Changing Destiny

15. Krishna confronts

"I wish it did", he heard a voice behind him. 

Krishna turned around to find Angaraj talking to a chief unknown to his presence. "I wish it did. So please inform everyone. I want constant updates", Karn was ordering someone.

Krishna smiled at him. Karn noticed Krishna and walked towards him.

"Greetings Vasudev", he greeted Krishna.

"Greetings Angaraj. So how are you?", Krishna asked.

"Yeah I am fine. Been a bit busy lately I guess", Karn said smiling.

"Oh I am sorry. Am I disturbing you Angaraj?", Krishna asked with an innocent smile.

"Of course not. It would be a sin to not spend time with you Vasudev", Karn said smiling.

"Ok now you are just buttering me", Krishna said.

"And here I thought you loved butter", Karn said. They shared a good laugh.

"I must say I am quite surprised with what you did to this place", Krishna said looking around.

"I would love to take that compliment but I didn't do it all alone. I had help from six amazing princes", Karn said, "I was just ordering them around", he added.

"Wait a sec- Are you telling me that all these preparations of the feast were supervised by the Pandavs and Kauravs?", Krishna asked.

"Yes"

"Together?"

"Yes"

"Without fighting with each other?"

"Apparently yes"

"How did you do that?", Krishna asked in disbelief.

"A magician never shares his secret", Karn replied with a wink.

"Looks like someone is proud", Krishna said.

"Looks like the other someone is jealous", Karn said.

"Why would I be jealous? I am just confused", Krishna said.

"Similarly I am not proud, just happy", Karn replied without missing a beat.

"Woow! You've definitely learnt to talk a lot", said an amused Krishna.

"What to do Vasudev? Being a king has its prerequisites and when you have to handle 105 hotheads, it is very much necessary", Karn said.

"Why are you doing this?", Krishna asked.

"Doing what?"

"All this", Krishna said pointing to everything around.

"Like I said, Maharaj left me in charge"

"That's not what I meant"

"Then?"

"Why did you suddenly take up the responsibility of being the bridge between the 100 and 5?", Krishna asked.

"I am not trying to be the bridge between them. I am just trying to bring them closer so that no bridge is required", Karn said.

"You do know that one drop of poison can spoil a whole pot of milk right? So now you want to add 100 drops to it?", Krishna asked.

Karn stood silent. His eyes were burning with Anger. He took a few minutes to calm down coz he didn't want to lash out. "I've spent half my life not speaking my mind Vasudev. I am not going to repeat the same mistake for the rest of my life," Karn said looking Krishna straight in his eyes and continued, "Firstly, there was never 100 against 5. It was always 1 against 5 coz every single person on this earth know that all the 99 brothers are a part of him and would follow him to hell and back without questions. Secondly, nobody was against anybody in the first place. Since they were kids all you people did was praising the 5 and leaving the 1 behind. He strived for recognition. When you didn't give him that, he turned jealous and selfish. So whose fault is that? And as he grew, all those rage were mislead and he was used as a mere pawn in a lot of elaborate stupid plans by the people around him. Me and my friend had similar childhood filled with negligence and favoritism but the only difference was he stayed in the dark when I kept searching for the light. Now that I know him, I will bring him to light. So don't you dare say that he is poison ever again coz I have a huge respect for you Vasudev and I don't want to burn you down", Karn said.

Krishna stood there with his same calm expression bordering around a little frown.

"And as for the 5", Karn continued, "Have you ever seen how shocked and jealous they become when Duryodhan spends time with me and we have a great time and a good laugh? I can see it in their eyes that they still like him and want to be able to call him Bhrata. But no they won't do that coz everyone around them made them enemies for no reason. You may be able to live with it by doing nothing about it but not me. I won't spare anyone who comes in my way to stop me from doing what is right", Karn said.

"There is always someone above us Karna", Krishna said.

"Yeah and I know exactly who that is and I don't care because I am not going to be some stringed puppet dancing to someone else's tunes and neither are the princes of this palace", Karn spat out like a fire-breathing dragon.

"Sometimes stories are written in such a way to teach lessons to the upcoming generations", Krishna said still maintaining his calm demeanor.

"I am well aware of that Vasudev. But good stories should be in such a way that the hero overcomes evil and not surrender to it. My friend is not evil and the 6 heroes will overcome every odds they have to face and I will make sure that they do it TOGETHER", Karn said.

"I don't understand. What's in it for you?", Krishna was starting to loose his cool.

Karn just shrugged. "I am just fulfilling the duties of a friend, as a surrogate son to the Maharaj and as a father by providing my child a better place to live that was not formed by war and blood", Karn said.

"Never thought you would say that", Krishna said.

"Neither did I but here I am rooting for avoiding a war because people change", Karn said.

"How are you so sure there will be war?", Krishna asked.

"Where there is jealousy there will be war and this place has enough of those snakes crawling around", Karn said.

"So you are not going to stop?", Krishna asked in his this-is-your-last-chance tone.

"Try me", Karn challenged. They had an immense staredown until Krishna broke into a smile and hugged Karn. Karn was confused.

"You did it", Krishna said.

"Did what?"

"You passed"

"Wait this was a test?", Karn asked who got more confused.

"Of course Angaraj. I had to know your true intentions. And now you passed it with flying colours", Krishna said patting Karn's back. Karn started smiling.

"I have heard a lot of stories and I have wrote some too. But none of those characters were like you. I am impressed and proud at the same time. So I, Vasudev Krishnan give you my word that I will be there to help you in this mission of yours whenever you want along with my best wishes", Krishna said.

Karn was happy but then his smile faded. "What if I fail?", he asked.

"Don't get any doubts now Angaraj. I want you to succeed. But if things don't work your way, then we go back to mine", Krishna said.

"And that is-"

"The original MAHABHARAT"

"Uhhhh??"

"I can't tell you. What's the fun in that?", Krishna winked.

Karn was quiet for sometime and then agreed.

"Then brace yourself Angaraj. You have a lot coming. I advise you to stay the same clear headed person you are coz a lot of life changing truths will be uncovered in this journey of yours. All the best", Krishna said.

"I am happy to have you by my side Vasudev. But can we not tell about this to anyone else?", Karn asked.

"Whatever you need my friend", Krishna said smiling. But little did they know a venomous birdie overheard their conversation.

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NOTE: That's chapter 15 and so sorry for the delay. Well that was an intense conversation but who is that birdie? Stay tuned to find out. THANKS a lot and you know the drill