[OP: "My Religion"--Skillet]

The surprise over Mystery was going to last a while, but it didn't seem like he wanted to talk about it.

In fact, he just went to the nearest reflective surface he could find and looked to see if he could see patterns but didn't find any.

He lifted his bangs to do this, to Zoey's delight--and the other girls' surprise, who'd never actually seen his face before.

"Wow. He's cuter than I thought," Rumi said.

Jinu frowned a little at that.

"Not really my type, but yeah..." Mira admitted. "Not that I really care... Still can't believe Zoey said that in the middle of a fight, though."

"I've known Zoey for all of 2 weeks, and that doesn't surprise me at all," Abby said. "I didn't remember what he looked like. Why he does he hide it if he looks normal?"

"I have a theory about that," Romance said. "I think his curse...or deal, whatever you call it, must have something to do with his identity...or...his true emotions? What did he do to break it? It's too confusing though. You haven't remembered yours?"

"Uh..." Abby sounded hesitant. "Well, I've started to get more hints of memory around it, but no, not the exact words on how it happened still."

"Wait, what things?" Romance said.

"Nothing. I don't think it would clear up anything..." Abby hesitated.

"But when did you start getting them?" Romance pressed.

"Well, that meeting with Celine did jog a few memories..." Abby said uneasily. "But not enough to explain it."

It wasn't like Abby to hide anything, so Romance was rightly confused.

Mira and Rumi exchanged a look too.

But they didn't have the energy to push for it, not after the day they'd had.

* * *

But after they'd paused, Morph remembered that Raven had gone after Celine.

"What happened?" he asked.

Everyone looked at Raven. Even Mystery stopped checking himself to make sure he was normal again.

(No one had bothered to tell him it was unnecessary.)

Raven sighed. "I don't think you'll be that surprised by it..."

* * *

Raven had managed to catch Celine before she got to her car (which she must have had her own driver for).

"Hey," she said.

She was in her street disguise of course.

Celine looked back and then narrowed her eyes. "Raven, right?"

"I didn't think you'd want the public to see this blue skinned, gold eyed form." Raven flickered her eyes yellow for a moment. "Should I change back?"

"You can just stay as you are, but I have nothing to say to you." Celine was still livid.

"Then listen. You won't want to miss this."

Celine raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know everything about you," Raven then went on, "but I know you're hiding something... Whatever, I'm the last person to judge for that. But as long as you keep hiding it, the Hunters will not be listening to you. That was their own decision, not one we suggested to them. I  don't think it will matter to you, but we encouraged them to reach out to you so we could solve this."

"That reason wouldn't impress me if I believed it." Celine was haughty.

"Were all the hunters like this or just these ones?" Raven wondered.

She crossed her arms. "Fine, have it your way. But I thought you cared about them at least."

Pause.

"Don't act like you understand our relationship," Celine then said warmly. "You know nothing! You're an intruder in their lives, stirring up trouble. I made them. I raised Rumi...and I knew her mother. You know nothing!"

She shouted that part.

"Maybe I know nothing." Raven didn't even argue it. "But at least I can admit it."

"Excuse me?" Celine said.

"You don't really know for sure," Raven said. "You just have guesses. You don't think the boys are human? That they aren't worth saving? But how do you know? What if protecting them would prevent some much greater tragedy down the line? You may feel it's not the case with Rumi's parents...and maybe it wasn't... Who says that all of them are the same? Jinu proved himself able to do the right thing, at least. So did Abby... And you may judge them for making their deals with Gwi-Ma, but you should consider that it must take some strength of soul to be able to be enslaved to him and still find some goodness inside you at all... After 400 years, especially... The human spirit is hard to destroy entirely, even if it's easy to corrupt. One has to give it that. Even I've managed to do some good in my life, and I'm a basket case."

"Your're so self aware." Celine didn't know what to make of that statement.

"One of us should be," Raven shot back cuttingly. "Morph and I sympathize with you a little, you know... They didn't trust us at first, and most people don't trust us, period. I understand you, but that doesn't make you right. Face it, you don't deserve to be obeyed by them when you hid the truth from them. Isn't that only fair?"

"I do it to protect them," Celine said.

"Do they feel protected?" Raven pointed at the tower. "Dishonesty always lead to this in the end... I should know."

