The arrival of home from school couldn’t get any worse. Right when Neha stepped into the main room, Tulisen told her something about a spiritual mission. The girl, though she had no idea what he meant at first, thumped her feet and closed her ears, and she moved a couple of steps back. She never knew Tulisen would bring up such a topic. It was as if he was pushing it in order to somehow persuade her into doing what she needed to do. Ridiculous, surprising. She didn’t want to look at him, but it was then she listened hard and well of what her guardian had to say.

Tulisen folded his arms. “You must understand. It is very important that you should undertake the spiritual mission.”

“W-why should I?!” Neha kicked the edge of the table. “I don’t want to go, and I don’t have to! I need to continue going to school!”

“Don’t be stubborn my dear. This morning, the Lama ordered for me to tell you about this. You should not ignore the priority that is given to you, no matter what. It is for the sake of the whole village.”

“No it’s not! This mission thingy is stupid, it’s meaningless! Leave me alone!”

“Why must you assume that? You don’t mean to say such a thing because of Usheniko-”

“It’s not about her this time!” Neha fumed. She darted across the main room and arrived at the couch. “Don’t tell me about it anymore...” She plopped onto the cushions. One more glimpse at Tulisen and she would not hesitate to throw her satchel at him. Already the topic was welling her up in frustration.

“So you don’t know much in regards to it,” Tulisen replied. “The Lama believes in you. You remember when he said that you hold great potential, due to the kindness in your own demeanor. He admires that from you, and concludes that you are the right fit for the task. Besides, there is nothing much to change his mind. The Lama is known for not betraying his ideas. Just listen to me, so we can make things easy for the two of us.” Tulisen opened his arms and tried to hug Neha, but the girl slapped his hands away.

Neha curled herself into a ball and rocked. More than a week since the incident at school, she had exhausted herself into learning everything she could from the re-education classes. Now mandatory, such classes could not be avoided, and the students had to abide by the curriculum regardless of their beliefs—a way to punish them for their dissent. The words of the teacher, the posters with prophetic messages, and the enthusiasm of her classmates, all was pushing Neha to collapse. Yet she knew it was necessary, so she persevered without question. At least it was the better alternative than submitting herself to the mission. The latter option meant she would have to get out of her bubble—her comfort zone. No clue of what it would involve, she’d rather stay in the classroom.

She knocked her face on her knees. She heaved her breath. “I don’t want to,” she said. “You can’t force me to do it.”

Tulisen crunched his eyes. Sighing, he threw his hands up. “It is required. You are the female candidate, the one other piece.”

“A female candidate? What if I refuse?”

“Then the village will succumb into the darkness of human corruption. We will cease to exist as a civilization, or more terrifying, we will be conquered by the barbarians.”

“That won’t happen. Don’t say scary stuff to me.”

“But it shouldn’t be scary for you. Only if you accept of what I’m saying, then that feeling will come to pass. If nothing else, I want eternal peace for the village. Everybody else feels the same way also.”

Neha shook her head. Tears filmed her eyes, and she squinted. “I don’t believe it,” she said. She knew the High Order placed a lot of importance on the spiritual mission. To pick two people to send off, to believe in the gods, was by all means, a sign of desperation that could never go away unless it was done. Tulisen seemed desperate also. He must have understood how much Neha, including Kuraizang, was crucial for the officials. On the other hand, the guardian’s constant pestering led her to believe he was getting sick of taking care of her. She never thought he would feel such a way, but it was possible. A child without a mother and a father would be extremely difficult to look over. In the worst case, a child would end up hurting his or herself, leaving the guardian in the dust.

Neha, releasing herself from her hug, planted her face on one of the cushions. She folded the cushion as to block out the continuous ramble of her guardian, who seemed to never catch a break.

“You see Neha, the gods are still not happy with the way things are going lately. At any rate they will send us in damnation. Do you really want that? Of course not. And also, the incident at the school intrigues me; such rebellious youth we have these days, I can’t wrap my head around to how the documents got there. They are important, although I do not know what they contain. But you know something about it right?” Tulisen only heard the child’s muffles. “Indeed, I can’t help but think much about the perpetrators. It must have been some spy or something, I am not sure. But anyways, I condemn the foolishness of the students. Throwing fists and spitting on people’s faces are no good!”

The moment she heard that, Neha swiped her arm across the air. She snarled. “This has nothing to do with the mission.”

“It does matter. Thanks to the students’ protest, the village is heading for instability—now the High Order are scared for their lives. Good things the papers had been retrieved and stored for good. Regardless, the consequences will be disastrous, and soon, the village will die. I don’t want that to happen, and neither do you. So Neha, you should do what is required and expected of you. The Lama is instilling trust in you, and with your cooperation, you can at least help!”

