Sandhya really feels hostility toward Chhaya now. She regrets why she made her at that time but now it's no use regretting it as things already happen.
At that time she was newly wedded to Surya. She was happy as her life was perfect. She was the queen of one of the most powerful kingdoms in the land of the gods, She had a most loving and doting husband. She later even gave birth to the 4 incredibly powerful children, All of them were excellent at their own fields from their birth.
Her eldest son Yama became the god of death and dharma , which gave him the title of Dharmaraj . Her 2nd and only daughter Yami, Who was later known as the Yamuna became the goddess of the river. Her 3rd and 4th twin sons named Ashwini became the god of medicine & health and Asvinau became the god of the dawn and sciences.This duo known as Ashvins even appointed for the next position as a doctor for the gods after they became adults.
Her life was perfect but she had only one problem, brilliance. The brilliance of Surya was so much that it was getting unbearable to resist his heat even though she is being a goddess of twilight. At first, she thought she would get used to it with time but god she was wrong. As time went by not only did she not get used to it but His brilliance increased day by day. Every day she feels exhausted and drained as she uses all her power 24×7 to resist it.
Though she was suffering she didn't tell her husband Surya. She knows he does his best to control his power so as not to harm her or his surrounding people but his power is so much that there is always some speck of power flare-up from his body.
She didn't want to hurt him. She knows how much he loves and dotes on her. If he finds out he was hurting her this much it will make him sad, Which she will never allow to happen. Just like how Surya wasn't able to see her sadness, she also does everything to make him happy. So she keeps it a secret, choosing to endure it silently for a long time.
But then after the birth of the Ashvin twins, she found out that they still had children's in their destiny, This news made her panic. In her current condition she can't able to perform the godly ritual for children at all and if they fail to perform midway then not only it will backlash her but also Surya on a spiritual level.
So she decided to go seek a solution from her father Vishvkarma ,the god of craftsmen and architects but she had to keep this thing hidden from Surya. If he finds out then he will surely be able to discern her real purpose. She thinks about it and thought about sneaking out and when she gets a solution then she can surprise him.
But now the problem was that her children were still little and needed their mother to take care of them. She doesn't trust anyone other than herself to take care of her children, not even Surya is allowed to do it.
"What to do? I can't leave my children like this."
She again falls into a deep contemplation but a long time passed and yet she couldn't come up with any solution.
*Sigh*
She sighed in annoyance and started walking back and forth in her own personal flower garden until the first rays of sunlight befall on her as they were embracing her in a warm loving hug. As the sun with his eternal beauty started to rise on the horizon in the celestial scenery of the morning red sky.
Sandhya felt those rays and a charming smile arose on her rosy lips. This is their everyday ritual as each morning the first ray of his light always falls on her to express his love. He is not good at expressing himself in words. So he did with his actions, for which she admires and loves him for it.
Soon light also illuminated the garden and then the whole world as he started his everyday journey in the vast sky. Sandhya also recovered from her trance and looked away from the sun as it's getting unbearable to look at it. She picked a water-filled lotaa from the side and started to spill it slowly in the direction of the rising star Surya as an offering.
After she was done with the offering. She bent down to put down a lotaa then realisation hit her as she looked down at her shadow on the ground.
"Hey, that's it. Who can be a better substitute for me than my own shadow?"
She thought of this and started chanting the divine mantra, Golden coloured Sanskrit words started coming out of her mouth and started to spiral around her in a downward direction toward her shadow. They were emitting holy brilliance which warped the whole garden in their golden luster.
"O' Shadow Arise as me and became alive."
Finally, those golden words touched her shadow as these words fell from her mouth. Suddenly all the brilliance in the garden faded away and was replaced with eternal darkness. The whole garden felt like it had fallen into a dark abyss. Not even the light of the sun god was able to vanish this darkness from here.
But Sandhya standing in the middle of it without any fear. She curiously watched the darkness as it slowly started to concentrate toward her shadow or at least where her shadow was supposed to be.
Soon all the darkness in the garden gathered into her shadow and a figure of a woman emerged from it. Sandhya looked at her in astonishment because the woman who emerged from her shadow looked exactly like her. The only difference was that her complexion was dark, as dark as the shadow she was born from.
"Hey, My name is Sandhya, I was the one who created you to take care of my family in my absence, Can you tell me your name?."
Sandhya was the first to speak. She asked with enthusiasm. She was curious about the woman in front of her. She currently likes when she was young girl at her father's house full of curiosity towards the world. She was nervous as this was her first time doing something like this.
"Please forgive me Devi Sandhya but i don't have a name, Can you please give me one?"