"And just what are you?" Celine asked. "A mutant? Something that could shape-shift...? You think your life is not based on dishonesty?"

"It is," Raven said. "And I have been alone in one way or another most of my life."

Pause.

Celine couldn't argue with that either.

"But that was my fate." Raven then shrugged it off. "At least, until I found people who accepted me the way that I was. I know you judge me for this form of mine... I'm used to it. Where I live, there are many people who want to kill me for being what I am...including my own child."

Celine looked askance at that last part.

"And to kill my other child too," Raven added. "So yes, I know what it's like to be treated like a demon. Or like a monster... Maybe I sympathize with the boys a little because of that. That Gwi-Ma offers them deals to solves their problems...but he does not warn them they will become demons. The deal doesn't even necessarily involve you doing anything bad... It's just about taking the easy way out. Jinu didn't know he'd turn into a monster, and he didn't know he'd do all the things he did when he made his deal. The rest of them didn't either... They did it to save themselves, never knowing that it would make them into devils. So don't pity them if you don't want to...but can anyone of us promise ourselves we'd never make foolish choices to preserve our lives? You should think about that. I don't doubt you've made such a choice yourself, anyway."

She turned away.

"What do you know?" Celine said uneasily.

Raven paused, then glanced back at her. "After what you just said? More than I did before. How long will it be before Rumi figures it out? If she hasn't already... You should just tell her truth. And if not to help the Saja Boys, then at least to help your own students. They could die otherwise, if Gwi-Ma gets the boys back before we free them all...and if they stop trying to help them, the boys could just become his pawns now...or he'll send worse ones. They're here, and we're not going to send them away. Deal with it. Or don't. But that's your decision then."

She walked away.

Celine didn't call her back, so Raven thought she didn't want to deal with it--or wasn't going to give in that easily.

* * *

"Wow...harsh," Abby said.

"But thanks for standing up for us," Jinu said. "I don't think we deserved that though."

"I didn't do it for you," Raven said, though it was not quite true. "I did it because we need her help."

"That makes me feel a little better," Jinu said, but he was being ironic.

Raven had left out the part where she'd accuse Celine of hiding something, but it wasn't likely to take long for them to realize that she was doing it.

"I'm glad you told her off for lying to us and for not trusting us still," Rumi said, "Bbut it won't do any good... And do you think telling her about your life was smart? She can be...judgmental."

"Yes...well, I expect that by now," Raven said. "I thought, at least, she might see that other people besides her can have a problem with us. But what good does it do? I thought maybe she would care about your safety. I must be catching Shine's optimism about people."

"Speaking of Shine, what about her letter?" Morph asked.

"Yes, let's hear some good news," Abby said. "Please tell us she wrote something good."

"Right, the letter." Raven took it out. "Well, we're all here--I guess now is the time. But whether it's good or not, you'll have to tell me."

She opened it and read, and even Mystery turned to listen in now:

"'Dear Raven and Morph...(and her usual pleasantries which I'll skip)...

"'I'm thrilled to hear about Abby. I'm not surprised he was the first, actually, based on what you've told me so far.

"'It is strange that he didn't remember his deal, but I've broken curses off people before who didn't always remember fully.

"'I once knew a woman named Salem who was cursed to be immortal and filled with dark, demonic powers for thousands of years, even longer than Jinu... She was slowly poisoned by it over time. And everyone else, even her former husband, had written her off as unsalvageable long ago.

"'I did too, but then I met her, and I thought I saw some humanity left in her. No matter how cursed someone is, if they were human once, they will always be human. Whatever the devil puts on us, he can't change what we are--created in the image of the Divine Creator, and we bear his mark. That is stronger than any mark the devil can put on us. He is not a creator, only a copycat. He can't make us into something else unless we let him.

"'That being said, she had a hard road. We finally got through to her. I don't think what we did will work for you, probably--different magic systems and all--but one key was love. She had to remember what it was like to feel it...

"'Love is not an exclusively human experience, but it's the human experience that ties us to every other creature in the world. It connects us with the spiritual realm and the physical realm. We can love things, animals, people, and God. You can't heal any soul without love, no matter what the steps are to freeing it.

"'After she finally lost the curse, she forgot most of the things she did while she had it because her curse was behind most of her misdeeds...and it would make her feel like she was evil, while it was the evil inside her that did them... All she ever wanted was freedom, affection...but the dark gods of that world couldn't tolerate anyone rejecting their way of doing things and punished her for it. Perhaps this sounds familiar to you by now.

