-: Pancha Vastra :- ( By Shailu )

[shailu4ever]

 
Arjun couldn’t help but listen intently, though his heart pounded faster, the words holding an almost magnetic pull.
 
He wanted to protest, to say it all seemed too much, too impossible.
 
But he held back, knowing Meera had more to say.
 
She continued, her voice steady yet filled with reverence.
 
“We were chosen, Arjun.
 
From the time we are little, we are told of our duty.
 
In the final ceremony, the nine of us will bind ourselves to the gods.
 
When the pooja is completed, we are marked, forever.
 
We become Sevakis, devoted servants of God, untouched by the world.
 
Pure.
 
Our lives will be in service to the gods.
 
We cannot love, we cannot have families, we cannot touch another soul beyond our devotion to the divine.”
 
Arjun felt a strange discomfort wash over him, the image of these women, so vibrant, so full of life, bound forever to a life of servitude.
 
He swallowed hard but said nothing, letting Meera’s voice continue to guide him through the depths of this mystic tale.
 
“The pooja," she went on, her eyes focused on the distant horizon, as though she could see the weight of generations past, "was meant to bind us.
 
It was to be the final step.
 
When we stepped into that circle, we would be severed from the world, marked forever as Sevakis, and the gods would take our service.
 
But Arjun… the prophecy told us otherwise."
 
A small shiver ran down Arjun’s spine at the mention of prophecy, and he shifted uneasily, his fingers brushing against the stone of the shrine beside them.
 
Meera turned to him then, her eyes locking with his, the depth of her gaze searing into him.
 
“It was written long ago," she continued, her voice now a little quieter, but filled with a solemn, almost reverent awe.
 
"One of the ceremonies would be interrupted by fire.
 
A force, an outsider, would arrive.
 
A stranger from beyond the island.
 
And that stranger would save us.
 
Save all nine of us.
 
And in doing so, change the course of the Sevakis tradition forever.”
 
“The gods had spoken of it, their will etched in the old texts of our ancestors.
 
One day, a miracle would happen, 

And...

That miracle was you."