The members of the Rudra-Yug, may not be completely benevolent, but oddly, it seems that they are the ones to uphold justice more sincerely, than those of us of the highly privileged houses
-SEAN BEAM'S THE CONSEQUENCES OF IGNORANCE
"Do it again," commanded Thakur, as the sticker on his shirt named him.
"That is what you said the last three times," said Ayu, frustrated.
"Yeah, and I'll say it again, if the test proves to be negative, again," he said, pacing around the little white room they were in.
"Come on man, give me an explanation," the Queen demanded.
It was refused her.
"Just do it," he handed her the box.
Looking askance at him, she flipped the lid off the cuboid, and plucked out the rectangular dice. She casually threw it at Thakur. It stopped mid-air, right in front of the man's face. It seemed that the senior supervisor, was more surprised by Ayu's audacity, than the fact that the dice was spinning in air.
Eventually the dice stopped spinning and fell on the ground. The upper face of an otherwise black dice, revealed four similar white marks etched on the surface.
"Krishna save us," muttered Thakur. "How could it be, you are a Tjokorda, the clan that protected."
"So?" asked the Tjokorda.
Thakur backhanded her.
"Do you think this is all a joke?" he asked, shouting. "You are a Kali. You are a nightmare come true. You are the foulest of creatures possible."
She bit of a grimace and instead presented him her best smile
"Well, you know what I do," said Ayu steadying herself. "And the next time you do that, I'll have that hand. Now, where are my parents?"
"You insolent little…." he raised his hand to sweep down on her, but was caught in motion.
Thakur gasped, then turned around. He saw Sean standing behind him. The older man, looked ready to explode. His red beard and hair flared in the air; Sean had decided to strike.
Then he got a hold of himself.
"How dare you?" he asked. "How dare you attack an untrained child, for a cause that is not her fault."
"But sir she is Kali," Thakur pleaded.
"And a Kshatriya," Sean lifted the smaller man, holding his neck with one hand. "This is not the border. This is my school. And if you hurt another one of my students, you'll know why even the mention of my name, is enough to bend the spine of those heretics in the army."
"Now, go," he said as he slammed Thakur down on the ground.
The small man swiped out of the door, as afraid as Ayu had been, when the Asuras had chased her.
The queen found herself facing the headmaster of the Gurukul – the school of Kshatriya. The ginger haired man, looked at her amicably.
"Are you hurt child?" he asked.
Ayu didn't reply. She was busy forming an opinion of the man. The Queen was having a hard time at it.
"Are you hurt child?" he asked again. This time he looked more concerned.
"I have a name," said Ayu.
"Ah, yes of course," Sean said with a smile "Ayu was it?"
She nodded.
"Where are my parents?"
"My apologies child, they ..."
"Don't want to see me?" she interrupted.
Sean was silent for a time, and when he could not find words to relay the information without having Ayu pull a face at him, he said it quite bluntly.
"I fear it is much worse Ayu," said Sean
"They have disowned you."
"What?"
"Yes, my child. Though they can't take your name yet, only your Uncle can do it," said Sean with remorse "And he is not back from the border yet."
***************
"Wow, this one sucks," said Ayu gazing at her new residence.
"I agree Ayu, it is not a comfortable place," he said stepping inside the brick-built hostel.
"You see, every hostel must – in some way – represent the values of its Yuga," explained Sean. "For example, the hostel for Satyuga is a temple, because in Satyuga, the worship of Gods was most widespread."
"And Kaliyuga is yellow?" she asked, referring to the fact that everything in the hostel was coloured yellow.
She made her way to the first floor, using the stairwell, Sean followed.
"No," he said, chuckling. "I am sorry child but this hostel was made years ago, before my time as headmaster. And even then, it was made for the purpose of lip-service. No one ever believed that there will ever come a time when students, would actually occupy this building."
Having explored a bit of the first floor, she decided to take to the second level.
"Yeah, what's up with that?" Ayu asked, looking over her shoulder.
"What child?" asked Sean.
She didn't reply.
Ayu moved to the gallery of rooms, and when she had decided which one of the doors looked the least miserable, she pushed it open.
Derelict, she said to herself, describing the unused room. She ventured inside, noting the condition of the walls. It was bad. Just a cuboid with nothing in it except dust. At least, the room was en-suite, with a bathroom attached to it.
"Don't worry child, I'll have the whole place cleaned, and furnish it enough, that living here isn't impossible."
She looked at Sean for a moment before thanking him.
"Now, what was it you wanted to know?" asked Sean.
"Why does everyone hate us?" asked Ayu, with emotion apparent in her voice. "What's wrong with being Kali."
"Ah," Sean hesitated, then leaned back on a wall. "Do you know the layout of the Junction child?"
Ayu shook her head.
"Well imagine an emoji, the smiley," he said with a smile. "The outer circle represents the boundary of the junction. We are surrounded by big walls, that protect during invasions, and God knows we have a lot of those."
He chuckled. Ayu didn't share his zeal, nor did she appreciate his humour.
"Yes, now remove the smile from the smiley and draw two eyes in place of it," he said. "But draw them in such a manner that the lines joining the adjacent eyes would form a square.
"These four eyes represent four hostels, one for every Yuga. Satyuga is diagonally opposite to you, whereas the other houses are adjacent. Then there is a stadium in the very centre of the Junction, around it is buildings that will serve as your classrooms. And then there are…."
"Get to the point dude," said Ayu, suddenly very impatient.
"Yes, you see, for centuries, scholars have hypothesised the coming of Kalliyuga to the junction," Sean sighed "Every year, for last few centuries, we recruit thousands of children, chosen by the Yugas themselves…."
"Wait, you talk about Yugas like they are people" interrupted Ayu.
"Not people child, Gods," said Sean. "I am not allowed to reveal how we get the information about the candidature. But, since you have a right to know about your house, I'll tell you this. The occupancy of this place has been the nightmare for many people in the Junction."
"Some believe that you will be responsible for bringing Kali back."
"Back, isn't he around?"
"Not in a permanent body," said Sean. "Though he might have the power to possess bodies, it is not a permanent solution for him. His control fades over time."
"What do you mean?" she asked, trying to remember what she had learned of Kali in the cram school. Her memory was vague. But she had recently learned some things about the god of evil.
"It's just a hypothesis child and though there are ways of bringing the monster back, I doubt a resurrection could be achieved."
"So, it's all superstition?" she asked.
"Perhaps," admitted Sean. "But if somehow you do manage to bring back Kali.
"I'll myself slit the throat of everyone I care about."
"For, a knife is a way better fate than Kaliyuga in its entirety."
He grimaced before saying : "Be careful child, your fellow Kshatriyas will have a hard time accepting you. I don't think they will mistreat you, they are too disciplined for that. But, beware. There are some whose beliefs are rather radical. About some time ago, a rumour surfaced. A group, a radical group claimed to have ended one of Kali's followers.
"So, am I in danger?" she was genuinely concerned.
Sean flashed her a smile.
"Don't worry I'll protect you."
He is probably secretly evil or something, she wondered.