So far:
All the friends took Meera, the princess of Amaravati, to see Queen Rukmini, the queen of heaven. There, Shanthini changed Meera's name to Amara.
Now:
When Shanthini suggested the name, Meera didn't respond. Rooba Nayaki noticed and asked,
"Why? Don't you like the name Amara?"
Meera replied with a smile,
"It's not that. The name is nice. From today, my name is Amara, right?"
"Yes,"
everyone laughed in agreement.
"At least with me, talk in simpler English for now. I'll learn to speak like you all eventually. Please, I can't handle your pure English,"
Amara said with an exaggerated sigh, making everyone laugh.
Chitrani replied with a smile,
"Alright, we'll try. Come along."
Meera, now Amara, asked,
"Why didn't you tell me earlier that you are princesses?"
Vanathi, trying to speak like Meera, said,
"It wasn't a big deal. We only go to the palace sometimes. Most of the time, we roam around here."
Amara smiled and teased,
"Not bad, Vanathi, you're trying to speak like me!"
Vanathi smiled and replied,
"Yes, soon we will learn to speak like you."
"Great! I'll teach you all. You'll speak perfectly. By the way, I heard that you five are great warriors. Is that true?"
Amara asked.
Rooba laughed and said,
"You're speaking quite well now too."
Kangaki, curious, asked,
"Who told you we are warriors?"
Amara shrugged,
"I overheard the soldiers talking as we arrived, so I just asked."
Chitrani raised an eyebrow,
"And you didn't believe it?"
Amara replied,
"Not like that. I just hadn't seen it myself."
Chitrani smiled and said,
"Oh. But Amara, I think you too would make a great warrior."
Confused, Amara asked,
"Why do you say that?"
Kangaki explained,
"In the royal court, you caught an arrow flying towards you with such precision. That's why Chitrani is asking."
Amara made a face,
"Come on, I'd run ten feet away if I saw a lizard, let alone catch a flying arrow!"
Everyone burst out laughing.
Chitrani, still laughing, asked,
"Then how did you catch it?"
Amara sighed,
"I don't know, I just grabbed it in the panic. Don't think it was skill or anything!"
Shanthini playfully patted Amara on the shoulder,
"You speak so well."
Amara smiled,
"I've always been like this. Let's go."
As they walked, talking, they reached the top of a high mountain.
Suddenly, Amara, who had been laughing and making others laugh, grew quiet, and her face became sad.
The others noticed.Shanthini, placing a hand on her shoulder, asked lovingly,
"What happened to our dear friend Amara?"
Amara, snapping out of her thoughts, wiped away a tear and said with a fake smile,
"Oh, it's nothing."
Rooba, putting a hand on her other shoulder, said gently,
"Your face says otherwise. You seem to be thinking of something sad."
Amara didn't reply. Vanathi came closer, took Amara's face in her hands, and asked affectionately,
"Won't you tell us?"
After a moment of hesitation, Amara opened up, tears filling her eyes.
"It's my friend Kaveri. She was so loving to me, just like all of you. How is she now? What is she doing? I don't know anything, and I miss her so much. I feel like I need to see her."
Rooba smiled and said,
"So, you just want to know how your friend is, right?"
Amara looked at her with hope,
"Yes, can I find out?"
"Of course,"
Rooba replied with a knowing look.
Vanathi called to Amara,
"Come stand here, Amara."
Amara stood next to Vanathi. Rooba, Kanaki, Shanthini, and Chitrani stood around them.
Amara, confused, asked,
"Why are we standing like this?"
Vanathi pointed to a spot in the distance and said,
"Look over there, Amara."
Amara followed her gaze. In the distance, she saw rivers of lava flowing, with people running everywhere. Some were tied to horses, and soldiers were riding those horses at lightning speed.
The forests were burning, and the land was filled with smoke and ashes. It was a scene of chaos and destruction.
"What is that?"
Amara asked in shock, her eyes wide.
"That's the hell. And your friend Kaveri is there,"
Rooba said quietly.
"What?! She's there, in that horrible place? Is she alright?"
Amara asked, her voice filled with fear and concern.
Kangaki reassured her,
"Don't worry, Amara. She's safe."
Amara relaxed a bit.
Shanthini began to speak,
"But…"
"But what?"
Amara asked anxiously.
"She's not there as Kaveri, as you knew her."
Shanthini replied.
"Then who is she?"
Amara asked, even more confused.
"You'll see,"
Chitrani said with a smile. She murmured a spell, and a black curtain-like screen appeared before them.
Through the screen, they saw Kaveri arrive in the hell.
Amara whispered,
"Kaveri…"
Her eyes filled with tears.On the screen, Kaveri slowly opened her eyes, brushed off the sand from her clothes, and looked around.
She angrily asked herself,
"What am I doing here?"
Then, seeing a horse nearby, she jumped on it and rode at top speed towards a palace.Amara was speechless, watching her friend ride like a warrior.
"Is that Kaveri? She didn't even know how to ride a bicycle, and now she's riding a horse like that?"
Amara said in disbelief, making her friends laugh.
Inside the palace, Kaveri stormed into the royal court, her anger intimidating everyone there.
The king of the hell addressed her,
"Princess Suneri, what has happened to you? Why are you in this condition?"
Ignoring his question, Kaveri demanded,
"Where are the two men who abandoned me at the sacrificial site?"
Terrified, the soldiers brought the two men before her. The king, furious, ordered that they be given the harshest punishment.
Watching the scene unfold, Amara was confused.
"What's going on? Leaving her alone deserves the harshest punishment?"
Shanthini explained,
"That's how things work there. But Princess Suneri is known for being the most merciful."
"But isn't a hundred lashes too much?"
Amara asked, wide-eyed.After issuing her order, Kaveri, or rather Suneri, left the scene and went to practice sword fighting, displaying incredible skill.
Amara, shocked, whispered,
"The girl who couldn't even hold a stick is now wielding a sword like this?"
Her friends laughed, but Rooba reassured her,
"Now you've seen your friend, haven't you? Or should I say, Princess Suneri?"
Amara, still stunned, asked,
"How do we save her from there?"
Vanathi, placing a hand on her shoulder, said firmly,
"To save her, you need to become more skilled than her."
Amara looked at them with wide eyes,
"What do you mean?"
"You must learn all the arts of war,"
Vanathi said.
"And not just war. You also need to learn magic and spells,"
Rupa added.
"Magic and war? Seriously?"
Amara asked in disbelief.
"Yes, swordsmanship, horse riding, mastering large battle birds, and many other arts,"
Chitrani added with a smile.
To their surprise, Amara didn't show fear. Instead, she said,
"If it's to save Kaveri and the others trapped there, I'll definitely learn everything."
Her friends were amazed by her determination and love for her friend.
Vanathi said,
"You came all this way, ready to risk your life for your friend. It's truly admirable."
Shanthini added,
"We want to be more than just friends in name. Will you accept us as your true friends too, Amara?"
Amara, her eyes filled with emotion, replied,
"Of course, you are my friends too, always."
She opened her arms to hug them, and they all embraced her warmly.
Chitrani said from within the embrace,
"We are proud to be your friends, Amara."
Amara smiled and said,
"I'm really lucky. I came searching for one friend, and God gave me five. Thank you, God!"
The god smiled at this scene.But as they moved to another place, Amara suddenly froze in shock, her eyes filling with tears as she stared at someone in disbelief.