The figure spoke in a very deep like abyss but also as calm as a new moons midnight voice. She looked at Sandhya with her deep dark hope-filled eyes.
"Humm....How about Chhaya? Do you like this name I gave to you?"
Sandhya thought about it and said the most suitable name for her. Chhaya means a shadow but this word is can also used to describe a mother's love as Sandhya wanted her to be the caretaker of her children, So this was the best name for her.
"Thank you, Devi, I love this name. From now on I will be known as Chhaya."
Chhaya said in a joyful voice as a beautiful happy smile adored on her rose-petal-like lips.
This is how the Queen of Darkness and Goddess of Shadow was born.
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 , 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 Sandhya's core, giving a stark contrast to each other. If Sandhya'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.
Chhaya flew towards the sun but her heart was disdainful. She felt like she as the queen of darkness and the goddess of shadow should never give this much respect to him, The god of light.
"He might be very arrogant and overbearing like his heart."
Chhaya thought with contempt. She looked in the sky at the sun.She felt the overbearing nature of his heat, giving a poor life in the world a very hard time. She then looked proudly as she saw those tortured by the heat taking shelter in her shadows. Suddenly an unexpected surge of pride filled her. She felt that those beings will worship her more than Surya as she sheltered them while he was the one who was raining down hellfire.
She stopped and looked at their relished faces, thanking the shadows for their shelters and then leaving for their homes. She felt their genuine gratitude and worship in it. This is the first time she felt something like this, So she who is lost in new-found feelings completely forgets the passage of time.
"Oh no, I am late."
Finally, after some time, she remembers, why she was here. She looked at the sun at the horizon, who should have long been set by now. With little guilt, she flies towards him at full speed. Anyway no matter what she thought of him, He was still the husband of her new sister.
"He will be going to blame me for it now."
Chhaya thought to herself. As she imagined that Surya might have an arrogant personality. So her letting him wait for this long will surely annoy him. She was ready to take responsibility though as she was practically at a fault here. She is not that willful to ignore her own mistakes.
'What a shame, I have to bow down in front of my enemy.'
With this thought in her mind. She reached in front of Surya. Her head was hung down, She didn't look at the man in front of her from the beginning.She was ready to receive her punishment from the arrogant man in her mind but the punishment nor the angry words in her imagination came to her. On the contrary very gentle, self-blame, and teasing words fell on her ears.
"What I did now, That makes you mad Priye ? Anyway, I apologise for the crime that I don't know I committed, Please forgive my ignorance, So can you take me to our home now? Haha.'"
Surya spoke these words, which look like genuine apologies but anyone who hears them can tell they were in a hidden teasing tone. This transaction looks more like the banter between couples.
Chhaya froze upon hearing this soft gentle voice. Her heart misses its beat.Her hung-down head lifted up on its own. Then her black void-like eyes meet his golden radiance-filled eyes.
*Boom*
Just as their eyes met, she felt something deep inside her open up like as if some floodgate opened, and a surge of unknown emotions filled her mostly empty heart. She was in a trance. Maybe she was captivated by his beauty, maybe she was blinded by his brilliance, maybe she was tempted by his charm, maybe his words tied her.
Maybe...Maybe...Maybe. There were too many maybe to which she didn't know the answer of but she knew one thing for sure, she was utterly and completely defeated by the man in front of her. She was subdued by her enemy in their first meeting without him making a move.
She didn't even know when Surya held her hand and led her back to her supposed home. She only comes back to her senses when Surya takes all the way back to her now-shared bedroom with Surya.
When she realised it, she started to panic. She was afraid of how to handle the situation.
"I should outright deny his advances...But if I do that it will make him suspicious and I can't afford that if I want to keep acting as a Sandhya...But if I don't then I will be going to break my oath. What am I going to do?"
An internal struggle breaks out in her mind. One part wanted her to continue to pretend as Sandhya and let things go with the flow, while the other reminded her of the oath she had taken. But in her struggle, she didn't realise that there was not an ounce of initial hate or disgust for the thing she might have to do with him.
" Priye , Can you tell me now, What's bothering you?"
But Surya said an unexpected thing. For others, Chhaya might be able to fool them but Surya instantly realised something about his wife today.
Normally she was always babbling on their way back to home, retelling every minute details of her day. What she did today, what new shenanigans their kids were upto, how much trouble they caused her, etc. But mostly she used to tell him how much she missed him.Her telling him how each second she was away from him felt like years and when he did not respond like the way she wanted to.Her loving tantrum. Then the rest of the journey will be spent in his attempts to please her. This was the couple's each-day routine.They do this with so much love and faith that this can even be considered a ritual.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
Chhaya was startled by his question, Thinking he might have found out about her secret.