"'The other cursed person there, he had to live many lifetimes over till he stopped her, and he would take other people's lives, their souls, again his own will... He agreed to it, but he didn't understand what it was... A very messed up curse.

"'We freed him as well, by the Grace of God, and after we did, he also forgot most of his other lifetimes.

"'The point I'm making is this: Magical Curses are very traumatic, and the human mind can't really comprehend them, I believe, once it is over, because they inflict an experience on you that is not strictly human. There are things about God we can't process with our brains. It follows there are things about the evil one we can't understand either. We can't be either as good or as evil as the best good and worst evil.

"'That said, if none of them remember their deals, at least immediately, it's normal. They aren't likely to ever remember everything about being demonized...and that's just as well, in my opinion. They don't need to remember the things they did or felt in that time...

"'Being good is more important. In the book I sent you, The Great Divorce, Lewis had the idea that if all of hell could enter into a butterfly in heaven, it could not harm it, because good is so much greater and stronger than evil that it could never be touched by it, if we've once come to it fully and forever. There is only one being fully immune to evil, and that is God. The closer we get to Him, the more we are ourselves...

"'For me, I find that some sins no longer even appeal to me anymore. And I think you'll find that it will happen for all of you. It's likely started already.

"'But I need to caution you about something.

"'I noticed that you never said that you had replaced those demon parts with anything else. I'd be horrified to find that you could have forgotten about this step, but since you are new, I'll overlook it...but you can't keep ignoring it.

"'See, we can cast out curses, but we can't keep them out. Humans can't do that. We can perform the surgery, but we can't replace a lost limb. That is God's department.

"'But surely you and the girls have wondered if they could relapse. I'm sure that Mira would have brought it up.'"

All of them looked at Mira.

Mira was mortified that Shine had guessed that about her without even meeting her.

But the letter went on:

"'And she's right to worry about it if she has, because it is possible.'"

"Wait, it is?" Jinu was startled.

"Let me finish," Raven said sharply.

He went silent.

"'But it doesn't have to be,'" Shine's letter when on. "'The answer is quite simple: You have to replace it with something else. And this is God. Once His spirit rests in a person, they cannot be possessed by the devil or Gwi-Ma. That is why his minions can't devour you. He can subdue you, if you are careless, but he could not take your souls. You sold them to someone else. And God will hold them, trust me...

"'But tell Jinu that giving Rumi his soul is not enough. She is only a person--she won't be able to hold it away from Gwi-Ma on her own. Though we can help, and we should help, make no mistake.

"'It's likely that Gwi-Ma won't be able to retake them while they are around you--our authority will usually cancel out the other while we're around...but if they are not personally connected to God's Spirit, then as soon as you're gone, it will come undone... It may not happen right away, but it will happen. Jesus said that when you cast out a spirit and don't replace it, he returns with 7 more as bad as himself, so that they will be worse off if they relapse.

"'It sounds like it's started already with the voices, but don't be surprised if Gwi-Ma pushes even harder with his threats.

"'Don't stress about this though. All you have to do is pray and ask for this, and if they truly wish to be free, it will happen. God always answers anyone who truly desires freedom from Him. However, if they haven't made that choice, you can't let them leave you...at least not while they're still deciding... You must judge the situation for yourselves. If you think it's worth it, then fight...but if not...not everyone always is willing to be saved. And once you go, that's it...so if it's not happened by then, don't feel guilty about it.

"'And caution the girls as well... This can apply to them.'"

"What?" Zoey interrupted now.

"What does she mean by that?" Mira looked panicked.

Raven motioned at them to be quiet.

"'I don't think they can be possessed by Gwi-Ma, mostly likely,'" Shine had gone on. "'Though it's hard to assess the rules without being there myself...but if they gave in to him once, it can happen again. They need the same gift as you. And that's the reason you are there. It's not to help them a little...it's to be fully transformed. If that's not happening, they will still do their jobs, but it won't do the same kind of good that we're really meant to do...and if things change up more in the warfare area, I can't guarantee their safety any more that you can.

"'Only God can save us from demons. That is the only conclusion I have for you.

"'However, you are doing wonderfully, and all this is the first step, but it's not the only step.

