Viriya was standing watching the bloomed flowers at the center of the bridge.
"After all that, you had to dirty my capelet?"
Kavith's voice echoed in Viriya's ear as she appeared in front of her.
Viriya, not knowing what to say, just said, "Sorry..?"
Kavith's voice echoed, "What are you doing here now? Shouldn't you be sleeping?"
Sleeping? I went to sleep? Viriya thought to herself.
"Yes I wi—" Before she could finish her sentence, everything in front of her changed.
Metal plates, concrete, bricks — everything moved from their places and in front of her a water body formed. Instinctively she closed her eyes, but still she could see everything.
Before she could understand anything, she heard,
"Viriya,
Viriya, will you do it?"
She saw Makriva standing in front of her, and other people around were performing aganti.
"What hap—"
Again everything wrapped around her. Bricks, water, the tree — everything got buried underground and everything around her became barren land.
The vision sequence? She stepped forward. Again the many coral jasmine grew up and made a maze as the place filled with the smell of it. She heard an unknown male voice nearby. It was that unknown early-twenties man. She couldn't make out what he was saying, but she again noticed that the person was happy — looked like he was taking care of someone.
Right then she heard echo a female voice,
"Anish...
Anish...
Anish..."
It was a feeling of intense, familiar, alluring calling.
Ambi?
Did she noticed me then? Anish thought to himself.
Viriya stood there not moving for a while, then, not sure when she started to move towards the voice, she ran towards it.
He ran back towards the voice. The butterfly pea vines seemed like it was on his way, but it wasn't actually. Anish tripped over some vines, got up and ran again. When he almost reached the voice, many pea vines wrapped around his legs — as if something was blocking him from reaching Ambi. As he dropped on his face everything around him changed. Everything just wiped away. It became a white blank space he could walk on.
He heard again the same familiar calling of Ambi.
"Anish...
Anish...
Anish..."
At first it was coming from all directions. Anish felt like he could split into countless parts and go towards every single one. Slowly it concentrated in one direction. Finally, Anish followed that path.
After walking a while, he saw in the distance a black circle. Upon coming closer, he understood it was octagonal.
The voice was coming from that black spot. There was nothing.
Anish called out, "Ambi? Where are you? Ambika?"
When he looked back at the spot again, he saw a woman in her twenties inside the black spot — half her body coming out of it. She was wearing nothing, but she didn't feel naked. Nothing and yet everything was covering her body.
Watching her, Anish reached out his right hand so Ambi could hold it and get up. Ambi was about to take it, but stopped and pointed at his left hand. Somehow he instantly understood she wanted his left hand. He retracted his right hand, sat down on his knees, and reached out his left hand to Ambi. She held it —
Darkness filled his sight. In the darkness, a crescent moon lying flat on its back appeared in front of him. At both sides of the moon, two eyes opened from nowhere. It felt neither gentle nor hostile, just observing. No feeling of terror or peace came from it. Slowly, both eyes closed.
Anish didn't noticed at first that there was a third vertical closed eye on the top — Forehead. Because of the observing gaze of both open eyes.
When the darkness was gone, he found himself at the exact same moment, holding Ambi's hand. Her half body was still half inside the black spot. She came out of it almost weightlessly and did not make any sound at all. Anish grew calm then.
Anish looked around for where to go. They started walking in a random direction, not knowing what to do.
Nothing was visible. Remembering the black spot was the only different thing there, he started to go back the way they came. After walking back much longer than they had walked before, they still couldn't find the black spot. Anish moved forward to see if he could find anything.
Suddenly he heard, "Viriya, Viriya."
"Viriya" echoed in his ears. He looked at Ambi — she was still holding his hand.
As the echo of "Viriya" grew, countless doors materialized and opened all around him.
"Viriya"
"Viriya"
"Viriya"
Anish snapped opened his eyes. He found himself in the room he had slept in. Makriva was standing next to him.
He thought to himself, Ambi? So no? No Ambi? Yes — just another nightma— Dream.
Makriva was saying something, but it was as if he was still in the dream. There was a voice, but no meaning to it.
I guess Anish was just my forged identity.
Not — not real at all.
Viriya forced a smile on her face and was about to ask something to Makriva, but before that she noticed she had a flower on her left hand — the Praghava flower.
That forced smile turned into confusion. She asked, "ah—wh—why flower here?"
"You don't remember anything?" Maam asked.
Viriya just shook her head.
"Anything unusual? Any feeling of something different? Someone evaluating you?" Maam asked again.
Viriya remembered the part of the dream where two eyes were watching her.
"Yes, kind of. I dreamed two eyes were watching me and a moon was there as well. And I think that was through the eyes — when both eyes closed, the third was recognizable."
She decided to go with the part where Anish wasn't really part of the dream.
"Nothing else?" Maam asked again.
"No, just this." Viriya replied.
Watching the flower she thought,
Is it Ambi? Am I Anish or?
Or she was the flower? Just a different form in the dream?
Maam took out a glass container filled with liquid.
She said, "Put it in this."
Anish waited to put it in that container. It was her sister. But not really. Was it her? But eventually she put the flower in the jar.
After Maam sealed it she said, "Viriya, give this to your mother when you go back. And you carry it. Not Makriva, you."
After giving that to Viriya, she was ready to leave the room, but before that she said, "Don't forget to freshen up and eat something before leaving."
And tried to tease Viriya a little to lighten the mood,
"And Viriya, you haven't worked this year, but next year not letting you free."
Viriya was still a bit dazed and without changing any expression she said, "Um, sure?"
After Maam left, Makriva said, "I am going to freshen up. You freshen up as well." And left the room.
Viriya went to freshen up, keeping the flower in the room. After coming back she saw Kavith was waiting for her with a baggy pant, a comfortable shirt and a capelet.
Kavith said, "Wear these, I am waiting outside. Say when done."
Saying that she left the room. After Viriya called her inside, Kavith unwrapped a yarn from her wrist and made a ponytail with it.
"Well, good?" Kavith asked.
"Yes." Viriya replied.
"And make it dirty or whatever you want, I don't have to clean it anymore." Kavith said with a straight face.
After saying that Kavith left the room.
Viriya thought,
Should I?
Ehh, let's do it.
"THANK YOU AGAIN." Viriya yelled from inside.
"NO PROBLEM, BRAT. NOT MY PROBLEM ANYMORE."
Kavith yelled from outside.
After that it was quiet. Viriya thought, He isn't going to yel —
"NOT THIS EARLY IN THE MORNING AGAIN, KAVITH STOP." another male voice came from a building nearby.
Viriya chuckled to herself and thought,
Yea, sure, random man.