ANIKAA & THE ESCAPE- BOOK 2 OF ANIKAA SERIES

THE GREAT ESCAPE OF JIYU

"I am responsible," said Honark looking at Eshin.

Eshin's head was bent down in anticipation of Honark's comment but when Honark took longer than usual, he looked up.

"The two words-," said Honark, "-are highly potent Eshin. Don't utter them so casually."

Both Bolin and Anikaa had the same question in their eyes but it was Anikaa who voiced it.

"How so?"

"'I am responsible', the words simply put the end to the argument. No need to reason or summarise the problem or find the solution or at the least find the real culprit," said Honark and then turned to Eshin. "How, tell me Eshin you are responsible for the decisions that Jiyu took? How are you responsible if he chose the wrong instead of doing the right? No Eshin. Nobody is responsible for others karma. We all have the choices- the long way, the short way, the right way or the wrong way. Having said that we all know that we are simply the pawns in the hands of Almighty, still we attribute ourselves the greatest privilege when we believe that we are the ones responsible."

Eshin closed his eyes in anguish as his lips set to quiet.

It was a debatable argument and a part of Anikaa wanted to touch, explore and broach the topic of karma yet she chose to put her focus on the matter in hand.

"So Jiyu can fold his reflection in the painting but then why is he attacking people?"

Honark took a deep breath as everybody looked up at him for the answer.

"I am guessing that somehow, by mistake his reflection has broken."

"What?" It was the first time when everybody voiced the same question in chorus.

"Hmm...," said Honark taking his time. "You see even when you're making a normal soup and miss an ingredient, the taste wanes. And Jiyu was playing with one of the most dangerous methods of metaphysical science. A step here and there and one can do more harm than cutting your throat with your own sword. I believe Jiyu forgot to put the shield that was needed to protect his reflection or perhaps ignored its significance altogether. After all what would happen to a painting! Worst comes to worst it will get destroyed and his reflection will escape."

"His reflection will escape?"

"But of course Anikaa, it's not a simply a shadow. It can think for its own, make decisions, has a conscious and a sub-conscious and believe me when the time comes- escape unhurt."

"Master do you mean his reflection...,"

"Yes. It has broken and a piece of it somehow went with every copy of the painting."

"WHAT?" Anikaa's loud question was reflected in Eshin and Bolin's face.

"In every copy of the painting?" Eshin murmured but everybody heard him and Honark silently nodded.

"Yes," said Honark thoughtfully, "and he attacked those people because...again I'm guessing...perhaps, he can't control it."

"He can't control it?"

"No. The instability, the imbalance, the wrong against the nature has somehow made him unearthly. It is a phenomenon, unexplained but according to my theory, whenever his reflection gets close to a human body, its presence creates certain radiations that affects the normal human body in the most perilous way possible. It is something like touching radioactive uranium with your naked hands."