"And you fixed an appropriate venue for this match while speaking with Tyrell," Pruthvi concluded the detailed account of where I had disappeared to a day ago.

Leena gave me a quick glance when I nodded numbly in response. Then she white as chalk when Celina slipped on her feet getting an inch closer to the dagger, mud and snow sprinkling up in the air, and...she clutched it.

"Oh, boo-yah!" Pruthvi shrieked, thrilled as though watching an action movie.

Celina quickly secured the dagger underneath her belt.

Feeling optimistic, I stepped upfront watching her closely. Do it, do it now.

Tyrell kept flashing his bolts, now that the fight was becoming one-sided, he made absolutely sure not to fall into her traps. He tried to use dark magic, too bad none of the magic work against Celina.

She tackled head-on, made the move I was expecting her to rely on. The wind swished, and that helped her double the speed. Seeking a proper time, she created an invisible windy hand and hustled him towards her. Tyrell was panting, his strength seemed to have diminished. He was left with no choice but to succumb. He grunted, his bones must have ruptured, getting sandwiched in the tremendous Formation. Celina hurled him towards her, at once grabbing him by his collar, turned him around, and thrust him hard down onto the floor. With a fling, Celina sank down with him, wrapping her arms around Tyrell's neck, blocking him thoroughly in a chokehold. Tyrell wasn't giving up yet. He held her strong arms, exerted force back on her to strategize his way out.

"Oh god!" Leena exclaimed, jumping on her toes and having her fists tightly clasped against her mouth.

Celina reached for her belt. Pruthvi and I involuntarily took another step towards them, both of us shivering as though hanging down from a steep cliff. She took the dagger out, wielded proudly as an expert, the Pride of Haima-Endira twinkled brilliantly under the lights of the glorious sun.

She raised it dangerously up and drove it down in a go...

Leena screamed.

Tyrell grunted loudly. As a defense, he clasped Celina's wrist. The blunt edge of the dagger stopped right in front of his ribs. They stayed down resisting, their fight stretching to eternity.

Heart pounding...

Eyes unblinking...

Three of us standing still as a statue...

The battle between them seemed to have just begun. Continual pressure was being exerted over the dagger from both ends. Tyrell's stare fixed on the dagger, whereas Celina's ardent eyes laid sideways upon him. She then started to blink tremendously. Her concentration suddenly wavered and her grip around his neck slackened.

"She is weak against the power of the dagger," Leena said, her voice shaking, "It's not even her fault but she won't be able to do it."

"This is a golden opportunity, Hayden," Pruthvi said, perturbed, "Do we really want to let it go to waste?"

Celina has to do it! I visualized Nazira chanting the mantra over and over again. My mind raced. If I interrupted now, and by chance, Tyrell managed to get away, that would primarily botch up this golden opportunity. Tyrell was taller and physically strong, he was slowly pushing the dagger back. Celina's shaken confidence might completely be thrashed if he got away now.

What do I do? What can I do?

Celina shouldn't be the one with faltered concentration, it should be Tyrell, right? With an idea flaring, I kicked my heels and swiftly ran towards them. A ball of fire erupted out of my palms, red and fiery, and as per my direction, the flames zapped up from over Tyrell's face creating enough heat to distract him.

I tumbled down to the ground quite a few feet away from them but then suddenly went irrational hearing Tyrell loud gasp. Celina yelled on top of her lungs, wind in the form of thunderstorm susurrated within the caged area, the walls broke and shattered. The bonfire raged like a wildfire. The atmosphere tensed up, raising the apprehension.

And then there was a blood-curdling scream. The scream that symbolized the end of the wait, the scream of a fatal soul waking up from the dead. The scream that promised to sew a torn family. Trying to get back to full awareness, I looked back at Pruthvi and Leena first, who were standing on their toes, with eyes and mouth frozen wide open.

I returned my focus got back to Tyrell and Celina and watched carefully. My breath got caught in my throat. The dagger was struck deep into the ribs of my beloved friend.

Leena then bellowed a cry, the world began to spin again. Celina pulled the dagger from Tyrell's torso. His eyes were closed, his body collapsing, sinking deep down on the floor and into a state of unconsciousness.

The next nine frozen minutes felt like a swirling storm in my gut.

Leena ran past me, carrying the bag that Pruthvi had brought with him. She and Celina got engaged in giving first aid to Tyrell's motionless body, covering torn skin with gauze and bandages.

Pruthvi was yet standing rooted to the ground, waiting for him to stir up.

Wake up!

The amount of time I was dead had hardly felt like a blink of an eye. The certain kind of fading moment it was before I woke up to see the most beautiful person in my life. But Tyrell's death seemed for a lifetime. My head became a little giddy, unsure if it really worked. Dread sat on my shoulders, slumping down unable to bear the weight.

Wake up!

Pruthvi slowly walked towards me and sat down on his knee placing a comforting hand on my shoulder. His eyes had turned amber and brimming with moisture.

Even Celina woke up sooner than this, buddy. For heaven's sake, wake up!

The torturous minutes finally came to a stop when Tyrell aroused.

I jerked watching him lift himself up. He coughed and coughed more painfully. Both the girls got away providing him some room to breathe. He wheezed, holding his abdomen and moaned weakly.

