They had been staring at The Spire for almost an hour. Chitra's Agents were getting impatient, but they stayed mostly silent.
Vama was pacing back and forth, but he stopped suddenly in front of Ram. "When are you going to make your move?" he asked.
Ram was already merged with Em few minutes after they arrived in front of The Spire of Bharghav. He held Aunt Sheila's hand immediately after that and continued to stare at The Spire.
The Spire seemed larger at the base. But as it progressed further, it's circumference decreased. It seemed more like a gigantic cone from nearby. But it didn't look silly. It looked as majestic as Bharghav's statue that was there in front of it. It seemed to be made out of Orange Soulire and Ram almost thought it was alive.
Bharghav seemed to rise his fist in air, like he had seen in 3D holographic image an hour ago in Vama's base. His eyes seemed to be lively and kind, filled with determination and hope.
It inspired Ram just as he looked at the statue. It's no wonder that many Living Souls would visit The Spire daily to see him in person. Even he wanted to get a glimpse of Bharghav.
Ram shook his head. He reminded his mission. The one that Aunt Sheila told him, not the one that Chitra wanted. He wanted to get this over with, follow Aunt Sheila's plan to enter The Spire, and make it seem like he stole The Soul Bead.
But he didn't anticipated them to take Aunt Sheila as a prisoner. He was afraid for Aunt Sheila. He didn't want to leave her alone.
Em used their Merged Soul connection. "Nothing is going to happen to her. In fact, there is a surprise to you inside of The Spire. Let's get this over with," she said.
Ram frowned. "Is this about what you and Aunt Sheila discussed with Bhumi, her friends and The Crazy Twins inside The Sound Barrier?" he asked.
"Kind of, at the same time, it was not. It's very complex to explain. Why don't we make a move so that we could get this over with?" she suggested once again.
Ram shook his head. "I am afraid that they are going to go back on their words and do something to Aunt Sheila. If that were the case, then I don't know if I can ever show my face to Aunt El," he said.
Em sighed. "Ram, trust me on this. Let's infiltrate The Spire and everything will be clear to you," she said.
"You promise nothing was going to happen to Aunt Sheila?" he asked.
Em nodded.
Ram sighed, he turned towards Aunt Sheila and hugged her for long time.
Aunt Sheila sighed. "It's alright. I am more competent than I look. If he has something funny planned, he will meet his demise sooner," she said.
Vama groaned. "I knew you were women belonging to dangerous category just like Chitra and the highly secretive Bharghav's daughter. I even begged Chitra not to assign me to you, but she quoted my brother, Veera to me. Look where it got him? Dead. I can promise that none of us are going to even touch her while you are on your mission over there. I know how difficult and impossible your task is going to be, at least make sure that you search The Spire as thoroughly and meet us back over here. We will deal with the rest of it," he said.
Ram hugged Aunt Sheila tighter for a moment and broke the hug.
He glared at Vama, who shook his head.
Ram then turned himself into small ant and flew towards The Spire.
He went past several guards that were wearing dark green ninja overalls with shafts in their hands. They guarded the entrance with vigilance.
Now that he was so close to them, he could see that the guards have a small bar over their chests, with two Orange Soulfire symbol glowing out of 5.
Does it represent their ranks?
Ram didn't know.
He shook his head and stepped inside. He was immediately met with the huge crowd of Orange Souls waiting for the appearance of Bharghav.
They were discussing amongst themselves about how great Bharghav was and what he was going to impart to him today.
Ram was not interested in that. But he reminded his mission once again, shook his tiny head and flew over the Orange souls, towards the spiral staircase.
It was also guarded by two guards in dark green overalls. They had 3 Orange Soulfire Symbol lit in the bar across their chest.
There was definitely ranks amongst them, probably belonging to security. The more Orange Soulfire symbol that were lit, the more powerful they might be. Ram decided to be careful whenever he came across guards with more glowing Orange Soulfire Symbol on the bars across their chest.
He flew past them, but one of the guard seemed to notice him. The first guard brought his hand and was about to smash Ram.
Ram turned away even faster. His tiny heart was pounding.
"Did you hear that?" the first guard who tried to smash Ram, asked.
The second guard frowned. "I didn't hear anything. Stop distracting me from doing my job," he said.
"I am not trying to distract you. I definitely felt like someone just went past us," the first guard said.
The second guard chuckled. "You were daydreaming. If someone has the ability to turn themselves invisible, then I would've believed you. But you know that's not possible. Just focus on guarding the Spiral Stairway so that we will not anger our leader," he said.
The first guard frowned, but nodded.
