The shadowy figure stood revealed—it was Dharma.
Adhithan stared, a tempest of surprise, fear, and confusion swirling within him. Yet, beneath it all, a strange calm held firm. This was a man who had witnessed the Cosmic River, the primordial tree, and the wonders of other realms. To him, the impossible had become possible. This could only be a Siddha, he thought. But a deeper, more insidious question whispered in the caverns of his mind: But is he a good one?
He still couldn't ascertain if this was a dream or a memory. The edges of reality felt blurred, untrustworthy.
The shadowy form smiled, a faint curve in the dim light. "Let me reintroduce myself. Dharma. Of the nocturnals siddha collective."
Nocturnals ?The term struck a chord. Wasn't that the mystic guild of Siddhas associated with the lunar deity, the one Adhirai and Arputhan had spoken of?
A thought crystallized into a question. "Can you control dreams?" Adhithan's voice was tight. "Am I still under your control? Are you from the Siddha order of the Chandra Temple? Is this… is this your psychic game?" The questions tumbled out, laden with awe and suspicion.
"No," Dharma's voice was deep, resonating with a tranquil authority that seeped into Adhithan's bones. "I entered your dream. I began investigating the deaths of Veetri and Nayagi. But your fear… and something else… blocked me. It should have ended long ago. If only you hadn't resisted and run!"
His tone shifted, becoming almost philosophical. "I often trust the people in dreams more than I trust the realities people speak of. Why? Because in the dreamscape, a man is his raw essence. He walks the path his dream shows him, obediently, slowly. But you… you fought it." He leaned infinitesimally closer. "What are you hiding, Adhithan?"
The accusation hung in the air. Then, softer, "But I believe your memory waves have been tampered with. Altered." This belief, he implied, was the water nurturing the seeds of his doubts.
Inside, Aadhithan scrambled for answers. Is that why the dream felt… edited? Did I only see what I was meant to see? Or did that Cosmic Tree plant something in me? His mind was a chorus of fearful inquiries.
"So, what do you believe now?" he finally asked, clinging to his core defense. "That I have no connection to Vetri and Adhirai's murders?"
Dharma didn't answer directly. Instead, his gaze intensified, peeling back layers.
"Aren't you suspicious of the flow of your own dreams?" he countered. "I have ensnared many in dreams who doubted the power of the Siddhas. They lose themselves in that reality, wishing to stay forever. But you are different. You fought the current. For a non-Siddha, I don't know how you did it." He paused, letting the mystery linger. "But one thing I will tell you. Danger surrounds you. Something—miraculously—is keeping you alive. It… intrigues me."
Aadhithan felt a shiver. "I have strong faith in God. Maybe something protective, something helpful, is aiding me," he offered, a half-truth he hoped would suffice.
"Call it luck if you wish. But one can certainly say you have forgotten your memories," Dharma stated, closing that line of inquiry.
"Then is this a dream or real? Can you free me from this?" Aadhithan ventured, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Freely. But you must come to the Chandra Temple at midnight. The hour when the twin yellow moons sit at the zenith of the sky." Dharma's instruction was a command disguised as an offer.
"Why?" Aadhithan's anxiety spiked.
"To verify you have no link to these killings. That is why." Dharma's reply was swift. "And besides…" Before Aadhithan could interject, Dharma's voice dropped another octave, thick with implication. "Above all, you have been connected to that Illuminati book."
"What?" Aadhithan trembled, the word hitting him like a physical blow.
Dharma stood before him, locking his ash-grey eyes with Aadhithan's. "In the suicide scene, that book from the Fourth Age was not there. Veetri is dead. Nayagi is dead. You are our only lead."
"...Alright." Aadhithan fell silent for a moment, overwhelmed, then exhaled a shaky breath. His mind raced. Why didn't I think more about that book?
"Your sister has returned from school," Dharma said abruptly, shifting the reality. "Remember, Aadhithan. The Chandra Temple. Midnight. Do not forget." As he finished speaking, a shadowy, smoke-like form coalesced around him and vanished in an instant.
Aadhithan woke from the dream.
---
The sun was sliding west, painting the horizon in streaks of crimson and orange. Residents of the apartment complex trickled home. His sister, Menaka, had returned too.
Earlier, Aadhithan had reheated the mutton soup.
Menaka entered, her school bag slung over her shoulder, and sniffed the air as she headed straight for the kitchen.
