The inside of Bharghav's room was instantly turned into a huge dancing area. Ram didn't get to see how the room looked like before Bharghv removed every item and moved them somewhere with a snap of his fingers.
A few moments later, The chubby female guard along with her squad, Anu and Manoj along with some others entered the room. They dressed in their ninja overalls, but they were cheering for Bhumi and Ram.
"Yay! Finally, we get to date and out in open," someone yelled.
"No you are not," The Chubby female leader said.
"But Zola, this is unfair," someone from her squad said.
"We have to be more vigilant now than ever," she said.
The rest of her squad grumbled while Zola remained relentless.
Bhargahv chuckled. "Why don't you relax at least in here? Do you think I will let anything happen to her?" he asked.
Zola shook her head. "No sir, I am just doing my duty. I can never ever relax. You were the one who drilled it into me back then," she said.
"And look where it gotten you. The only regret I had after my wife died was you and Anu. I shouldn't have been too harsh on you when I trained you along with others, especially when you were as young as my daughter. Both of you took it more personally than others. At least, Anu had a Soulmate. What about you? You rejected many who are willing to be with you," he said.
Zola shook her head. "But none of them are my Soulmates. Besides, until we eliminate our enemies, I cannot relax," she said.
Bharghav sighed. "I am really at fault here," he said.
"It's not your fault father. Others changed. It's just Anu and Zola. I wish Zola will also find her Soulmate soon," Bhumi said.
Aunt Sheila cleared her throat. "Maybe she is not interested in males?" she suggested.
Bharghav looked thoughtful. "I think that might be the case. I will spread the word around for any female who are interested in Zola," he said.
Zola shook her head. "I will not let anything interfere my purpose. To protect Bhumi at all costs. And my Soulmate could interfere with my purpose. I have already seen how Bhumi softens when it comes to Manoj and how she had to split her focus on protecting him and Bhumi during their missions. I will not repeat the same mistake as them. Moreover, if my mother had been on the watch just like she was supposed to on the day your wife died, she would've prevented you from going overboard. But no, she went all the way to please her Soulmate. And look where it lead to," she said.
Bharghav sighed. "It's not your mother's fault. It's mine. I should have control over my powers. It is one mistake that I has been haunting me ever since it happened. Please don't add on top of that. You should learn to relax a little bit every now and then," he said.
Zola didn't relent.
Ram thought about how relentless his Aunt El has been as she dodged her elder sister's attempts of getting her settled. At that time, he thought it was because she was not interested in love as all she seemed to care about was raise him. Even though it was the truth, Ram remembered the real reason after he met with Aunt Sheila. It was because she already has a Soulmate. She was waiting for Aunt Sheila at the same time, torn to protect Ram. Maybe Zola was also the same? "Did you already found a Soulmate, but your duty came in between the two of you?" Ram asked.
Zola sighed. "Where did you get that trash idea? I had been diligently working on improving myself so that I can protect Bhumi with everything I possess. Where do you think I get time to socialize enough to find love?" she asked.
Ram thought about how he met Bhumi. "All it takes for you to find your Soulmate is a moment. It might happen in the middle of your mission, just like it did with Bhumi and me. And I didn't realize what it was until I saw Bhumi surrounded by all of you. Something snapped inside of me and all I had in my mind was that I should protect her no matter what the cost," he said.
Zola frowned. "Thanks for helping me reaffirm my belief. I will never ever find a Soulmate till we remove the threat of Chitra and Chola. Even if I did find one, I will be blissfully ignorant of it," she said.
Ram shook his head. "Anu is better compared to her," he said.
Bharghav sighed. "Talking with you had given me some hope. She might have already seen her Soulmate. I will check with her and others regarding her missions and see if I could identify whether she had a Soulmate or not," he said.
"I had small doubt. I don't know whether I could ask it or not," Ram said.
Bharghav nodded.
"I had been really adamant of not acknowledging the love I had for Bhumi. Heck, I even saw Bhumi was in danger once and …" Ram trailed off as he realized that he lost his memory as he saw Bhumi about to be attacked by Chitra's Agent.
He turned to Aunt Sheila. "Something like this happened earlier didn't it? I went to protect her and that's when Bhumi started to act stranger towards me. Why did I forgot it back then and not now?" he asked.
Aunt Sheila shook her head. "I don't know," she said.
They both turned to look at Bharghav expectantly. He was powerful and knowledgeable. He would have an answer for that. "You should not have forgotten about it the first time. It meant that your situation is more complex than The Soulmate bond. And I only came across case like this once in my life and I didn't like how the souls that involved ended with. I hope yours was not the same. Can you explain it in detail?" he asked.
Ram started to be nervous. Bharghav loved his daughter. He still didn't know that Ram was a Merged Soul. Did the case he encountered to was also a merged soul? And he mentioned that it didn't ended well for them? Was he responsible for the situation?
Ram didn't know. He didn't want to strain the father-daughter relationship because of himself. "I believe that The Crazy Twins interference impacted my memory," he said.
