"It's been so long!" Ram sighed, placing his head in Sita's lap. Sita gently pulled away the tangles in his hair and smoothed it down, smiling down at him even as her heart raced with worry. 

"I hope this wasn't all a big mistake. All I wanted to do was follow Shri Brahma's instructions. It was my dharma to do as he told me. And I did believe, I do believe, in my brothers. I know them. They would be dying to help us get out of this place. But what if I've put them in danger?"

"Oh Raghunath," Sita began, her voice as unwavering as ever. "I am the wrong person to be asking about your doubts. I have sworn to myself, and to you, to never doubt any decision you make, your any thought, your any action. You are a faithful slave of dharma, and that is all I need to know. Trust in your brothers the same way I trust in you. Is Bharat not the wisest man there is? Is Lakshman not one of the greatest warriors to put foot on this Earth? Does Shatrughan not know how to get out of any trouble? So what worry is there?"

Mandavi walked over, followed by Urmila. "If you don't trust in your brothers, Ram bhaiyya, at least trust in our husbands. Bharat, Laksh, and Shatru are all more than capable. And when they get here, your natak is complete, isn't it? And aren't you wise, brave, and charismatic too? We'll get out of this place bhaiyya, don't you worry about it!"

"I figured out how to unlock these window bars anyways!" Urmila laughed. "Lakshman will just break the glass a little more so we can all crawl out and then we can leave!"

Shrutkirti looked close to tears, however. "I'm scared, bhaiyya." she whispered, hugging Sita. "They look so dangerous! They have big swords and angry eyes and look like they would like to kill us. What if they hurt Shatru and my bhaiyyas? What if they hurt you?"

Ram couldn't answer that, instead choosing to exhale and take Shrutakirti's hands in his own in what he could only hope was a reassuring gesture.

Footsteps echoed down the hallway. Four pairs of feet. Ram's head snapped up and he stood immediately. Nineteen years spent with his brothers. He would know their footsteps anywhere.

 Lakshman's were heavy and confident and loud. Shatrughan's were soft then loud and clacking, for he always wore shoes with hard soles. Bharat's were naturally soft and short. Ram beamed, glancing around the cell at the Rajkumaris, before quickly schooling his infinite smile into something smaller, almost pleasant.

He stepped back from the bars that locked them in as a large man peered at them through the bars before looking off into the distance. Suddenly, in their vision, Bharat appeared, turning towards the giant and pointedly not looking at them, even as his hands clenched and unclenched. 

Mandavi scrambled up in seconds, running towards the cell bars, but Sita quickly pulled her back, shaking her head and motioning her to stay silent.

Shatrughan popped up from the blind spot next, walking behind Bharat before coming to a halt. He couldn't control himself nearly as well, instead desperately searching the cell with his eyes before they came to rest upon Shrutakirti, and he sighed in relief, discreetly putting a finger on his mouth and shaking his head when she looked about close to crying and hugging him through the bars.

Ram still didn't look settled, until Lakshman stalked into the picture, surveying the cell with barely concealed fury, crossing his arms across his chest. His gaze softened when he saw Urmila waving at him, and he quickly looked away. "This is your task," began the rebel. "Guard this cell. They haven't done anything so far, but I don't trust them."

"Of course," replied Bharat, his voice cracking a little bit. As soon as the man was out of earshot, he quickly dashed to the cell bars. "Ram bhaiyya! Mandavi! Sita bhabhi, Urmila, Shrutakirti, are you all alright? Are any of you hurt? Please don't tell me they hurt you!" Mandavi shook her head, instead half hugging Bharat through the bars.

Shrutakirti immediately ran up to Shatrughan and held his hand tightly, and Shatrughan exhaled, looking about ready to hug the life out of her. 

"We're all okay," she managed through obviously the struggle of holding back happy tears. "They didn't touch us, though I think that may have been because of Urmila and Mandavi didi."

Lakshman immediately set to trying to rip the bars off the cell walls. "That doesn't work," Ram sighed, before screeching. "Lakshuu! Your knuckles are bruised!" Urmila and him both simultaneously screamed at the same time, making Lakshman jump. "You dumbo! Idiot! You don't have to go around punching every last person you see!"

"But bhaiyya, if we can't get inside the cell, then how do you escape?" Shatrughan asked, still holding onto Shrutakirti's hand.

"Oh that's simple." Urmila responded calmly. "See, I figured out how to break the glass on the windows! I'm pretty sure we could squeeze through, if Ram bhaiyya opens the metal a little more. You all can leave the same way you arrived, and then we can get back to Ayodhya before they notice our disappearance."

"No, we can't do that, actually." Ram intervened, laughing nervously, before receiving incredulous looks from everybody except Sita, who was used to his thoughts by now, and Lakshman, who would literally never look at his Ram bhaiyya incredulously. He exhaled, before opening his eyes.

"Because these rebels are actually rakshasas in disguise."

"WHAT?!" They all shrieked at the same time, except, again, Sita and Lakshman. Sita was mostly worried about Ram's blood sugar and kept on urging him to sit down, and Lakshman had mostly just sensed it from the beginning.

