Meet the Parents

• Murugan stood in front of the temple constructed at the centre of the village. It was a simple structure made entirely of wood, but he could feel the care and affection that was put into it.
  • It wasn't closed off as most others he had seen in Bhuloka, as he could easily gaze past the entrance and see the idols housed within.
  • He cringed as he saw a rudimentary statue made of clay that appeared suspiciously like a teenaged boy:
    • (some description of how it looks. Again, adhering to the general vibe here as it looks simple, but a lot of care was put into it).
    • The idol was wielding a long spear.
    • It was him.
• As people streamed out of the temple, they bowed in front of him, some even prostrated themselves spontaneously. It felt odd seeing people much older than him showing such respect.
• Without wasting any more time, Murugan extricated himself from the awkward position and beelined towards his destination. It was the second largest dwelling in the village, second after the temple itself. It was a hut made of mud bricks with a thatch roof.
• He knocked on the wooden door and wait for a response. The door peeked open and he saw two familiar eyes brush past him before the door slammed shut and he heard footsteps rapidly receding into the house.
• Within moments the door swung open, and the Village Chief greeted Murugan with an awkward and apologetic smile. He too was about to prostrate himself in front of Murugan, but the boy grabbed the man's shoulder and quickly spoke, "Please don't put me in this awkward position, Father-in-law."
• The Chief choked audibly and descended into a fit of cough.
  • The fit exceeded what could be considered a socially acceptable amount of time, causing his wife to peek out of the kitchen.
  • She rushed out and gave Murugan an apologetic smile before pulling her husband aside and guiding him to sit down.
• Once the man had calmed down, he asked, "M-My Lord. I fear I misheard you."
  • The Chief's head darted to his left and he noticed his daughter peeking out sheepishly from the kitchen with a blush tinting her face.
• Murugan chuckled and brought the cloth bag hanging behind him forward. He placed it slowly and opened it, to reveal two bronze statues within. He placed them carefully in front of the Chief and his Wife and waited.
• All eyes focused on the inanimate statues. An extended silence prevailed. The Chief leaned towards his wife and whispered, "What's going on? I feel like I am missing something."
• The wife narrowed her gaze and inspected the statues closely. It took a moment, but familiarity started to grow on her face. And before she knew it, her body collapsed into a prostrated state in front of the two statues. The Chief was shocked at her reaction, but his inspection also yielded a similar reaction.
• "You are putting us in an awkward position, dear in-Laws," a gentle vice spoke in a calm baritone. "In this juncture we are your equals. Would you prefer that we prostrate ourselves before you?"
• Those words were enough for the Chief and his wife to jump onto their feet, before they collapsed into their knees with their arms crossed tightly. Their shoulder's were hunched over and their gaze was lowered. They tried their best to avoid looking at the bronze statues.
• "Though it is customary for parents to meet for such an event, regretfully, my parents cannot so easily leave our abode," Murugan explained. "But these statues will act as a conduit. So please, you can talk to the statues as if you are talking to my parents."
• The Chief and his wife rapidly bobbed their heads in understanding, but they remained resolutely mute.
• "We are here to ask for your daughter to become a part of our family as a wife to our son," the male voice spoke. "From what we heard from our son, she seems to be well-raised and respectful through headstrong in certain aspects - character traits that we appreciate."
  • The Chief and his wife remained silent. They exchanged a gaze and bit their lips in stress.
• Seeing the lack of response, another voice spoke up. This time, it was of a woman. It was mellow and pleasant, and flowed in a methodical and measured tempo.
  • "Are you dissatisfied with our son?" The question felt genuine, as the Chief and his wife felt an undertone of disappointment as well.
• The two immediately raised their gaze and shook their hands in disagreement.
  • They saw the two statues sitting cross-legged beside Murugan.
  • The size of the statues was smaller than Murugan which evoked a humorous dissonance, though they contained their chuckles.
