Merindale felt a little nudge at her feet when she looked down she saw a very familiar face. But she wasn't expecting to see that face in this realm. 
“ You! You are that ghost from my school. What are you doing here? Am I dead? What happened to aunt Mia? “ She paused momentary but didn't wait for the girl to reply. 
“ Shit! Don't tell me. Are we in the Celestial Realm? ” She looked around amazed, finally realising the heavenly beauty around that place. “ But you are a ghost right? Did they kidnap you as well? ” Merindale quickly turned back to her. 
The little girl shool her head and for the first time she spoke. 
“ I am Arawan. I am daughter to Mia and Lin, Akata's sister. ”
Merindale’s eyes were about to pop out. 
“ Akata has a sister? ”
“ I was in my mother's womb when the Celestial Beings brought us here. They kept my mother in her Soul form ever since. I was born as a Celestial Creature, devoid of a physical body, just like all the other beings born in this realm. ”
Merindale could not believe what she was hearing but she listened with full attention. 
“ I have the ability to transcend between realms. I knew that you were the key with which my brother could save our mother, so I took the liberty of guiding you towards him. And I was right. The Eternal Flame could only be subdued because you were there with my brother. Your powers complement each other and your proximity makes you grow stronger. 
He is here. And that is why you were able to wake up and gain your consciousness in this realm. Otherwise you would have still been a lifeless Soul, hanging for years, just like her. ”
Her sad eyes gazed up at the sorry state of her mother. 
Merindale looked up. 
“ Akata is here? How? Where is he? Bring him here. Quick. He needs to get us out of here. ”
Arawan shool her head. 
“ I can't. He is in trouble. ”
She almost looked like she was in tears. 
“ Trouble? Why? What happened to him? Why are you crying? ”
Merindale was getting very worried. 
“ I am afraid the Gods might corrupt him. ”
The little girl sobbed, her tears floating away in the wind like a glowing butterfly. 
“ Corrupt him? I don't understand. But I need to get to him if he is in trouble. Can you help me get out of these chains? ”
The little girl shook her head. 
“ No, I can't. But you can. ”
“ I can? How? I have been pulling at them only to get them cutting deeper in.”
Merindale tried again with the same result. 
“ You can. I don't know how. Just like you woke up. You just need to try. ”
She took a few steps forward and placed her hands over Merindale’s cheek. 
Immediately a completely different scene began unfolding before her. 
She could see Akata. 
She saw him wriggling in pain. 
***
They had Akata spitting blood as they struck him with one thunder bolt after another. 
“ Do you see his resilience? A normal immortal would have long yielded to these blows and given up. ”
The words stung the ego of the youngest looking God, who now took thigs personally. 
“ Alright. Alright. If this isn't enough to kill you. May be, this will, ”
He smirked as he conjured two deep magenta handcuffs from thin air. 
He threw each one at Akata's either hands. 
Akata arched back as he cried aloud in an excruciating pain. 
“ That's the God-Chain. ”
One of the Gods stood up and exclaimed,but another gently pulled him back as they watched Akata's life force finishing from his veins. 
As Akata got weaker, the one torturing him soaked in his revelry. 
But suddenly the entire plane started shaking and they turned their attention beyond Akata. 
They could see Merindale and Arawan walking towards them, with the entire army of the mer-witches . 
“ How did they breech our security? How are they able to come to our realm? ”
The Gods were up on their toes. 
They looked at Akata and then back at Merindale. Their eyes could catch the frequency of the wavelength that traversed between them. 
“ They are drawing energy from each other. ”
One observed. 
“ I think this time, they really want to go extinct.”
The youngest looking God pulled out a thorny looking necklace, out of thin air and then flipped it over Akata's head. 
Something instantly changed in his eyes. 
It went blank and they dark within fraction of a second. 
Smokes began to rise from them and the God torturing him, finally let go of the handcuffs, holding Akata back. 
He folded his arms as he watched Akata, slowly turn towards the approaching army. 
“ Now the game begins, immortals. You should have never tried to bring this upon yourselves.”
***
Merindale and Arawan paused as they saw Akata walk towards them. 
But it didn't take them long to understand that something was different about him. 
Something had changed. 
Akata found himself engulfed in a swirling, malevolent spell. Shadows twisted around him, distorting reality. He glimpsed his beloved, Merindale. 
He tried to reach out to her. 
“ Merindale…”,Akata called out, but his voice seemed muffled by the arcane forces.
Yet, within the twisted realm of the spell, Akata's mind conjured up unreal illusions. He saw Merindale in an embrace with a phantom figure which slowly started resembling the God who had been torturing Akata. 
