Part 21 - Discoveries

" I am supposed to be good at this; it's my element," Meghana said as she placed her hand on the ground for the fourth time.

" I don't know why I am doing this. This is not even my element. Dunno if this is even good for me or not," Vysna shrugged, placing her hands on the ground.

" Stop talking and concentrate, Miss Bhaskara." Yelled her teacher, Mr.Aalok; he was a bald and paunchy old man with a full beard. Not a single dark hair on his head or face.

" Yes, Santa..." Vysna said under her breath.

" Don't be fooled by his looks. He is considered one of the best Earthers in the country. According to what I have heard, he can send such precise waves that last up to hundreds of kilometres and give an accurate detection." Meghana said.

" Then why does he work as a professor? Shouldn't he be somewhere he is truly needed or working for a large firm or something?" she asked.

Meghana shrugged.

Vysna thought how helpful he would be at the site they were working on currently. They had a few earthers there, but if her teacher was so good, wouldn't he be better off at the site?

" My brother is also an Earther. He is pretty good. Frankly, I think he is better than I am. I don't know why I even got selected." She said.

" Are you kidding me? You are the first water affiliate they found in a century; of course, they were going to select you."

" That's what I am saying. That was the only reason I was selected which I think is unfair. Both my brothers are so good at what they do. I feel they didn't get a fair chance. Stupid tests..."

" Miss Bhaskara..." yelled the teacher.

" Sorry sir..." she said and smirked at Meghana, who giggled.

After their class, it was lunchtime. As usual, Meghana gobbled up Vysna's tiffin, and they decided to sit and chat for a while before Vysna left for her work.

" You hardly ate anything today," Meghana said.

" I am not that hungry," Vysna replied.

" You must tell Aunty the food was delish-" she stopped mid-sentence,

" why are they coming our way," she said and was staring behind Vysna.

" Who?" Vysna asked.

" Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum" she nodded.

When Vysna turned to look, Sumedha and Sarvan were already standing next to their bench.

" What do you want?" Meghana croaked.

" We are not talking to you," Sumedha said smugly and turned her head to Vysna. " You are supposed to sit with us for lunch from today onwards."

" Why?" Vysna asked.

" Your last name is Bhaskara, right?" Sarvan said.

" Yeah, so?"

" Anika just found out about it a few days ago-" Sarvan was interrupted.

" You are not supposed to tell that." Sumedha elbowed, frowning at him.

" She knew about it, she knew about it already." He reframed and straightened up ." She was only testing you. To see whether you fit in with us, and you have qualified." he blabbered.

" Huh?" Vysna frowned.

" What he means is, because you are a Bhaskara, you are one among us. One of the important people at this school, like me, Sumedha, my last name Gajah, Anika Varadh and him too." She said waving her hand at Sarvan in a dismissive manner. Sarvan glared at her.

" And what am I going to gain by sitting with you all?" Vysna was amused.

" Insights. We talk about very important things." She said holding her nose high.

" Also popularity- " Sarvan said.

" Shut up, Sarvan," Sumedha squalled.

" Okay, I will join you..." Vysna said and Meghana looked at her with wide eyes. " But only if Anika comes here and asks me personally. I don't want to talk to her minions."

Sumedha nodded first but then frowned at Vysna at her implied words.

Meghana pressed her lips together and was stifling a laugh.

They turned and darted away as quickly as they could.

" For a minute there I thought that you were going to abandon me," Meghana said.

" How can I, you are the only one who can finish my tiffin." Vysna winked at her.

Meghana's mouth fell open. " How dare you... you are especially savage today." She laughed. Then stopped and indicated again.

This time all three of them were walking towards them. Anika with fury in her eyes. She looked like a crane, wearing skinny jeans and a crop top, with her long legs and long neck, wobbling on high heels towards them.

" What do mean you are not going to talk to my mimics?"

" Minions..." Vysna corrected.

" Yes, that," she pulled up her tiny sling bag back on her shoulder.

" Because I want to know why you want to sit with us for lunch," Vysna said.

" I don't want to sit with you, you are getting the honour of sitting with us. And just you, not her." She gave a disgusted look at Meghana.

Meghana hissed at her.

" And what if I decline," Vysna said.

" You cannot do that, everyone is dying to sit with us."

" I'd rather live," Vysna said.

" What you are getting is a privilege. We talk and discuss important topics and stuff. And we know everything about everyone here."

" I don't want to discuss everything and everyone." Vysna chuckled,

" Because I am allergic."

Anika frowned," allergic to what?" She asked.

" Bullshit, I am allergic to bullshit. I won't be able to bear it." Vysna smirked.

Meghana burst out laughing. " You better tell your cronies to take you away for burn repair." She said looking at Anika. Her nostrils flared up and they stomped away.

" That was unexpected of you, Vy. Anika looked like an angry pimple just waiting to pop." Meghana looked elated by the conversation that had happened.

" I overheard her discussing this with her cronies in the washroom a few days ago. She didn't know I was there. According to her, all the elite half-bloods should stick together. She thinks it maintains the sanctity of the system. What a snob." Vysna said, shaking her head.

There was already a segregation between the humans and Parthams. There was no need for segregation among the half-bloods as well. Few people like Anika were led to believe that this was the best method to keep the traditions alive. The people in power used it as a tool to divide and cause misunderstandings and rivalry. It was easy to separate, but unity was difficult to achieve. It was easy to plant the idea of superiority among the elites and manipulate them. This way the oligarchs could stay in power with the support of a few elites, who thought of themselves to be better than others.