"'Perhaps this is not the answer that you were hoping for, but you asked me to tell you how to make sure things kept going forward, so, I did.

"'Looking forward to hearing more about this in your next message...and if someone else is free by then, I want to hear all about it.

"'And try not to be afraid... Fear is useless... We have nothing to fear, really. Love--Shine.

"'(PS. Wally says to kick more demon butt and to take a break now and then and enjoy things, which is wise advice.)'"

"At least we took his advice already," Morph said.

Everyone stared at him.

"Uh...was that supposed to make us feel better?" Romance asked.

"That was a lot to take in," Abby said. "Is this what she writes to you like all the time?"

"Yes..." Raven folded the letter up. "But she's always right. If she says you need to do this, I believe her. And it make sense... I think it will be simple."

"Simple? After everything we did already, we have to do more?" Mira cried.

"You don't have to do anything, actually," Raven said.

"Yes, this was on us," Morph said. "I recall Shine told us this ages ago now, but I didn't realize that that step was necessary...which should be completely obvious... How could we forget that? Gee..."

"I guess it's not something that I think about," Raven said. "But, removing evil is not the same as being good. Being born again...you have to be a new thing, not just the same old thing. And, we know already that this has not happened yet."

"We do?" Zoey said.

Raven pointed at Jinu. "The demons have tried to eat him. They haven't tried to eat Morph and me...only to kill us. But they have tried to devour him. If they can do that, that means he's not marked by the good power yet."

"Crucial step," Morph said. "Whoops... Boy, it's good that we decided not to let them leave us now. At least we got that much right."

"So there was a chance of being reclaimed by Gwi-Ma?" Abby looked a little nervous. "Anytime? And you just...didn't know that?"

"That was why we asked Shine for help," Morph said. "We don't know a lot still...sorry."

"What the heck?" Mira said. "That's kinda a huge thing not to know."

"Not like you knew either," Raven said.

"But aren't you supposed to be the experts on this?" Mira said.

"I've told you, we never said we're the experts. We're rookies," Raven retorted.

"Okay, okay." Rumi tried to be the voice of reason. "So they didn't know, but we know now... How do we fix it? She said to replace it, right? You have some...spiritual gift that you can give them so they can't be repossessed?"

"Do we? No," Morph said. "I think she's referring to what we call the Holy Spirit. That's God's spirit...which...how does it work? To be honest, I didn't always pay the most attention to those explanations, since I though it was all just metaphorical."

"My word, Morph," Raven said, sounding a little smug. "You didn't pay attention to the technicality of something? This is a rare moment for me."

"Do you know or not?" Abby was getting impatient. "Dang it, Raven, this is not the time for your gloating."

"Oh, relax, muscle-head." Raven waved him off dismissively. "It's not that hard. Shine did it with us a while ago. All you have to do is pass on your... Well, we carry it somehow, and we pray for it to fall on other people, I believe is what she said. And it should work...and sometimes it happens on its own if you just ask for it, or even sometimes if you don't, based on a few stories in the book... God is not predictable, this we know."

"I thought God was just...Iike, in charge of things," Zoey said. "And, like, He gave you the power to fight demons because...He and Gwi-ma are enemies. Isn't that what you told us? Not that He had a spirit...thing."

"To be honest, it's still a little hard to talk about it too, since we're still so new," Morph said. "I've believed in this stuff for less than 3 years total, and some of that, I wasn't fully in, I was just starting. Shine has grown up with it, so I also trust her word more, but without her being here in person, there are only so many questions we can ask, and I guess we forgot all about that one. Which is our bad, sorry. But I think Raven still had it right."

"Oh, well, that's reassuring." Romance folded his arms. "And will it work for us who are still not free?"

"Oh, no, that would hurt you," Raven said. "The same reason the portals aren't safe for you. I nearly yanked Rumi's soul out of her body when I took her through one the other week, and she wasn't even fully under Gwi-Ma's influence."

"So that why that hurt so much." Rumi winced at the memory. "Yeah, I almost passed out... So that's why? But Abby and Jinu would be fine?"

"I see no reason why not now." Raven tapped her chin. "It should be simple...but there is a problem. I think you have to have faith. None of you share ours."

"But shouldn't you still try without that?" Mira asked. "I mean, why do we need to see this the same way as you?"

