(Narrator: Vibhuti) Agni-deshah once called the golden sparrow, is a beautiful place. The country is filled with different cultures and kingdoms. The most famous ages and kingdoms which arose were in the north: Vedanta Yuga(Vedic age), Mahagni Samrajya (Mauryan Empire), Gurutejasya Samrajya (Gupta age the golden age); and south were the Chooran (Cholan), Sengkanal(Cheran) and Peruvel (Pandiyan) Nadu and the Valavar (Palavar) Nadu. Later on, the Agniya land was ruled by foreign kingdoms like the Saltanat-e Agni (Delhi Sultanate); the Mönkh-Gal Ezent Güren (Mughal Empire) and the Aagratha Samrajya (Maratha Empire). Yeah, I know a lot of info, but we are not halfway done yet.
Our culture have contributed towards Mathematics with the number system and other concepts, Science, Astronomy with heliocentrism and the planets and medicine: Ayurveda and plastic surgery. We are known for our literary works the Mahabharata and Ramayana, music (slokas and hymns) and dance, cuisine, textiles (silk), precious metals, architecture and trade. In modern days we are renowned for pop culture, tourism, infrastructure, nature, trade and technology. And now we are back. Tej shall narrate the rest.
(Narration switches to Tejasvi) Back to my home town and we were ready for acquiring our next artefact. Ijan slept last night on my sofa with his legs dangling out. When he woke up, he looked like his back was aching very badly but he did not complain. He cooked us some breakfast: some pancakes, which tasted heavenly. He made chocolate pancakes for Vibhuti and him with chocolate syrup; he made me strawberry pancakes (my fave), Marin some blueberry pancakes (Which he did not eat) and Evanthia vanilla pancakes. I could see Vibhuti raving about these pancakes and I bet she was thinking, “I wish that this were not the only satisfactory things this man could do.” And I gave here cheeky smile, and she rolled her eyes.
After breakfast we got ready for our mission. Marin insisted on driving, for according to Marin, “Ijan, you look like you are exhausted; you must rest, and you cannot drive yourself to the bone.” So, Ijan just nodded and gave Marin the keys.
On the way to the palace of Agni-deshah, they passed by the familiar city streets. There were big houses and shops.
As we were on our way, Marin said, “Ijan, you are great with illusions. I do feel like a fire warrior a think my mother also won’t recognise me- maybe just because she is an ignorant parent who would not care if I died” “Wait,” Ijan cut him off. “Peer over there at the guards; they are utilising moon silver reflectors to catch if anyone is under the masquerade of a misapprehension, and you were going to divulge everything to them.” Marin stepped on the brakes and saw that there was a toll post type off gate leading to the main city had guards with reflectors made out of moon silver. Ijan then said, “I am not aware of the calibration of those reflectors; however, I ran out of my level 90 misapprehension precipitate, so I employed a level 60 precipitate.”
Some guards were also were also inspecting the pedestrians. They blocked the area so no one could leave before their inspection was over. We all were attempting to figure out a plane until Marin got an idea, which was not dumb. He said, “So if we pass through the gates through in our car, there is a forty per cent chance we may get caught, however, I have a plan to get past the guards. We cannot use the invisibility spell, but Tejasvi, you are the boldest person I know. Distract the guards while the rest of us sneak past them. After we do so, we will be waiting for you in front of the palace.” “That’s brilliant. I know a way out of here without passing through the gate lets park our car over here,” Vibhuti said, so Marin did one of the most perfect parallel parks between two cars I have seen.
So, the plan was set. I went up to a guard and said to him with my iconic smile, “hello Mr guard you want to try to fight against me in a sword fight?” To this, the guard replied, “Listen, kid, I have a lot of things to do today and defeating a kid in a sword-fighting match is not one of them.” So, she replied, “Oh, is little guard afraid of fighting or being defeated by a little kid?” And I proceeded to pat his head. So, annoyed, the guard said, “No, that is not what I meant” But it was too late; everyone was cheering for a duel. The guards who were guarding came in front to see if their captain could defeat me.
Both of us were ready, and we started. The guard was overconfident, and he carelessly fought, but I swept behind him and made swift attacks; within five seconds, the captain lost. Then his assistant came to avenge him, but he met with the same fate. The one-by-one other guards attempted to defeat me but I kicked their ___ (fill in the blanks). In the end, I looked at all of them and said, “geez guys, give me some competition; I am getting really bored with you guys. Ok, let it be; next time give me something interesting to do, bey.” The captain and his troop sheepishly left the scene.
Meanwhile, the others escaped, and later I joined them. Vibhuti high-fived me and said, “Amazing work, Tej; that’s your personal record.” “I know I am amazing, right?” I responded with my iconic bow and then attempted a hair flick, but it was unimpressive, so Vibhuti remarked, “Tej, the hair flick is my thing.” And then she proceeded with the most perfect hair flick, which made Ijan take notes on the physics behind it. Vibhuti proceeded to explain at what angle the flick must take place for the optimal flick, but then Ijan said, “Fellow individuals, appreciate your enthusiasm for the physics behind this marvel which we observed now; however, our priorities are compelling us to advance towards the palace.” And we decided to listen to him.
Unlawfully taken from NovelPhoenix, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
We finally reached the Agni-bhavan. We snuck into the Agni-raj bhavan (the biggest palace in Migica), even though this is Vibhuti’s home and she could just walk through the front door. Marin, Ijan and Evanthia marvelled at the architecture as we passed through the corridors. “Guys, my room is to the right; follow me,” Vibhuti said, leading us through her massive home/work place.
