Kuraizang repeated the mantra over and over until Sachen grew tired. She released her grip from the chain, finding now that the boy would not budge. She gritted her teeth and threw pebbles on the wall. “Kuraizang, don’t be like this!” she said. She turned back to him, who by now, was out of his mind. It was to this point that the girl understood she couldn’t convince him in any way to escape. It further boggled her upon a realization of whether Kuraizang had a desire to leave or not, for, if anything else, he must have endured so much torture that dispossessed his consciousness of his will. Was it because he began to believe the High Order’s intentions and was eager to sacrifice himself? Then indeed if so, there was no chance of him returning to his former state. Sachen feared he could be like this forever, and therefore, she had no hopes in getting him back to normal.

She tried again to break him free from the chain, and this time she managed to pull him a couple of inches. But it wasn’t long before the door to the other side opened, and Sachen, now scared in uncertainty, threw herself to the wall once more. There, from the door, someone—in fact, a group of people—appeared. Emerging from the group was nobody else than him. The one Sachen despised from the day he encountered, he showed himself with a smile that could soon become permanent, engraved in Sachen’s mind.

“Greetings little one. I should not say that in the first place since you are here all the sudden. Well, it’s not a problem, so long as you don’t cause anymore trouble—like what you did at the school.”

Sachen tightened her fists. She stared daggers at him. “How dare you, you phony Lama! Why are you hurting Neha?! Give her back, now!”

Yebuka squinted at the soldiers behind him. He then returned his gaze to the girl. “Oh? After all my time rambling and preaching to the whole village, you still have the courage to stand against me?”

“What else? You guys are evil! It’s not good to hurt and kill innocent people!”

He chuckled. “The spiritual mission will go unhampered. The gods are asking for it. It is the right way to save the village, and if we don’t satisfy them, who knows what will happen?” He winked at somebody. “Isn’t that right, Naransaya?”

Another voice emerged. “Yes... you are most certainly right.” It was then Naransaya also revealed herself. As always she wore the same clothes, the same grin. She brushed Sachen’s hair, and the latter slapped her shoulders. “Are you scared of me? You shouldn’t be. You’re a strong girl, you know that?”

“Shut up! Shut up!” Sachen said. “I don’t want to see you!”

“Too late.” Naransaya prodded her elbow to the Lama’s arm, and she clicked her teeth. “Thanks a lot for helping me this entire time. And I’m able to procure my rewards, so I can take a nice, relaxing vacation to the prison island. What do you say to that?”

“Hmph, whatever you wish for, according to your desires,” Yebuka replied. “You have already paid your debt by joining my side. Good thing you led that witch to her death, and with Azukunika’s pending execution, the Ganshipe bloodline will be but naught.”

“Cheers to that!” Naransaya giggled, and she leered at Sachen. “I know you want to meet your little buddy. So guys-” she faced the soldiers, who were trembling from her presence, “-bring her out!”

They nodded. They separated into two parts, and brought forth from the rear, the girl that was due to be the female candidate. Neha was here. She was in a pair of handcuffs, and her face birthed despair. She stared aimlessly at the torches, and as she diverted her attention to Sachen, she sobbed and sobbed. Once the girls locked sight onto each other, Sachen shivered. She also cried. At first she was too afraid to come forward and grab Neha’s hands. The anxiety of meeting her friend again after a while surged, and it became too much to bear. How did it come to this, that the two of them were here in the worst place possible?

Neha mewled, and she rustled the handcuffs. “S-Sachen, I thought I told you to leave me alone.”

Sachen shook her head. “You did, but I couldn’t accept it. Why in the world would I do that anyway? You’re still my friend!”

“But I hurt you, I said bad things... I deserve this, because I am a terrible girl-”

“No excuses.” Sachen approached Neha, and hugged her. Her tears soaked Neha’s shoulders. “I’m such an idiot, am I? I’m sorry for slapping you and yelling at you. I didn’t mean it, really. I didn’t know you were in so much pain.”

“Please don’t apologize,” Neha said. “I was in the wrong. I shouldn’t have acted like that. I’m very sorry.”

Sachen laughed, and she blushed. She let go of Neha. “I guess we’re idiots. Both of us should be responsible for our mistakes.”

“You’re right...” Neha turned her face, and presented a burn mark on her cheek. “If you want, you can slap me. It’s a way for you to get payback.”

“I-I wouldn’t dare. You’d cry more than me.”

“No. I would endure the slap.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yep. Because you’re my best friend, so what you would do, it would hurt only me.”

“Neha... I just can’t. It would make me look more like an idiot.”

“It’s okay, you don’t have to. I have burdened you a lot after all, so I don’t expect you to do anything back to me.”

Neha fell quiet. For the second time, Sachen hugged her. Once and for all the troubles they had been through, Sachen could say this situation was the most problematic. Although she apologized for what she did, she barely came to terms with her actions, and the shame of saying sorry, she felt she would carry such shame for the rest of her life. Yes, it would have been horrible had she not spoke out. She would have left herself hanging with regrets. Regardless in the long run, starting from here, the instance of her apology gave her euphoria, so powerful was the feeling that Sachen forgot she was even in the cave. In this moment, where there was silence from everybody, she poured all her love and forgiveness to her friend. Neha did the same. Simple, yet so heart-touching. The two of them would not trade this sentiment for anything more, and even if they were to be in a confrontation again, in the end they would still forgive. This feeling however, would become transient.

