A/N: Bayou Billionaires is a real show, and it is hilarious. I'm not completely sure what channel it is on, as I don't have the channel on my cable package, and I haven't seen the show in a while. Quotes from the show are directly from the show, or as close as I can get. R&R!

A/N: I'm not sure if you guys got an update from me editing a previously posted chapter, but all I did was change some wording of the Prophecy. I realized that this things has started to go in slightly different direction and I just switched some things around, but nothing other than that. I'm almost done with the next chapter though! Maybe two weeks? I make no promises at all but I haven't forgotten about you all :)

The five of us, plus Nik, end up around the kitchen table to read the letter. Sunil ends up reading it because he is the least likely to cry since he never knew Mr. Kadam.

Sunil clears his throat and begins.

"My dearest family,

This missive will come as a shock to you. I'm sorry that I couldn't show myself when I delivered it, but that would be against 'the rules'. Before I explain, I need to say one thing. I love you all very, very, dearly. Nilima, Dhiren, Kishan, Kelsey, Sunil, and little Nik. Sunil, I've never officially met you, but I can tell that you are a fine, upstanding man, and I can think of no better man to marry my granddaughter. Kelsey and Ren, your son is beautiful, and I couldn't be prouder.

When Nilima and I were taken before the harpoon hit us and I saw the future, I not only saw the fact that I would have to die, I saw this task. That, my dear Kelsey, was why I was acting oddly. I knew that I couldn't warn you, and I knew that if I did, you would spend the next three years of your life worrying and planning, not being happy. And you have been. Remarkably so. The fact that you have been so happy makes me the happiest man in the world. Except, possibly, Ren.

Now I get to be the bearer of good news. I can help you. When Nilima and I were in Limbo, for lack of a better term, we traveled back to the Cave of Kanheri before the fifth Pylon was destroyed.

At this Kishan, Ren, and I look up at Nilima and she shrugs.

"I don't remember any of this. Though I'm not surprised that Grandfather wanted to help you."

I look at Ren and he nods at Sunil to continue.

I have translated the prophecy from the Pylon into English, making some word swaps to make the poem rhyme. I have also included some research on the subject. Kishan, I'm sure that you will be able to shed some light on the subject.

This is the last time you will hear from me. I love you all. I am sorry that we could not have been together longer.

Anik Kadam

P.S.: I left this note when my present was three years in your past. I was transported to the future when the Amulet took us into the Land Between Lands. By the time you read this, I will have been transported back to my present. So, I am sorry, but you will not be able to find me, because I no longer exist in your time.

Sunil passes around the letter and we all examine it. When it reaches me, I flip thru the attached pages, and see the prophecy written in Mr. Kadam's familiar calligraphy.

Far below the temple grey,

the Book is guarded by the Fey.

The monkey king's most dangerous game.

The thorny dangers so far in the past

now thank you with their prickly grasp.

You shall return to them in a land so vast.

Paradise awaits you now

with soiled paint upon your brow.

The wicked Siren's nest is down,

with guarded child close at hand.

You must unlock the silver band

to reach the eastward fire land.

The center piece. it stands alone.

with no tiger's blood able to condone.

The blackened jewels to their northern home.

The food of India shall, at last, rest,

and, traded now for Durga's best,

it will be placed at the west.

After all these things have been completed,

Man and Tiger at last in balance.

"The monkey king's most dangerous game...," I mutter. "Well, we are going to Kishkindha..."

"What do you mean?" Ren asks.

"Well, Kishkindha is supposed to be Hanuman's realm, right?" I press. "What if he has hidden the Key, and he has set up some kind of game to get it?"

Kishan rubs his chin. "You might have something there, bilauta. I was thinking about the directional stuff."

"Yeah," I say thoughtfully. "I have a feeling that whatever we come up with is going to be drastically wrong, and it will just set us back."

"That seems to have happened before, hasn't it?" Ren asks flatly.

"Ren, I know you don't want to do this. But we are going to, so just get over it," I joke. "But seriously, moping isn't going to help anything."

"I know," he says slowly. "I just wish that it would."

"Okay, Ren. We've done this four times before. We can do it again," I say confidently.

Ren takes my hand under the table. "Thank you, rajkumari. I needed that."

"I know," I say with a soft smile. "Why do you think I said it?"

He gently kisses me, and Kishan clears his throat.

"I know that you two are married and all, but it is kind of weird to see my brother making out with my ex-fiancée," he says with a laugh.

I sigh. "As much as I love you Kishan," I say as Ren tightens his grip on my hand. "As a brother," I amend, "I really wish that that part of my life never happened."

Kishan laughs loudly. "I know, Kells. Me too, kind of. But Mika thought that she loved Ren, so it's all good."

