Birds chirped on the tree, dewdrops shimmered on the grass, and soft morning light filled the oncoming day. The girl kept meditating. The preta, on the other hand, had been on a vigil throughout the night – what if the rakshasa returned with another set of corpses? One could never be sure. The vigil then turned into observing the girl, which in turn led to the preta itself meditating.

“Goodness gracious!” the preta said, snapping out of the trance. “Did I just hypnotize myself into meditation?”

It realized a strange occurrence. When it was in the meditative state, it did not feel its usual acute sensitivity to temperature. The night instead of being extremely cold was manageable. Even the early morning sun did not scorch the preta as it usually did.

Interesting, the preta thought, as it regained the sensitivity and hopped from one place to another to mitigate the burning sensations.

“Should I just go back and meditate?” it said. “But then I won’t be doing anything else!”

It came closer to the girl. An idea came about.

“What happens if I touch a god,” it said to itself, curious. “Maybe, I’ll be instantly liberated!”

The thought made the preta happy, it rubbed its make-believe hands in glee.

“Today is my lucky day,” it said as it approached the girl. It headed for the girl’s feet. It took a moment for itself, taking it all in, preciously looking at the feet that would change its fate. It paid its obeisance as it bowed before her.

“O’ Mighty one!” it said. “Please accept my respects and grant me, your grace!”

Slowly, it raised its head ever so slightly to reach for the girl’s feet.

“What are you doing?” asked the girl looking downwards at him, puzzled.

The preta backed off in fright. It regained its senses and approached the girl again.

“Hello God,” it said putting a brave face and bowing once more. “I was hoping to be absolved by praying to your feet.”

“I mean – by praying to you,” it said correcting itself, “and paying my respects to your holy feet.”

The girl was silent. “I’m not a god,” she said.

The preta looked up at her. “But you are a God!” it said. “I watched you release the trapped corpses! Your mandala glows of cosmic radiance!”

“I’m no longer a god,” the girl clarified.

The preta was confused. “That can happen? You can just opt out of it?”

The girl did not know how to respond.

“Is that why you do not have the cosmic aura?” the preta said.

The girl nodded.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Ohh,” it said, the realization sinking in. “You cannot save me then?”

“I’m afraid not,” said the girl.

The preta’s dejected self collapsed to the ground like a pool of melted liquid. “The tragedy of a preta’s existence is eternal. The saga will continue.” It said as it looked at the sky.

A falcon screeched from afar. The girl looked at the sky and saw the bird flying towards her. When it was close enough, she raised her right hand and the falcon perched gently on it. It made happy noises and rubbed its head against her shoulders. The girl smiled and petted the bird.

“I missed you too, buddy,” she said.

The preta pulled itself together and watched the scene unfold.

“Did you miss me too?” asked a voice.

The preta was startled again. It calmed itself down and saw a seated man in saffron robes appearing out of thin air in front of the girl.

The smile faded from her face.

“It’s been a while, Lord Vaiswa,” she said.

“Are we back to formalities?” he asked her in a soft voice.

The girl did not respond. It guided the falcon to rest on the tree.

“What brings you here?” she said.

“Ah! No small talk as always,” he said. “You know, I kept searching for you all these years. If you hadn’t used your spiritual energy recently I wouldn’t have been able to track you. Lucky me, you chose the perfect timing.”

The girl looked at him ascertaining the situation.

“We need your help,” he said. “The barrier between the Swarga-loka and Bhu-loka is blocked. The gods cannot descend to Bhu-loka anymore. The barrier must be opened from this side too.”

“Not my problem,” the girl shrugged.

Lord Vaiswa had expected this response.

“You are the only one left on Bhu-loka, who can help us,” he said. “If the demons of Patala-loka realize what has happened, imagine the havoc they will create! They will take over the Bhu-loka in no time!”

“I don’t have to imagine it,” said the girl.

“What?”

“I saw it,” she said.

“You saw what?”

“Why do you think I used my spiritual energy all of a sudden?” the girl asked.

“Someone has planned something very sinister,” she continued.

“What do you mean?”

“A demon with a dark aura came here with a bunch of corpses,” the girl said. “They were in effective control of someone else. If I hadn’t realized the oddity sooner, I might have actually had to slay the poor rakshasa.”

“You mean someone from the Patala-loka?” asked Lord Vaiswa.

“I don’t know,” said the girl not comfortable airing her suspicions before him.

“So these are inter-connected,” said the lord. “You still refuse to help?”

“Again,” said the girl. “Not my problem.”

“How is this not your problem?” he asked.

“I’m not a god,” she said. “I don’t have any god powers. I don’t have my weapons. I don’t even have my vehicle.”

“We can fix that,” said the lord eagerly. “I know where your weapons are sealed.”

“I’m no longer interested, Vaiswa,” said the girl. “I’m not going to be another puppet fighting another meaningless war.”

Lord Vaiswa fell silent.

“Those weapons can fall into wrong hands,” he said. “Do you really want that?”

“Are you threatening me?” said the girl, her eyes fixed on him.

“I’m in no position to threaten you,” said the lord. “I’m just asking you to think of the consequences.”

“I don’t want to,” said the girl.

“You denying who you are is not going to change it,” he said. “You will always be a god with or without your weapons. With or without your powers. With or without your vehicle. That’s your destiny. Even you cannot change it.”

“A bit ironic, don’t you think?” the girl said.

“That’s the burden of greatness,” said Lord Vaiswa. “You have to bear the mantle even if you are not interested. And particularly, if you are not interested. The rush of power can make even gods do despicable things. I cannot let such power fall into the wrong hands.”

The girl sighed.

“This time, it’s going to be different,” he said. “I won’t take away the powers or the weapons once you have them. And I will do whatever it takes to get you back to Swarga-loka.”

He paused and continued, “If it’s any consolation, I didn’t return to Swarga-loka since then.”

Several moments passed and the lord tried to look patient and composed.

“We have a deal,” the girl said finally.

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Patala-loka – underworld where demons reside

vehicle – in this web-novel, gods usually have mythical beasts as vehicles