(Episode - 25)

  [Karu Arfan Rafin]

  Tushar's eyes soften as his voice rests after telling his story to Mehaki. Mehaki, with an appreciative look on her face, turns to Karu, whose face seems tense.

  Mehaki : *Tushar was also harmed by a boy with fire powers…* Karu, that was really brave of you as a kid. You didn’t just stand still, but saved someone whose life was at stake! That's something to be proud of.

  Karu : It probably is…

  Mehaki : ?

  Karu : But I couldn’t ever forgive myself for what happened next.

  His expression falls in deep sadness. His brows slightly furrow and his lips press together. Mehaki feels concerned for him, anticipating something terrible.

  Mehaki : …What happened?

  Karu takes a deep breath before diving into his tragic story.

  Karu : The day I saw Tushar, I was in the wind forest with my younger brother, doing some research. It seemed like just another ordinary day, until I heard some noise coming from a distance…

  [Little Karu is exploring the plants of the wind forest. Across him sits his 4-year-old younger brother, Kobir. He has light purple hair and eyes, and a pair of glasses. He is reading a kid's book about plants and flowers, while observing one. Karu hears a noise and his attention shifts.

  Karu : *Huh? What was that? It sounded like a scream. But… In this forest? Maybe someone is in trouble. I should check* Kobir, wait here for a moment, I'll be back after checking something.

  Kobir : Oh, okay.

  Karu walks at a fast pace, following the sound. As he reaches the source of it, he gets startled to see a red-cloaked boy, controlling the fire around Tushar who's down on the ground, about to pass out.

  Karu : *What the heck is he doing!? He will die at this rate!*

  Karu's instincts kick in and he uses his powers to put out the fire and Tushar loses consciousness. Then Karu runs to the boy and pushes him back. His powers surround him as green light rays and small leaves.

  Karu : Stop! What do you think you're doing?

  Boy : Who are you now?

  Karu : That doesn’t matter. You’re hurting a person!

  Boy : None of your business.

  Karu : It is my business to help another human being.

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  Boy : Human being? Haha. Ice-powered people… They're just curses.

  Karu : Hey! *Is this boy crazy? Trying to burn a person alive! What's even his problem?* You have no right to harm another person like that!

  The boy's eyes glow red again, his expression darkens with furrowed eyebrows. Karu remains unwavering.

  Boy : Stay out of my way for your own good.

  Karu : No way. I won't let you hurt another person!

  Boy : Is it so? Then take it on yourself!

  Karu : !!!

  The boy charges at Karu with fire strikes and he defends. He fights back with his powers. Meanwhile, a few colorful, mysterious light flares hover over Tushar. Karu and the boy continue to fight, without knowing what is happening. It doesn’t take long for the boy to lose against Karu, since he trains regularly. So Karu's nature powers are way stronger than his evil fire strength. The boy falls on the ground after being exhausted.

  Karu : Who's taking it on himself now? Looks like you didn’t even train as much as I did.

  Boy : Hah… You think you got me?

  He stands up and takes a few steps back. His red hood shadows his fierce eyes.

  Boy : I will take care of you later… Or, very soon.

  As soon as he finishes the words, he vanishes into black smoke in front of Karu's eyes. Without even caring about it, he turns back, thinking he'll run to Tushar and help him. But to his surprise, Tushar is nowhere to be seen. Just the fading light flares linger on the place he was lying a moment ago.

  Karu : Huh? Where did the boy go? He was just lying here a while ago! *Light flares? What happened to him?*

  As he's lost in thoughts, Kobir comes to him, holding his book and moving the bushes aside.

  Kobir : Brother, you weren’t coming back.

  Karu : I was about to.

  Kobir : Huh?

  He sees the burned grass and gets scared.

  Kobir : W-What Happened here??

  Karu : Don't worry. Everything is fine. Let's go home, I'll tell you on the way.

  “I told Kobir everything. He was a very smart and intelligent boy, despite his age. Kobir and I shared the best bond brothers could ever have. There were no secrets between us. Though his power was different from mine, we rarely got into any conflicts. He had purple hair and the power of electricity like mom.”

  At night, Karu, Kobir, their mom and dad are sitting at the dinner table, happily talking about their days as they eat. It’s as if happiness radiates from them. Karu is telling them about the incident.

  Karu : …And then he wasn’t there anymore! He just disappeared into thin air.

  Mr. Shilpok : That's strange. But you did the right thing, son.

  Mrs. Keya : Yes, I'm so proud of you, dear.

  Karu : Thanks, mom and dad!

  Mrs. Keya : See? This proves we raised our children correctly and very well.

  Mr. Shilpok : Of course, honey. Most of the credit goes to you.

  Kobir : Yeah! Mom always scolds us if we do a bad thing.

  Mr. Shilpok : Right? What do I say? She even scolds me too.

  Mrs. Keya : Hahaha, enough you all.

  “Our family lacked nothing. In fact, we were pretty well known in Nokshikunjo city, where I come from. Our family was often called ‘The Glam Garden-owner’ because of the huge garden we owned. It was at the back of our house. There were rarely any flowers that we didn’t have in our garden.”

  Karu and Kobir are studying in their room. Kobir is on the bed, while Karu reads on the table. Kobir reads a page, wiggling his legs and calls Karu.

  Kobir : Brother, look! This is the Ariya flower! We have the flower, right?

  Karu : Yeah, we do. And it’s right in front of our house

  Kobir : Why is it not in the garden but in the front yard?

  Karu : Hmm… Cuz it's a special, magical flower. That's why to make it special, it was planted in a separate place from the rest of the trees in the garden.

  Kobir : Oh, I see now.

  “Like I said, Kobir was intelligent and forever curious. He was always eager to learn new things. And he had a passion for books from a young age. We'd often tease him saying he'd become the future caretaker of dad's big library.”

  Karu : Future librarian.

  Mrs. Keya : Hmm… Or rather, a caretaker. Since he's gonna watch over the books forever like now.

  Kobir : Mom!

  Mr. Shilpok : Why are you teasing my brilliant boy?

  Kobir : Dad! Mom calls me a caretaker!

  Karu : Hahaha!

  Kobir hugs their father and buries his face. Karu and their mom laugh it off. Mr. Shilpok pats his head and encourages him.

  Mr. Shilpok : Caretaker is not bad though.

  Kobir : Ahh! I don’t like it!

  Mr. Shilpok : Well, you can proudly call yourself a bearer of knowledge.

  Kobir : Huh?

  Mr. Shilpok : If it's about taking care of a library, you're taking care of a great collection of various knowledge, aren’t you?

  Karu : Whoa! That'd be cool!

  Kobir : Yay! I'll be so great!

  Mrs. Keya : Of course, you’ll make it!

  “I thought my life would be peaceful like that forever, until the next day came. Somehow, that fire-powered boy wearing the red cloak found my address and arrived at my door.”

  Karu stands at the main gates of their house, with confusion and eyes clouded with disgust. For the boy who tried to kill another person in front of his eyes, is standing right before him.

  Karu : …What are you doing here??

  The boy's cold, emotionless lips slowly curve into a smirk as his fiery eyes begin to glow.]

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