Gather 'round friends and I'll tell you a tale /ref
The idea of a Skullyle Vikram-Betaal AU won't leave my mind so here I am to relate the legend for context. @vryfmi , I think this might be up your alley.
Let's zoom back to ancient India, where a wise and brave king named Vikramaditya ruled Ujjain. He cared deeply about his subjects, and they appreciated him in turn. One day, however, a rishi (sage) came to his court. He gifted Vikram a mango. The king accepted it with humility, for he had great respect for sages.
This routine continued for some time. Vikram was a bit confused, but he kept accepting the mangoes. One day, he cut into one to eat it and lo and behold, discovered a shining gemstone inside! He ordered the treasurer to cut all the mangoes and soon the king was rich with rubies and emeralds.
Vikram rushed to the rishi, and asked him how he could express his immense gratitude. The rishi said something along the lines of "oh how very convenient that you came by, I most definitely wasn't expecting you or anything, I have just the job for you!"
The rishi ordered asked king Vikram to go to a grove of peepul trees (a favourite abode for ghosts in folklore, btw) and fetch him a corpse. A centuries old corpse that would be there. He must carry it back to the rishi, who would need it for a ritual.
Note: dead bodies aren't a normal requirement of rishis for a ritual so I don't know why Vikram didn't see blaring red flags in this. I'll explain why I think he didn't disobey
Vikram was... concerned to say the least, but every sensible person knows not to question or disobey a rishi, especially one as powerful as this one. So off he went through the moonlit night. He reached the grove, and found the body hanging upside down from a branch. Like a large occult bat. It wasn't rotting, considering it's age. Rather, it was grinning at him.
Turns out, this wasn't any corpse. It was a betaal, a kind of ghost that loves talking to you and being funny, annoying or occassionally helpful in the process. Mostly of course, it tricks you, and the Rishi had firmly told Vikram not to fall for its nefarious lies.
Vikram marches up, slings the betaal on his back and starts resolutely walking back to the rishi.
It was gonna be a very long night.
Note: here on out, I'm going to be referring to the betaal as simply Betaal, like a name, because we never get a proper name for him (sound familiar?) and over the years, the broad ghost type of a betaal has shrunk to specifically refer to this character.
Sure enough, Betaal begins to talk. He's a powerful spirit (btw, I must clarify: Betaal is not a reanimated corpse. But he is a ghost tied to his body. Think of it like his source. Vikram had to capture the spirit as well as the source to bring it to the rishi). He's a powerful spirit, and not too happy about being removed from his tree. So, he exclaims about how booooring the journey will be and so, he's going to tell a story! Yay! :-D However! Three conditions:
Vikram must not speak at all during their walk. If he does, Betaal will fly straight back to his tree (if you remember my last post, ghosts are tied to the place of their death!)
At the end of the story, Betaal will ask him a question. If Vikram knows the answer, he must speak it. He's only allowed to remain silent if he doesn't know the answer.
If Vikram knows the answer and still remains silent, Betaal threatens to make his head explode. Yep :-D
As we can see, these are contradictory conditions. Vikram has to remain completely silent, AND he must answer a question (thus enabling Betaal to escape).
So, Betaal tells a story, involving humans in odd or morally compromising situations. At the end, he asks Vikram a question. Vikram answers on principle (vehemently denying that he's genuinely interested) and Betaal whooshes back to his tree! Again Vikram chases him, and walks with him on his back, listening to another story. Each time, Vikram answers correctly and Betaal flies back.
This happens 24 times. 24 stories told.
By this time, Vikram is exasperated and tired, though he's gotten to know the ghost better. He takes him down from the branch, and starts on his 25th trip. He wonders why the ghost doesn't want to be a part of the rishi's ritual.
Betaal tells his 25th story (won't go into what it was here) , and this time, Vikram is genuinely stumped. Betaal smiles in defeat.
"So, Vikram, it seems you've managed to fulfill your quest at last. It's been wonderful to tell you my tales."
"Is this it, then?", asks Vikram. "The last story you tell me?"
He should feel happy he's going to finally get the irritating spirit off his back. He should.
"Not quite," says Betaal. "I think it's time I tell you one last story. Before our journey ends."
He begins to tell of a young boy who was given up by his parents to a sorcerer. The sorcerer taught him everything he knew, about the occult, about otherworldly powers, about realms beyond our own. He made the boy help him, but mistreated him horribly in the process. The boy was happy to learn, to serve such a great man. Eventually, the sorcerer sacrificed the boy who had lived and died for him. He killed him for his personal gain, and left him tied forevermore to the branches of the peepul and a body that refused to decay.
"Why did you tell me this?", asked Vikram quietly.
Betaal laughed. "Didn't the 'rishi' tell you? I love to talk. Which isn't easy, if you're a lone spirit hanging from a tree watching time crawl by."
Betaal smiled wryly. "Don't worry. I'm not about to fly away now. Soon, I'll be trapped forever. I hope I see you in the afterlife, if there is one for me."
"What do you mean?", asked Vikram.
"Let me tell you why I've been stalling this entire time..."
Turns out, the rishi didn't have good intentions at all. He'd been manipulating Vikram all along, placing him in his debt with jewels and obeisance. He needed the spirit and body of Betaal for a ritual that would make him immortal and give him enough power to take over the entire kingdom and beyond.
As a capstone, he was planning to kill Vikram as he bowed in front of the Goddess, harnessing the power of their spirits to consolidate his power and riches.
Betaal had been telling tales, running away and making Vikram chase him all night. Just to delay this fate. Just so that Vikram might trust him enough to hear him out.
"I'm sorry," said Betaal. "I've bothered you enough for a night. The rishi has told you I'm a trickster spirit, there's no reason for you to trust me."
Vikram thought about the trudging, the stories, the questions he had begun to enjoy answering. He thought about the spirit trapped in branches, always used for another's gain, now offering up his advice and aid one last time to a king who was about to damn his soul forever.
When he came to the rishi's abode, he was welcomed jubilantly.
"I hope the vile trickster didn't give you too much trouble."
"He did, but wasn't anything I couldn't handle," said Vikram.
The rishi nodded. Everything was going according to plan.
Vikram laid out Betaal's body gently on the ground, as the rishi made preparations. Sure enough, he asked the king to bow before the Goddess. Vikram politely asked for a demonstration.
As the rishi bowed low, Vikram unsheathed his talwar (sword from the Indian subcontinent) and cut off his head.
The ritual fire flared for a moment, as the rishi fell to the ground, dead. Vikram felt something like an exhale leave the place, as silence rushed in to fill the absence.
Betaal's body lay there, a little more lifeless than before.
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