"Uh, well, Mira," Morph said slowly, "isn't that kinda unfair? You want God's help, but you don't want to acknowledge Him?"

"Hey, this wasn't about me." Mira waved her hand.

"Maybe you should let us answer then," Jinu said. "And I'd serve any God if He was better than Gwi-Ma, if it meant I wouldn't have to go back to him. Four hundred years is enough to to stop caring that much about whether it's convenient or not... But He isn't going to...enslave us or anything, right?"

"Do we seem enslaved to you?" Raven was a little offended.

"No," Jinu said.

"Then no," Raven said. "You'd be like us...the same messed up person as before, but with the hope of becoming someone better in the end. At least that's how I interpret what Shine calls 'sanctification'."

"I think of it as more of transforming into something else," Morph said. "But not in the way you'd think of it. I mean, I'm the same person as before, but I have more hope and...more life, I guess, is what it feels like. I feel like my life has a plan and purpose, though I still am pretty confused about what is it...but I know Someone out there has one for me. Figuring it out alone was horrible because I couldn't control myself, let alone my life. It's a relief to have Someone better and wiser than you."

"And getting forgiveness for things that only God could ever forgive anyway," Raven said. "There is no one else who could stand to forgive some sins, I think. Humans just aren't that merciful... unless God is helping their mercy."

"I remember you said something about that, mercy for people who haven't obtained mercy," Rumi said. "I mean...I didn't picture this, but, if that's all it is, it's accepting God's authority in your life, then it makes sense because, I guess, if He was real, He'd have to be in charge... And maybe the Hunters get their gifts from Him. You said we don't know where their power comes from... Celine never knew either, that she's ever said. Still, it strange that we'd never have heard of this before if that's true."

"Is it really that weird?" Morph said. "I mean, I see your point, but aren't there always things that cause stuff that you've never heard of? Like gravity causes us to stay on earth, but how many people had heard of it a thousand years ago?"

"I think he's right. The most important things are usually not the ones everyone notices," Jinu mused. "I mean, case in point, how did any of us not see that Gwi-Ma's voice was suspicious when we first heard it? You'd think it would be a huge red flag to hear a voice offering you something, but we all fell for it. I think humans are sometimes a lot more stupid than we think we are."

"That's a tale as old as time itself," Raven said. "In the book, mankind fell from grace because they ate fruit they were told not to eat. That's as simple as it gets...so that Professor X thought it was too simple... Shine told him off though. That was very funny."

"A fruit? That doesn't even make any sense," Mira said.

"And singing to defeat demons does?" Raven said. "Spiritual rules just don't seem to make any sense in the natural world...but they appear to be real."

"I suppose if you put it that way, I'm down," Abby said. "I mean, this sounds better than Gwi-Ma. But what does it involve? Eternal loyalty to your Spirit Ruler instead?"

"It does involve that," Morph said. "But it's not at all like Gwi-Ma. We don't have to take souls or anything. Well, didn't Rumi say it herself? It's a battle for hearts and minds, but on the right side."

"I have said that," Rumi confirmed.

"Trust me, you'll like God a lot better than Gwi-Ma," Morph went on. "He's a lot nicer. Though He can be frightening also, at times, but what do you expect? To be stronger than Gwi-Ma, you'd have to be more intimidating than him."

"Gwi-Ma is afraid of God," Raven noted. "That must be why he's been against us from the start."

"That's all I needed to hear then," Abby said.

"Really? That's it? " Romance turned to him. "You're not worried about this spirit they're talking about? What it might make you do?"

"It can't be as bad as Gwi-Ma," Abby said. "Do they seem like mindless zombies? And if it's that or being reclaimed by Gwi-Ma, I think the choice is clear."

"For someone who is supposed to be the dumb one, you're surprisingly clear sighted," Raven said. "That is the only way to see it at the end of the day. We went over this before."

"I still don't know where you got the idea that I'm the dumb one," Abby said. "When did I ever do anything that dumb?"

"Something about you just seems dumb," Zoey said. "But like...in a nice way. Like a himbo."

"Wow, that hurt." Abby faked being stabbed.

"A himbo?" Jinu repeated.

"Don't ask, it's not worth it," Rumi sighed.

"Well, I think Abby is right," Jinu went on. "So how do we do this?"

