The Diana-Siraj Merged Soul ordered their army to stop moving. As they settled, Diana-Siraj Merged Soul grinned at them. "Well, look who's here. Isn't it our favorite boy and girl who also turned out to be Soulmates? Chitra had been interested in you and your Merged Soul. But if she learns that you are the Soulmate of Bhumi, she is going to be so enraged that I long to see your fate in her hands as soon as possible," they said.
Their voice was very disorienting. Both of their voice came at the same time, as if hey were speaking in harmony. Diana's growling voice made it grating on Ram's ears.
Ram was shocked to see that they are still stable. That meant he had given Chitra's group a very powerful edge, which they are going to use to it's full effect. "I thought you would've died at Chitra's hands. But it seems that you are lucky," Ram asked.
The Diana-Siraj Merged Soul growled. "Thank the Ultimate Soul that your stupid idea worked. Who would have thought that the main ingredient for becoming Stable Merged Soul is the love between the two of them?" they asked.
Ram sighed. "You do realize that Chitra forced the love between both of you using a mad solution of hers?" he said.
They shrugged. "We don't care how that happened. We love each other and that's more than enough. And what's more, she tweaked us in such a way that we will stay in our strong form forever. Don't you think it's great?" they asked, flexing their arms.
Ram frowned. He observed their form, one half that of Diana's and other half that of Siraj's. Ram had been in that form with Em plenty of times and it was not as great as they were thinking it would be. Chitra fooled them once again. And it seemed like they are completely loyal to her. Ram didn't want to be in their position even for a moment. "You meant to tell me that you are struck in this form forever, without ever being separated form each other, never get to see her, touch her, hug or, console her or …" he trailed off.
The Siraj-Diana Merged Soul chuckled. "It seems that you are still too naive. Even though what you said was true, it was also false in a way. We are able to feel each other through our Merged Soul connection and its more enjoyable than previous times," they said.
Ram tried to imagine their intimate encounters through Merged Soul Connection and he shuddered. He still believed physical presence is more helpful than the one that exists through Merged Soul Connection. After Em gained a physical body and even after becoming a living being through upgrades, Ram felt much closer to her. If only she would stop that foolish notion of hers that he was her Soulmate as well, everything would be great between them. But it seemed like she can't shake that notion of hers so soon and what Aunt Sheila told about Soulmates bond that can't be forced upon them didn't help the matter.
He tried to change Diana-Siraj's mind, trying to stall as much as possible so that he could reach Bhumi without them noticing.
Aunt Sheila silently moved towards Zola and others, who stopped fighting and focused on the new army as well.
Em stood in between them, staring at the army in defiance. Ram used their Merged Soul Connection and asked her to help Aunt Sheila. Em moved openly to help Aunt Sheila.
Ram increased his voice, hoping Diana-Siraj Merged Soul could focus only on him. "What shall we call both of you? It's too hard to even think about fixing your name in my mind. Why don't you ease it for me?" he asked.
The Diana-Siraj Merged Soul frowned. "We hadn't thought about that. Let me see…" they trailed off, their eyes glazed. They were conversing using their Merged Soul Connection. Their eyes cleared after a moment.
"Diraj? No it doesn't seem right. Why can't you help us?"
"You are asking me to help you with your name?"
"Why not?"
"So that you could hand me over to Chitra, despite being the fact that I got two of you together? Is that how it works?" he asked.
They frowned. As they were about to answer, they stiffened. It's as if they were being controlled by someone else. Probably Chitra. "That is how it works for now. Why don't you name us?" they asked, there was a hint of genuine warmth in their voice as they asked him.
Ram thought there might be something he could do to save them from Chitra. He didn't know what it was, but if he can find anything that can help him keep them off from attacking him everytime they meet, he would gladly take it.
He thought about mixing their names. Diana and Siraj. Which they already did. And Diraj was a very bad name.
Sid.
Anara.
Every one of their names was very awkward if he mixed them up. But what if he mixed it up with other letters?
Sandy.
Riana.
Rhiana.
Rajana.
That's it!
"Ranjana?" he asked them.
They thought about it for a moment and they smiled. It looked so genuine that Ram forgot for a moment that they hate him for putting them in that situation. "Ranjana it is. We like the way it sounds. If only we met under different circumstances, we would've become friends," they said.