Vibhuti led us to her massive room, way bigger than my apartment. “Hey, if you have such a big room, why do you even come to my place all the time?” I asked, teasing her. “Would come over to your place cuz your place has some heart; this is just a big room filled with my stuff.” She said as she came close and hugged me, and I allowed her. Ijan was fixated on the gadgets on her table; she usually builds something for us to have fun with. Last month, she built a drone so we could spy on Ms Kumar’s spice garden. Ijan was amazed and asked, “You construct appliances?” “Yeah, in my free time, that thing you are holding was a project I was working on before this quest started. It was supposed to be a mini drone for the transformer car-drone I built; however, it does not work.” She said, pointing at the small, sleek black object he was holding. Ijan turned it around and observed it, sat at Vibhuti’s desk (which looked exactly like how a grown man would sit at a child’s tea-party table), took out a screwdriver, adjusted something, connected the thing to his holo-com, typed something into it, then shut the program down. Then he gave Vibhuti her VR set and said, “Check if this appliance would run successfully.” Then she placed the goggles over her eyes, then took the controller and turned the mini-drone on. The black circular sphere protruded its arms with turbines and started spinning them at top speed. The drone levitated and buzzed around. Then Vibhuti said, “Hey, the camera can see me, hi me,” and did some tricks with it. Evanthia, who was quiet all along, said, “I think we could use some more gadgets like this to bypass one of the seven most secure places in Migica.” Vibhuti turned off the drone, took off her goggles and said, “Yeah, we could build some more; Ijan, you could help.” Ijan just nodded, pulled his holo-com out and said, “I have some suggestions.”
They were five glasses that could show us the drone feeds, sensors for the drone which sense sounds, light, electric current and anything with a frequency. Vibhuti loaded the mini-drone into Sunny the car-drone, and we headed off. Sunny was this sleek black thing with no windows and a streamlined hood. It had a solar panel on its head; that’s why the name Sunny.
Vibhuti led us to her walk-in closet, which was also bigger than my apartment (the luxury these people live in). But Vibhuti looked embarrassed as if she did not want us to know she was rich. Behind a shoe shelf, which had a variety of beautiful shoes, in contrast to the simple sandals Vibhuti was wearing, she pressed a button. The shoe stand slid to the side and led to an ancient passageway. The passageway looked like it was millennia old, like the map Vibhuti was using. She led us through the ancient maze as if she had been here several times, and if you knew Vibhuti, you would know what I am saying is probably true.
On the way, Ijan asked me, “So, Tejasvi, I question why you intend peace in Migica? You struck me as the person who would, let’s say, resolve conflict by war,” so I replied, “Well, I don’t know; maybe I want peace so that everyone shall be treated equally everywhere. But really, I want vengeance my parents did not want Migica to be separated so they protested and protested until they went on a quest but in that quest, they died and I was alone and raised by my grandmother until I became five and then she died and I had to fend for myself.” Ijan nodded and moved ahead, So Vibhuti said as she stared at Ijan, “oh I am so sorry.” So, Tejasvi said, “it’s all right, wait you know about this already why…” I paused then noticed her staring at Ijan and said in my cheeky voice, “but why are you staring at Ijan?” so Vibhuti said, “oh well um nothing.” So, I said, “clearly you are mesmerized by him.” So Vibhuti replied, “fine I think he is cute but I am scared to talk to him what if judges me.” So, I said, “ok, I can understand why you are afraid, but you should tell me I am your best friend for god’s sake.” “okay, Teekay I will.”
As we were passing through the secret passage, we came across an old lady with a kind expression wearing royal attire. I recognised her; she was Vibhuti’s grand-mom. Vibhuti went up to her and said, “Hello, Patti. Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be in the palace?” “Kutti, I am here because there are some security issues, but who are your friends here? I know Tejasvi, but who are the rest?” They asked, “Oh, this is Jyoti, Deep and my good friend Veer.” “Oh, I did not know you have so many friends, Kutti?” “Well, they are my new friends from my travels with Tej. Nothing suspicious, by the way. Did you tell amma that I have gone on a trip with my friends?” “Yes, but she wanted you here to study, but I told her you were on a study expedition.” She said with a wink and pressed some toffies into her hand and said in this low, cheeky tone, “Don’t tell your amma you are here; she would make you stay and share these chocolates with your friends.” Vibhuti bowed down her head, and her grand-mom kissed her on the head, then looked at the rest of us and said, “It is nice meeting you all, Evanthia, Marin and you, Ijan. You don’t need to have fake names like Jyoti, Deep and Veer. I know about the quest, and it is about time Vibhuti does something for Migica.” Then she turned to Vibhuti and said, “I could not do anything about the security, Kutti, but I have arranged for you to travel out of Agni-deshah; just promise me that you will visit Neruppuppori.” “I would not miss it for the world even if I had to wake up at four o’clock.” Her grand-mom smiled, and we parted ways. Vibhuti did share those chocolates with us, though. I loved them, but Marin refused, and Ijan just reassuringly patted him; weird, but who cares.
Soon we reached the first level of security, and Ijan used the moon powder he made today in Vibhuti’s room with some spare ingredients he had. We used Mini-Sunny (the name of the drone)to get a bird's-eye view. We passed through the assembly of guards standing perfectly one head behind the other. Vibhuti entered the password, and the vault opened. As we entered the vault, the door slammed behind us, trapping us in the vault cornered by a pit of lava. “Did I forget to mention the pit of lava?” Vibhuti said sheepishly as we three glared at her.