Chapter 17 (Ending) (Part B)

While Zeya was fighting in Egypt, Mingye Yan Naing also united with a few commanders and began his assault on the palace. Before the palace, they were blocked by the imperial army, puppets of U Agga. The king, Narapati, and his highly confident generals were deceived by U Agga’s plan of defeating other rebels and countries with cyborgs. They could not believe Mingye Yan Naing’s claims that U Agga was not showing the actual numbers of cyborgs and secretly building a greater army for himself.

Thus, inside Ava, before the palace, the two sides settled and began the battle. Taking advantage of the internal conflict, Ava’s main rivals, the Shan troops of Mohnyin, began raiding the borderlands.

After defeating U Agga, Saw Nan Mon cut U Agga’s head and took it to Ava despite Zeya’s repeated pleas not to. She made U Agga’s base teleported back to where it belonged. Then, she handed the head to Mingye Yan Naing. Mingye Yan Naing impaled the head on a spear and yelled “Thy ascetic rots in hell” in front of the U Agga-supporting generals. Thus, the generals were disillusioned, and shocked, and began fleeing. Afterward, he raided the palace with ease. The palace guard leader also joined his side.

In the main hall, they were disheartened to see Narapati. Due to the repeated usage of poisons by the queen consort and the constant pressure of being raided, Narapati had gone mad. His veins were visible. His eyes were gouging. He could keep no posture of royalty, running around the hall, rubbing his hair. His eyes were unstable. His steps were rushed. His head almost became bald due to the repeated rubbing. Like a wild animal, he was walking in a circle, yelling and muttering,

“I, the majesty,” “I, the great,” “I, the king of all kings, owner of a white elephant,” “I, the universal monarch,” “I, the lord of great palace,”

Other queens, concubines, maids, and eunuchs were sobbing to see him in this position. The former queen concubine, whose son was executed by Narapati, was also there, commenting nothing, closing her eyes shut. The soldiers laid their weapons and knelt before him although he recognized them no more. Mingye Yan Naing had no words to tell. He and the soldiers had to place the king under the copper palace, which was a glorified term for a copper cage.

He assigned the eight-year-old son of Narapati as a temporary head of state and marched towards the borderlands.

…..

At Shambala, a man amongst the so-called high gods was giving a speech, and everyone had to bow before them. Eight leaders from the council of nine were eliminated for supporting U Agga and his apocalyptic idea. They were stripped of their positions and detained under separate mountains.

Not to let such a case happen again, the representatives from “Sumeru”* had been assigned to half of the seats in Shambala’s authority council. The European weizza lady was promoted to the supreme head of Shambala. They offered Zeya to join the authority council but he refused. For Saw Nan Mon, they gave her the title,

“Lady of steady flow water,” and made her the head of all witches in southeast Asia. Kavisara, the elder, got the retirement he desired. The youths with implanted machines were healed by the mystics of Shambala. The cyborgs, however, could not be revived to a humane state and were destroyed for good.

King Narapati’s madness was treated by a group of physicians from Shambala. Although not fully healed, the king’s condition improved a lot. He was not caged anymore. His state affairs, however, had to be done by Mingye Yan Naing. 

Zeya found his family in the newly founded kingdom of Taungoo. They were not very prosperous, but they were contented. Their lives were in peace, and he dared not to disturb it. He was afraid that he would bring disturbance to their lives. He could also explain none of his odyssey. Thus, he let them live their lives without greeting them.

….

Three months later,

Zeya was inside the same hall, where he fought with U Agga. He was observing the majestic murals. For some, he watched with steady eyes. Suddenly, Saw Nan Mon appeared and spoke,

“Oh, my brother, haven’t ye given the staff to Shambala when they requested?”

Zeya looked at the staff he carried. As it contained all the magic of ancient Arunians, he didn’t keep it beyond his sight.

“I have a promise to keep, O Lady. Also, this staff has enough power to destroy a planet. I trust no one to keep it,”

Then, Saw Nan Mon pointed to a mural depicting a family,

“O, Zeya, don’t ye want a family?”

Zeya had guessed where this question was headed. His heart rushed a bit. He blushed and smiled a bit.

“Zeya, how dare you make a woman start this word? Do you love me not? and want not to marry me?” Saw Nan Mon’s straight-up questions caused Zeya’s eyes wide open. He was left speechless. He couldn’t choose how to respond. But, the face of Lora, his first love from the planet of Gamma, appeared in his mind. And her dying image. His face darkened. His head got lowered.

“I understand now, Zeya. You have your own, aren’t ye?”

“My own is a blank, O Lady. A dark blank amidst the heart. Since she had passed, the way to fill that blank is…” he could say no more as tears almost swell in his eyes. Not now, he thought. Don’t cry now, he commanded himself. He didn’t want to appear weak in front of Lady Saw Nan Mon.

“Take your time,” Saw Nan Mon said and rubbed his back. The couple had no words to continue. It was an awkward silence. Without having no linking, Zeya spoke,

“The Arunians… They are not the first ever aliens to visit Earth,”

Saw Nan Mon and was amazed. “What is the meaning behind it?” she asked.

Zeya pointed to the painting of people in golden armor, riding golden chariots.

“These beings resemble neither Arunians nor humans. They are…”

“They are called the Deavs”

The voice of a young boy appeared beside them.

….

Here’s what happened in Ava Kingdom in chronological order.

In 1511, the dukes of Twin Thin and Kalay rebelled. 12 imperial armies were sent. All of them failed to suppress the rebellion.

In 1513, Narapati made the former-queen-turned-concubine lady a queen consort. (I could not bear how much distress this lady would have suffered to marry a person who killed her son)

In the same year, the Duke of Saku rebuked Ava but was suppressed. The duke was stripped of his position and was left alive with a set of clothes.

In 1519, Ava could capture the town of Kalay again. But other towns, namely, Lampo, Pyaung Pyar, and Kanikanae rebelled against Ava and built their nations.

In 1524, Saw Lon, the chief of the Mohynin Shan tribe, allied with Thadoesaw, the king of Prome (Pyay), and made a devastating attack on Ava Kingdom. Narapati had to flee from his capital. But, as soon as the king of Pyay returned to his city, Narapati and the imperial army recaptured the capital with the help of Khon Mhine, the chieftain of the Onbaung Shan tribe.

In 1526, Saw Lon of Mohynin marched towards Ava’s capital again. Khon Mhine, the chieftain of Onbaung, failed to send help on time. Narapati had to defend the city alongside his generals. He died from an enemy cannon blast while commanding the troops. He was 50 when he passed away.

After the Mohynin Shan tribes had captured Ava, Saw Lon, the chief, spared Mingye Yan Naing’s life although he was Narapati’s minister. He was sent to a monastery and spent his remaining life as a monk.

(Saw Lon of Mohynin also died a year after capturing Ava. He marched to attack Pyay, his former ally. He won the city but was assassinated by ministers while going to the toilet on his way back to Ava. His successor, Thohanbwar, was also assassinated by a group of former Ava ministers. After that Khone Mhine, the chieftain of Onbaung, was crowned as king. Ava became a part of the Taungoo empire later on)

Shin Ye Htut returned to Taungoo and later became the emperor Bayintnaung, the co-founder of the Taungoo empire.

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