WEAPON OF GOD :: Mahabharat

CH.54. THE COST OF HAPPINESS

Evi sat unbothered, along with Draupadi on the tree branch. The fight between Lord Indra and Lord Agni ensued somewhere in the heavens, and the Pandavas, just for the sake of Arjun's worry, accompanied him to see the fight to the end.

"Aren't you worried?" Draupadi mumbled.

"Always" Evi sighed, "but I cannot let Agni kill the inhabitants"

Evi looked at the branch on which they were sitting on. "Draupadi, can you sit by yourself? This branch isn't strong enough to hold both of our weights"

Evi shifted to a lower branch, in case Draupadi falls and she has to catch her. "Hridasura?" Evi called, a bit doubtfully whether he would be 'free' or not. But thankfully, he appeared in an instant.

"Yes, my Queen" he bowed as always. "What are you doing on this branch?"

"Lord Agni set fire to the ground and now Lord Indra is fighting him off" Evi narrated while Draupadi excitedly waved hello to Hridasura.

"Oh this is Khandav" Hridasura said after realising where he was. "I wonder what Serpent mother told you"

"She told me about your wives. You never introduced me to your wives Hriday, I am a bit sad about that" Evi pouted.

"Well... They aren't really that.... social" Hridasura scratched the back of his neck. "Also they are kind of scared of...you"

"What the hell did you tell them about me?" Evi glared at Hridasura.

"NOTHING!" Hridasura put up his hands in defense, "its just that the Nagas know what happened to Mahamahim that day. And also they know about the enemity you have with the Gods"

"Nagas are Gods too" Draupadi added, "they usually know a lot about what's happening around them"

"So basically I have a bad reputation?" Evi asked, sighing at her own actions.

"No.... They don't hate you. Just scared. They think you are a bit unstable...."

"I will have to agree" Evi nodded.

The trio decided to meet up with the serpent mother while Hridasura brought his wives and children with him.

In a few minutes, the whole family was sitting under a huge tree, far from whatever was going in the heavens.

" This is Mandavi, and our son Shruta" Hridasura introduced his first wife. "This is Ashwagandha, and our daughter Hiranya"

Evi nodded and greeted the two women who stood shifting at their places.

"Well I guess, that would make us family then?" Evi tried to calm the visibly uncomfortable sisters but nothing worked. Then she tried with the children, who were already in their teenages. Sadly, Evi was even worse with kids. One of the reason was probably the fact that she hadn't been around kids for centuries.

"YOU KNOW EVI JUST STOPPED AGNIDEV FROM BURNING KHANDAV!?" Draupadi interjected when the silence got too awkward.

But thankfully, the sudden interruption helped the situation. Soon enough, the Nagas and the demons sat around Evi and Draupadi as the latter narrated everything that had happened.

Evi was shocked to see that her kidnapping and marriage didn't traumatise Draupadi, and maybe Sahadev was actually right. Maybe Draupadi WAS happier in this situation, but again, Draupadi herself probably couldn't understand that. Alas, Draupadi didn't know how horrific her life would have been in the default time line.

Draupadi's ever changing expressions, her tone changing with every scene as she narrated the fight, her eyes gleaming whenever she mentioned Evi's actions, made Evi feel grateful for having her by her side.