Changing in a very small plane with another person in the space with her proves to be far less awkward than Justine had thought it would be. It helps that Willie likes her clothes because hearing that her wardrobe is still top of the line really makes Justine's ego bloom.

"That looks good on you," she says, admiring the way her button-up looks on Willie. "You should keep it."

"No, that'd be rude."

"Nonsense. My husband is rich and won't sign divorce papers, so I'm spending every bit of his money I can on clothes. He'll either break or go into debt."

"That's devious." Willie grins and bumps Justine with her hip. "I knew there was a reason I liked you." Justine hums and pulls on a black suit coat she'd stolen out of Indiana's closet before they left Connecticut. It's small on him now, but it carries the scent of his cologne and it's comforting. "You and I should head to New York when we get back to the States. They have some of the most expensive clothes I've seen so far."

"It's a date." Willie's grin falters for a moment and her gaze moves from Justine's head, to the flats she has on, and back up again. She's quiet a moment longer before giving a decisive nod.

"I'm a very expensive date, you know."

"My favorite kind. I'm a bit of a show off most days." René hates that Justine is equally attracted to men and women, but she's long since stopped caring about what he likes. Her newest hobby is stealing potential dates from Indiana with only a bright smile and a few words of poetry. "We should probably get back to the others. It's going to be a long flight."

"Ugh, don't remind me." They come into the main part of the plane to find Indiana lounging against chicken cages and Li sound asleep with his baseball cap pulled over his eyes. "We don't even have any blankets."

"I always carry one." Justine pulls a throw blanket out of her suitcase and hands it over to Willie. "In our profession, you never know when the temperature is going to be too low for comfort." The women settle in across the aisle from Li and Indiana, sharing the blanket as their adrenaline finally begins to ease up.

Justine isn't sure what time it is when she's woken up by shrill screaming and a feather in her mouth, but she knows that it's far too early for any sane person. "What the hell is going on?"

"The pilots," Willie yells. "They just jumped out of the plane and there's a mountain coming up and we're gonna die!" Indiana's eyes go wide at the last bit of panicked babbling, lunging upwards and into the cockpit with the two women behind him. Willie isn't exaggerating, snow-capped mountains that would normally be gorgeous look downright menacing when you're falling out of the sky. "You can fly a plane, right?"

"I normally have people fly them for me. Indy?" He turns to give her a dry look, arching a brow.

"Have you ever seen me fly a plane before, Tina," he asks. "But how hard can it be? We got a wheel and the low fuel light isn't on." There's a sputtering sound as the engine stops working and then the fuel light is glowing a bright red on the dash. "Oh boy…."

"Parachutes?"

"No parachutes," Li says from the cargo hold. "Those sons of bitches took them!"

"Language," Indiana says sharply. "They're some of the biggest sons of bitches I've ever encountered, but you're too young to be cussing like that." He climbs over the seat and past the women, digging through the hold for anything useful. "Tina, get our stuff!" She moves on autopilot, stuffing everything back in their suitcases and helping Li to gather them near the door.

"I'm too young to die," Willie moans, shuffling backwards until she bumps into Li. "I can't go out like this, I just—" She cuts herself off when she spies Indiana's grand idea, a yellow life raft that he spreads out on the floor. "We're not sinking, you idiot! We're crashing!"

"Justine, hold her! Shorty, get in the middle!" There's a split second once they're in the raft that Justine thinks she'll be okay with this, that they'll all make it out alive, but then they're hanging in the air, the raft inflating around them, and Justine is screaming for all she's worth.

The raft doesn't stop once it hits the mountainside, continuing down a steep incline and straight off the edge of a cliff, splashing down into a river. Justine's nails dig into the back of Willie's borrowed jacket, her free hand gripping Li's arm to keep him inside. The water is churning violently as they're ushered down the way, soaking through their clothes and stinging them like thousands of needles.

"I hate the water," Willie screeches right in Indiana's ear," I hate being wet, and I hate you!"

"The feeling is mutual, doll," Indiana yells back.

"Could the two of you shut it," Justine snarls. "It looks like calm waters up ahead." The calming water is probably the first break they've caught in the past forty-eight hours and Justine fully intends to catch up on her beauty sleep before everything turns to shit again. She flops backwards, Li curling up against her like a cat.

"Well, at least this isn't the worst thing that's ever happened."

"It's in the top twenty." Willie lifts her head off the edge of the raft, expression caught somewhere between frustration and disbelief. "It's not as bad as that time giant ants ate a man in front of us."

"Or that time we got stuck in an underground cave for three days with only a bottle of water and a soaked Agathe Christie novel."

"God, where the hell are we," Willie asks.

"India."

"How do you know?"

"Call it an educated guess." Justine lifts her head, taking in the man that's standing on the shore. He's average height with dark brown skin and frizzy white hair, staring at them with a stoicism that Justine envies. The man gestures for them to come closer, Indiana and Justine working in tandem to steer the raft over to the shore, using tree branches to pull them up onto the warm sand.

"How did we end up here of all places?"

"Bad timing, I'd say." Willie groans and rolls onto her stomach before standing up, taking Indiana's hand for balance as she climbs out of the raft. Justine clambers out next, Li and Indiana coming after her. "What's your guess, Tina?"

