Anish—Viriya followed Makriva outside of the center.
"Memory distortion with really positive side and many negatives." Viriya told Makriva as they were going up the stairs.
"Yes?
What are those?" Makriva asked.
Viriya replied, "Learn ancient language, you know little now for me. All other thing negative."
Makriva replied, looking back at Viriya, "Hm?... Hm, well we have a secret language now." He was smiling but it didn't really reach his eyes at first.
He continued, "I brought our luggage from that room. We will leave tomorrow."
"That room? Which?" Viriya asked.
"The room maam talked about on the first day here." Makriva replied.
"Oh, hm, ok."
They were about to climb up the stairs when Makriva mentioned, "You don't remember the outside of this place, right? Want to check it out?"
Viriya just shook her head.
"Don't want to check it out, or what?" Makriva asked.
Viriya looked at Makriva as if he were a dumb child. "I no remember. Go outside and see."
Makriva said, "Yes, my honorable— bestest— powerful queen, follow your servant."
Anish thought, Really? Same as my behaviour with Ambi?
Thinking that, Anish was a bit down, so to shake it off he said, "Let's go."
While going, she thought, Who is Ambi? No one. It must be Viriya's— hahh...
my past memories...
Viriya followed him outside, outside of the feeding place— outside the whole building.
A staircase went downward; at the end of it was a clear path running east to west, with some trees near the path. Viriya thought of asking about them, those looked like mangroves, but not quite. Not knowing how to translate it exactly, she stopped.
"That was the path we came from." Makriva said, pointing towards the west.
"Yes, I rememb—"
Before she could finish, a jolt of air pushed Viriya back. Something moving at great speed went towards the middle of the buildings.
"What was that?" Viriya asked.
Makriva said, "Guards."
"We go in?"
"No, not now."
"Why? What happened there?"
"I don't know, just wait."
Someone came from inside the building. Makriva asked what had happened, though it was a bit harder for Viriya to understand.
After Makriva came back to Viriya, she was about to say something, but before that Makriva said, "Let's go, we can go now."
"So? What happened, Makra?"
"Something tried to steal a flower from the tree."
"Some— thing? Not someone?"
"You will see."
Viriya stayed behind Makriva as per his instructions. They reached the middle of the eight buildings. Near the water body, a figure was lying face-down. Blood was splattered around it; the water had turned crimson.
"Did the person fall from the upper floor? What happened? And this much blood? It hasn't stopped falling from the top." Viriya asked, standing far back.
"Exactly— falling from the top. And see, beside that thing, the half-bloomed flower. The blood isn't from this thing."
Two bald men, had no hair on any visible part of their bodies. They were wearing fitted clothes that still looked easy to move in. They picked up the body. The moment they did, Viriya heard a metallic sound from it among the murmurs. As they passed near her, she finally noticed and thought to herself, A robot? How did I not noticed till now? Did the blood trip me off? Sure it is future then...
Viriya murmured, "A robot."
She had said "robot" in English. Makriva, hearing that, asked, "A what? Ro— ot?"
"Yes, another language. Mechanical human— robot."
Makriva replied, "That's Katayantra."
"Kata what? Whatever, that's robot."
Blood was still dripping from the top. Viriya asked, "So the blood?"
"It's the tree, part of the tree is bleeding. See, maam and the others are trying to heal it."
Viriya remembered the smell of blood from the buds earlier, and now there was actual blood. She said, "Well, healing is good."
No one touched the torn flower bud. It slowly floated with the blood and reached the water, drifting there.
Viriya observed the flower for a while and felt an unnatural familiarity from it. She was slowly losing her thoughts, moving towards it— when maam from the top announced with a clap after the initial healing.
"If anyone is frightened or not feeling safe here, they can leave or take shelter here. You may also continue the ritual as usual."
Then mostly sages were left. A few among them did the ritual. The ordinary people left— some leaving the place entirely, the rest waiting for the ritual.
"Go up? On the bridge?" Viriya asked Makriva.
Makriva nodded.
They went up, close to the centre point of the bridge. The torn branch was wrapped in fabric, soaked red and still dripping.
Maam came up behind them and said, "The festival is done. If you're feeling tired, go inside your room. You are leaving tomorrow."
Makriva replied, "Yes, I guess. And any clue— who and why?" pointing at the tree.
"Not really. The Katayantra was too fast to see, or perhaps invisible— no guard had any clue about it. And it's not clear why they would take the risk with flowers instead of waiting for them to mature."
Viriya asked, "How robot was knocked out? If invisible?"
"Most likely, the guardian did it— the guardian of this place." Maam replied.
"Guardian? What guardian?" Viriya asked.
"Makra, explain it to Ananta later— maybe go to the room now and explain then." Maam said to Makriva.
