When you look like me, you can read comics, watch anime, draw manga and do all the other nerdy things, and still manage to be one of the cool kids
-NOA, THE VILLAIN
"I am not sure, if that was a good plan," said Jack putting Noa down on the ground.
"Yeah, well we are still alive," said Zo, "That has to count for something, right?"
"Oh, it does," said Will, crouching on the ground, moving his fingers over the ash covered soil, "That was good quick-thinking Zoey."
Yes it was, said the voice inside Will's head.
Who are you? Will asked mentally?
I didn't tell you when you were thirteen years old, why would I tell you now?
"Agreed," said Ayu "How did you think of using the lighter?"
"I had thought of using it earlier, when we were discussing strategies," said Zoey "But the idea of throwing rocks on the monsters..."
"They are not monsters," interrupted Tabu, shouting "They are Asura."
"Asura, huh. Isn't that from Hindu and Buddhist mythology?" asked Will.
"Well, whatever they are. You are a murderer."
Wtf Man, you had just decided that you shouldn't push your claim.
"What?" exclaimed Tabu, walking backwards as Will stepped towards him.
"Are you sure?" asked Ayu, her gaze set at the lip of the island – which was not very far away – she seemed too mesmerized by the deeply grey sea, to look at the others.
"I saw him," said Will.
"But how, you were with us the whole time?" asked Ayu.
"Wait a sec, murder who?" asked Zoey "And, why are there no trees on this island?"
"Kaal," replied Jack, sitting beside Noah, who still refused to show any signs of consciousness.
"Wait, he was murdered?" she asked "Also, why is the island so small?"
Then, suddenly, Ayu turned towards her "I have never known a person as weird as you."
"Honey, you have only just started to know me," said Zoey.
Throughout the conversation, Will continued walking towards Tabu, and the beast with a black tongue, proceeded backwards.
"Stop," commanded Ayu "Do you have any evidence?"
"No," confined Will, visibly taken back, "But I saw him."
"I don't find that possible," said Ayu, "I saw Kaal, on the bottom of the cliff."
"He was on the other extreme of Jack, than Noah," said Ayu, walking towards a still William "Plus, there were trees hiding visibility, no way you saw Tabu dropping Kaal off the cliff."
"But I did," said William, adamant yet a little scared.
"Logic is against you," said Ayu "Tell me Will, are you hiding something? Do you know more about the situation, than you are letting on?"
Will felt cold, peering in her eyes, he felt scared, but more than anything he felt inferior, a feeling only his step – Dad, could have instilled in him, before.
A moment of awkward silence, broken when Zoey changed the topic.
"Yeah, what are we going to do about food now?" asked Zoey "Cause, I am really hungry."
Breaking from her confrontation with Will, Ayu turned towards Zoey.
"A valid concern," proclaimed Ayu, "we searched for an hour. There are no trees, no animals, not even insects, and I don't care to eat anything that comes out of this gutter of a sea."
"So?" asked Jack, sensing an option.
"So, we make a decision," responded the queen.
"What decision?" asked Will.
She shot him a stare, then in an amicable way responded "Do we use the lighters again?"
"No," shouted Tabu and he received attention.
"Don't do the Agni havan," said Tabu "You might not be so lucky this time."
Every member of the group is highly intelligent, especially Zoey.
"So, this teleportation through lighter is called the 'Agni-Havan'," said Ayu, interpreting the obvious, "Tell me more about it."
"And why did it feel like sitting on a car spinning in air, falling from a bridge, this time, while the previous attempt was very comfortable?" asked Zoey, sure that Tabu knew more about them, than he was letting on.
For a moment, Tabu looked uncertain, as if not sure, whether to answer the question or not. But, since he was tasked with eliminating anyone of the group who had not tasted death yet, he chose to answer.
"It's very simple," said Tabu "Hindu rituals generally include burning of objects. The reason behind that is, Hindus believe that smoke rises to the sky and eventually travels to heaven, informing gods of the ritual."
"Those lighters you have, are special," said Tabu "They are gifts of Agni, the god of fire himself. When burned with, they transform the user into smoke and the user travels to his proposed destination."
"Proposed destination?" asked Jack.
"Remember those priests' chanting something, when we were busy burning ourselves?" asked Will.
"Yeah?"
"Well, I don't remember everything, but I heard them repeat a same set of numbers, a couple of times," then looking at Tabu he said, "Latitude and longitude?"
In the background, he saw Zoey, waving his earlier held knife in her hand. The others turned towards her
How should I hurt her? Tabu asked himself.