Ram stayed still the entire time. Only when they went back to guarding did he left form there.
They went past several floors and Ram was shocked to see that they are exactly what Vama's 3D Holographic Projections showed. But the order was different.
He first saw a vast library. Next was the garden with mini-waterfall followed by one floor filled with entertainment section, one floor representing market are. On and on it went.
Ram ignored everything, but stopped as he reached a floor where he saw many guards training.
Many present here held small staff in their hands. They bowed to one without a staff in their hands. He must be their teacher and the guards that were bowing must be his students.
The students bar across their chest was devoid of any glowing Orange Soulfire.
But the teacher has 4 Orange Soulfire glowing brilliantly.
Ram decided to be even more careful of them.
The teacher was teaching the students on how to use the small staff in a one-to-one combat and Ram was reminded of the time he was trained by Em.
Which he completely ruined as he angered Em so much so that she left him and went inside Hotel Pleasure & Privacy.
He should have listened to Em, but he didn't. One thing lead to another and here he was.
The only good thing was that he was reunited with Aunt Sheila and he was not going to change that for anything.
Now she was in danger and he should get this over with, along with the surprise that Em promised him, so that he can save Aunt Sheila.
He left the floor and moved towards the next floor one where he saw several souls ganging up on someone.
Ram couldn't see who it was, but his heart was beating faster and faster.
Em urged him to let go of it, but he ignored her. He felt as if someone important to him was over there and he should save her no matter what.
The figure in center pushed her staff against the ones that were pressing down on her and strained. With a final roar, she threw their staff away.
The ones attacking her stumbled backwards and he saw that their bar across the chest was lit with 5 Orange Soulfire.
Ram swallowed.
When he saw Bhumi panting as she looked warily at her attackers, his heart sped faster. He became even more worried as he saw faint tracers of slimy orange blood trailing across her temples and jaws.
Ram felt rage bubble inside his heart.
One female guard, a chubby one, made the first move and others followed her suit and attacked Bhumi all at once.
Bhumi looked like she was going to fall down at any moment.
As their staffs connected with Bhumi's, her hand trembled and the staff slipped from her fingers.
Ram's heart froze.
He felt something broke inside of him.
He flew into rage mode as he turned into his usual self.
With a roar, he moved toward Bhumi, pushing whoever was in his path.
He even tried to push the chubby female guard who seemed to be their leader. But she was so strong that she pushed him back.
Ram stumbled to his side. The guard immediately crouched, swept her staff over his ribs.
Ram turned his legs into wisp of smoke and flew in air diagonally, the chubby female leader's staff swept past harmless over the air.
The chubby guard lost balance and toppled.
Ram flew over her, stood in front of Bhumi and stood over her protectively. He turned himself into his human form and observed her for any signs of harm.
Ram was surprised to see that except for her face, with was streaked orange blood, she was alright.
But she was obviously exhausted. But his heart was still filled with worry. "Are you alright?" he asked her.
Bhumi froze as she saw him looking at her with concern.
The Chubby female guard roared and hit Ram from the back.
Ram decreased his size, took Bhumi's hands and tried to take her along with him.
Bhumi was frozen in shock and Ram was pulled back.
The chubby guard roared and fell on top of him, ordering the ones around her to get a hold of him.
Ram gasped as he was under their collective weight and he struggled to free himself.
"You are under arrest for trying to kidnap Princess Bhumi," the chubby female guard said.
Ram stared at her, then at Bhumi in horror.
Princess Bhumi?
Does that meant that she was the infamous and dangerous daughter of Bharghav that Vama warned him against.
Bhumi seemed embarrassed as the chubby female guard addressed her as Princess.
She cleared her throat as she stared at Ram.
"Did you think that were ganging up on me and came over to save me?" she asked.
Ram nodded.
Bhumi seemed so happy that she just stared deep into Ram's eyes.
Ram also stared at her eyes. There was a strong pull between them as he was mesmerized by her ocean blue eyes.
So far as he had seen, every one of The Living Soul possessed Orange eyes, but Bhumi had blue eyes. It seemed right on her. They contained a depth that Ram could get lost himself into.
As he stared her more and more, his heart beat faster. Her heart beat as if in response to his.
He felt his face heat up.
Bhumi's face flushed. Her whole body glowed darker Orange.
He heard someone calling for him, but he ignored them.
He stared deep into her eyes. His feet moved on their own accord and stood in front of her. He was so close to her that if he moved even a little bit, he would kiss her.
He was about to lean in a little bit when Em took control of his body and flew back, away from Bhumi.
"I would appreciate it if you do this when we are alone," Em said in Ram's voice.