"I know it's a plot twist," Ram sighed. "But the author needs to introduce it to somehow tie this back to the Ramayan story, so let's just go with it. Now, if they were rebels, it would have been okay to leave and discuss further matters in the court. But these are all demons. And as kshatriyas, it's our duty to eliminate demons. So we have to find a way for the Rajkumaris to escape separately-"

"Separately?" Urmila cried. "Absolutely not! We're coming along with you! If it's a kshatriya warrior's duty to kill rakshasas, then it's a kshatriya woman's duty to support him every pace of the way if she is fortunate enough to be able to follow him into the battlefield! And also, I don't trust this man-" she poked Lakshman. "not to heroically die somehow without me reminding him that I'm here too and you're married to me you duffer."

"How did you even figure out that the rebels were just demons?" Bharat muttered, cracking his knuckles anxiously.

"Plot convenience, stop questioning it!" Ram chided, shaking his head. "Also, they kept on gnashing their teeth at us weirdly, and then, finally, I noticed the claws and realised that it was probably some sort of illusion that was masking the truth." he paused. "Also, like, their general vibe."

"There's a key that can unlock the bars." Mandavi quickly remembered, snapping her fingers. "Along with something, some code he whispered. But first get the key and then we can figure it out from there."

"Well all three of us can't go!" Bharat pointed out. "Let's keep two of us here, 'guarding your cell', and then one can go and figure out the key to the cell bars."

Shatrughan hummed, before pointing to Lakshman like he was the chosen one. "Alright Lakshman bhaiyya, it's all on you now!" Before a choking Ram could protest, hand reaching through the cell bars, the boy who lived (to get the key) Lakshman was off.

-----O-----

Lakshman thought that if there was somebody writing a story about them right then, then even if Ram bhaiyya was the main character, he may have been the author's least favourite. Why did he think this? Well there was actually a very good reason. A couple of good reasons. A whole list he had been keeping track of. It was alphabetical.

He always kept getting caught in situations like this. Scratching his chin, Lakshman kept on walking along, not quite knowing what to look for. "What does a key look like anyways?" he wondered. "Well I remember the lock. It was big." Lakshman shrugged. "We'll get to that bridge later. First, I need to find some keys." He glanced around. "A key. Something resembling a key. Somebody that knows the general location of a key."

"You'd want to go to Mogambo." replied one of the rebels. Lakshman blinked and glanced at him, and the disguised rakshas felt the need to repeat himself. "Go to Mogambo. He has the keys for everything. He had the key to my passions! He lets me kill whoever I want to expel my anger! Mogambo is the best therapist you'd ever have!" He peered at Lakshman beadily. "Say, what do you need a key for anyways? I've never seen you around here either. "

Lakshman had half the urge to punch the rakshas until he managed to break his skull, but the other half of his mind reminded him of what Shatrughan had said. "Stay anonymous." Lakshman sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Pretend I said something evil." he told the rakshas, before walking the way he was pointing and adjusting the sword he'd hidden in his dhoti.

-----O-----

"Oh great and powerful, ruler of the Dampy Caves, master of seating his great self on the throne of skulls, overseer of the kingdom of illusions, a really good dude, duke of everywhere, Mogambo! You have a visitor!" shouted the rakshas (but shh, I didn't tell you that). He swept aside his robes and gestured towards Lakshman who walked out of the crowd that had assembled in the grand throne room calmly.

The grand throne room wasn't really that grand. Slightly dinghy for his taste, and Lakshman really thought they could use some interior decorating tips. Rotting skulls weren't particularly appealing, and he didn't know if he was smelling one thousand year blood or decaying flesh. Either way, none of it was really a welcoming experience, but he supposed if rakshasas didn't know enough not to kill people, how could one expect them to know how to decently decorate a room?

In anticipation of their king, the rakshasas began to dance. It was a weird sort of dance that Lakshman didn't observe too much, even though it rang a bell.

But something made Lakshman halt. Dauraville? No, that name was too familiar. He'd heard it before. Now he just had to confirm his suspicions.

"Speak! Tell Mogambo your problems!" boomed a voice. Everyone glanced around for a second, before locating the source, and looking straight up. Lakshman too looked straight up, squinting.

"I would, but I can't exactly see Mogambo." he shouted back up. "And how am I supposed to tell anybody my problems if I can't see them? It's like killing rakshasas that don't exist." Lakshman quickly realised that was the wrong thing to say when all the demons rounded on him like he was the evil one here, which was ridiculous, considering he was surrounded by asuras.

"You kill rakshasas?" came the voice. "You kill your own kin? That's demonicide! That's rakshurder! That's asuraslaughter! I will not have this happening in my righteous throne room! You've just defied practically every act I've ever created in the peaceful and murderous town of Dauraville! I will not have this! I will not! I will NO-"

"Arrey, baba, shaant." Lakshman yelled, trying to channel his inner Shatrughan skills. "That's exactly what I meant. Killing rakshasas is-" he coughed. "Bad. And so is speaking to a king I can't even see. Come down here and maybe I'll talk to you! That is-" he looked around. "Unless you don't exist! You demon!"

The entire court room erupted, and Lakshman quickly stumbled to recover himself. "I meant it in a literal way, of course! He's literally a demon! Unless, of course, he isn't, and that's what he's hiding from us!" The court room erupted again, until, finally, the voice reappeared.

"Alright, alright." the voice was reluctant, and footsteps began to echo. Everyone began to whirl around until they spotted a man walking down the stairs. Lakshman crossed his arms, watching as the man walked towards the throne, his back turned to the crowd, before he finally turned around, showing his face to everybody.

Of course Lakshman had heard his voice before. Of course everything seemed familiar.