Chapter 4

I could not believe my ears. This old man slept with a fairy? Unbelievable. 

"What is 'Ichha Matsya'?" Surya asked. I too wanted to know what exactly that fairy wanted him to find. 

"If you translate the words, it will be 'The Wish Fish'. This word came from the foreigners," The doctor replied. 

I looked into his eyes. "One more thing, what was her name?" 

"Pallavitra," He said softly. 

How could mythical creatures be real? I could not believe his words. Everything he said, seemed like a made-up story. But his eyes... his eyes were not lying. 

"So, did you get your answers?" Ashok asked him. 

"No, I never set sail in the seas. After her death, I returned to my parents. They forgave me and took me in. I started working as a doctor in the village. And when they passed away, I came back to my sweet home. The bed you are sitting on is the one on which she took her last breath. This small shabby looking house was once a house of my dreams."

I noticed he had a lot of wealth. He owned properties in many places. But he still lived in this small old house. They even offered him to become the royal doctor and live his life in a luxury in the royal palace. But he declined that offer. They considered him the best doctor in the country. 

"Hm, what do you want me to do then?" I said. 

He stood up. "Look at your friend, he is in critical condition. I don't have many years left to live too. It may seem selfish of me, but I want to you to set sail in search of The Wish Fish. I want you to know all the answers. Also, this is the only way you can save your friend's life. Do it for whatever reason suits you."

We were now in a dilemma. Whether to put our life on the line for this rascal Subham or not. Who the f*ck cared about an old man? 

"The decision is yours now," He said and walked out of the chamber with slow steps. 

I, Ashok and Surya were looking at each other's faces when Rahul, Bhaskar and Govind entered the chamber. 

"What happened?" Rahul asked, noticing our confused expressions. 

From where should I start? There was so much going on inside me. 

"There is a lot to tell," Surya replied to him. 

"Tell us, we are not going anywhere," Bhaskar said. 

"The wish fish. There is a high chance that it exists," I said without wasting any time. 

"What? Are you serious?" Govind was shocked, as were the others. 

We were not joking. It was clearly visible from our faces. I don't know if they noticed it or what, but they insisted us to tell them everything. 

"I will go to The Great Black Sea. I won't force you to come with me, you have your own lives," I said, staring at the ground. 

"What are you talking about?" Rahul said. 

Then we told them everything what the doctor had told us. 

"And now we have no choice. If we want to save him..." I continued. 

"Hm, and you believed it?" Bhaskar interrupted me. 

"He did not seem to lie."

"Hm, then what do you want us to do?" Bhaskar asked in return. 

"Nothing. If you want to come with me, you can. But I won't force you," I answered. "I have made up my mind."

"Are you an idiot?" Govind shouted at me like a thug. 

"What?" 

"You want to go into the jaws of death alone. If you consider us as your friends, then how can you leave us behind? And how can we let you go alone? Subham is our friend too. We too want to do something for him."

I stared at all of their faces. They were all smiling. Friendship is so beautiful. You can beat any problem if you have friends. It was one of the best moments in my life. I did not realise, but I had a smile on my face. 

"We cannot let you die alone. If we live, we live together. If we die, we die together," Surya said with a smile. 

We all stood up and hugged each other. We all were smiling, even after knowing that we won't be able to return alive, or dead. 

"We have to talk to our king. He might make some arrangements for us if we explain him the entire situation," Bhaskar suggested. 

King Rajavarma was a kindhearted, intelligent and fair personality. He was famous all over the world for his justice. Even his enemies respected him. He would have surely helped us if we had told him about our problem.

"But how would we meet him? He is a king after all." Ashok mentioned. 

"They will set the Royal Court tomorrow. We will meet him there," Bhaskar replied. 

It was all set. We were going on an adventure. It thrilled me as well as a bit scared me, but I had no choice. I had to do it. But first, we had to meet the king. 

I looked at the entrance and saw Subham's father standing there with teary eyes. He approached us. "I..." He was trying to say something. "I don't know how to say this, but what I did for you all was... was wrong in every way," He said with a shaky voice, almost choking. "Please, forgive me."

Tears rolled down his cheeks when he joined his palms together. "Please, forgive me," He sobbed.

If it was some other situation, I would not have forgiven him. But this entire situation was different. I was happy that he had realised his mistake. He had discriminated us from the very beginning. He never let us get near him or play with his son, just because we were poor and belonged to the lower class. Our family suffered a lot because of him. 

But... My father once told me that Only the strong can forgive. I don't know why I remembered it at this moment, but now I knew what I had to do. 

"Uncle, I have no hatred towards you," I said. "It's not like I have forgot what you did to me, but..." I took a pause, remembering my father once again. "But I forgive you."

I moved my head to look at each of my friends. They all were smiling. It seemed they also forgave him. 

"But you have to do us a favor," Bhaskar said in between. 

"I will do anything, just tell me," Subham's father said. 

"You are an influential person. We want you to use your influence and take us to our king."

Bhaskar was always the quirkiest one. He always knew what to do in a certain situation. 

"Hm, I will do everything I can. Rest assured. You will be standing in front of our king tomorrow." Subham's father assured us. 

I looked at Subham. "We will save you, my friend," I said in my mind.