Ram stared at Bhumi in horror. "What just happened?" he asked.
It was the chubby female leader who responded. "Are you… are you her… Soulmate?" she asked.
Soulmate?
Ram stared at Bhumi once again. Her face, her eyes, her nose and her lips. He was so attracted to her that he want to kiss her forever. It was even more than what he felt like when he saw Sandhya.
Since Em was merged with him for now, he got some of her memories. He felt like what Em felt as she gained sensation of touch and pain and saw him for the first time.
Ram shook his head as he stared at Bhumi. There was no denying of it.
"You are my Soulmate," he said to Bhumi.
Bhumi trembled, stumbling backwards.
Anu and Manoj appeared by her side and supported her. "Are you alright?" Anu asked her.
Bhumi didn't responded to them.
She just stared at Ram.
The chubby female leader squealed at the top of her lungs. "If our leader were to learn that his daughter had found his Soulmate, he would be over the moon," she screamed.
The guards around them also grew excited as they chattered amongst.
Manoj groaned. "Can you celebrate it silently. We have to keep this as a secret. And remember to alert only our leader and no one else," he said. He then glanced the guards surrounding him. "And all of you make sure that you will keep this as a secret. We know since long back that our ranks were infiltrated with Chitra's agents. We don't want them to find out Bhumi's identity as well as her Soulmate's. It would be dangerous for both of them."
The chubby female leader looked reluctant, but she nodded. "I am so excited for you," she said, giving Bhumi a bear hug.
Bhumi still didn't respond. She just stared at Ram.
Ram frowned. "Is she alright?" he asked.
Manoj looked at Bhumi, then at Anu. They both nodded to each other.
Manoj turned towards Ram once again. "Let's talk somewhere else," he said.
Others parted way for them and they moved towards another set of Spiral Stairs that was so dark that Ram wouldn't have identified it if Manoj didn't point it to him.
They stepped on the spirals, with Anu supporting Bhumi and Ram and Manoj just right behind her.
Manoj poured his Soulfire inside the small jar and the spiral stairs rose. The spiral twisted, but they didn't twist along with it. But it felt disorienting as he stared at them.
It reminded Ram of the crazy machines back in his world that were built across water parks and theme parks. He wondered if the other spiral stairs he found inside The Spire were also similar to this.
It stopped moving as it deposited them inside a floor that only has one giant room.
Anu nudged Bhumi, who didn't respond. She sighed, then turned towards Ram. "Can you separate your A.I. and talk to her?" she asked.
Ram nodded and did as she asked.
Em grumbled as she stared at Bhumi. Ram gave a blank stare at her and she grumbled even more.
Manoj looked at both of them bemusedly. "She seemed different from last time we met her. Did she get upgraded like The Twins told us about?" he asked.
Ram frowned, but nodded. "What did you speak with The Twins? Did you also know who they were? Did she also?" he asked, pointing towards Bhumi.
Manoj nodded. "But it was not our truth to tell you. They said they would reveal it to you when time was appropriate," he said.
"Then why did they revealed it to you?" he asked.
Manoj shook his head. "I can't tell you," he said.
Anu interrupted them. "Don't try to grill him. I know that you are aware his weakness. He is honest to a fault. I will not let you harm in anyway. You will have to talk to me if you want to know anything," she said. "And I am not going to reveal what we learned from Twins without Bhumi's permission."
Ram sighed. "How should I wake her up from her daze?" he asked.
Anu frowned. "I thought you knew about it since you acknowledged through words that she was your Soulmate. Besides, your situation is very different from mine and I can't help you in this matter," she said, glancing at Em.
Ram shook his head. He went to take Bhumi in his arms and hugged her.
Bhumu immediately hugged him harder. As if she was afraid that she was going to lose him if she let him go.
Ram was struggling, but when Anu glared at him, he resigned to his fate and tried to hug her with equal enthusiasm.
"Bhumi…. Bhumi…" he called for her.
She didn't woke up from her daze.
Ram looked helplessly towards Anu.
Anu frowned.
He glanced at Manoj, who shook his head.
Finally, that left him with asking Em. "Em, do you know what we should be doing?" he asked.
Em grumbled, but she nodded. "But I don't like it," she said.
Ram groaned. "Em, if you know something that was going to make Bhumi alright, then tell us quickly. I am afraid something is going to happen to her if I don't help her," he said.
Em glared at him. "You were so against this Soulmate thing. Even when I confessed, you agreed to be patient with me and wait for me to come to my terms, but you didn't accept me as your Soulmate. You already kissed me, even though accidentally, and you have not even kissed her—"
She was interrupted by Bhumi, whose eyes gained sharp focus. She glared at Em, then hugged him even harder. Ram was finding it difficult to breath when Bhumi loosened the hug.