First separating the legacies from their families and then dividing them, making it easy for the people in power to control them. A perfect system was set up to ensure that unity among the half-bloods was not established.

Vysna had almost missed her bus that day. There was still a month left for her EV to arrive. The booking had been full as the demand for Electric Vehicles had increased. But somehow she managed to get to the site on time.

" Why are you panting?" Sarika asked her. She was standing at the beginning of the trail road.

" I ran here..." she said and bent down to catch a breath.

" Well, Mr Bali is here with us today," she said and gestured for her to come along with her to the tent.

She first quenched her thirst and then changed into her gear. They walked to the site where everyone was working.

" Hello, Miss Bhaskara you are on time. How are you?" he asked.

" I am doing well, Mr. Bali," she said.

" Please don't call me Mr. Bali, I feel like an old man when someone calls me that. And don't call me Sir, that makes me feel even older," he said with a smile.

" He never asked us to not call him Sir," Sarika said under her breath, walked towards Reeba and stood beside her.

" I have been going through all the reports that you have made till now. And frankly, I am impressed. Your observations are spot on. He held a tablet in his hand, he placed it on the table that was in front of him and gestured for her to come closer and have a look. The tablet displayed a three-dimensional model of the excavation site. He zoomed in on the place where they were standing right now.

" These two monoliths are the same in each direction. From where we are standing, it is the entrance to the main temple area. There is something peculiar about these monoliths, they seemed to be a bit different than the others. But from what you discovered the last time," he looked at Reeba," I think there is more to these monoliths than what we see on the surface."

" Yes, from what we found out. The engravings on these two are much more detailed. They seemed to be replicating the design of the inner sanctum of the temple. Which is rarely seen on other sites. Vysna and I will be taking a look at the top surface of these monoliths today." Reeba said.

" Okay, I will be in the tent with others, report to me after you are done, " Shanka said.

Both of them nodded.

" Vysna, let me know if you have any difficulty. You are new here so it might take you some time to cope with all of this."

" Sure sir,"

" Didn't I just tell you not to call me that, " he said frowning.

Vysna pressed her lips together and smiled.

After he left, Sarika chuckled and smirked at Reeba. Who shook her head and indicated Vysna to gear up.

After the harness was placed properly on them, Reeba seemed a little nervous.

" What's wrong? You don't look so good." Vysna asked her.

" It's nothing, just that I am not good with heights." She said closing her eyes.

" You have vertigo? Then why are you gearing up? Let someone else do it." Vysna said.

" No, I cannot let any kind of fear stop me. It's not exactly vertigo, I just feel uneasy. I will be fine, don't fret it. Let's just get this over with." She said and asked Jason to pull them up.

As they ascended Reeba looked more and more tense.

" Breathe..." said Vysna. She looked at her and smiled, took a long breath and then let it out.

When they reached the top. Vysna clipped herself to the rope and secured her footing. Then she indicated that she was secured to Jason, but she told him to wait for Reeba.

" Take your time, he will wait," Vysna told her. She nodded. She slowly hooked herself with the carabiners. Then indicated that she was secured and that Jason could let go.

Vysna was much higher than the last time she had climbed. They wanted to take a look at the top of the monolith.

" I thought so," she said. These are hollow from the inside."

" How did you come to that conclusion?" Reeba asked.

" You see that," she pointed to the concentric circles below them," the other day when I sent a wave, the entire thing rumbled with the vibration. And right here, " she indicated on one of the symbols on the rock." I wouldn't have been able to send a wave if it was in any other element, the rainwater must have collected in the hollow region." She indicated the symbols carved on the stone." See this one, it has the same symbol as mine." Vysna showed her the medallion which she had.

" You are a water affiliate? Huh... that's why he was so eager to have you on the team." Reeba said, smirking at her.

" What do you mean?" She asked.

" Shanka is one of those who likes to associate himself with people whom he thinks are important and unique. Like a collector of coins but he collects people." She leaned closer to her," You are one of his newest acquisitions."

Vysna felt revolting. Her mother had warned her about people like him. She had to be careful, she had to protect herself.

" Don't be too alarmed," Reeba noticed her uneasiness," you just have to learn to say no... " She said raising her eyebrows.

Vysna nodded.

" Now, forget about him. We have a lot to do here." She reminded her.

Reeba then clicked a few pictures. Vysna showed her a few of the symbols that she thought were unique and unusual.

When they reached down. Reeba sighed in relief." Thanks for diverting my attention. I wouldn't have been able to get these otherwise." she brandished the camera.

" No problem," she said.

They went back to the tent and Reeba connected the camera to the laptop and the projector to display the pictures she had taken.

" This is good work people. Rajiv, please transfer these to your laptop and update them in the file as well. Tomorrow we will see if we can decrypt these symbols and signs. Many of these look older than the ones we found at the previous site. Sarika, explain to Vysna the things we found at the previous site. According to that, we can move ahead with this project."

" Sure sir," Sarika said.

" Let us stop here today. We will meet tomorrow." Shanka said and started packing to leave.

When they were on their way out. He stopped Vysna. " How are you going home?" He asked." I can drop you home if you want."

" Uh, I am uh..." She couldn't think of any excuse.

" Vysna..." She heard someone call.

She turned around to see it was Reeba. " I have some work with you. Please come here."

"Yes coming, I will see you tomorrow sir. Thanks for asking..." she said and was relieved to get out of the sticky situation.

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Hello, my beautiful readers 💕💕

How is the story so far, let me know in the comments. There are many discoveries yet to be made and many secrets to be revealed. Clues are hidden throughout the story, so be sure to keep a keen eye on them.

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