Here in the hall of the Sun palace, Chhaya's body was in extreme pain as Surya's overbearing power rampaged throughout her body but her heart was sweet as if she just ate honey. She held in the arms of a man she was in love with since she was born, holding sign of their love, a newborn in her hand.
She always feared that when he find out about her truth he might abandon her, Ignore her existence, or be outright disgusted by her actions but she never thought that even after he find's out about it, he show this much concern towards her, Her eyes filled with tears. She felt like crying but not because of excruciating pain in her body but because of an overload of happiness.
She looked up at the man, Who she stole her heart the moment she saw him. At this moment his face was stone-cold without any emotions, Giving a very dangerous vibe to people but she could see that in his eyes was love and concern for her. She was happy that he still did not abandon her but also sad that she hurt him so much.
Then she hears a call from Sandhya asking Surya to stop. As Surya stopped she came toward them. When Chhaya looked at her supposed sister, Her heart filled with guilt. She interferes with her happy family but if she gets one more chance to change, She will make the same decision without any doubt. She was only felt guilty that her action hurt Sandhya but she is not guilty about her actions themselves.
She remembers after giving her name what happened, As she fell into those memories.
"Yeah Chhaya, You look exactly like me so no one will suspect you, It's just your complexion that has to change."
Sandhya looked up and down at Chhaya and spoke this, Chhaya also looked up at her with worry as she was afraid, She can't able to fulfil the first task given to her.
"Don't worry, I have a solution."
Seeing her worry, Sandhya took her in a warm gentle hug like a big sister, Assuring her that she has a way. She raised her hand and a massive twilight-colored globe of power core appeared in front of them.
"You!! what do you want to do?"
Chhaya asked in horror. She though, just born, had all the necessary knowledge of gods from birth. She looked at the power core emitting uncanny beauty in front of her.
The knowledge she inherited tells her that this is the divine core of a godly being. The most powerful and yet most vulnerable part of the gods. This is where all their godly/divine power is stored. Gods always protect this core more then their life because if this core is destroyed though they don't die as they drink the Amrit (elixir of immortality), they surely will fall into Samsara and have to go through the cycle of reincarnation all over again until they gain enough good Karma to achive godhood again.
"You will see, Come on, take out your core."
Sandhya said very casually to her, Chhaya looked at her core floating in front of her without any protection. If she moved quickly and attacked it, Sandhya would not be able to react in time and would fall into samsara. This means that Sandhya completely trusts her and had no guard against her.
"Okay, Here it is."
Seeing that she does not have a guard against her, Chhaya is to relaxed and trusted her. She also swings her wrist and takes out her power core. Her core also floats in front of them next to the Sandhy's core, giving a stark contrast to each other. If Shandy's core was twilight-colored emitting an uncanny beauty then her core was as dark as a new moon's night, Throwing anyone into a deep abyss of despair, if they dare to stare at it too long.
After Chhaya had taken out her core, Sandhya didn't waste any more time and directly started merging both of these cores. Normally it's not possible as both cores diffrent type of power will resist each other but because Chhaya was once part of Sandhya, They had an inherent affinity, So the core merged without any problem.
"Now what?"
Chhaya couldn't understand what was happening, Merging core is an exceptional feat but it doesn't have any value, As you can only extract the power you had before the merger. It though also gives some additional benefits but Chhaya didn't think it was worth the risk of falling into Samsara.
Sandhya didn't reply to her but concentrated on the core as it was still not stable yet. Chhaya seeing this also seated by the side looking curiously at the floating multicoloured dark core, She racked her brain to no avail, trying to figure out Sandhya's intention.
"Phew~, It's finally done."
After a long time passed Sandhya finally spoke, She with a satisfied expression looked at the merged stable globe of their power emitting both uncanny beauty and despair at the same time.
Chhaya also quickly stood up and came to her. She with her curious gaze tried to figure out what Sandhya did but she still wasn't able to understand it.
"Here is your core. Take it back to you and you will understand what I did."
Sandhya separates this newly made core into two parts and with her mysterious eye indicates to Chhaya to give it a try if she wants to find out what she did in a playful manner.
Chhaya also did what was told her to do, She was not afraid of that Sandhya might hurt her as she did not feel any ill intention from her and even if she wanted to hurt her, She will not resist after all Sandhya is the one who made her, So she has a right to take her back.
Just as that power globe entered in her, Instantly changes started to appear in her body. Her dark complexion changed to fair white just like Sandhya's. Her mind now had memories of the children and a husband that she didn't know of. Even her personality changed. There are also some unknown feelings that both she and Sandhya didn't know of appearing in her mind.
"Look this way no one is able to tell any difference between us but you have to promise me something, That you will never go close to my husband, even if he wanted to come close to you."
Sandhya, satisfied with the result, became happy and started telling her what to do and what not to do. Chhaya listened to her diligently. This is the first task she was given, She didn't want to disappoint her creator. For her, Sandhya was a mother, a father, and a sister she never had. The first hug she received gave her the first feeling of warmth. Given light to her dark world. Spread warmth in her cold self.
"No problem, Here I take an oath that I will never go close to your husband in a desire."
So Chhaya took an oath instantly to reassure Sandhya. She felt that Sandhya might share anything except her husband as she can tell Sandhya is very possessive of her husband.
But Chhaya thought Sandhya worrying was unnecessary, After all she who is the queen of darkness and goddess of Shadow should never be able to let Surya the sun god, The originator of the light near her, As both of them can only share one relationship and that is of an enemy's.
Here unknown to Chhaya's thought, Sandhya
became excited hearing an oath, As breaking a oath for divine beings are worse then a death sentence as they will fall into samsara and receive a worst type of struggles until they wash their sin. So her hanging heart finally settled down. After Sandhya reminded her that she has to act like her and take care of her godly duties in her absence, She bid her farewell to Chhaya and started her journey towards her first destination, Her maternal house.
Chhaya watched Sandhya's fading figure on the horizon with a reluctant gaze. Sandhya is the only one she knew since she was born and now she is left alone in this unknown place with a strangers that she didn't know of.
She sat in the garden sulking over the fact until the sun in the sky came close to ending his journey. Now she has to go to him to calm his overbearing heat and bring him back home. This is everyday job of Sandhya to show her love to him.
Though Chhaya was unwilling to go and bring Surya back in loving gaze she had to do If she wanted to continue to act as a Sandhya. This is also a godly duty appointed to Sandhya. So she had to do it even if she didn't want to.
So she lifted her body from the ground and flew in the direction of a Surya, But unknown to her this will be the beginning of her fall and the first step towards the birth of the God of the Justice.
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( You guys might be wondering why I am giving the Surya family this importance and not focusing on our MC Ray aka Karna. But you have to bear with him as Karna is still in infancy and can't do much. Also Surya family will going to play a key role in the life of Karna. So you guys need to know about them.)