She then stared Ram deep into his eyes, then at his lips. She leaned forwards and kissed him fully on his lips.
She kissed him for a long time.
Ram couldn't stop himself even if he wanted to.
He kissed her back with equal force.
He was contended, felt a sort of completeness that he didn't realized he lacked earlier and he kissed her even more.
When he felt like he was about to lose consciousness because of lack of air, he broke the kiss.
He was panting as he leaned his forehead on hers and stared into her blue eyes.
He was so mesmerized by it that he could get lost in them.
They broke apart after a long time.
Bhumi stood in front of him, looking at Em with contempt. "I forbade you from even thinking about him in such a way. He has already acknowledged our bond. Don't interfere with us," she said.
Em frowned.
Bhumi then studied Em. "It seemed like you also became a living being. It would be better if you don't interfere with us," she said.
Em glared at Bhumi. "Just like he was your Soulmate, Ram was mine as well. But what we share is not something that you can understand. It is not something that you can come in between. We knew each other since his childhood. I will not interrupt with your love life. At the same time, I will try to control myself, but I can't promise myself. I have recently gotten these upgrades and I require some time to adjust to it," she said.
Ram stared at the two of them. "I just acknowledged that you are my Soulmate. I didn't acknowledge our bond. And if you wanted me to part with her, I will not ever do it. She is my Merged Soul and you will have to accept both of us," he said.
Bhumi glared at him. "I am not willing to share you with anyone. Even with an A.I.," she said.
Ram swallowed. She reminded him of himself as he tried to come in between Aunt El and Aunt Sheila during his childhood. "Our situation is more complex than others. I think it requires discussion along with the mentor of The Twins. Until then, why don't we let go of hostility. We have a mission to accomplish. My aunt is in danger," he said.
Bhumi's gaze softened. "What happened to her?" she asked.
Ram was about to answer when Em interrupted them. "I think it's time for us to tell her the truth. Everything about you," she said.
Ram swallowed. "Do I have to?" he asked.
Em nodded.
"Even them?" he asked, pointing towards Anu and Manoj, who were looking at him.
Ram sighed and he told them about himself without leaving anything.
When he was done, Anu seemed to be on edge. She glared at Ram. "How dare you try to fool us till now?" she asked, summoning her glowing Orange spear.
Manoj sighed, placed his hands on her shoulders. "I will take care of her. Why don't you discuss what you have to, as it seemed even more private?" he asked.
Ram nodded gratefully at him.
Once they left, Ram turned his gaze to Bhumi, who seemed to be on the edge of tears. "I didn't know you suffered this much. I will make sure no one is going to take advantage of you any longer," she said.
Ram groaned. Why did he keep on involving himself with women who wants to be overprotective of him?
He shook his head. They have an important task at their hands and they can discuss about other issues later. "I have to get my hands on The Soul Bead to see what it looks like. I will merge with Em and create a replica of it after that. We will show it to Vama and other agents, rescue Aunt Sheila, then part from them. Meanwhile, We are going to organize a group with your help and attack their bases," he said, looking excitedly at them.
Bhumi frowned. "I have the Soul Bead with me. I can give it to you. Why should you merge with her? And can you stop merging with her frequently. It makes me angry," she said.
Ram shook his head. He could get why Vama didn't like long-term relationships. "If the real Soul Bead somehow gets to Chitra's hands, then god knows is was going to happen. If I merge with Em, create a replica of it, we would be on edge," he said.
Bhumi agreed reluctantly. "You are not surprised that I have The Soul Bead?" she asked.
Ram shook his head. "Vama already informed that you might possess The Soul Bead," he said.
Bhumi nodded.
Ram remembered that Aunt Sheila and Em promised a surprise for him in The Spire. "Your identity and your help was the surprise that my aunt was suggesting right?" he asked.
Bhumi nodded.
"What was so different now? How come I am able to accept you as my Soulmate more?" he asked.
Bhumi shook her head.
Ram turned to Em.
Em looked at the both of them in annoyance.
Ram sighed. He then remembered Bhumi's reaction inside The Sound Barrier. "Then why were you so angry back then?" he asked.
Bhumi glared at Em. "I will not share you with anyone, even with your friends and relatives. I want all of your love to myself," she said.
Ram definitely saw himself in her. She will come around it eventually, just like he did with Aunt El and Aunt Sheila. He hoped she would be just like him. "Can we proceed with my Aunt's plan?" he asked.
Bhumi and Em agreed.