No one was saying anything; there was just pure silence.
Zykarith was a bit confused and said, "What's the deal? Aren't you happy? You cleared the third stage."
Armaan was expressionless. He looked at Samar, Samar looked at Roumit, and then Roumit looked at Armaan, and they smiled.
It wasn't a happy smile—no, not at all. It was a smile that stated they knew what the others had been through.
Then Armaan finally asked, "Wanna tell?" and both Samar and Roumit nodded.
Zykarith was still confused and couldn't understand what was going on. Her violet eyes were wide, loudly broadcasting that she didn't know a thing about what had happened with the boys. Samar smirked and asked, "Wanna know what happened?"
Zykarith couldn't wrap her head around the situation anymore. She yelled, "What the hell is wrong with you guys? You all are smiling, but your faces are sad."
Then Roumit finally spoke, "Mount Drogr' Volen is still a little far. Let's walk and talk."
Both Samar and Armaan nodded and started walking. Zykarith was feeling left out in the midst of this sad atmosphere.
Then Armaan said, "Who's gonna speak up first?"
Samar smiled and said, "I think mine was a little less sad, so I'll start... Any objections?"
Both Armaan and Roumit nodded in agreement, and Zykarith went with the flow, still confused.
Then Samar finally said, "I was hanging in the middle of a sandstorm, not affected by the winds, but I could feel them..."
Armaan's and Roumit's eyes widened. They had thought that they might have had the same dreams, but they were wrong. However, they didn't interrupt; they just looked at each other and then back at the path.
Meanwhile, Zykarith's eyes widened for a totally different reason: because she couldn't understand it.
Samar continued calmly, "Then a dragon face appeared, formed from the dust particles, and started speaking."
Roumit was shocked because he didn't see any kind of dragon in his dream.
"It said that my brother is alive somewhere on Earth..."
Zykarith interrupted, "Isn't that a good thing?"
Armaan flicked her on the head and whispered, "Let him speak, idiot."
She retorted but didn't say anything else.
Samar smiled and said, "Yeah, it's a good thing... but the dragon said my brother has become a powerful person, who is strong enough to hide his exact location and identity even from that dragon."
Everyone's eyes widened. Samar continued, keeping that smile on his face, "It said that one of my closest people has actually met him, and I could only think of Armaan."
Then Armaan started recalling all his meetings with other Rakshaks but couldn't say who it was. He just sighed in defeat and said, "I'm sorry, but I don't remember."
Samar said, "It's fine. Because the actual sad part is that the dragon said my brother might have become an evil person..."
Roumit had just been listening until now but couldn't stop himself. "What!?"
Samar said, "Yeah, and then the dragon gave me some choices and all, and that's it. Then I came back to consciousness."
Armaan said calmly, "Well, that's pretty sad."
Zykarith couldn't believe it. "Wait, you are saying that the brother you were looking for for this long is alive, but now he is evil, and you believed it?"
Samar smiled and said, "Well, that dragon knew many things, so I thought he was right..."
Zykarith frowned and said, "Even so, how could you believe him? What if he was lying?"
Samar said, "Then it's fine. At least he said that my brother is alive."
Zykarith got annoyed but controlled it and said, "Ugh... fine. I thought your third stage and my third stage... that I gave long ago were the same, but it seems that's not the case."
Then Roumit said, "Armaan, you speak next. I'll tell my story at the end."
Armaan nodded silently and started, "When I opened my eyes, I was suspended in a very deep ocean, but I could still breathe easily, yet I felt the deep-sea pressure."
Now Roumit was sure that the format of their third trial was different, and he kept listening.
Armaan continued, his dark brown eyes looking down at the path, "Then I saw my younger self, maybe when I was 8. I was so happy back then—no burden, no drama, nothing. Just my ambition to become a footballer. Then my younger self approached me, and when I told him that we are both the same person... he refused to accept it." He said this with a very sad smile.
No one could say a single thing; they just kept listening.
"Then Xarthos appeared and showed me the same child, whom I had abandoned, crying in a corner." His voice broke, but he composed himself and continued.
"Then Xarthos showed me nightmares where you guys (Samar & Roumit) were accusing me that I don't let you in, and you feel left out."
Samar and Roumit looked at each other as if they agreed with this but stayed silent.
"He showed me a side of Alya who misses my older self, and also showed me how Advika, Reet, and Manvi were blaming me for Tara's death," Armaan said, trying his best to keep his composure.
Zykarith didn't know half of these things, so she kept quiet, while Samar and Roumit patted Armaan's shoulder gently.
Armaan smiled and said, "Then he (Xarthos) said that it doesn't mean that having power is a burden. I just need to find out how to transform this burden into a regular responsibility. So... I want to apologize to you guys for being so closed off. I'll not keep all these things to myself from now on. You are my best friends after all."
Samar and Roumit smiled and said, "It's fine. You realized it; that's more than enough."
Armaan smiled and draped his arms around Samar's and Roumit's shoulders, feeling lighter than ever.
Now it was Roumit's turn. Armaan said, "Your turn now."
Roumit just smiled faintly and said, "I'll make a long story short..."
Everyone nodded.
"I got to know that... I'm adopted."
.
.
.
Armaan's hands dropped from both Samar's and Roumit's shoulders.
Samar stumbled so hard the ground cracked beneath his feet.
And Zykarith tried to stay normal, yet her eyes widened.
Then Roumit smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'm over it already. I don't know the reason why my biological parents left me, but I'm happy with my mom and dad and you guys. They never, ever gave me the impression that I'm not their actual child... So why should I feel left out?"
No one could speak a single word. All they could feel was empathy towards Roumit and nothing else.
Armaan pulled Roumit into a sudden, tight hug without saying anything. Roumit just smiled and hugged him back, and then Samar joined them.
Zykarith just observed from a distance but smiled faintly at their brotherhood.