Chapter 362 - 360: Alakshmi Arrives At Last...

(A/N):

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Vishnu looked toward Goddess Lakshmi.

Lakshmi’s eyes remained fixed on her husband, and for the first time since the wedding celebrations had begun, Devara saw something he had rarely seen in his mother’s expression.

Shock.

Not fear of an enemy.

Not surprise at some unexpected event.

Something much more personal.

Something that had reached into a place within her that even the arrival of an asura might not have touched.

Vishnu understood immediately.

His eyes narrowed.

"You sensed her?"

Lakshmi slowly nodded.

Her gaze moved toward the darkened sky.

"She is here."

Devara frowned.

"Who?"

Lakshmi did not answer immediately.

The question seemed almost trapped in her throat.

Around them, the other gods had begun exchanging tense glances.

Even those who did not yet understand what was happening could feel the change in the atmosphere.

Another gust of wind swept across the arena.

The flames of hundreds of ceremonial lamps bent simultaneously in the same direction.

The dark clouds above began to rotate.

And somewhere beyond them, hidden within the darkness, something vast seemed to be approaching.

Lakshmi finally whispered the words.

"My sister."

Devara’s eyes widened.

His mother had a sister?

Before he could ask anything further, a deep rumble rolled across the heavens.

It was not thunder.

Every divine being present knew that.

The sound seemed to come from somewhere far beyond the sky itself.

The entire arena fell into absolute silence.

Vishnu slowly moved closer to Lakshmi, his gaze never leaving the heavens.

And Devara, still holding the divine plate of grains in one hand, instinctively tightened his grip on it as he stared upward.

Whatever was coming had changed the expressions of the Trimurtis.

And judging by the look on his mother’s face, whoever was descending upon his wedding was not simply another divine guest.

She was family.

And somehow, that made her arrival feel far more dangerous.

The silence deepened until even the faintest movement within the arena seemed painfully loud.

The dark clouds continued to gather overhead, swallowing the sunlight that had illuminated the wedding celebration only moments ago.

Nobody spoke.

The gods remained alert, the kings and sages watched the heavens with growing unease, and even the citizens who had no understanding of what was happening could feel that something had changed.

Then they heard it.

Footsteps.

Faint at first.

Tap.

A pause.

Tap.

Another step followed.

The sound was coming from the great entrance of the arena.

Every head slowly turned toward the doorway.

The enormous doors, which had remained open throughout the wedding celebrations, began to move.

Nobody touched them.

They simply swung inward on their own.

The hinges groaned softly as the darkness beyond the entrance became visible.

Another footstep echoed.

Then a woman stepped through the doorway.

The entire arena seemed to stop breathing.

She looked exactly like Goddess Lakshmi.

The same beautiful features.

The same graceful face.

The same long hair.

The same divine elegance in her movements.

For one brief instant, someone unfamiliar with the divine realms might have believed that Lakshmi herself had simply appeared at the entrance.

But the resemblance ended there.

Where Lakshmi radiated warmth, prosperity and an almost indescribable sense of divine beauty, the woman who had entered seemed to embody the complete opposite.

There was no golden radiance surrounding her.

No comforting divine aura.

No warmth.

Instead, an unsettling darkness seemed to cling to her very presence.

The lamps nearest to the entrance flickered as she walked past them.

Some extinguished completely.

The flowers decorating the doorway began to wither.

The air itself felt heavier around her, as though the very atmosphere had become reluctant to remain near her.

She did not need to announce herself.

Her presence alone was enough.

The citizens instinctively moved backward.

The kings and warriors immediately became tense, their hands moving toward their weapons.

The sages stopped whispering.

The gods stared at her.

Even the divine beings who had witnessed countless cosmic events watched the woman cautiously.

Devara’s eyes remained fixed on her.

He could not understand what he was seeing.

She had Lakshmi’s face.

Yet everything about her felt wrong.

Not physically wrong.

Something deeper.

Something that his instincts were screaming at him to recognize.

He slowly turned toward his mother.

Lakshmi was staring at the woman.

Her expression had changed completely.

There was no anger in her eyes.

There was no hatred.

There was something far more complicated.

Pain.

Recognition.

And perhaps a memory that she had desperately wished would never return.

Devara’s gaze shifted toward Vishnu.

His father was standing perfectly still.

But his eyes were sharp.

Extremely sharp.

The woman continued walking forward.

Her footsteps echoed through the enormous arena.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

With every step, the tension seemed to increase.

Parvati moved slightly closer to Shiva.

Saraswati remained beside Brahma, watching the newcomer carefully.

Ganesha’s playful expression from earlier had disappeared completely.

Kartikeya’s hand had already moved toward his weapon.

Even Devara’s sisters, who had been happily talking with him only moments earlier, now stood together, their attention fixed on the woman.

Yami instinctively moved closer to Devara.

Indhumati did the same.

Gandhari remained near the other women, one hand resting protectively near her stomach as she watched the mysterious woman approach.

Devara noticed all of it.

Nobody knew who she was.

Yet almost everyone was preparing themselves as though they were standing before an enemy.

The woman finally stopped several dozen steps away from the wedding stage.

Her eyes slowly moved across the arena.

They passed over the kings.

The sages.

The gods.

The Trimurtis.

And finally settled upon Lakshmi.

