Adhiyan’s PoV

It is already new moon day and I walked towards the Madhi Mayakki Vanam. I didn't want to include Santhosh in because I don't want to fight him. If anything, I truly want to help him and his people to their destination. But not at the cost of my Netra. I want to know what exactly is happening and then help him without any trouble to Netra. I told Ellavan Periyappa that I won't be attending the council meeting today and he agreed. The council meeting is now just to recognise the newly born wolves since we have no problem with rogue threats!

“Come in, Adhiyan!” The same Siddhar called me into my vision. He was calling me into the Madhi Mayakki Vanam.

“But I cannot step on it.”

“I am with you. Come on!” He reached his hand out to me and I held his hand. He started walking on the air and I followed him. I looked down and was astonished to see my feet float in the air. 

“How is this possible?” I asked him in pure disbelief.

“We are not walking in the air, Adhiyan. We are walking on a thin layer of protection on the floor.”

“But ….”

“It is not always there! And it is not everywhere. I know where the protection layers are exactly and where it leads to and when it will be intact for me to walk on. It is like a path.”

“But I don't feel anything under my feet.”

“That is because you are like a feather now. You are not heavy to feel anything.” He said, still keeping his eyes inside the dark forest.

“You are a Siddhar, you have such powers to turn yourself light like a feather. How am I doing it?”

“You cannot learn everything in one night, Adhiyan. But I can tell you this, you are not doing it now. I am doing it for you. But you can do it too if you put your mind and heart to it. Everyone can do it.”

We reached a place that is covered with tall trees. The trees were making an enclosure and I could see light coming out of the trees’ canopy. I felt goosebumps erupt all over my body seeing the divine place in front of me. He walked inside the enclosure and I could see the trees making a circular enclosure. I looked up above only to see millions of fireflies lighting up the canopy. It was a huge place. I could not see the sky but only the branches and leaves of trees in the light of the fireflies. 

“Come on, Adhiyan.” He left my hand and I fell on the ground. All of a sudden I felt heavy. He started climbing on the branches to reach the canopy and I followed him. Thank god, he left my hand where the ground is clear of the MadhiMayakki herbs. The absence of sunlight has made the land barren of any plants or herbs.

“What are we going to do? When is the portal going to open? How long is it going to take for me to reach Netra?” I kept asking him questions while climbing up the branches on his footsteps but he said nothing. 

“Ufff” I was huffing and puffing as we reached a flat surface. I was stupefied to see an arrangement like this in the midst of branches and leaves. It was like a hut and lit up with fireflies. It has nothing inside.

“I want water!” I asked him as I searched inside the hut.

“Everything you need, you have it in you.” He said and asked me to stand up. Though puzzled, I stood up. 

“Now jump!” He said and my eyes popped out. We were almost 20 feet up from the ground and he wanted me to jump?

“No!” I said.

“You have to jump.” He said and looked me in the eyes. Then I understood he was being serious. I tried to change to my wolf to minimize the damage but he stopped me.

“Nope! Jump in this form.” He said. I closed my eyes and jumped out. I opened my eyes when I felt no impact or my body thudding to the ground. He was standing next to me holding me with his hand. My feet never touched the ground.

“How did you come before me?” I asked him.

“The important question is, how to feel weightless!” He said.

“How?” I asked him.

“Here, this is a shortcut! Drink it!” He gave me a bright orange potion in a small vial and I drank it without question. “You will feel dizzy but disregard that. Shut down your organs. Wake up in your subconscious. See your brain and find your third eye! Look at it! The potion I gave you will make your third eye secret an enzyme. See it ooze out of your brain. Control your physical body. Picture it afloat.” He kept talking as I fell down. I saw everything blur around me and I tried hard not to pass out. I kept trying to awaken my subconscious before I lost it.

I woke up in the canopy hut! I saw him nowhere and I went out of the hut. I saw him in his penance down on the ground. When I started to get down through the branches, I stopped. I vaguely remembered the blue enzyme that covered my brain. I decided to try it out and I jumped. Half way through, I shut down my organs and awoke in my subconscious. I felt weightless all of a sudden and landed on the ground. It was not smooth! When I woke up, pain shot up from my legs and right shoulder. I collapsed on the ground but luckily nothing broke. 

