A splitting headache woke Sanit up from his tired sleep and his torso ached in protest as he made an effort to get up.
Jeez it hurts so much to even move now.
He looked around at where he was and was stunned for a moment.
Shit, did I lose my memory again?
No, no, no goddammit!!
He began to hyperventilate a little as his chest struggled against the tightly wound bandages which he noticed for the first time.
Then when his eyes fell on the reclining sofa he heaved a sigh of relief and fell back on the bed.
She's here so it wasn't just a dream.
He remembered much of it now. How he had collapsed from blood loss, how Dipan had brought him somewhere to his home unconscious till he was finally woken up to the sight of a strange arthropodic robot that was wrapping him up in some sort of web which had made him scream in terror only to be calmed down after being told it was a helper of Dipan's house.
And there was also Piya who had stood by watching him peculiarly with another shorter girl while talking to Dipan.
Sanit had felt relief only after he has spotted her sleeping figure on the sofa now.
He couldn't understand why she was here but found her presence comforting nonetheless as he slowly drifted off to sleep.
In his mind, going through a feverish haze, he was back with the Gandharva. In that hellish realm. Fighting for his life.
"You're clutching for your life as you fight mortal. Just don't. You need to fight without bounds now. You'll heal anyway so–"
"Easy for you to say you devil," Sanit's pained grunt echoed as he grabbed three Rakshasas heads from his shoulder, "they don't even bother attacking you and I still feel pain. Even if I have healing, it hurts like...like nothing you immortals can ever know of."
The Gandharva slithered down as he said with a low voice, "even more painful than a life of no effort like yours?"
Sanit snapped and turned his head, "what did you just say?!"
And that's where he had come back to reality. Or was a part of him permanently just stuck there forever?
He went outside, stumbling in his steps in new territory, after walking past the sleeping figure of Piya, her gentle breathing ringing hard in his ears. Even from a distance.
He found himself in a gigantic corridor with floors tiled with paintings. Actual hand drawn artwork. And even the walls weren't left bare as they had sculpted in drawings.
What the hell kind of place do you live in Dipan?
There were more rooms just like the ones Sanit had been in. With massive wooden doors and paints.
He walked slowly down the middle charting a careful path, not wanting to accidentally smash into anything hanging onto the sides.
There was a staircase that went in a wide arcing circle to the next floor.
The way the house is built, I doubt that's the ground floor.
He carefully walked down the steps one hand on the railing, the other on his bandaged chest as he descended.
And his jaw dropped more and more as he continued to climb down. The opulence down was even more compared to the top.
Chandeliers hung from the high ceiling, with lights on every corner and space. Not one space was left free. If it was left, there probably would be room to play basketball even in there without any difficulty.
As he stepped into the ground, his ears picked up a slow humming rattle from the left which led to another wide corridor.
Soon after the sound became a bit louder to Sanit's enhanced hearing and the source became clear.
It was the weird spider robot that had traumatized Sanit before and it paused midstep as it realized a foreign presence observing it and tilted its head up.
The robot was modeled on a spider but was extremely agile in its movements with thin legs and an oval body from which sprung out eight of its legs.
But unlike spiders it had two upper bodies. One for the legs. And one for just the face which had but a huge shapely hole to sort of mimic an expressive eye of sorts.
And right now that eye was judging Sanit. Clearly not pleased at having been yelled at earlier and even more annoyed at being stared at.
"What?" Sanit said to the bot who continued to stare.
"I'm not scared of you, I was just surprised ok?"
The robot did nothing and said nothing. Except move an inch forward a second later which made Sanit jump a little and he walked away to the inside of the house.
"Weird ass robot," he muttered, walking away from it.
The large hallway greeted him which led to four separate ways. One towards the dining and kitchen area, the other to a smaller private sitting area.
Another led to a library and passing through it, connecting to a similar passage was to a large office room.
Sanit stood in the middle of the four large sofas and two smaller ones which seemed to look at him as if beckoning him to do something.
"What are you doing there?"
Sanit turned to see a girl skip down the steps he had come just seconds before.
She was wearing a crop top and a skirt her legs bare as was her feet which were stained pink from the warmth of her skin.
She looked at him with squinty eyes suspiciously, "stranger."
"Hi, um-who are you again?"
"Hmph," the girl pouted her arms folded, "you don't remember a thing huh?"
That's kinda my thing at this point.
"I'm Arpita. Dipan's younger sister by age and older sibling by brains." She said it so confidently it wasn't even funny to Sanit.
She was a prettier version of Dipan, Sanit could tell, just by seeing the girl's mannerisms which faintly mirrored what he had observed in Dipan.
An openly expressive face that held nothing back.
"What? Are you thinking about something goofy?" she asked.
"No its just that you seem a lot like your brother."
She walked backwards and plonked down on the sofa, "I'm nothing like my brother."
"I'm perfect the way I am and I have nothing to prove to him," she muttered to herself but Sanit caught the words easily.
