" I guess you're the help. Hi! I'm Raju. " Raju waved to Sirena and Chris. There was a flurry of introductions, and soon everyone got back to the problem at hand. They stared at the thing in disgust.
" What in the name of Whitbrick is that thing?" Gowri asked. (She was getting used to Whitbrick and their ways, so she says Whitbrick phrases all the time now.)
" Its called an Aakatharisto. Which is greek for.." Deva said proudly.
" Gross. Its greek for gross. " Gowri said frowning. There was absolute silence. Everyone in the cottage inspected the fruit.
" Where did you two even find this fruit?" asked Aisha at last. She turned to Deva and Raju.
" We found a whole plantation of it. " " Somewhere near the forest. We can show you!" Deva said.
" It seems that people around here eat it. I mean, nobody, nobody can even give me a decent burger here." Raju added.
Gowri snapped her fingers as she remembered something. " That's what it was! We saw some kids eating it when Aisha and I went to the market earlier! " she exclaimed.
" OH!" Aisha exclaimed. " Remember we asked them what it was, and they said its .. their snack? " she doubted. " No, that doesn't sound right.."
" Their snack" Gowri confirmed. " They eat this um, Aakatharisto as snacks in Whitbrick. Well, that's one bad thing about this place. "
Sirena and Chris were silent throughout the exchange of information. Now Sirena spoke up. " So, we are going to eat this? "she asked.
" I suppose. " Aisha said, glaring at Deva and Raju. " Since they brought it here, we must " she added.
Before she could say anything else, a loud sound was heard from the hall. " Thud, thud, thud." The door was pounded on. Everyone was alarmed, and began to panic as the door burst open and a few men in suits entered, all holding guns. " Put your hands up! In the name of the.."
" STOP! We are coming to help them, not arrest them. " explained a man, supposedly their boss. The men lowered their guns and the cousins, Sirena, and Chris relaxed.
" Who are you? " asked Aisha.
" Mrs Aisha Shanmugam, we are your allies. We have come to.." started a man in black.
" Hush! Don't tell them yet! " interrupted their boss. He turned to Aisha. " We are the members of the VDA. " he said. " Neil called us as backup. " he added.
" He did? " Gowri asked. " Where is he anyway? " she asked. They twisted around, trying to find him. "
" I did." Neil suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs. " Asish..." he said, as he opened his arms for a hug.
" Neil.." the boss did the same. They embraced each other as old friends. The others stared on confused.
" Ok. Can I ask you a few questions? " Raju started. " One, who on Earth is Asish? Two. What is the VDA? Three. Do you two know each other? " he asked.
Asish and Neil laughed. " I'll explain. Come, let's have a seat. " They went into the living room and sat down. " This, " he announced, " is my best friend since childhood. Introduce yourself. " he said.
" I'm Asish. Delighted to make your acquaintance, " he said with a bow. " Also, I happen to be the boss of the VDA. The VDA stands for Vivaria Defence Agency. We go around Vivaria helping people and stopping crimes. "
" So.. you guys are like spies? Or secret agents? Ooh, are you guys Men in Black? " Deva asked enthusiastically.
" Um, I don't think I'm familiar with the term Men in Black... but you could say that we are like spies and secret agents. I suppose. " Asish answered, scratching his head.
" And what, or where is Vivaria? " Aisha asked, confused.
" Its where. Vivaria is the land you are standing on right now. This country is called Vivaria. " Asish explained. " And I'm the head of it " he added proudly.
" Oh... I see. " Deva said. " But then, how come we never heard of Vivaria until today? " he questioned.
" It was because Neil didn't want to trouble you with all the information. " Asish replied.
" Asish is right. I didn't want to tell you even more about Vivaria, which would burden you even more. " Neil explained.
" But you should have told us anyway! " Aisha exclaimed.
" I should have. I'm sorry. " Neil apologized.
" Well then, it looks like we should get ready for dinner then, " Raju said decidedly.
" Dinner? " chorused his cousins. " Is it night already? " Deva asked, peering out of the window.
" Yes. Let's meet back in here, in half an hour, for dinner." Neil said, exiting the cottage with Asish. " I'll be back in a while. I want to make sure that Asish and his volunteers are safe at their hotel. "
Raju nodded. They all went to their separate rooms to get ready. Little did they know that their problems were just beginning..
Gowri
Sirena
Chris
Raju and Deva