"Did you make this?" she asked, staring at Adhithan with undisguised surprise.
She wrinkled her nose, inhaling the fragrant steam. Her eyes, quick and often guarded, softened momentarily, a flicker of something like hope. "Did you make this?" she repeated, as if needing confirmation.
"Why, can't I cook?" he retorted, not waiting for an answer. "Don't worry, you won't drop dead eating this. I was just trying my hand at something Vetri taught me. Try trusting your brother for once," he said, the words coming out with a forced, defensive edge.
"Put your bag away somewhere. Go wash your hands, and then get ready to eat," he urged, wanting to dispel the strange tension.
"Ah, okay, okay!" She hurried to her room. Menaka returned, hands washed, and they began to eat in a silence that was more comfortable than before.
After the meal, Aadhithan looked at Menaka. "Washing the dishes is your job now," he said with a teasing, brotherly grin.
"Fine!" she said, immediately getting up, gathering the utensils, and heading out the door.
She returned after washing up. "You've learned to cook well, Anna," she said, a simple compliment that carried weight.
In that moment, Adhithan—forgetting he was once Vijay, remembering only that he was her Aadhithan—pulled her into a tight hug.
Menaka's eyes glistened. Her emotions warred on her face for a few seconds. Finally, she said, "Maybe in the future, I'll cook."
"Hmm… If you find a way to get a job quickly, then we can arrange your marriage quickly too," she added with a sigh.
"Enough of that. If you're full, go and get some sleep. Think about your work," Adhithan chided gently, his heart aching with a love he was still relearning.
---
At 11 PM, Aadhithan slid the revolver into the back of his waistband. He peeked into the room where his sister slept peacefully. After quietly locking the door from the outside, he slipped into the night. The twin yellow moons hung heavy, showering the world in their eerie, sulfurous light. Adhithan began his walk to the Chandra Temple.
The entire way, he felt it—the palpable sensation of being followed. His skin prickled. But just as he reached the ancient, silent temple grounds, the feeling evaporated, leaving him alone with his pounding heart.
Aadhithan took a deep, steadying breath. His heart hammered against his ribs; a deep-seated unrest churned within him. He wanted to refuse, to turn and run back to the fragile normalcy of his home.
But based on what had transpired in the dreams, he knew Dharma would have elevated his guard. The power differential between a regular man and a Siddha was vast; the chance of overcoming it by force was negligible. He probably has a revolver too… and certainly knows how to use it…
A torrent of thoughts flooded him. Ultimately, Adhithan chose to accept the reality before him.
Dharma was waiting at the temple entrance.
The Temple of the Moon God primarily operated at night, but the usual crowds of devotees were absent past 10 PM. The place was now a landscape of silence and long shadows.
"When you find out about the Illuminati book, will you let me go?" Aadhithan asked directly.
"Yes. Once we know about that Illuminati book, and are certain you bear no curse or have been possessed by any malevolent spirit, you will be free," Dharma said, his smile unnervingly serene.
For a true moment, Aadhithan felt a spike of pure fear.
Dharma continued. "Some years ago, we dealt with a sinister cult. They performed live sacrifices to please a specific dark deity; they compelled followers into suicide. Crucifixions, beheadings, burnings… One member escaped and tried to report it to the police. The temple council, the Iravadi Siddha collective, hushed it up."
His voice grew grim. "But after a specific period, that man too committed suicide. And not just him—his wife and children also burned to death. On their wall, scrawled in ash, were the words: 'Lucifer shall reign again.' His notes also contained references to the Illuminati book."
"That is how we became acquainted with it," Dharma concluded.
Shock and horror spread across Aadhithan's face, cold and unmistakable.
The two men walked in silence into the temple's vaulted treasury chamber.
There, before a sacred fire pit, sat a woman. She was conducting a yagna, chanting softly. Before her, the idol of the Moon God bathed in the dual moonlight streaming through an aperture above. The light seemed to cling to her, making her part of the ritual.
Dharma gestured toward her. "She is also a Siddha. One of us. Her name is Thaarigai." His voice dropped to a reverent whisper. "She can speak with true spirits. The genuine echoes of the departed. She is… a banisher of ghosts."
---
Postscript:
"This is a work of complete fiction. Inspired by world literature and mythologies. It is not a copy of any specific existing work."
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