The ominous clouds were massing in the sky, creating dark shadows.

The pain eventually had to recede. Having his hand over his stomach, he looked up, eyes distant and showcasing confusion, "Celina, wha...what happened? Why are we here?"

Leena gave a jubilant look back at me and then at Pruthvi. She held Celina in a tight hug who broke down into tears. Pruthvi bent over and grasped his knees.

It began with a huge sigh of relief. Tears welled up in my eyes. Eyes had to go up, skyward. Winning against Shaytan Rup and Almourah did not give me what I wanted. This was it. This was real happiness, watching all my friends together- safe, sound and very much alive.

Tyrell's voice drew back our attention.

"I want to know what's going on?" He said, his voice full of apprehension. He slowly stood up. "What in the world..."

And he faltered. His eyes grew larger and larger, watching Celina and Leena embraced. The stare was blank though, there was processing going on deep down within his consciousness. His memories seemed to be returning. His shoulders stiffened, but his feet trembled slightly stepping back for support.

"Oh no," Pruthvi murmured, "He's losing it."

"Tyrell," Celina said, watching him with horror, "Stay put. Everything's fine."

Tyrell didn't seem to have believed her, his face was contorted with disgust and frustration directed at himself. He began breathing heavily and then unable to withhold his flowing wave of emotions, he screamed and wailed, falling down on his knees. His voice rattled every bone in my body.

"What have I done!" He screamed over and over again.

Pruthvi and I ran towards him but with dissimilar intentions.

"Don't!" I yelled at Celina and Leena who took a step towards Tyrell. Pruthvi stopped midway as well. "Let him be. He deserves to have a moment for himself."

Tyrell's cry was a picture of devastation. For the very first time I was hearing his loud voice, grief pouring out in the form of uncomfortable tears. Leena and Celina stood, hand in hand, softly weeping and watching Tyrell releasing his anguish.

Slowly, the loud cry turned into a gentle sob and then only the sniffing sounds were echoed in the area. As I crouched down in front of him, Tyrell lifted his head and rubbed his eyes savagely, clearing his vision.

I grasped him up by his collar and forcibly made him look up at me. "Are you done? Or there's more inside you that needs to be vomited away?"

His cheeks were shivering, unshed tears swimming in eyes. His lips parted in an attempt to say something but he rather shook his head turning aside.

"Right. Listen to me now," I said, my voice aggressive and echoing commandingly. I looked up at the rest of the three, "All of you, just listen. Let's forget the past, alright? Bygones are bygones, past is past. Form here on, no more I or you among us anymore. Enough! We had seen enough tragedies, faced a lot of humiliation because we never treated ourselves as one. We are not five anymore, we are freakin' one-damn-team."

Tyrell lifted his eyes and gazed at me. It was as if he wanted to say - Is it really the time to lecture?

I was swinging in the blind happiness that seemed to have no bounds. And at that moment I wouldn't even know what came out of my mouth. "We cannot make our own decisions. No more individually. Whatever we do, we do it together. We are Samagraha. We are taught to protect the whole country. Hey, if we can't keep ourselves safe, so help me God, no way we are eligible to keep the rest of the country safe. Just promise me you will do as I'm telling you to do. Promise me."

No one commented except Pruthvi who humorously said. "All hail the crazy king."

Leena and Celina chuckled.

"And you," I shouted, pointing a finger at Pruthvi, "Put your hands around Leena. Now!"

He did follow through, stepping towards her and pulling her closer. It was surprising that he actually did listen to me. Leena blushed.

"I don't care what you guys do in your personal space, but you gotta stay together, no matter what. Just go back to being happy. Everyone! Is it so difficult to be happy?"

They glanced at each other, having a mock filled smile on their faces.

I looked back at Tyrell. "What did you say that day," I said, popped a punch on his shoulder, "Where was I when you needed me the most? Tyrell, I am sorry I was only out on a job. I am sorry that I was trying to unite a brother and sister. And I'm sorry that I didn't pay attention to you because Pruthvi needed my attention..."

"Hayden, stop!" he said, batting his wet lashes. "You sound crazy like Leena!"

"Hey!" She grumbled.

"That was a long time ago, alright?" He continued, "Things have changed, so much that is impossible to reverse. I...killed people. A lot of them. In bulk. And what I did with Doctor... the team you're talking about... yeah, I wish."

Celina crossed her hands.

Through a closed smile, I asked in a low voice, "Do you underestimate me?"

"No!" He gasped, "After everything you did for me...not in the weirdest nightmare? I'm saying that I deserve to..."

"Tyrell, you need to shut up. Keep your pure soul and righteous mentality to yourself and leave everything to me."

"But..."

"I've gone too far in understanding the political system of this country. Believe me, I am and will turn everything around, and to my favour to keep you guys from getting thrown under the bus. Clan of Rajya, yeah I'm one of those people now."

I looked up at all my friends having a glowering discomfort with what I was admitting here. It made me understood that they weren't on the same page as me yet.

" Anything else?" I asked Tyrell.

"Yes," he said, unfastening the top button. He smacked his lips as if there was a bad taste in his mouth he immediately wanted to get rid of. "Can I have pizza?"

-x-