The moment Charavan and I resurfaced from the water. I heard Atith's voice cried out.
"She's back!"
A while later, we reached the bank and they came to help me up.
"Oh, Meru gods, Nikita, what happened to you?" Tepi asked. Everyone noticed my after-death state.
"What took you so long? I swear to the gods that if you didn't come back after dawn hour, we would turn the sea upside down looking for you," Tusita said. Vorac and Atith nodded in agreement.
"Everyone calm down, I'm alright," I said. I didn't want my friends to know what actually happened to me. For a moment, I just wanted to go weeping over my misfortune. Nothing would make me forget my wickedness towards the mermaid queen. The avatars brought me to sit inside a straw-roofed pavilion.
A few Devatas came and brought me dry to