“No! I said no!” Neha pummeled her fists on the couch. She lifted herself. Her eyes were puffy, more tears came. “I won’t do it. I believe it is absolutely wrong. I am just a little child, and they want me? This is dumb. I only want my mom and dad back, so go find somebody else better.”

“Neha.” Tulisen came close to the couch and flicked the girl’s hair. “You are growing defiant, and I have never witnessed you acting like this. You are becoming rather disobedient. Do you want to continue upholding your tantrums? Do you want to look like this for your mother, who soon, will be going to prison? I don’t think so, and as your guardian, listen to me-”

“I will only listen to my mom! Be quiet!”

The guardian scowled. “Heh. Typical child. After she attempted to commit a murder, you would say that in front of me? She is a sinner, she needs to repent.”

“She did nothing wrong! She was trying to protect me!”

“Stop talking nonsense, this instant-”

“And stop telling me what to do.”

Neha seethed. Talking anymore would waste her breath. As long as this continued, her words could never get through his ears. Thus, she sprang from the couch and bolted to the front door. “I’m going to see my mom.” The door still open, Neha stormed out. She then dragged herself to the middle of the neighborhood.

“What in God’s name are you doing? Come back here! I demand for you to do so! Damn, this rat.” Tulisen kicked the door. His face was scorching. “Yesun, your daughter is being assertive. What am I do with her? Have I failed?” He sighed a million times. The girl was now far from his grasp, so he stayed put, for he had to go to work again.

Neha reached the village center. She stopped, and made way for a battalion from the Holy Army, who were marching and inspecting everything, neglecting nothing in their sights. Their footsteps shrouded the cries and chirps of the cicadas, and the sounds crept shivers upon Neha’s back. Their presence, it aroused the villagers, so much so that some of them threw themselves before the soldiers and kissed their hands. The officers swayed them away, and the unit continued until they turned sharp left into the southern district. Still the villagers remained head over heels—some of them were willing to follow the ones they had kissed.

When the battalion disappeared, Neha caught her breath. Lately she had been seeing more of the soldiers, and it must have been that the High Order were taking precautions for the safety of the village. Of course, in light of the dissent at school, the officials mustered as much troops as they could, as a way to police the community and to make sure no evil would appear. And just by observing them made the girl feel guilty. She felt such guilt because of her participation in Sachen’s plan, and she was compelled to make a statement of apology—however, her timid nature prevented her from taking action. The first and only attempt she tried was one time during Ms. Laozina’s literature class; when she told the truth to everybody, the classmates laughed at her and dismissed her as a soothsayer. In turn, she wetted her underwear, and she then ran off to the lavatories. Sachen repeated the things she had said, although she couldn’t convince the classroom in the slightest. Hence thereforth, the girl said to herself that she might never try it again. The embarrassment, she still remembered it clear as day.

There was no time to be embarrassed about the memory. For Neha was out of Tulisen’s grasp—for now—she had to go see her parent. Thus looking both ways, Neha wandered to the northern district.

“I wonder if my mother is well today,” she said. She traversed through the open-air markets, and the sweet smell of butter and fruit tempted her to go grab a bite. From the side, the chickens and cows bellowed, and they watched the little girl as though they were keen on her movements. She quickened her pace, bumping upon people without saying sorry. As she went, her chest pounded and her eyes became dry from the cold air. Then her legs grew numb. Now she was tired from running. She put her hands on her knees and crouched, about to fall asleep on the spot. But not more than a few seconds later, she got up, and she persisted in going. Right at this moment, her mother was the priority, she knew that well—because her mother was the only person, other than Sachen, whom she could talk to without a bit of doubt. During their interactions whenever Neha visited her at her “punishment place,” they’d talk about many things: Neha’s father, the kid’s time at school, the weather, the flowers, the food, and other mundane subjects. Her parent would give kisses on Neha’s cheeks, and this was one of the things that made the child melt. Neha would never get bored of it. No wonder these days, she kept looking forward to visiting her.

Indeed, Neha didn’t want such times to end. She’d cry forever if her mother were to be transported to prison today, or any day for that matter. It was hard to imagine her parent being in a jail cell, where she could be alone and desolate, possibly she could break down in insanity. Worse, Aijin could get entangled with vicious inmates in arguments or fights, something Neha hoped for it to never happen.

Neha loved her mother as well as her father. She longed to reunite with the both of them. She wished her father could come back to life. She wished her mother would forever be free from her crimes. What more could she ask for? Someone like her, they had a desire to take things back, to return their own world to the way it was. It gave them comfort. More so, it gave them happiness, to which without a second thought, they’d never surrender it again to circumstances and hardships. Keeping happiness was something every kid wanted. That went for Neha too.

But reality was cruel. This time, something terrible would happen for the little girl.