legend told hundreds of times over. A legendary gate to Naraka, guarded by the most fearsome asuras in existence. THAT is why we need Hanuman. I see Hanuman, caged and trapped by these evil trickster asuras. I creep over, step by silent step. As I sneak closer and closer, undetected, I wonder how Hanuman was trapped. He is insanely powerful, and no one can trap him. There is no asura powerful enough to trap him, and make him look like how he does now, dead and lifeless. I know he is alive, but still. It’s not powerful. Is it? Well, no time to worry about that now. I have work to do! I push the blazing fire of my inner power into my hand and, with a blazing, sparking, burning snap, the cage is destroyed. I hear a large commotion coming from the asuras, then a “Take that you losers!” and a massive boom. Atharv and Narad-Muni run through the ruins of the asura guard tower in which they were fighting and speed towards me. Atharv casts a portal, and Narad-Muni and I float Hanuman through, then we all step through the portal. As soon as we are through, Atharv closes the portal. We all wander into our rooms and immediately slip into sleep.
After a few days, we try to heal Hanuman again. Sorry that I haven’t been updating you on our journey. It’s just that between healing Hanuman and blasting asuras to bits, I haven’t had much time to write. “COME ON MORE POWER!” yells Atharv. “I’m TRYING!” I yell back. He just won’t heal! Suddenly, I have a very good idea. I run and grab our book of Rama. I show the picture of Rama to Hanuman’s unfocused, wild eyes. His eyes suddenly flash a heavenly gold. He immediately stands and then, after not even a moment of hesitation, bows before us. In a deep, soothing voice he announces “Thank you. Without your help, I would have never returned. Those pesky asuras corrupted me with demonstone, and my body, mind, and intellect were taken from me. I tried to protest, but it was too late. It had already taken effect. Sri Ram, Jai Ram, I need to go to sleep Ram!” Hanuman promptly fell on the floor and started snoring. (Disclaimer, never sleep next to Hanuman. Not to be disrespectful, but his snores sound like an air horn through a speaker system through a megaphone.)
After some more visits to Naraka, we found the entrance to swarga. I was hoping it would be more climactic, but apparently the guards of the wonderful Demon-Gate were nonexistent. Also the gate is a closet door. I’m not joking. Like a walk-in closet door. We were now in Swarga.
While me and Atharv scouted out an area to rest and rejuvenate while Narad-Muni used his magical powers to find anyone who was in hiding like us. Oh! I forgot to mention. Narad-Muni had his powers taken by demonstone as well, but he managed to get away in time. However, because of the drain of power, his form and energy were diminished. Now, with the return of his power, he is back to his normal form.
I forgot I even had this journal! It’s been what? A few months? We have an army now. No time to talk. We need to fight. We need to win.
I look up at the giant asura as he falls, destroying Swarga. Atharv’s energy is still lingering in the air. Power destroys it, vaporizing the asura. Death swiftly comes upon all asuras in Swarga. I rush towards Atharv’s fallen body. Devoid of life. Devoid of energy. His last words spell themselves out in electrical sparks above his head. “You were my greatest friend.” Why did he die? Why did he die? Why? Why? WHY? WHY?
You know, I haven’t written much for some time. But I know why. I lost Atharv. You see, he died firing all of his lifeblood into a demon, destroying it. We have Swarga again. But not Atharv. I think that I’m going to stop writing here. Goodbye.
One more thing. Thank you for reading. I hope my story… I don’t honestly know. Huh. Look at that. Me sounding like Atharv. Maybe he is still out there. Somewhere.