The mirage of betrayal tore at his heart claiming just the effect it was meant to.
 "No…Merindale, how could you?" he exclaimed, staggering back in disbelief.
But the illusion persisted, intensifying with each passing moment. Akata's movements faltered as doubt clouded his mind, his focus wavered in the face of the imagined betrayal.
Shadows lashed out, their dark tendrils threatening to overwhelm him.
The phantom Merindale in Akata's hallucination turned, a cruel smirk curling her lips. "Why fight for someone who would deceive you?" The words echoed with an eerie resonance, seeping doubt into Akata's mind as he saw her wrapping her arms around the God and then kiss him frantically. 
“ Nooooooooo, ”
The smoke around Akata grew stronger and stronger as he pulled out his light blades and swung it around, indiscriminately.
“ Akata. It's me. Akata stop. What are you doing? ”
Merindale tried to pacify him but with any success. 
“ Look at that thorn necklace. His senses has been bewitched. It is feeding his negativity.You must focus! We need to break through this enchantment.”
Arawan urged as Merindale nodded parrying his attacks while keeping a wary eye on Akata.
“ Disperse. Go look for our bodies and my father and aunt. ”
Merindale ordered as Jade and Anjana darted off with their armies. 
“ The mer-world owes a lot to Mia. We will be more than happy to help. ”
Was Jade's answer when Merindale was finally able to connect with their hive memories. 
It was only possible for the mer-folks to be brought there because they could move through the under-currents, though not all of them. 
***
“ Akata, look at me. I am right here. Akata… listen to me. ”
Merindale kept begging as Akata became more and more violent. 
The other God's approached the God who was pulling Akata's strings at the moment. 
“ You know this is not the right thing to do Leonis. We cannot interfere in the course of nature. Our sole purpose is to maintain the balance, nothing else. We ourselves are not above the law. ”
But Leonis was too submerged in the game that he had begun. 
He continued manipulating Akata’s mind , making the images more and more explicit. 
Akata could hear faint sounds of Merindale through his darkness. 
That conflict distorted the mirage and it appeared as if that Leonis was trying to force himself on Merindale. Akata saw him ripping her clothes off as she begged and screamed. 
It was too much of a stimulus and Akata went in with all his strength like a raging bull, his blade penetrating through something . 
The smoke evaporated. 
The thorny necklace shattered into pieces and scattered all over the place. 
Akata opened his eyes, only to find his blade, lodged inside Merindale, who was hugging him tight. 
Akata immediately let go of the blade as it disappeared before their eyes. But it had caused the damage and Merindale was feeling under it. 
“ What have I done? ”
Akata gasped with helplessness at Arawan. But Merindale was still smiling at him, cupping his face with his hands. 
“ You are back. I knew I could do this. Akata, meet Arawan… she is your sister. Remember, I hold you about a spirit guiding me to you. It was her. ”
Akata clearly remembered her but learning her identity came as a pleasant shock. 
But before he could feel that pleasure, Merindale slowly started disintegrating before his eyes. 
“ No… no… what's happening? Arawan, stop this. Please… what's happening to Merindale?”
Merindale looked at Arawan's sad face and knew exactly what was happening. So she turned towards Akata and whispered, 
“ This is the end then… I am glad I finally found you… I have no regrets. ”
The last essence of her soul flew away like an elusive bird as Akata fell on the ground, tear drops streaming down like a never ending cascade. 
***
“ This is not good, ” one of the Celestial Gods observed as they watched from afar. 
No sooner had he finished that statement, the entire Celestial Realm began to shake, as if experiencing a severe earthquake. 
“ What Balance has been tampered with. Leonis, I did warn you. You should have never forgotten your place. ”
His voice was a little unshaky but stern. 
“ Why is this my fault? It was the immortal’s… ”
“Enough, ” The oldest one amongst them spoke. 
“ Everyone, get back to your orbits and try to hold our Realm steady. I will see if we can come to a negotiation. His rage must be pacified before it devours our entire plane and existence. ”
The Gods obediently bowed before dispersing at light speed to their respective posts. 
The oldest God came out of his veil and appeared before the grieving Akata. 
“ Rise Akata. Your prayers have been heard. All has not been lost. Do not despair. ”
Akata looked up but his insides were boiling with vengeance and hatred. 
“ How dare you mock her death… I will… ”
He leaped at the God but he stopped him with his hand. 
“ I am not the enemy ,Akata. I am here to help. I am here for peace if we can negotiate. ”
Akata hung in the middle of the sky, trying to process if this was another trap. 
His head was too clouded and he had lost his rationale.