"Something, like that," answered Tabu, a bit agitated. "And, since last time, the girl didn't speak any numbers, we were randomly transported to this island."
"And, since we don't know any numbers, the next time we might end up inside a volcano," said Zoey, "Well, that is all well and good, but what about Food, that long explanation only made me hungrier."
Suddenly, Noa woke up and got on her feet. She looked around, as if making a head count. When finished, she nodded to herself and proceeded towards the centre of the island.
"Noa, what are you doing?" asked Zoey.
Noa ignored the question, and crouched on the ground. She moved the soil, waving her palm over the ash. Then, she got on all fours, and started digging.
"Ew," said Jack, when Noah started putting ash in her mouth.
"And, I thought your ideas were bad," said Will.
Zoey rolled her eyes.
"Shouldn't we stop her?" asked Jack.
"Yes, go ahead," said Ayu as she whipped her phone out of her pockets and started recording Noah.
"You have your phone!" exclaimed Zoey, then checking her pockets, "I have my phone."
"Does it have a signal?" asked Will, checking for his own.
"Yes," said Zoey, dialling a number "You guys stop her."
Will and Jack tried to, but Noah pushed them away. They looked askance at Ayu, who was still recording the incident, as if asking for orders.
"Be harsh, but stop her. She will get sick, eating that shit," ordered Ayu.
And as if to provide evidence to Ayu's statement, Noah, started vomiting, just some metres away from where she had been digging a minute earlier. Bile pouring out of her mouth, along with the hideous ash. Zoey and the boys rushed to help her, but she was done vomiting. And, continued digging and swallowing ash, back at her original site.
She stopped quickly afterwards. Something shiny appeared, where she had been digging. A white metallic rod started rising from the ground. And when most of it had emerged, a silver curve – on either side – indicated the presence of blades. When fully out of the ground, an axe was revealed.
The others stood dumbfounded and even Ayu looked over her device, to verify whether her phone had gone haywire, or if an axe had actually arisen from beneath the ground.
Noah, placed her left hand on the axe and placed the other one on the ash rotten ground.
The ash started to rise, as if collected by the sky. The sea contributed, growing bluer by the second. And, there was a peculiar sound related to it, but with more stringent focus, one could hear someone humming, humming a song no mortal ears had the pleasure of listening to in years. It was beautiful. Eventually, a layer of ash obscured the sky. So big, that it covered the world above for miles.
The humming got louder.
Will deduced, there were three people humming the song.
Nothing happened for a few minutes, then Noah looked up and said, "Come."
The ash transformed into a pile of needles, and as soon as all of the ash was converted into pointy ends, the needles rained down on Noah, tearing her skin. The humming didn't stop, it only got more melodious. The needles were precise, they didn't hurt those close to Noah. Only Noah received the pain. And, there was a lot of pain. She cried out and so did the others. But, the agony in her voice was outmatched. Not that it mattered, the others – and some part of Noah herself – was focussed on the song, enjoying the melody as Noah got riddled with holes.
After it was done, and there was no ash left in the sky, and only Noah's perforated body on the ground, three crowns rose from the ocean. And wearing each crown, was a man, a single man with, three heads and six arms. Taller than William, as regal as a God, more fanciable than Jack, but not nearly as devious as Zoey, the being stood as a miracle, humming that beautiful tune. Two of his foremost arms crossed, while, three of his other four hands closed into fists.
Subsequently, Zoey, Ayu and Jack, flew towards him, stopping behind the deity.
"Which one?" all three of his heads he seemed to be asking Will, who stood about a mile from him.
Which one?
Will didn't seem to hear, he didn't even notice the presence of the deity, nor did he pay attention to what happened after the sky fell on Noa. The only thing he noticed was that, Noah was still alive, barely, and she was going to die. He was going to leave her too.
Then, he looked up, at the deity, anger flaring in his eyes. Not caring for the song anymore, he decided that he wouldn't be played anymore.
As if a statement had been made, the deity smiled and caught the three children by the scruff of their necks, using different arms. Then, one by one, he threw them all in the sea under him. After this was done, a large bow with a nocked arrow rose from under the water.
Using his previously unused arm, he pulled the bowstring.
Will knew, what was going to happen. He couldn't save Kaal, he couldn't save Noah, he won't be able to save the other three. But he wasn't meant to. He had figured out the game. He was going to survive.
The deity released the arrow. Will, closed his eyes and mouthed a word.
He was going to survive, if not anyone else.
And before the arrow hit, I heard a clap
-WILLIAM, THE HERO