DIVINE CHAMPIONS 3: THE RISE OF THE ELEMENTALIST

THE DISTANT HOME

"That was some help." Aitri said, minutes after Odin left, as they all returned back to the jacuzzi room.

"Oh no, no." Rishi spoke to her for the first time all day, "If Odin is anything like that of the myths, he must have left a hint with that line. 'Isle by Njord's domain, in what is all of your distant home.' Now, Njord's domain confuses me. He doesn't have a single domain."

"Njord is Aitri's patron, right?" Rick asked, "What is she in control of?"

"I am, I guess, in control of whatever he is in control of. He is the god of winds, right? I can control the winds."

"No kidding." Rishi said, at a very low tune, "But wind doesn't cut it. Gods, the Allfather can be so confusing."

"What is the other domain?" Meghna asked, "And isn't Njord your patron's father?"

"Ocean." Rick said, "And yes, he is Freya's father." At Freya's name, Ashmi, who was sleeping with her tongue out, opened her eyes, meowed, and climbed down Rick's lap. She had also grown up in the last year. She was no bigger than Rishi's fist only a few days ago. Now she was quite bigger, and was in the margin line of being called a cat. Ashmi walked over Rishi's thighs, and just curled up like a ball in the corner of the chairs, and went back to sleep. "See how she acts when she hears Freya's name?" Rick asked, "Freya has that effect on all cats."

"So that means, it could be a place with oceans around." Meghna said.

"Not necessarily." Aitri said, recalling her own experience of feeling the water around, "After Njord chose me, I have been hearing the sounds of even the tiny drops at times, and was feeling water's power yesterday when I was near the college fountain."

"Njord's domain, which is the oceans or seas, doesn't necessarily mean only oceans and seas." Rishi deduced, "It perhaps means all forms of water. Okay, so by some water body, near what is our distant home. What is our home?"

"Pankhpur." Aitri said.

"Pankhpur." Rick said.

"Kolkata." Meghna said.

"What?" Rishi asked.

"Guys," Meghna said, "I think I found the answer to Odin's clue."

"Go on, Maggie." Aitri said.

"Guys, all of us were born in Kolkata, right?" 

"Yes." All of the champions said in unison.

"We have come here after at least a year living there, right?"

"Yes." Again in unison.

"And, we all have our relatives living there, right?"

"My parents' cousins," Rick said, "who only ever called me to know if my father had left anything for them. Pretty pissed they were, when I said no. So pissed that they never called back."

"Pathetic people are in every family, right?" Rishi said, patting Rick's back.

"Oh yeah. Anyway, so, that's what Old One-Eye meant by distant, since it's quite far from Pankhpur, our actual home?"

"Dude," Rishi said in panic, "stop using such nicknames for the King of Asgard. What if he doesn't take it well?"

"Sorry, Allfather." Rick patted back on Rishi's back, "Thanks, buddy. I totally forgot."

"Okay, so we know where to go, and where to find the Bifrost access point." Aitri said, trying to figure things out.

"Do we?" Rick asked, "What is the isle part?"

"That could be Samar Dwip." Aitri said, remembering about the island on the Ganga river at the southern area of Kolkata, the one she had heard stories of from her grandma, even some days ago. "It is near the Hoogli river, past the Howrah Bridge. It is a little island, and I used to hear from my grandma, that there were abnormal lights and sounds. Her house was very close to there."

"Aitri, it is one of those stories that our grandparents tell to make us sleep." Rick said, "They are not true."

"Boss, you are a divine champion." Meghna said in reply, "Thor, Odin, Loki, Freya, Sif, all of them are real. You are a sorcerer, that is also real. Some other day, you might even find that Zeus, Poseidon, Ares, Athena, they are also existent. Or even those Latin American gods. Or by the Almighty's grace, our own Shiva, Parvati, Vishnu, Brahma, also real. I wouldn't be surprised one bit."

"Good point." Rick replied.

"The best thing is that we have no time limit." Aitri said, picking on the point not made by any of the three gods seen, "Why don't we try it out? Kolkata doesn't have many islands anyway."

"Fine, then, I guess." Rick said, assured, as Robin called for breakfast. "I'm gonna make some calls."

"For the plane?" Rishi asked, with a wry smile.

"Well...shush!" he shushed Rishi and turned to Aitri, "We will leave in two hours." And he got up and left. 

Meanwhile, Aitri flew back home. She appeared in front of her shocked Mom, who was totally bewildered that her daughter could fly, and was still here. She was soon served sandwiches for breakfast, classic egg sandwiches with spreads, but without tomatoes and cucumbers. She gulped down the sandwiches with delight, given this could very well be her last meal from her mother's hand. She explained things to her Mom and Dad, who was leaving for office, and told them that she was going to Kolkata, given that was the place where they would be finding the next clue. And in about ten minutes, after a tearful goodbye, she was sitting in a car with Rick to get to the airport.