• "Please do not misunderstand us, Goddess," the Chief's wife expressed. "It's just that... we feel inadequate."
• "What is there to feel inadequate about," the statue of the Goddess Parvathy spoke. "You have raised a filial and confident daughter. Her accomplishment and character is a testament to your commendable upbringing."
• "But we are mere mortals, o Goddess," the Chief expressed with a difficult smile. "We cannot deign to place ourselves even in the same sentence as your greatness. We would be tarnishing the opulence of the great Mount Kailasha by sending our daughter there. And it would be an affront to Lord Murugan's reputation to be affiliated with our kind though matrimony. We are jungle dwellers - the lowest of the lowest of castes."
• "You need not speak on our behalf," the Great God Shiva's statue spoke. It shook its head and continued, "We would not be here in the first place if all those reasons you listed mattered to us. No rather than beating around the bush, I would like to get to the crux of the matter. What is the true reason for your apprehension, if it is a shortcoming on our son-"
• The due once again interjected by vehemently shaking their hands. After a moment to centre themselves, the Chief spoke cautiously, "We worry about her future, o Great God. It is true that we are mortals and you are gods. Our lives are short. She will watch herself grow old while Lord Murugan remains as youthful as he was at the time they married. What then? And what of her kids? Will she even be able to raise a family? Marriage is supposed to be between families that are equals. But we aren't equal. We aren't even in the same realm!"
• At this point, Murugan stepped in, "You need not worry about her future, father-in-law. Marriage is a sacred bond. And for us, it is not just limited to one life. We are bound for eternity! Even if Valli passes before I do, we shall find each other in her next life - it is fate. In fact, my mother was not born a god either."
• The statue of Lord Shiva cut in at this point. "What my son is trying to say in all his excitement is that you need not preoccupy yourself with your daughter's future. We are confident in the way we raised him and we can give you our word that he will keep your daughter happy. And if that doesn't offer you peace of mind, know this."
• The statue's voice grew deeper and adorned a dangerous edge, "Once she joins our family she becomes my person. And for me, what matters above all else are my people."
• The Chief and his wife quivered in place as they body froze in fear. The Lord's words sent a shiver down their spines. They knew of the God's short-fused temper and did not wish to anger him. Even the Chief's earlier disagreement was evoked with the underlying assumption that he would be forced to confront the infamous temper.
• "So," Goddess Parvathy interjected. "If you aren't opposed to the prospect of this matrimony, why don't we proceed with the formalities. Actually, we are here today to meet your daughter. All we know of her are from Murugan's recounting."
• The Chief nodded slowly. His movements were still stiff with lingering fear. He swallowed hard and called out with a voice that was barely more than a croak, "Valli!"
• The name had hardly left his lips when a blur of motion resolved itself beside them. Valli was suddenly there, and with such swiftness that it felt as if she had teleported from the kitchen. She was practically vibrating with excitement. Her hands were clasped together and her eyes wide with a joy that bordered on incandescent. A broad, unrestrained smile lit up her face which was in stark and almost comical contrast to the rigid terror that held her parents captive.
• The Chief and his wife stared, dumbfounded. The palpable tension, which was thick enough to cut with a knife, that hung in the air just moments before seemed to simply evaporate in the face of their daughter's sheer and unadulterated delight.
• It also became glaringly apparent that a very different conversation had transpired between the two youngsters prior to this formal meeting. In that moment, the Chief and his wife understood with perfect clarity. They were the only two people in the hut who were not already part of the "conspiracy". They were essentially an audience in the final act of this apparent farce of a negotiation.
• But they did not feel affronted or angry upon realising this. The two shared a warm smile as they observed their daughter and Lord Murugan exchanging furtive glances.
• Youthful love was a universal panacea for the heart. It was innocent, uplifting and pure.

