Drenched from the rain, Abhaya bent at the waist and put her hands on her knees to catch her breath. Because of her exhaustion, she didn't even get to take in her new surroundings. She was now on a shore with waves crashing just feet before her. Once Abhaya's breathing had recovered, she returned to her standing position. Then, Abhaya saw it--Krauncha, the continent that rises above the Ocean of Milk. That's where she needed to be.
"How will I get through the water? I must get to The Ocean of Milk! I have come too far now!" Abhaya yelled out angrily.
"You did great," The deer said, walking towards Abhaya. "You didn't need my help after all."
"Deer? What are you doing here? I didn't expect to see you again! After what I went through in The Land of Death, I now know I should have listened to you," Abhaya replied while approaching the deer.
"Your persistence shows what a strong Dharma-Queen you are going to be. You had to get through that on your own in order to flourish. I was so happy to see the knife I gifted you put to good use," the deer said with a smile upon its face.
"Mother? It's you! I knew it was you all along!" Abhaya said, embracing the deer who was then recognized as Jogavi.
Abhaya pulled away from the hug.
"My journey isn't over yet. I still have to get to Krauncha in order to obtain the nectar of immortality," Abhaya said with a determined look on her face.
"That's the easy part. Come with me...I have something to show you," replied Jogavi.
Abhaya followed the deer to a washed up boat on the shore, but the boat only had room for one.
"Thank you, mother! Where are you going to sit? There's only room for one," Abhaya asked confusingly.
"Like The Land of Death, you must do this on your own. The water is very calm, and you will not have any issues. I made sure of it," Jogavi reassured Abhaya.
Abhaya tightly embraced the deer once more and said, "I will not let you down, mother."
"I know you won't. You never have and you never will. The people of our kingdom are counting on you. Get out there."
Abhaya pushed the boat into the water and got inside. She placed the paddles in her hands and started to float towards Krauncha. Once she was out of the shallow water, Abhaya rested one of the paddles on her lap to wave to the reincarnated Jogavi as the ex-Dharma-Queen disappeared with the wind.
Abhaya continued to float, approaching the mountainous continent. Once she was close enough, she could see Lakshmi being fanned by Vishnu atop the mountain--that's who holds the nectar. Abhaya's boat washed-up on the shore of Krauncha, then she began to scale the mountain. Although the mountain appeared to touch the clouds, Abhaya seemingly climbed it in no time at all.
Once at the top of the mountain, Abhaya was immediately greeted.
"Abhaya! It is lovely to see you. Your mother told me you would be coming to visit. How did you find your journey?" Lakshmi asked warmly, offering Abhaya a seat atop Lakshmi's cloud-like bed of a throne.
"It wasn't easy, but I believe it made me much stronger. I am absolutely exhausted, though," Abhaya replied as she got comfortable on the bed.
"Vishnu will retrieve the nectar for you, and then you may sleep. When you wake, you will be back in Kosala amongst your people," Lakshmi said as Vishnu approached Abhaya with the nectar of immortality. Abhaya drank the nectar and fell into a deep sleep.
Abhaya woke to the sound of cheers from a crowd. She stepped outside the doors of her palace to see all her people cheering her on. The last time Abhaya saw her people, they were all in mourning, so the happiness that flooded each person in the crowd put happy tears in Abhaya's eyes. For the new Dharma-Queen, this was a great start to an eternity of ruling.
Author's Note: To end my story, I really wanted to bring back Jogavi. I always knew I wanted the deer to play as Jogavi, and it fell in place perfectly. I think this was a good way to happily wrap up my story, and tie up any loose ends there might have been in the story. After the intense nature of the last two stories, I think it was alos important to make the ending on the lighter side. Aside from Abhaya and Jogavi, I decided to include Vishnu and Lakshmi, but in reverse roles. Vishnu is the protecter of the universe, and Lakshmi is his wife. With this being a female-centered story, I wanted Lakshmi to be the one Abhaya spoke with rather than Vishnu, but I still wanted to include him. Overall, I really enjoyed writing this story, and I think this is the perfect ending for it!
Image Information: The Churning of The Ocean of Milk obtained from Pinterest.