"No, it's just that, One question was bothering me, Sa-Sawmi. Can you answer that?"
But Chhaya was quick on her wits and changed the subject skillfully.
"Oh, So that's why, Go ahead and ask. I will do my best to answer it."
Surya thought he found the reason for her behaviour today's behaviour .So he was also ready to answer a question to solve her worry and get his usual wife back.
"So my question is, Who is greater? You a Sun and light or a Shadows and Darkness?"
Chhaya hit two birds with this question. Not only with this she throws off any suspicion against her but also gets an answer to her first-ever question.
" Hahaha, This question is bothering you so much? The answer to this question is very simple, Both of us are equally important to the mortals, We serve."
Surya answers without batting an eye as if the answer to this question was already made by him long ago.
"But-"
Chhaya wanted to say something more but was cut off by an explanation from Surya.
"People worship me and love me because of the existence of the Shadows, which give them salvation from my heart. People know the importance of my light because darkness exists. Without darkness no one will care about my light.They might as well hate me for my continuous presence."
Surya said with overflowing gratitude in his voice.
When Chhaya heard his answer she felt ashamed, she who considered him a foe turned out that for him she was an important friend. She felt guilty for her initial hate for him.But his answer generated one question in her heart.
"But doesn't that mean people think you are greater than a Shadow and Darkness?"
Chhaya was bothered by this question. Though she did not have initial hate for Surya her competitive heart was still there. Plus somehow she didn't want to be inferior to Surya.
"Yes, People do indeed think of me greater than Shadow and Darkness, but don't forget in this world there is not only people. There are Yaksha , Rakshas ,Naga , etc. They love and worship Darkness. At night time they became ten times stronger than their base day form. So I and Darkness work together to create an equivalency of a force to maintain the power level between two factions and prevent one party from gaining an advantage over the other.It's just a pity that there is no god yet to be appointed for these forces. If there was, We should have been best friends."
Surya said these words in a casual manner and went into his personal chamber leaving his wife alone with her thoughts, So she can digest and figure it out all these things on her own.
"So we can be friends."
Unknown to Surya, His "Wife" focused on a wrong point. The information he tells her intending to wipe her worry, might be hold a philosophical value for the others but for Chhaya, a party involved in it, It's not important.
At this moment, she needed an answer about why her heart was throbbing so fast and what that weird bittersweet feeling she was experiencing right now.The one who was able to tell her is not present here and she didn't know anyone else she can trust here, who she can tell about this. So in annoyance she headed towards the kitchen to cook dinner for her family. They are gods who don't need to eat anything but it's a gesture that lets them connect to the mortal realm.This way her first day ended. She stayed all night in the personal garden of Sandhya as an excuse to think of the problem. Until new day arrived and Sun again started his journey in the vast sky.
"Sandhya!!! What are you planning to do? Don't do it, it will backfire on you."
Chhaya's thoughts were broken by the loud shriek of Surya. She hurriedly looked at Sandhya and found out that her hand was on her abdomen, a place where Surya's energy was most concentrated. Then she had a horrifying realisation as she felt the powerful suction force from Sandhya's hand. She was trying to suck out overbearing power from her body.
"No, Sandhya doesn't do it. It's too dangerous to do this, I can handle this little power, I have an inherent resistance to it."
Chhaya spoke hurriedly trying to stop Sandhya in her tracks. But Sandhya didn't stop because she knew, yes indeed Chhaya has an inherent resistance to Surya's power but that doesn't mean she is safe, Far from it. If Chhaya wasn't able to keep up with the overbearing nature of his power then she will surely fall as her darkness of divine power will be destroyed, Which in turn makes her fall from godhood into samsara.
"Yes, Sandhya stop, Just wait for me to get my powers back, Don't do this."
Surya again said to Sandhya, trying his best to convince her to drop this idea but Sandhya just looked into his eyes lovingly without saying a word.
When Surya saw the look in her eyes, His worries were dismissed a lot. Though anxious he didn't try to stop her again. After Chhaya saw this little action a sudden feeling of envy emerged in her heart, Sandhya and Surya said the thing with their eyes that a thousand words might not be able to convey. She knew what she was feeling was wrong and she felt ashamed for it but she always wanted to have an understanding between Surya and Sandhya. Unfortunately, she was just able to get close to it but never reached that goal.
"Sandhya, Stop!!! I don't need your help, Go away."
Chhaya throws off her baseless feeling and again puts effort to stop Sandhya from making a foolish mistake. So she started making desperate attempts to stop her. She knows at this point only making her angry can stop her.
"Don't worry, I will be fine."
