Abhaya Bhairavi #Wattys2020

Chapter Seven

Bhairavi was expecting Fae, Hybrid Vampires, Goblins, Radioactivity, technically anything but a Rakshasa. Not knowing how to sign the term in ASL, she whipped out her notebook. 'A...Rakshasa? Elaborate. Now,' she wrote.

Her exterior was calm, but inside she felt a comical mixture of bubbling laughter and severe disbelief. Weren't Rakshasas the demons of the bedtime stories which Namma used to tell her when she was a child? What on earth are they doing in the Twenty First century!

"Well. It is a long story." Samanya warned. She wrote, ‘I have a lot of time and burning curiosity. You won't be spared.'

Chuckling at that nervously, he took a sip of his cocoa-nut coffee and almost moaned at the flavor. "My God, what is this amazing version of coffee? It has dark chocolate, and strong coffee beautifully balanced with sweet coconut milk." Bhairavi smiled wryly at that, her reaction had been similar after her first sip.

Shaking her head in amusement, she took a bite of the Halwa pie. She sighed blissfully, the flavor of yummy gajar halwa, full of ghee and mawa, along with the crispness of a flaky pie crust, had not altered since her last visit. Determined to not get distracted, she signed, 'Start talking.'

Samanya nodded before beginning, "You know Indian Mythology, I hope? Or at least a little of it?" At her nod, he continued. "Lord Krishna had killed most of the Evil demons on earth, be it Rakshasas or Daityas. However, the…main Lord of Evil, you can say, the demon Kali had escaped. Don't confuse him with the Goddess Kali, though. He had wreaked havoc in all the Yugas and done his best to eradicate Dharma, being the grandson of Adharma himself.

Anyway, he had escaped with his two wives and children. He is in penance now, determined to gain enough Divine Strength through Tapasya to defeat Kalki, Lord Vishnu's tenth avatar, when he comes to defeat him."

An astounded Bhairavi stared at him, she was finding it very hard to believe all this religious and mythological stories to be real. She wrote, 'But where do you come into the picture?'

"Yes, getting to that. Kali's lineage is very confusing and full of incestuous relations. It is confusing even for me. His two children, Bhay, or Fear, and Mrityu, or Death, are said to be his siblings, which is...complicated. Bottom line, I am one of the lesser known grandsons of Bhay. Bhay had two children with his sister Mrityu, which is repulsive. But he also cavorted with other women in the guise of a handsome man. I am the son of a Rakshasi princess and his illegitimate son Jaragarbha," finished Samanya, as he wiped his mouth. He had finished his pie halfway through the story.

Bhairavi stared at him, half in shock, half in denial. She had gotten a bit accustomed to his appearance but the story made her relive the weirdness all over again. Here she was, sitting in her cafe, with a green Rakshasa, who was telling her his family history, while eating a Carrot Halwa pie. But she would have all the time at home to marvel at the queerness of it all. Right now she had a million questions.

'Where is your family? Are they here with you? Aren't you evil then? Are you telling me the truth? Are you going to eat me? How can you eat normal food? How old are you...'

Glancing at the long list of questions she was writing, Samanya hastily spoke, "Hold on, hold on, let me answer them one by one." Bhairavi nodded and leaned back into her chair, sipping on her drink.

"My family, or my father technically, as my evil family does not do the joint family thing, is in his kingdom. Actually it's more of a large area with a few towns, couple of mountains and forests. My mother has gone to France..."

'Rakshasas going global, huh?' Bhairavi wrote, chuckling internally, and then stopped at his dry look.

"Yes, because every one is modern now. No one wears dhotis and carries swords anymore. My mother is tired of living here and watching my father have numerous affairs, so she left for a long holiday."