Ram shook his head. He knew this was going to happen. But he already reached Bhumi. It was all that matters.
He put his hands around her and helped her stand on her feet.
Bhumi stiffened, looking at him with distrust at first. But as she realized that it was Ram, she visibly relaxed.
Ram didn't. The moment of distrust was enough to crush his heart. He never wanted to do anything that would make her distrust him or even hurt her.
Ranjana chuckled. "You thought that we are fools to focus on your talk while you trying to reunite with your companions?" they asked.
Ram thought his plan was flawless. But it was not. He sighed. "It seemed that you are more intelligent than I gave you credit for," he said.
"Thank you. But don't worry, we knew that you would move towards your Soulmate ever since we stepped in here, but we thought of giving you a chance before using our way. After all, you helped us Merge together and save our lives while Chitra clearly intended to dispose us at every chance she could, sending us to very dangerous missions. Our love for each other was what kept us alive till now along with Diana's help. Now that we are merged, we are more important to Chitra now than you can even imagine and I am grateful towards you for that," they said and produced Hypnotic Spheres. "Now that you are reunited with your Soulmate, I can start with my plan."
Ram frowned. "You are going to use Hypnotic Sphere's on us again?" he asked.
Ranjana froze. "You knew about them? I thought we masked your memories about anything that was related to hypnosis," they said.
"So it was you who was responsible for me forgetting the fact that I could do hypnosis," he said.
Ranjana chuckled. "It doesn't matter. You would watch as you fell under our spell. Be ready to be hypnotized where you would be enraged and develop distrust towards your companions in such a way that you would fight against yourselves," they said.
"Then why the big army? Are you afraid that you are going to lose to us?" he asked.
Ranjana shook her head. "You are a cunning little bastard with tricks up your sleeve. We have to be prepared for everything when we fight against you. We learned it the hard way it cost us the lives of Diana's companions, who were experts in their fields, who helped us stay alive as Chitra sent us towards crazy missions," they said.
Ram looked at his companions. They had already been strained. Bhumi and others were still hypnosis, with Anu and Manoj still down. Aunt El and Em would be helpless if Zola and the two guards fight against them. He had to help them.
He took another vial of The Potent Solva replica, and downed it in one gulp. He felt his body straining after consuming so many potent Soulva's in quick succession. He believed that his experience on getting inside Soulva was the only thing that was keep him alive.
"Even your solution of Soulva wouldn't help you. I would enjoy watching as you tear each other apart," Ranjana said, then threw The Hypnotic Spheres towards them.
Ram immediately poured his Soulfire in a swirling vortex in front of him, imagined the army lead by Ranjana and pushed it towards them. He threw even more Soulfire into it and the Hypnotic Spheres went through the portal and towards their army.
But couple of Hypnotic Sphere's flew over the portal and towards Zola and her gang.
Ram signaled Em and she knocked the distracted Zola first.
Aunt Sheila knocked the second one.
The third one faced the two of them, but the third guard had been under hypnosis recently and she was fighting relentlessly on top of that. She was tired while Aunt Sheila and Em were looking fresh and full of power. They took care of the third guard very easily.
Just as The Hypnotic Sphere landed, Ram called back Em towards him while Aunt Sheila erected a protective bubble around herself. But she forgot about Anu and Manoj, who seemed to recovered enough Soulfire that they stirred.
They woke up and took the full effect of Hypnotic Spheres. But they didn't attack each other immediately. There was no trace of distrust between them as Ranjana claimed. In fact, they moved closer to each other, looking over at Ranjana and her army with distrust. But they didn't make any move. There were faint traces of golden color in between there orange bodies. He thought it might be the the potent power of Soulmate Bond. It proved to Ram that the Soulmate Bond was something that was so powerful that it can't be affected even by using hypnosis.
Ram saw that some of Ranjana's army army inching towards the portal and he hastily closed it.
Ranjana struggled to contain their army as she was shouting orders at them. But it didn't help her even a little bit. Even some of them started to attack Ranjana instead. Even though Ranjana was powerful, she was facing an army of angry souls. She fell for her own trick.
Ram felt Bhumi move closer to him as Em stood by his side.
Bhumi glared at Em, who glared right back at her.
"What is she doing here?" Bhumi asked.
Ram realized that she was still under hypnosis and turned to her and kissed her on her lips.
She melted into it pretty quickly and he lost himself in it as well.