"Sheer dumb luck," she grouses. "Indy, I'm freezing."

"Join the club." She pulls her jacket tighter around herself, glancing up from her ruined shoes in time to see the stranger pressing his palms together and bringing them up to touch his forehead. It's a gesture of greeting, meaning he's not upset that total strangers have washed up looking like a bunch of drowned rats. Indiana and Justine return the greeting, letting out sighs of relief.

The man gestures again, waving for them to follow him. The adults all share a look, deciding that following the man might mean other people and even food. The landscape they walk through is barren, fruitless trees and scrub brush and dusty gravel. The lack of vibrant life is something that Justine will never grow used to.

The man leads them to a small village looks to have seen better days, the buildings covered in layers of dust and grime, the wagons half-collapsed in the dirt. People swarm them once they enter the village proper, Justine completely unfamiliar with the dialect but understanding the utter heartbreak in their faces.

"What are they saying," Justine asks, grasping Indiana's arm.

"I don't know," he answers. "I can't make it out when they're all talking at the same time like this." The villagers keep brushing their hands over the group, attempting to hug Li even when he snuggles closer to Justine's side, like they're hopping the travelers are good luck.

The man from earlier wriggles his way past his people, taking one of Indiana's hands and leading them all forward towards one of the ramshackle houses. It's closed on three sides and open on one that faces the village center, worn blankets and old rugs covering the floor.

A man in a turban is waiting for them there, smiling and gesturing for them to sit. He says something and then a few of the villagers disappear into the growing crowd, coming back ten minutes later with plates of food. Willie stares down at her plate in disgust, taking in the moldering fruit and what looks like old rice.

"I can't eat this," she says, swallowing hard. "Please don't make me eat this."

"That's more food than these people eat in a week," Indiana says, stern.

"All the more reason for them to keep their food."

"You're going to insult them." Willie purses her lips and looks out to the gathered people, taking a deep breath before stuffing half of her rice in her mouth with a grimace.

"Don't look so depressed," Justine says, nibbling on a slice of mango. "They're giving you this much food because they're kind. They could have shunned us and left us to wander with nothing." Willie makes a face, but she keeps eating and doesn't saying anything else for a while.

"Can you provide us with a guide to take us to Delhi?" The village elder bows his head in a nod, smiling past his graying beard and mustache. He looks like the type of grandfather every kid dreams of having, an open person with a kind face despite the pain in his eyes.

"Yes," the elder says. "Sajnu will guide you." The man who'd led them to the village nods as well, brown eyes sweeping over the group with a suppressed excitement.

"On the way to Delhi," the Shaman says," you will stop at Pankot." Justine is completely fine with that until she notices the way that her friend's shoulders stiffen. He sets a fruit rind back on his plate and swallows before speaking.

"Pankot is not on the way to Delhi," he says.

"You will go to the palace there and you will see why our village dies. There is a new Maharajah and with him comes the Dark Light." Willie looks to Justine for answers, but she's just as lost as the actress. Her focus in college had mostly been on Egypt, not India.

"What are you trying to tell me?"

"The evil started in Pankot. The darkness there travels like a monsoon over all country and destroys." Justine sets her food aside and slides forward in her seat, fingers clutching at the fabric of her pants. "They came from the palace and took Sivalinga from our village." There's a passion in the man's voice as he talks now, passion and indescribable pain.

"Took what," Willie asks, breathless as she's drawn into the Shaman's tale.

"A sacred stone," Indiana explains. "It's sacred to these people. They keep it in a shrine, and it's supposed to protect the village."

"It is why Siva brought you here," the Shaman continues. "We prayed for Siva to help us find the stone and Siva made you fall from the sky. You were chosen to bring Sivalinga back to us. I saw you in my dream." The Shaman and elder both stand and leave the hut, the others following them to an empty shrine.

"They took the stone from here," the elder says.

"Was the stone smooth like you pulled it out of a river," Indiana asks. He gestures with his hands like he's rubbing a rock. The elder nods, eyes bright. "And did it have three lines running across it representing the three levels of the universe?" He mimes the three lines now, running the fingers horizontally over the back of his hand.

"That's right, yes."

"I've seen stones like that before. I just don't understand why this Maharajah would take the sacred stone from your village."

"They told us we must pray to their evil god," the Shaman says. "When we refused to, they took Sivalinga and our wells dried up, the rivers turned to sand. The crops were swallowed by the earth and our animals laid down and turned to dust." The Shaman seems lost for a moment, falling back into his first language and gesturing with his hands.

"There was a fire in the fields," Indiana translates. "The men went out to fight it and when they returned, they found the women crying in the darkness." He trails off when the Shaman says something else, his gaze turning soft and hurting. Something horrible happened that night, something that makes Indiana look gutted. "The Maharajah's men stole their children."

"Then we're going," Justine states, gray eyes hard as slate. "We're getting their stone and their children back and killing anyone that gets in our way." Indiana doesn't even bother to argue, mouth set in a grim line as he dips his head in a nod.

"We leave first thing in the morning."