The front doors opened from a distance away and some steps walked towards where they were. Arpita buried her face into the magazine she had picked up just as Dipan walked in.
He looked at both Sanit and his sister, "did my blabber mouth of a sister wake you up?"
"Don't blame me for your boyfriend's broken sleep dumbo." Arpita retorted.
"No, no I got up myself," Sanit interjected.
Dipan sighed, "you shouldn't have dude. Are you even in your senses?"
"Yeah I'm perfectly alright. Just need some fresh air."
Dipan led him out to the garden from the large dining area after opening a glass door and watched Sanit walk slowly onto the grass.
Arpita joined her brother a minute later. Both their gazes on him.
"You're really going to do this? Bring him in front of dad?" she asked.
"I am." He said immediately.
"You don't have to you know, you could just–"
"I've already decided, Arpi. And you know damn well we need the help."
His sister wasn't entirely convinced, "knowing dad, I'm pretty sure he's gonna use him and throw him away. You want your boyfriend to go through that?"
Dipan glared at his sister who had a grin, "you...he's not my boyfriend and I won't let that happen, ok?"
"Just saying. No one knows how to deal with dad so you should know better."
"Why do you care what happens to him?" He pressed her.
"Pfft, I don't." She scoffed, "I just don't want to see you hurt in the process too."
THWACK
PUGGACK
They both jerked a little as they heard noises of wood creaking and turned to see Sanit.
He had by now pulled out his bandages as he rammed his fist into the trunk of an ornamental palm tree in their backyard.
"Look at him go," Dipan grinnned with pride, "He'll be just fine Arpi. Just you watch."
☆
Piya woke up slowly to the sounds of wood thwacking and went to the window to see out into the wide gardens as she rubbed her eyes distractedly and yawned.
She saw Sanit standing bare bodied and sweaty. Bang in the middle of a wide and well maintained garden. Fighting a tree trunk for no reason.
'So in character for him,' she thought. The sight of him was so oddly placed in that peaceful sunny atmosphere.
After being called over the phone yesterday, she had crashed in for the night after coming to Dipan's home and had briefly met him while they saw Sanit being helped by the spider robot in their employ.
That initial weirdness of being in someone else's house had been eclipsed by the situation at hand. The situation being an injured and bleeding Sanit.
She had not much to do really other than observe and tell them how he was doing internally.
Now with that over, she didn't want to overstay her welcome despite Dipan telling her it was alright for her to stay as long as she wanted.
Her eyes went to her phone and widened.
'Oh crap, I'm gonna be screwed,' she hurriedly gathered her stuff and tied up her hair as she pattered downstairs.
"Oh hey," Dipan waved his hand at her and she responded with a similar nod. "You're leaving?"
"Yeah I got college and I'm definitely late."
"Maybe tell him before you leave, he's just right there," Dipan pointed out.
Piya hesitated. Chewing her lip before deciding. "Sure I guess." She threw her bag on the couch and followed Dipan into the morning light.
Sanit's hand bled a little, trickles spreading down his fists and forearms as he continued to pummel the trunk which now had a hole in it.
"Dude, quit it. Are you trying to prove something?" Dipan's voice shattered his thoughts and he paused to turn.
Seeing Piya behind him he winked, "thanks for helping."
"I barely did a thing. But I'll take it anyway." She glanced around and grew flustered at the sun and his half naked body, "what are you actually doing?"
Sanit looked back at the trunk, reddened from his blood and felt the ooze of warmth on his fists, "I'm not human am I?"
Dipan sported a puzzled look on his face, "you're an Inborn. A strong one yeah. But nowhere near human. Wait did you lose your memory a little?"
"So inborns aren't human?" Sanit asked.
A sudden morning wind blew past them, driving the low grass and their dresses, their hairs along with it, ensuring a brief silence.
"Not exactly," Dipan looked away, "it's a bit complicated but I thought you knew all this. You should."
"Sanit," Piya spoke up and he looked at her, "we're variations of humans. Not entirely like we were but not very different from it either. Our characteristics remain almost the same."
"Wait why are you speaking to him like he's an alien child? Am I missing some context here?" Dipan turned to both of them but they had muted him out.
"It was so easy, to do what I did. I didn't entirely mean to but there's no going back. My fist just went right through like butter–"
"Oookay....okay!" Dipan interjected immediately and stopped him. "We better not talk about it right now with her," he whispered to Sanit.
"What? What's he talking about? Sanit, did you do something?" Piya asked a little worried.
"Relax, it's really nothing. Like I said last night, we went to a zone and stuff. It's just that. Don't you have college?"
Piya stood back, a little upset at being shut out but gave up quickly, "you're right. I better go."
"I have a lot to talk about with you. About me. Us." Sanit stepped forward.
"Later," she paused considering his words, her curiosity about him spiking more and more, "gotta go. Stay alive till then."
She gave a wink and off she went past the garden and through the sprawling house compound.
Sanit stared after her and took a deep breath as the warmth of the morning soothed his hurt brain and body, his eyes closed in silent penance.