Bharghav relaxed. "I cannot exactly tell what they were thinking. But I warn you that you should not trust them so easily," he said.
Ram knew that The Crazy Twins were related to one of them present at that time. Until he know more details, he can't jump into conclusions and put Bharghav on edge. "I will heed to your advice. Thank you," he said.
Bharghav nodded. "Enough wasting of time. It's time for celebration. To Ram and Bhumi, may they live a long, blissful life together," he said.
"To Ram and Bhumi, may they share the love Ella and I had, but don't get separated just like we did," Aunt Sheila said.
"To Ram and Bhumi. May they be more open minded and enjoy their life," Em said.
Bharghav nodded at Em.
Em stiffened.
Bharghav frowned, looked at Ram.
"She is afraid of you," he said.
Bharghav shook his head. "I hope you can be yourself in my presence," he said.
Em nodded, but she was trembling.
Bharghav sighed. "Well, I will make sure I will not interrupt you then," he said. "To Ram and Bhumi," he said, raising his fist in the air. Orange flame erupted above his fist, glowing brightly.
Others repeated the same.
Bhumi strode towards Ram as she glanced at the display of flame above everyone's fist. "It's beautiful," she said.
Ram nodded. "It is. And your father seemed to care a lot about you," he said.
Bhumi held his hand. "I am grateful for that. But he can be a little bit overbearing," she said.
Ram thought about Em, Aunt Sheila, Aunt El and heck, even Bhumi as they proclaimed to protect him out of their love for him. He smiled at her. "I can understand," he said.
Bharghav deposited his flame onto a Sphere. It held the flame in it, at the same time, it was giving illumination from the flame to outside. It must be an alloy of Altron and Obsidian.
Bharghav gave it to others and they fed their their flame to it and the Sphere was glowing brightly. Bharghav took the Sphere back and pressed on it. Immediately, filters appeared around the Sphere and the illumination coming form the Sphere turned from orange into multicolored light.
Bharghav pressed The Sphere one more time and the device rose in the air, flying high above everyone. The Sphere rotated in the air, and the entire room was covered in shifting multicolored light and it reminded Ram of the pubs in his world. But the natural brightness in the room dimmed the multicolored light.
Bharghav frowned. "Sorry, my bad. Let me fix a small mistake I made so that this party would become even more lively," he said.
He then snapped his fingers and the room slipped into darkness, the only light provided was from the Sphere which really reminded Ram of the pubs in his world.
Soft music played in the background, instead of fast beats that was common in pubs.
"Are you surprised?" Bharghav asked.
Ram shook his head.
Bharghav frowned. "I thought seeing something from your world might surprise you," he said.
Ram thought about the weirdness he saw in his life ever since me accidentally killed Ekachakra, The Old Man who was also Aunt El's father. And the events that happened afterwards, with him slowly learning the truth about himself. Compared to them, seeing the pub environment was not so surprising. "I get used to seeing strange things in life pretty quickly. And seeing the pub environment here was not so strange," he said.
Bharghav sighed. "Forgive for my tardiness. Your arrival was so sudden that I did not have enough time to prepare proper surprises. I will make sure to surprise you during your next visit. But for now, the music is calming and recently you realized that you are my daughter's Soulmate. Why don't you increase the bond between the two of you by dancing. I taught her dancing not only from your world, but also according to other customs as well," Bharghav suggested.
"I don't know how to dance," Ram said.
Bhumi seemed excited. "I can't wait to teach you various moves that I have learned form my father. Some moves are so twisting and complex that only the Soulform and other similar ones would be able to achieve them," she said.
Manoj interrupted. "Even I don't know how, but I follow Anu and she will handle everything. Why don't you do the same?" he said.
Anu grumbled. "You should be more ashamed of yourself. Can't you at least pretend that you are a good dancer?" she said.
Manoj chuckled. "We should be honest at all the times, even when we are with our enemies," he said.
Ram thought about a mythology figure he heard from Aunt El. "There was a story about Sathya Harishchandra who always told the truth in his life. You kind of remind me of him, but while the one from the tale was too serious, you are too cheerful," he said.
Manoj bowed. "I don't know who you are talking about, but I understood that you are praising me. Thank you," he said.
Anu shook her head. But she put her palms in Manoj's and guide him to a slow dance.
"Go on, just follow Manoj's advice and you will be fine. It would be better for your body if you actually learn to dance though," Bharghav said.
"I will try my level best," Ram said.
Bharghav nodded walked away.
Ram stepped towards Bhumi, put his hands on hers.
Bhumi frowned. "Not like this," she said, then she guided one of his arm such that it encircled her back. She held his other palm in hers and moved closer to each other such that there was barely any distance between them.
Ram's heart beat faster as he focused on her blue eyes. Her inheritance form Water World.
Bhumi's heart also beat faster as if in response to his. She seemed excited. Her body became a darker orange. Ram realized that his body also became the same.
Bhumi then moved in tune to the music, guiding Ram in a slow dance. Ram stumbled horribly, stepping on her legs many times.
She ignored it, seemed to enjoy his missteps. But Ram hated to hurt her in any way.