“You did good! But you are wrong with timings. You should be awake in your sub while you jump, not half way through. You should calculate the time of landing based on the height and you should wake up your physical body before landing. That way you can control the landing position. The shorter the height the safer you land.” He said, still closing his eyes.

“Why do I want to learn this?” I asked him, astonished by how well he had learnt his skills. Who might have taught him that?

“The wormhole will suck you in and push you out on the other end. If you want to land without any harm, you need this skill.” He said and continued on what he was doing. I started climbing the trees again to try what he taught. 

‘Ufff, he must have taught me how to reach up without this huffing and puffing first.’ I thought to myself as I reached up there for the sixth time in a row. I am getting good at it. 

“Alright, come, we have to go somewhere.” He caught my hands and walked me out of the canopy. This time I let his hand go and jumped on my own and landed perfectly. He smiled at me and caught my hand again. I saw him puzzled. It must have been days since I was with him. I lost track of time since the canopy never lets any sun or moon come in. It is always dark here. 

“Where are we going?” I asked him.

“To the seas.”

“Seas? Why?” 

“To teach you how to withstand pressure.” He said and started walking. I walked with him but there are no seas nearby and I have no idea where he is taking me by walk! But nevertheless, I kept quiet and walked along with him. 

“What in the world?” I was shocked when I saw we were standing on a cliff! It was a vast ocean in front of my eyes!

“Jump!” He said and before I knew it, he jumped in. I followed him with so much fear.

“He caught me before I hit my head on the rock. He started swimming down, holding my hands and dragging me to the depth. I wanted to breathe badly and I tried to break free but his grip was so strong. 

I woke up coughing and spitting out the water I drank. All my mouth felt salty and it was not pleasant. I opened my eyes only to see him sitting calmly near me. We were in a wooden room! What place is this?

“Where are we?” I asked him as I looked around. 

“We are in a sunken ship. You are lucky, this ship still has air pockets. It is not flooded.” He said with a teasy smile. 

“You tried to kill me. You know to hold your breath for longer, but I don't. You have to teach me that first before dragging me to the depths of the ocean.”

“Haha, it is in your blood, Adhiyan. You must remember it now. Your life on earth started here in this very same ocean.” He said and I have no clue.

“Yeah, that completely makes sense. How did we get here? How in the world did we come to an ocean by walking? We didn't even walk that fast or that long!” I told him sarcastically.

“Of course, it does. We walked at the speed of light. That was why you didn't realize the scenery change or the days it took for us to come here. We have actually time traveled. Does that make sense to you? For kids like you, scientific terms make sense and actual experiments are unbelievable!” He shook his head.

“I truly don't understand anything you tell me or teach me or why is it all necessary to reach my love. But I knew already that everything Siddhars do are scientific explorations. We humans are still finding the reasoning behind it. Just because we cannot explain or understand something, does not make it false or hoax.” I said to him heartily. 

“And that is why I am teaching you everything you need. The wormhole is like a high pressure gauge. To explain you simply, it is equivalent to the whole pressure in the deep sea contained in a tiny box. You must learn to withstand the pressure. If not, you will go unconscious when you are expelled out the other end. If you are not conscious, your safety is questionable. If you want to reach there and meet your love, you must be alive, right?” He asked me and my head nodded in agreement to him. I felt like a little boy in front of him. He was teaching me like I am his child.

“What should I do now?”

“That's my boy. Everything is in your third eye, Adhiyan. All you have to do is control it and order it to your needs. Now you have to order it to keep your body alive even if you stop breathing. But I trust in your body, you will soon learn to use the oxygen in the water to breathe without filling your lungs with water.” He said and walked out of the door and closed it as if it was a door above the ground. I saw the gush of water entering the room in the little gap he went out. 

With determination, I walked out the door into the water. No matter how hard I tried, I could not close the door to keep the room dry. I left it open and saw it fill with water in just a matter of seconds. I swam towards him and he kept going deeper and deeper. Slowly the light faded away and it was dark everywhere except for the bioluminescent rocks and fishes swimming here and there. I was slowly losing my breath and consciousness when suddenly I saw a flash of myself swimming inside the water without any effort.