"I mean, if you're willing to, I don't see why it won't just happen," Morph said. "Should we ask for it?"

"I have no idea whether we need to or not, but if nothing is happening, we maybe should try," Raven suggested.

So they did.

The girls were a bit puzzled by this, but decided not to question it, since they had no idea how it worked anyway.

"Unless we could try a song, since that's how things work here," Morph said.

"I don't know a song for this," Raven said. But she tilted her head. "Wait, there might be one on the CD tracks though. Wait here."

She walked out of the room.

A few minutes later she came back with one of the CDs and popped it in and selected a track.

A song none of them had heard before on it came on:

https://youtu.be/_lOS0twM7DU

[Jesus Culture--"Let It Rain"]

[I'm not sure if the religious parts of this book will make people uncomfortable...but I've always included them in the other stories, and I don't plan to stop. I guess if you don't like it, skip over it, since I think it's a good story either way. But I really have no other way to combat Gwi-Ma except by a higher spiritual power and am not sure what other way anyone would have.]

Whether it was the song or not, Jinu felt a little more peaceful, which, after how upsetting the letter had been, was good.

"Should we feel different?" Abby asked.

"I have no idea," Raven said. "I don't remember feeling different, personally... If anything, I didn't really know anything had changed till we came here and demons appeared to be afraid of us and didn't eat us."

"I guess we know for sure 'cause of that." Morph did his weird laugh. "Think we missed a step?"

"All we can do is ask her again, and she'll let us have it for not knowing this already." Raven was worried that Shine would get mad for real. It had been a pretty important thing to forget.

"Maybe she should, if you forgot something that important," Mira basically voiced the same thought.

Raven shifted into her and made a face.

Mira frowned.

Funny though, the gesture didn't bother her that much anymore, it just annoyed her.

"Well, if you're done with that--" Baby didn't know what to make of the entire thing and didn't want to talk about it. "--did you have any more torturous activities for us to do today to try to rediscover their identities or something?"

"Nothing was planned," Rumi said. "But why are you asking? Aren't you against it?"

"Two out of four? My opinion is not going do anything at this point." Baby was accepting his fate, it seemed Iike.

"That's...surprisingly reasonable of you," Zoey said.

"I still think Gwi-Ma is going to get them anyway," Baby went on, back to his buzzkill self.

"Can you stop saying that?" Romance pleaded. "It's depressing..."

"I think we've had a long enough day already," Rumi said. "Maybe we should just pick up the quest tomorrow. But I guess we could...I don't know... Anyone want to go out for dinner? As long as we're together, nothing will happen, right?"

"We'd have to get a private room," Mira said. 

"So we can do that easily," Zoey said. "I'll just ask Bobby."

"So a fancy restaurant?" Morph asked. "I'll have to change clothes."

He shifted into a tuxedo.

"Hmm, not bad Morph," Zoey had to admit. "I mean, why not fancy? That kinda place would have a private room anyway. After all, this is for Mystery and Abby."

"So do we all get one if we get free?" Romance asked.

"Tell you what, Romance--once you get free, I'll let you pick the place," Zoey offered generously.

"That's a dangerous thing to tell him," Mira said. "He's the type to have weird taste."

"I have impeccable taste," Romance said.

"You don't eat food," Mira said.

"That doesn't mean I don't know high quality," Romance argued. "I'm sure I know more than you do. I've seen you eat."

"Excuse me?" Mira was offended.

"None of you have any manners--" Romance was warming up to this now. "--or taste. Zoey just eats chips constantly."

"What's wrong with chips?" Zoey said angrily. "Don't mess with my snacking, Romance. That's crossing a line. Trying to take our souls is one thing, but taking my snacking lightly? I'll kill you in your sleep."

"See? Who takes food that seriously?" Romance said.

"Easy to say when you don't need to eat," Rumi said. "Saving the world makes us hungry."

"Oh my gosh, can we just go to the restaurant?" Raven slapped her forehead. "I'm sick of all of you arguing. I swear, Morph and I are going to lock ourselves on our level and not come out for two days straight if you don't stop doing it. Fix your own problems instead."

"No one would miss you," Baby said.

"Speak for yourself," Raven shot back.

"I'm going to ask Bobby before this gets worse," Zoey said, wisely. "And...hey, we should talk about him too..."

"Oh, great," Mira said flatly.