Makriva nodded.
Beside him, Viriya said, "Maam. Not Ananta. Viriya. Makriva didn't see me in his ritual."
Maam furrowed her brows slightly and, after a brief silence, said, "That's... good. That's good, Viriya. Stay with Makriva." Then she moved towards another building.
Viriya and Makriva started heading towards the room they had stayed in.
On the way towards the room, Viriya asked Makriva, "The flower was tasty— Beautiful? Whatever the word, in pond?"
"Alluring?" Makriva asked.
"Maybe? I no know." Viriya replied.
"Hm, I heard many sages saying that about the fruit of it, might be same?"
"Fruit? Oh ok, from the flower.
And what about the guardian maam was talking about?"
"I only know this from story. or history I guess?A long long time ago, no one really knows how long ago, the Harmonizer severed the dead wife of the Destroyer. Because the Destroyer was filled with rage and sadness by his wife's death from a ritual. She was split in many parts and fallen in many places of earth."
"Wait, are you talking about sati peethas? I remember hearing this in the middle of the memory distortion. Like Shiva— Vishnu— Sati?"
"Yea, could be that, if the story events are similar." Makriva said with a little less enthusiasm. Then continued, and slowly the enthusiasm came back to him. "Those places became holy sanctuaries. And the Destroyer, he is situated in all those sanctuaries protecting part of his beloved. He is the guardian."
"And this is one of the sanctuaries, right?"
"Yes. That was her godly-human form. She was still a goddess, the nothing, the everything. And the disaster maam told you about, after that she felt pity for humans so she in her whole godly form came down and split herself in all these sanctuaries. To help humanity overcome this."
"I remember first part. First Harmonizer cut human goddess, Destroyer's wife? Then how again, she came— what?" Anish asked, confused.
"A long long time ago that cutting down event happened. And a few thousand years ago she came down and situated in the sanctuaries." Makriva replied.
"What part of her is here? And new addition to the story. Hmm."
They reached the room. After going inside they continued talking.
"Yea, I am hearing both stories from everyone after coming here. And the part— what was the shape of the leaves of the praghava tree?"
"Fingerless palm? Oh, the palm situated."
Later that night, in the room in Upavana,
Makriva was braiding Viriya's hair after opening his own.
"Why braid mine before opening yours?" Viriya asked.
"Oh yes, you don't remember. It's a rule that in a room two people can't have braided hair at the same time." Makriva replied seriously.
"Who made this stupid rule? What the logic?"
"Don't disrespect the rule like this, this is a sacred rule." Makriva replied with the same seriousness.
Hearing that, Viriya looked back at Makriva. He was trying to hide his laughter.
"What?"
Seeing Viriya's face he started laughing.
While laughing he said,
"It's a sacred rule, made by me right now."
Saying that, he laughed even more.
After a while of waiting, Viriya asked, "What real reason?"
Makriva continued,
"It's just, the rule.
No no, it's just that I feel comfortable with my hair open. And you kind of forgot everything. So thought you might feel more comfortable with less hair bothering you.
Simple as that."
"Was that hard to say?" Viriya asked.
"No, but it was funny."
Viriya just looked at him not saying anything.
"Well go to sleep, have to leave tomorrow.
And I will go to sleep in a bit."
Viriya didn't sleep right away, after waiting a bit in the same room, she went to see the tree once more, from the top of the bridge.
The rest of the flowers were already bloomed.
The injured branch had stopped dripping blood.
But the metallic smell with the flower fragrance was still there.
From behind she heard a voice,
"Viriya."
She looked back and saw Kavith standing there holding some small luggage.
"Hi, Un— ty."
"After all that, you had to dirty my capelet?" Kavith said.
Viriya, not knowing what to say, just said, "Sorry..?"
For a few moments they didn't exchange any words.
Kavith said, "What are you doing here now? Shouldn't you be sleeping?"
"come to see flower" Viriya replied.
"Hmm well, take this." Kavith said, giving the luggage to Viriya.
"What this aunty?"
"It's some of the same clothes you are wearing right now. You seem to like my style."
"Um, ok, Thank you,
It's comfortable than the I brought."
Giving that, Kavith moved along the path she came from. While going she said, "Go to sleep."
After Kavith went inside, Viriya yelled, "Thank you".
From inside Kavith yelled, "NO PROBLEM, BUT DON'T SCREAM AT NIGHT."
Viriya was about to go towards the room.
Right then she heard the same male voice from the morning, "CAN Y'ALL STOP SCREAMING AT EACH OTHER? AND KAVITH, WILL YOU NOT GROW UP?"
Hearing that, Viriya smiled a little and went towards the room. They both went to bed shortly after. Makriva slept on the ground again, even though Viriya insisted he sleep on the bed.