For several seconds, the two women simply stared at one another.

They had the same face.

The same eyes.

The same divine beauty.

Yet they could not have felt more different.

The woman slowly smiled.

It was not a warm smile.

It carried something ancient.

Something bitter.

Something that made even Devara’s instincts tighten.

"Lakshmi," she finally said.

Her voice was surprisingly calm.

Lakshmi did not answer.

Devara looked between them, his confusion growing.

Then the woman turned her gaze toward Vishnu.

A faint smile returned to her lips.

"And Vishnu."

Vishnu’s expression remained completely unreadable.

The woman then looked toward Devara.

Her eyes lingered upon him for several moments.

She studied the peacock feather resting against his crown.

Then the divine plate in his hands.

Then his face.

For some reason, that final look made Lakshmi’s expression change immediately.

She took a small step forward.

"Do not."

The woman’s eyes returned to her sister.

The entire arena became even more silent.

Devara slowly lowered the plate he was holding.

Something told him that whatever history existed between his mother and this mysterious woman was far older than his own existence.

And judging from the way the gods had reacted to her arrival, this was not simply an unexpected guest arriving at his wedding.

This woman was someone the heavens remembered.

Someone Lakshmi had never forgotten.

The silence finally broke when the woman stepped fully into the light of the arena, and the truth of her identity became impossible to mistake for long.

She was none other than Alakshmi, the goddess associated with misfortune, poverty and discord, and the elder sister of Goddess Lakshmi.

The resemblance between the two sisters was unmistakable, for they shared the same divine features, yet where Lakshmi’s presence brought an atmosphere of prosperity and warmth, Alakshmi seemed to carry an entirely different force around her.

The lamps near her flickered, the flowers surrounding the entrance had lost their freshness, and an uncomfortable heaviness seemed to settle over the arena simply because she had arrived.

Alakshmi’s eyes slowly travelled across the gathering.

She looked toward Brahma and Saraswati.

Then toward Shiva and Parvati.

Her gaze continued across Ganesha, Kartikeya and their families before moving toward Vishnu.

Finally, her eyes stopped upon Devara.

For several moments she simply stared at him.

Devara felt her gaze upon him and instinctively straightened. He had never met his mother’s elder sister before, yet something about the way she looked at him made him feel as though she were examining far more than his appearance.

Her eyes seemed to search his face, studying every detail as though she were comparing the man standing before her with some memory she had carried for a very long time.

Devara remained silent.

He had absolutely no idea what he was supposed to say to his maternal aunt.

Fortunately, Lakshmi stepped forward.

Despite the tension that had filled the arena, she maintained her composure and folded her hands respectfully before her elder sister.

"Alakshmi."

Her voice was gentle.

"I welcome you."

Alakshmi’s expression did not soften.

Instead, her eyes narrowed.

"Welcome me?"

The words came out with a bitter edge.

Lakshmi remained calm.

"You are my elder sister. How could I not welcome you?"

Alakshmi gave a short, humorless laugh.

"How convenient."

The atmosphere immediately became heavier.

Vishnu’s expression remained composed, but his eyes stayed fixed on Alakshmi. Shiva and Brahma exchanged a brief glance, while Parvati watched the sisters carefully.

Devara could sense that whatever was happening between Lakshmi and Alakshmi was not something that had begun today.

Alakshmi took another step forward.

Her gaze shifted from Lakshmi to Devara.

Then back to Lakshmi.

"Tell me, little sister,"

she said, her voice growing louder,

"why was I not invited to my nephew’s marriage?"

The question echoed throughout the arena.

Nobody spoke.

Alakshmi’s expression hardened.

"I heard that the entire divine family was invited. Gods came from different realms. Kings travelled from distant kingdoms. Your sisters-in-law came. Your brothers came. Even those who had never met this boy before were welcomed into this celebration."

Her eyes moved toward Devara again.

"And yet his mother’s elder sister was not invited."

Lakshmi’s expression became slightly pained.

Alakshmi’s voice rose.

"Was I not worthy of receiving an invitation?"

The citizens remained completely silent.

Devara looked toward his mother.

Lakshmi had lowered her gaze slightly, and he could see the sadness in her expression.

Alakshmi continued, the anger she had been holding back finally spilling into her words.

"You knew I existed. You knew I was your sister. You knew that this was your son’s wedding. And still you chose not to call me."

Her voice echoed against the walls of the arena.

"Why?"

Devara slowly looked at Alakshmi.

For the first time since she had entered, he noticed that beneath the anger in her eyes there was something else.

Hurt.

It was buried beneath pride, resentment and years of bitterness, but it was there.

Alakshmi was not angry simply because she had not received an invitation.

She was angry because, somewhere deep inside, she had expected one.

Lakshmi finally raised her eyes and looked directly at her elder sister.

"Alakshmi..."

But before she could continue, Alakshmi lifted her hand.

"No."

Her eyes remained fixed upon her sister.

"Do not give me an excuse."

She then turned toward Devara again.

The anger in her face softened for the briefest moment as she looked at him.

"My nephew."

The words were quieter this time.

Devara swallowed.

This was officially the strangest introduction to a relative he had ever experienced.

Alakshmi stared at him for another moment before looking back at Lakshmi.

"When did you gave birth to a son?"

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(Author note:)

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