I rarely truly appreciated how Boston looked around nightfall. The lights came on, but the city seemed to be reborn and come to life a second time. There looked to be people who were just exiting their homes. Probably people going out for a late-night rave.

There were shops and streets with lights turning on and people just opening them up now. Up to some shady business, no doubt. Well, not all of them, just around… 99.9999% of them. They're really competing with Dettol there. How I noticed all this while screaming, I have no clue. How Arasu didn't drop me while I was screaming is also something I question on a regular basis.

We soared through the skyline at high speed like one of those suspended rollercoasters until Arasu started slowing down and started gliding more. At first, I thought it was because he was tired, but then he spoke to me, "Hope you aren't getting tired of me, since I should probably tell you that I'll be your guide and companion from now on." I was shocked. Not because he was with me forever now, but because of his voice. He wasn't even winded. He must have flown across Boston, but he hadn't even broken a sweat. He could probably have flown across the Atlantic without me if he wanted to. I looked around as well as I could and found that this place was not Boston anymore. Heck, I didn't think we were in Massachusetts at this point. Arasu started flying lower, straight for a dense part of a forest region.

I asked him, "Where exactly are we now?" Arasu looked down at me and said, "Adirondack Park, New York. That's where we're mainly based. Due to the ancient legends being not so widely spread in the Americas, we decided to base ourselves less over here. There's another base north of here in Alaska and another in Ontario, Canada. There are a few things we need to sort out with you here. You heard of the legends of the Hindu Gods? Shiva, Vishnu, Krishna, those guys?"

I traced back to when I was little. Ma would make me read these stories and legends about the Indian pantheon. Mostly short stories about the epics of ancient India like the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. But I didn't see how that would apply to this. "Well, yes. What does that have to do with anything-"

He let out a shrill cry and said something which sounded foreign, but somehow, I was able to understand everything perfectly. The Gods were real? I was the child of one? I had so many question. Arasu spoke again, "I know it may be confusing, it always is with new ones like you. The welcome party will explain it better. By the way, expect an… intense training program. Again, the children of Chandra will explain it better for you. Speaking of which, here we are. Welcome to Camp Mahadev, your happy home until you die a painful death on the battlefield."

I appreciated the happy home part, not so much the painful death. I looked carefully and saw a runway made of dirt and glowsticks where Arasu was descending into. I could see a few people waving the glowsticks around like we were some feathered airplane. I imagine Arasu calling out, "This is your captain speaking, we are making a descent into your destination. We thank you for choosing Mr. Eagle airways."

Arasu landed and dropped me onto the dirt forest floor. I got up and shook myself off while a pale girl preened Arasu and passed him two white rats, which he gobbled down with relish (Not with actual relish, bozos. I meant with joy. I hope they have relish though). Another pale teen patted my shoulder and gave me some cashew nuts. He was taller and stockier than I was.

He also looked just the like the other girl who took away Arasu. They both looked like they hadn't experienced Vitamin D their whole lives. The teen was decked in armor and had a gargantuan mace almost as tall as him on his back. He also had an extra piece of armor on his breastplate that had a full moon crowned with antlers. His voice had a distinct Russian accent. I would have raised my questions, but I would have probably had a crater for a face after that.

"Welcome to Camp Mahadev. I'm Igor Baryshnikov. You must be hungry. Here, cashews. They're specially grown in our fields and made to give extra energy to new recruits. I'll take you to the Vishnu cabin where you can rest for the night. Then, tomorrow morning you'll start training as a member of the camp. Got all that?"

I was still in a daze and just wanted to sleep, so I nodded to Ingot- sorry, Igor and followed him to the Vishnu cabin. I had a lot of time to look around the camp, since the Vishnu cabin was at the end of a crescent of different bungalows. Each of them has a symbol on the roof and a shrine with different deities depicted on them. One had a depiction of the Sun driven by pure white horses. Another had a sculpture of tree made of solid gold, with gold coins for leaves. Finally, we reached my new home. It had a sea blue paint on the walls and a depiction of a wheel with compartments that shows pictures of different avatars of Vishnu. I stepped inside after Igor as he called out to the snoring cabiners.

"Hey! Den lubiteili! You have one new cabin boy! Treat him nice, he was brought in by Arasu!" His booming Russian voice made some people stir from their sleep and groan at him. Igor locked eyes with what looked to be an older boy as he sat up. He had a similar armor design to Igor's, but his breastplate had the symbol of a multiheaded cobra on a lotus flower. He stretched and said to Igor,

"Do we know if he's pure or branched?"

Igor shrugged, "We should know soon enough, Abdu. Any recruit is good enough at the moment, considering the Islamabad base is almost totaled. Give him a tour tomorrow, check what he knows. I need to go. We're doing a night patrol of the Greeks. Maya?" On cue a snow-white owl flew onto his shoulder. He smirked and jogged out of then door. I looked up at Abdu and asked him, "What do you mean by 'pure or branched'?" Abdu looked at me and said, "That's Vishnu speak for whether you're a son of Vishnu himself or his avatars. Rest now, we'll run you through it all tomorrow."

I didn't appreciate having so much info deprived form me. It's like a donkey chasing carrots. Arasu promised answers, then he delegated to Igor, who then delegates to Abdu, who delegates to tomorrow. It's some wild goose chase I'm being led on. I hate goose chases, let it always be known. Mostly because they bite you in the end.

I was too tired to protest, so I lay down in my new bed and drifted off to sleep.