He turned his legs into wisps of smoke and Bhumi did the same.
With the chance of them stepping on each other's was eliminated, they danced to their hearts contents.
At some point of time, Ram forgot about everything else and focused only on Bhumi. He didn't know what changed his opinion. Back then he had been so adamant that he didn't deserve a Soulmate and tried to convince himself and others that he did not have a crush on Bhumi.
But as he saw others gang up on her, something broke. When he saw the blood on her face that's it.
He was merged with Em as he saw Bhumi inside The Spire, and learned that she was not really in danger, Ram realized that the way he looked at her was similar to how Em looked at him as she gained her upgrades. He knew that Bhumi was his Soulmate. He had just been avoiding it.
But he still had yet to acknowledge their bond. He was not ready to take the next step yet. He will do it once their debacle with Chitra was over.
"What?" Bhumi asked, worriedly.
"Nothing," Ram said. He dipped his head and kissed her fully on her lips. Bhumi seemed surprised, but she kissed him back.
He could hear others swooning, some taunting them.
He ignored them at first, but it became pretty annoying and Ram had to stop kissing her.
When he felt the seething gaze from Em, Ram sighed. "Can we switch partners?" he asked.
Bhumi glared at him. "Are you going to dance with her?" she asked.
Ram nodded. "I will have to give time for her to get used to her new upgrades. But don't worry. I will also dance with Aunt Sheila after I danced with her," he said.
Bhumi finally relented.
Ram walked up to Em.
Em perked up. "Are you really going to do what I am thinking you are going to do?" she asked.
Ram groaned. "In a way I am, but at the same time I am not," he said.
Em frowned. She activated their Merged Soul connection so that only they can hear what they are talking with each other. "You are not going to kiss me?" she asked.
Ram sighed. "I knew you would be having such dirty thoughts. I already said that I will give time for your to accept to your new powers. And besides, you got a body of your own. You should also get a life of your own," he said.
"We are Merged Souls. That meant we are struck forever. Heck, we have access to each others thoughts. We spent more time together since your childhood than you did with Bhumi. You were even so against my suggestion as I asked you to date her. How can you change so suddenly?" she asked.
"What about you? You were suggesting me to go out with her. Which I just started and you want me to stop it now?" he asked.
Em shook her head. "No, Ram. I don't want you to stop dating her or acknowledge her as your Soulmate. You are also my Soulmate in a way. You should also give me what you give to her and that includes kissing," she said.
Ram shook his head. "No, Em. You know I cannot be Soulmate for both of you," he said.
"Why not?"
"There hasn't been a mention of it anywhere in this world. Ad besides, it feels weird. Why can't we just stop talking about it? Why don't we focus on you adjusting to your upgrades quicker? I promise I will help you to find your real Soulmate," he said.
Em glared at him. "No, You are my Soulmate whether you want it or not. I am willing to share you with her. But she is not. It is both of you who needs to adjust with it and not me. You said we don't have records of three being Soulmates of each other? Have you forgotten about Lord Shiva? Did you think of him as a myth? His third eye was Ganga, his other half was Parvathi. That's what we are going to be. I can be your Ganga, while she can be your Parvathi," she said.
Ram groaned. "No, Em. It's just a myth. Don't bring mythology into it for your convenience. We are not meant to be like this. You gaining a new body changes everything. All we have to do was make you have obtain Well of Power like Soulfire and others of your own so that you are no longer dependent of my Soulfire or it's equivalent. Remember that you can have a body in all the worlds that exist, like the being of that world. But I can't. You should focus on that fact as you look for your Soulmate," he said.
Em stopped dancing, stepped on his legs and yelled at him such that others could hear her. "I get it. You don't want to see me. I will disappear from your sight," she said, then walked away from him.
Ram sighed. "Em, it's not like that," he said.
Em didn't listen to him.
Bharghav frowned. "What's wrong with her?" he asked.
Ram shook his head. "She has been my close friend. She was afraid that me finding my Soulmate will ruin our friendship," he said.
Bharghav stiffened, his eyes filled with darkness only for a moment and disappeared after that. He looked at Ram more thoroughly. "There's more it it than you are letting on right?" he asked.
Ram nodded reluctantly.
"Can't you tell me what your problem is? I am also knowledgeable and with many connections. I think I can help you," he said.
Ram was about to tell him when Bhumi interrupted them. "Father, it's something silly. You don't have to worry about it. I will deal with it myself," she said.
Bharghav shook his head. "Can you believe her? Just because she found a Soulmate she acts like she is all knowledgeable," he said.
Aunt Sheila chuckled. "Well, you can't blame them exactly, why don't we let them handle this matter as I have few more questions that I would like to ask you about?" she asked.
Bharghav reluctantly agreed. "Fine, let's get on with it," he said.
Ram nodded gratefully at Aunt Sheila and as he turned towards Bhumi, she was already talking with Em.
Ram tired to listen to them using their merged soul connection. But it didn't work. Em blocked him.
Ram hoped they are not going to make the situation worse than it already is.