Sachen loosened the embrace, and she held Neha’s hands. “Come on, let’s get you out of here, along with Kuraizang. You don’t want Tulisen to worry about you-”

Naransaya stepped in, and cracking her knuckles, she shoved Sachen to the floor. Sachen gasped.

“Enough with the mushy stuff,” said the woman. She glanced at Yebuka. “Let’s get on with it. You don’t wish to see the village being destroyed, don’t you?”

“Of course.” Still holding his smile, Yebuka lurched his face close to Neha. The latter squirmed, and she turned beet red. The Lama snapped his fingers, and from that signal, the soldiers snagged Neha by her wrists and threw her to the door. Neha extended her arms, and she wailed for help.

“Neha! No!” Sachen propelled to the soldiers, reaching for her friend, trying to rescue her from all of this madness. At the instant when she clamped her fingers on the handcuffs, she exerted every last effort to pull Neha back to her side. In response, the group latched onto the girl. They heaved, and the veins on their muscles protruded, and they were hoisting her so hard that Neha bellowed as loud as Kuraizang. In no time did of the soldiers pluck Sachen’s fingers off the handcuffs. It grazed her skin, and her hands burned. She almost let herself go, the agony was intolerable. Sachen persisted, and she managed to maintain her grip, and she spent her remaining strength. One slip-up, she would lose her friend—she didn’t want to lose her again.

But the resistance was futile. The burly soldier, who was standing and watching the scene since the beginning, cut into the group. He twiddled the feather on his helmet. From ear to ear he grinned. When his comrades became too lethargic, which was shocking to Naransaya, the man swiped his fist into the air and knocked down Sachen’s hands.

“Ow!” Without having the time to resist, Sachen loosened, and she stumbled away. Her hands throbbed, her heart accelerated. By the moment she got up with a bit of energy left, the soldiers snatched Neha and hauled her on the top of their heads. The next thing that happened, they went through the door.

“Neha! No, no! Don’t take her! Stop!”

Her friend flailed her hands. She grabbed onto the door, but the opportunity to slip off was gone. “Sachen! I don’t want to go! Save me-”

Before Neha could say anymore, the soldiers transported her to the other side. It was over. Once the door slammed shut, there was no more chance, no hope, no luck—all which hung onto Sachen had dissipated into nothingness. Resistance, what more could she fight for?

Sachen dropped on her knees. Her hands convulsed, her heart snapped in half. Soon she cried and cried. “Neha! Come back! I’m sorry!” she shouted, but her voice could no longer reach her. Everything began to turn dim.

Now she could not deny that she was apart from her companion—forever and ever until death. By all accounts this separation became the worst outcome imaginable, and for these two girls to experience it, reality held no reservations for mercy. Sachen could again beg to the gods or Usheniko to save the one she adored, the one who had been with her for most of her life, and she’d be willing to forfeit all things valuable. But she knew it was a fruitless proposition. If nothing more, she deemed this a nightmare that came true, and she wished, if it was so, to wake up from the misery she and her friend had put themselves in. However it might be, the result was gifted to the High Order from the very start, so the urge to fight them again would prove only the girl’s foolhardiness.

Soon this nightmare would come to pass. It would be over before Sachen could condemn herself. Never more, never more.

“I want her back! I want her back! I’ll hand over everything I have, just for her! I’ll do anything!” Sachen’s voice broke. No longer she could talk in the looming anguish. Her strength had vanished. She fell next to the skeletons’ arms, and the vial rolled to Naransaya. Her emerald necklace, it shattered.

Yebuka glowered at the girl. He chortled, and in no regards to her whatsoever, he beat his chest with his hands.

“Rejoice. Now that we have Kuraizang and Neha, the village will be in a long era of prosperity and peace. Don’t you worry little girl, Neha isn’t going to die—right? She will end up like Kuraizang. Through the process they will sing hymns, sacrifice a bit of blood, dance with the monks, and best of all, concede their power to the heavens. Soon she will realize her purpose. This way, nobody will die, nobody will suffer any longer. For it to be in our favor is truly auspicious. We will maximize the happiness of all. And don’t you say, if you are capable of speaking, that we should give up on the endeavor and find some other way. Because there is no other way.”

Sachen brought back her head. She drew the last of her breath for now. “No... don’t kill her...”

Wagging his finger, Yebuka stepped back. He latched his hand on the doorknob. “Perhaps these things are too hard for you to understand, but indeed, you are dim. From your charades and shenanigans with Neha, you have known the things you shouldn’t have known. You have contributed nothing but disorder upon yourself and your friend. How shameful and utterly reckless. Naransaya, do what needs to be done to this girl. We must wipe her slate clean.”

“Roger that,” Naransaya said. Yebuka departed to the sanctum. The woman turned to the girl, and summoning a cloth from her pocket, she broke the vial and smothered the liquid onto the fabric. She then buried the cloth on Sachen’s mouth and nose. Glitters and comets flashed the girl’s eyes. The illumination from the flames dwindled. Her face paled—she collapsed into unconsciousness.