The Ceremony

• Murugan's marriage was a relatively mild occasion. For one, it had come together very quickly, leaving very little time for the bride's family to send out invitations beyond the village.
• As for the groom's side, Murugan did not want a large gathering. His family was sufficient. He'd invited his guru as well, though Murugan found that the ashen-skinned man had made himself scarce throughout the two-day long event. It wasn't that he was absent, as he had congratulated Murugan and his wife in person, but he was barely visible throughout the rest of the event.
• The ceremonies followed the tribe's traditions. Murugan cared little for the procedure, because it was all just a motion for the community to witness. In his mind, once both the families had agreed, he and Valli were already married. Nonetheless, these procedures mattered to his in-laws - and it didn't cause him any inconvenience - so he sat through it obediently. (Maybe here there could be some brief description of how such a tribal wedding could take place). And once his father-in-law officiated the ceremonies and declared him and Valli as husband and wife in witness of all the realms, Murugan called down his Peacock and swiftly carried away his wife to Kailasha.

Murugan's Training Redux

• Kratos anticipated that the boy would take a few more days after his marriage to resume his training. So he was shocked to see the kid standing at the ready outside of his dwelling the very next day.
  • "You should be with your wife," Kratos said offhandedly as he faced Murugan the doorstep to his temporary home.
  • "I promised you that I wouldn't let this detour waylay our progress, Guruji," Murugan expressed solemnly. "And I hate stopping once I've set out to do something."
  • Kratos scanned the boy for a moment before letting him in.
• "So what do we cover today, Guruji?" Murugan asked excitedly as he sat down on a wooden stool in front his Master's bedding.
• "Today, we reflect," Kratos stated.
• "Reflect?" Murugan mumbled in confusion.
• "We look back at the conflict. We identify points of failures and areas of improvements," Kratos explained. "If we do not reflect, we do not improve."
• Murugan nodded with furrowed brows as he started to recount the events from the moment he was called over to the village.
• "Knowing just how weak the Chieftain was, we could have very easily just performed a decapitation strike," Murugan surmised.
• "That is only in hindsight," Kratos denied. "You can make that call now because you know. If you did not know and made that call, it would be recklessness."
• "I get that, I do," Murugan reasoned. "But The gap in our strength was so wide. I felt like we were over-estimating them every step of the way. I saw how you handled the army, Guruji. They were of no challenge to you at all. If we had confronted the barbarians from the very beginning we could have whittled them down completely without even losing a single person."
• "And then, the next time an army like this comings knocking, those villagers will call on you and expect you to expel the attackers again," Kratos completed the boy's line of thought.
• "What kind of god do you want to be?" Kratos asked.
• "I-I don't understand the question," Murugan stuttered.
• "There is never an end to people's requests," Kratos stated plainly. "People will keep wanting because that is their nature. If you give in to their every wants, then there will never be an end to it. You will be taken for granted. You will run yourself ragged."
• "Instead, if you give them what they want, but at a reasonable cost, then people will think carefully before turning to you. Only those that are truly desperate will seek your assistance," Kratos explained.
• "That feels wrong. We are forcing people to make a sacrifice when it isn't even necessary," Murugan argued.
• "Victory gained without a cost is fleeting. Because there is no way to value it," Kratos declared. "Even if the cost is ceremonial, it is necessary."
• Kratos' words gave Murugan pause. His Guruji's strategy towards aiding devotees and his father's formed an interesting dichotomy.
  • His father was indiscriminate in the way he offered his aid to people.
  • His Guruji, although he did not discriminate, he emphasised the need for an equivalent exchange.
• "What if I were to help everyone, equally. Not personally, but maybe by granting them the power to achieve it themselves?" Murugan probed.
• (lets have a discussion on the morality an ethicality of the dichotomy)
• "I will ask you again, what kind of god do you want to be?" Kratos reiterated. "There is no right answer here, just the answer that will allow you to sleep through the night."
• "This... is giving me a lot to think about," Murugan muttered in thought.

Murugan Converses with Valli

• That night, Murugan struggled to find sleep. His mind kept oscillating between his father's words and his Guru's.
• "Having trouble sleeping?" Valli spoke up from beside him.
• "Sorry, did I wake you up?" Murugan apologised.
• "Yes," Valli responded instantaneously. This was something Murugan liked about Valli, she was blunt and uninhibited. Although Murugan loved his mother dearly, he did not like her aversion towards speaking openly (this needs some expansion).
• "You are turning too frequently," Valli complained. "If there is something in your mind, why don't you share it? Maybe I can help?"
• Murugan hummed for a moment and probed, "What if- and I truly mean, What if... the elders from the tribe didn't have to die?"
• "What do you mean?" Valli asked groggily.
• "What if we could defeat the barbarians without the loss of a single life?" Murugan repeated.
• "That would have been amazing," Valli responded instinctively. "But it would have felt hollow."
• Murugan rolled to face his wife.
• "I know that you and your Guru could have annihalated the barbarian army singlehandedly," Valli expressed. "But you didn't do it."
• "Do you resent us for it?" Murugan asked cautiously.
• "Not at all," Valli said. "Well, I did think about it for a while. About how unfair it was that such a steep sacrifice was necessary. But it wasn't really unfair at all. The alternative would have been a worse ending for all of us at the village. Compared to that, this was nothing."
• "But as you said, it wasn't even a necessary sacrifice," Murugan clarified.
• "Of course it was necessary," Valli countered. "Without this perspective, we would have taken your assistance for granted."
• "Doesn't this beat the point of worshipping gods?" Murugan probed.
• "Devotion from a believer isn't something that needs to be rewarded. That is the believers choice and duty," Valli corrected. "My father always says, that it is our choice to pray and worship. And if it is something we choose to do, then we must adhere to it at all times be it in happiness or in sorrow. Because it is through prayers that we build a relationship with higher beings. But this relationship is one-sided. To expect the higher beings to provide you with assistance without a cost would be taking advantage of them. So what you did, exacting the cost of assisting our village, fits in line with our beliefs."
• "And to be honest, after personally meeting your family, I realised that the gods are still 'human'. Although the magnitude of the troubles they go through are at a grander scale, they are not infalliable as mortals take them to be," Valli commented.