The cold voice of Sandhya rang in the hall. You can feel her anger in that bone-freezing voice.
She was really angry at Chhaya, not only because she had broken her oath and betrayed her trust but also because of the curse she gave to her husband Surya.She for the last 1000 years was in a deep mountain cave on the earth to do penance for pleasing lord Shiva. This is a solution her father gave her. Once she pleases Shiva, she can ask for a boon from him, so she can bear her husband's powerful heat, and as she planned she was successful in pleasing the lord Shiva and ask the boon not to be harmed by the power of her husband's heat. After receiving a boon, her happiness has no bounds. She couldn't wait to go back home and meet her family again.
For them, it might be just one year but for her, it was thousands of years apart from them. This is a reason why most of the godly beings chose earth to do penance as time flows differently here. In the ratio of 1:1000 years. The higher you go in Loka's the more time flows slow as compared to the earth.
So she came out of her cave but the scene she saw shocked her to the core. She saw the Sun in the sky eclipse and cast a dark shadow on the earth. She felt the pain, sorrow, and despair of Surya. She panicked thinking Surya might find out about Chhaya and misunderstand her motive for leaving her there. She dashed toward Surya Loka at a speed faster than light. She was ready to face the wrath of her husband but what she saw was far worse.
Even before entering the hall, She heard Chhaya's words, which made her feel like she was in a nightmare. She even thought that she was still being tested and still in a cave but reality slapped her face as she felt that power of Surya not affecting her at all.
Then the meaning of those words hit her. Before she was occupied by the thoughts of the child Chhaya was saying but now she realises Chhaya not only betrayed her by having a child with her husband but also cursed her next child.
She was enraged.She might forgive Chhaya for her betrayal but she will never forgive the fact that she punished the innocent life. She stormed into the hall towards Chhaya planning to take her back inside her once more but just as she was about to do the unthinkable. Her sight fell on a newborn in her arms and suddenly most of her anger vanished. She felt that this child belonged to Surya as there was some invisible connection between them.
Then all those beginning things happened and now she was trying to save Chhaya's life. She who initially wanted to take her life back now is trying to save it. What an ironic destiny playing with her.
Sandhya didn't have anyone anytime to do anymore, As she started to take out overbearing power from her body.In the astonished eyes of Surya and Chhaya, Sandhya was unaffected by this power, even when that power ruthlessly tried to burn everything around it. Chhaya's condition also improved as that power got out of her body, so Surya also put her down from his arms.
Then he said something that changed history.
End of Flashback of Suryadev
"Swami, we came here to see our newborn, Where is he?"
Suryadev woke up from his deep thoughts from his wife's voice. He looked at the horizon as both Sandhya and Chhaya approached him in excitement and anticipation.
"How do you know about his birth?"
Suryadev asked them teasingly as he would know the reason for it.
"Swami Why are you teasing us? Please tell us where our newborn is. We can't wait to see him."
Both Sandhya and Chhaya spoke at the same time. They were in so much sync that it felt like they had a telepathic connection between them.
"He is safe in the hands of one of the best mother one can ask for."
Suryadev said and longingly looked in the direction where Ganga left with his son. He was annoyed by the fact that he still can't see his son. But then he realised he misspoke and quickly turned to look at the duo.
As he feared, both of them looked at him with an offended look.
"So we are not good enough mothers, Svami?"
Both of them said and turned around to leave but their speed was not fast. As they were waiting for him to come and coax them.
Suryadev helplessly shakes his head, prays for the safety of his son, and goes after them to coax his wife. This was their usual thing to do.
Before leaving three for last time looked at Devi Ganga direction with longing evident in their faces to meet and look after their son.
Well that's a tale to tell some other day, Right now let's focus back on our protagonists. Let's see where he is now.
Somewhere between the border of the town of Champa nagri
"I have to do something about his aura of being born a king or he will surely be targeted by the world."
Ganga said as she looked at the little Karna sleeping in her arms comfortably. She slightly cut her fingertips. Just as the wound opens, it starts to condense a drop of essence, emitting a divine aura.
Just as the essence appeared visions started to appear all around it. Even Ganga's face turned exhausted as this drop was nothing but the essence of her divine power.
She held her finger at top of the middle of Karna's eyebrows, Right at the top of the half-rising sun mark.
As for why she didn't notice that sun mark? Simple as forces in the dark working to prevent anyone from knowing the secret child. The power of curses is terrifying.
Finally, that drop of essence dropped and was absorbed into his body.
[Ding!....]
Just as essence dropped, the System voice rang in Karna's mind waking him up in shock.
To be continued...
(A/N : Hey guy please comment below and vote for sure )