Only when Em put her hands on his shoulder did Ram realize they were under attack and let go of the kiss.
Ram panted as he leaned his forehead on Bhumi's ,who looked into his eyes. She was obviously struggling to control herself.
Ram found it even harder to control himself, but he had to. He leaned his head back and turned to look at the chaotic battle amongst Ranjana's army. He felt Bhumi do the same as well.
Ram soon found himself looking at Bhumi to see that she was also doing the same. He sighed and gave her a mild Vial of Soulva and she accepted it. While she was downing it, Ram struggled to focus his gaze away from her lips on the mouth of the vial. He wished that he was at the vial's place.
Ram heard cries nearby and saw that some of Ranjana's army entered the portal before it was closed by him and they were attacking Anu and Manoj, who looked like they could not hold it up much longer.
Ram cursed, then was about to merge with Em when Bhumi stopped them.
"Don't you think that you have to give me some explanation regarding you kissing Em?" she asked.
Em growled. "He is my Soulmate just like he is yours and nothing is going to change that fact. We have discussed this already. The sooner you get your head around that fact, the better it would be for the three of us," she said.
Bhumi glared at Em. "I am not willing to share Ram with anyone," she said.
Ram sighed.
He ignored both of them, consumed potent version of Soulva replica and transformed himself into an ant at first. He flew behind the four from Rannaja's army who are fighting against Anu and Manoj, turned himself into giant boar and pulled them away from Anu and Manoj. The enemies then immediately fought against each other, ignoring them.
Ram sighed, gave Anu and Manoj mild replica of Soulva as well. They thanked him, then moved towards Aunt Sheila. She expanded the protective bubble against two of them.
Ram noticed that Aunt Sheila forgot to include Zola and her squad inside the protective bubble and he pushed them closer towards the protective bubble. Aunt Sheila sighed and expanded the protective bubble towards them.
Ram then opened a portal towards Bharghav's Spire and was surprised at how easily and quickly he was able to do it. He came out of stupor and asked Aunt Sheila and others to move inside.
Aunt Sheila glanced at the knocked down guards and Ram sighed. "Sir, can you help us with Zola and her squad?" she asked to Bharghav.
Bharghav was startled at first, who clenched his fist and flames erupted around them. He recovered a moment later, unclenched his fist and dispersed the flame. He started to help Zola and her squad while Anu and Manoj stepped inside The Spire as well.
Ram turned back to see that Bhumi and Em were still arguing.
Ram sighed. "Give me a moment, while I sort the issue between the two of them," he said.
"I think you should advice your friend to stop coming in between the two of you," Bharghav said.
If only he knew how complex their situation was. But he nodded anyways and stepped in between Bhumi and Em.
Ranjana pushed past their army and glared at Ram with hatred. They consumed a vial of Soulva, probably from a potent one, and they were renewed instantly
Ram frowned. That was not possible. Diana was a being of Mountain World. "How was she able to renew as well?" Ram asked.
"What about your Merged Soul?" they questioned and ran towards Ram.
Ram sighed. He didn't have time to deal with the two of them. He know what he was about to do was dangerous, so he downed another vial of potent Soulva and opened a portal in front of Ranjana. It was that of the cave beside Soulva that sucks any essence nearby.
And they ran straight into it.
Ram could feel the scorching heat of The Soulva and he could feel his feet moving towards the portal as well.
Ram felt Bhumi and Em's hands on him and shook his head. He glared at Ranjana. They were struck to The Cave and were cursing at him.
Ram hastily closed the portal, taking back as much Soulfire as he can. But a device still flew past the portal, before it was closed completely and fell between the three of them.
A female voice came through the device, followed by a chuckle. "My, my. I didn't think that my enemy's daughter would be the one to become my successor. I would've liked it if my daughter was the one to be it. But it doesn't matter. It has already happened. Congratulations to the three of you for becoming each other's Soulmate. I should have interfered earlier, but I thougth of giving another chance to Ranjana. Nice name isn't it? Let's focus on the three of you. You will be sent to a place that might be a boon to you if you listen to me. Otherwise, it will be the bane of your existence and can also hurt her father. The choice is up to you," the female voice said.
The device rose in the air as it vibrated, followed by a whine. Multicolored light rose all around them, which was intensifying with every passing moment. Black spots danced across his vision and soon it was consumed by blackness.