Naagin 2: The Cursed NaagRani, Shivangi

Ch 1- The death that shook life

The sun had set. Orange light shone throughout the temple. On the black granite tiled floor was a red trail. In between the trail was a maiden dressed in white and gold. The white cloth near her stomach was drenched in ruby blood. She was lying on her left side, with her right hand on her stomach. The air was still, so was her breath. Behind her, a few meters away was the idol of Shiv-Shakti, whose eyes look like they are glancing over the maiden on the floor. A few inches in front of her was lying a Thrishul with blood trickling from the end.

The moon slowly rose up. Something on the Shiv Linga started glowing brightly from the reflection of the moon. The light slowly reached the blood on the floor and then her hands and then her face. The face that once was filled with love, then revenge and then overpowered by love again was now lifeless. There was a black snake's mark behind her neck.

The temple was suddenly engulfed by hissing sounds. Snakes slowly started crawling towards the maiden and stopped to bask in the light from the stone. The snakes where glancing at the bright and beautiful Naagamani that had suddenly shown up on the stone even though it was removed and taken over to the Thakshak temple. No one could have replaced it because the 50 years during which the Naagmani cannot be touched by a mortal has started. So the legend about the Naagmani following the Lord's orders on it's own is indeed true.

The mark behind her neck slowly glowed and the snakes surrounded her. A cold breeze stirred up a movement in the still temple. The bells of the temple slowly started ringing. Her eyelashes fluttered. Her fingers felt her own blood that was now thick. But she still wished everything was a dream, a nightmare which she was yearning to wake up from. But the sharp pain near her stomach brought her back to her reality.

"Shivangi....", she wished to hear that from someone. She slowly opened her eyes which was blurred with tears. Those eyes where searching for someone. A name tried to escape her mouth. But it felt so painful to gulp down let alone speak. She slowly tried to get up but she could only place her left hand on the floor and perch up.

"So, this is my destiny! My Papa and my husband tried to kill me." The tear that had filled her left eye had dripped down onto the floor on her dry blood.

She was overwhelmed by the surprise and happiness that her father is alive but her heart throbbed as she realized he was alive all this while and never came back.

She remembered the days and nights Ma would tear up when she remembered him. She used to look out at the moon and Shivangi could see that her eyes were reliving those old memories. Shivangi didn't even have a memory about him and she always wondered what it was like to have a father. She only learned about him through her mother. "You know you are exactly like your father", her Ma would say at times. Whenever she would win running races, chess or even get good grades her Mom would tell her 'Papa'. She even started 'seeing' him during her wedding.

Or was she? Was he really there for her wedding? Oh! The wedding. That dreadful dark night. The night that changed everything. Shivangi's eyes were now raining over.

Isn't this night again the same as that. Dreams and hopes of a "happily ever after" torn apart by her one true love. The only person she gave her heart to. She mocked at her own fate. "Yes, my death has won over my life. ", she whispered. "Everything and everyone I fought for.."

Even breathing was so painful. Because she was now sitting half upright on the floor, blood gushed out from her wound and she felt every ounce of it. Her hands shivered.

But, then she noticed the pain reducing. She looked over to her stomach and noticed that the blood was gone. Even the ground she was lying on became black as the blood seemingly dried up. She tried to get up and the only pain she now felt was from her heart. "You have to die Shivangi." Rocky's words pulled her back down to the floor and she didn't even want to try again.

She looked up to the idol and noticed the light. Naagmani wanted to bring her back. Shiv dev tried to bring her back. But she no longer can hold on. She just wanted to forget everything so that her pain would stop. She cannot think of revenge on him because once she promised herself that she would never doubt him again. And now, if what he wants is her dead, then that's all she wants as well.

But Naagmani brought her back. Why?

She was the last Suryavanshi left on Earth. Shivangi thought. The only one who can lift Naagmani to spread it's light onto the world. The Suryavanshis and the Naag-Naagins protected the Naagmani from greed. And Shivangi was the first and only Naagin who was a Suryavanshi. Her birth had placed upon a huge responsibility on her. She was the protector of Naagmani. This was the life her Mom wanted to protect her from. But fate pushed her closer into her destiny. Legends have it that the only curse and punishment for a Naagin is love. And, Shivangi chose love every time.

What she did not know was that the Naagmani also protects the protector. Naagmani knew the injustice and wanted to bring her back but if only it could show her who actually killed her. Alas, the Naagmani can only show what happened right in front of it.

The bright light slowly receded away and that was when Shivangi noticed the Naagmani. Usually it disappears during the 50 years it rests but now it was right in front of her. She slowly got up and walked towards the Shiv-Ling. The snakes on the ground cleared way for her. She stopped right in front of the Naagmani with eyes searching for answers. She closed her eyes and touched the Naagmani with her right hand. "Why?", she asked.

She now saw Rocky standing next to where she was lying a few minutes ago. She lay lifeless on the ground next to him. He wiped his tears and said, "I'm sorry Shivangi, but it's your destiny. Your death finishes my story." He now walked towards the Shiv-Linga next to where she was now standing. She saw a small smile across his face as he reached for Naagmani. "Now Naagmani is in my hands and I am going to rule Thakshak clan." He placed it on his head and disappeared. She was only looking at Rocky's eyes that she forgot about her father. If only she had looked at him, she would've seen him also surprisingly vanishing with Rocky.

She could no longer hold on. Her eyes were flooded with tears as she pulled her hands back. "No! Rocky would never. He would never do this to me for Naagmani." She refused to believe. As a Naagin, it was clear what she had to do. Revenge. Maybe that's why the Naagmani brought her back. Because she has to protect it from the evil. Rocky. Little did she know the real reason she was brought back. 

But no, she had once gone down this path and it only caused pain. She remembered the night of Devi-Pooja as Rocky lay on the ground and she could only cry. She promised that day to show him how much she loved him. All she wanted to see his smile again. But now, today. What should she do? Her love or her responsibility? Her very life has become pointless.

She again decides to choose love but now at a greater price.