"We are a messed up group of people," I say with a grin. "I loved one brother, but decided that he broke my heart too many times, and got engaged to the other, and then we got transported to four hundred years in the past to find a Barbie warrior who then thought she loved the brother that I originally, and still, loved. Of course, eventually, the Barbie warrior ends up marrying the brother I was engaged to, and I married the brother I always loved, but pretended not to," I finish, both Ren and Kishan gaping at me.

"You make it sound so awful," Kishan says softly.

"I think that for Ren and me it was," I answer. "I had to hide my love for him, which was at least three times larger than mine for you, and Ren had to watch me do it. It wasn't exactly easy."

"And I had to watch it knowing that your love for me was at least five times more powerful that your love for Kishan," Ren says, pulling me close into his side.

I curl my feet up into my side, and lean my head on Ren's shoulder.

"At least it all turned out right in the end," I say with a sigh. I look up at the microwave to see what time it is, and am shocked that it is already eight o'clock.

"Okay, at the risk of sounding like a total technology obsessed person, I need to be at the TV right now. My favorite show is on," I say, walking out of Ren's arms.

"Really?" Kishan says incredulously. "We are talking about going on a quest that could potentially endanger everyone in this room, and you are concerned about missing a TV show?"

"Kishan, what are we going to do in the hour it takes to watch a show?" I ask seriously. "I know we could all use some comic relief after that, and this show is hilarious."

"Fine," Kishan says with a sigh. Then he gets a glint in his eyes. "Can I choose the next show?"

"Okay," I say slowly. "Should I be concerned?"

"Very," he says with a very concerning look on his face. "Well, it's not bad, but I'm going to make you watch a genre of film that I know you can't stand," he says with a grin.

"At least we're watching Bayou Billionaires first," I say happily as I skip over to the family room and change the channel to my channel.

~TR~

After an hour of total hillbillies spending the thousands of dollars they make from living on property that is sitting on top of a huge oil "mine", Kishan relents.

"Okay, bilauta, that was too funny to force you to watch something you don't like," he says with a big smile.

"I told you!" I say. "'Can we get us some al-fray-doe at the Country Club?'" I say in a mock Louisianan accent.

"'I love my new teeth'," Kishan says without moving his lips and curling his lips into a tortured looking grimace that looks like it is supposed to be a winning smile.

"As a deer head falls out of the refrigerator," Ren says, still laughing.

"Kishan, what were you going to force us to watch?" I ask.

"I honestly have no idea. I was thinking about an action movie or something, but I knew I wouldn't end up doing anything," he says sheepishly.

I roll my eyes. "Of course."

"Anyway," Kishan says seriously. "Not that I don't love being back with you guys for a while, but I would like to get back to my wife and kids as soon as possible."

I sober up immediately. "I understand. What do you want to do?"

"Well," Kishan says thoughtfully, "I was thinking that the day after tomorrow we could go to a temple and leave an offering, then leave after we get back, unless Mika tells us something huge that completely changes everything. How does that sound?"

I look at Ren and he looks resigned. I sigh, and nod.

"That's fine. Nilima, can you watch Nik while we are gone?" I ask.

"Yes, that's fine, Miss Kelsey," she answers.

I roll my eyes at her formality and thank her. "And Nilima? Take a hint from your fiancée," I joke. "He has no problem calling me Kelsey."

"That's because the first time he saw you he was under the impression that you were a threat to his existence, and 'Kelsey' is the most polite thing he has ever called you," she teases me right back."

"Touché," I smile. "But still. You are my son's godmother. And I've always told you to call me Kelsey."

"And you've also told Ren that he shouldn't pout about going on another quest. He still does," she says with a satisfied smile.

I throw my hands up in the air. "Beautiful. I am completely ignored in this household now."

Nik cries reach us from the floor above, and both Ren's and my heads swivel to the stairs.

"I've got him," I say quickly, and walk up the stairs to his nursery.

When I open the door, Nik stops crying for a moment to see what's going on, I assume, and then resumes as if to remind me that he is still there.

"Oh, Nik," I say lovingly. "Mommy's here, darling."

I lift him out of the crib and gently rock him back and forth. I sing lullabies gently and pace back and forth as his sobs slowly subside, and his hiccups of sorrow soon morph into the gentle infantile snuffles of sleep, and I sit down in the rocking chair. I don't take my eyes off my son, and, before I know it, I am fast asleep as well.

~TR~

Two days later, we travel towards Hampi to go to the first temple I ever "toured". As we drove away from the house, I waved back to Nilima, Sunil, and Nik, and I notice Sunil gazing at Nilima which makes me smile.

"They are going to have kids as soon as they get married," I comment, flopping back into the seat.

"Why do you say that?" Kishan asks as Ren deftly turns out of the driveway.

"I saw Sunil looking at Nik, and it was almost as intense as Ren looking at him. It was kind of creepy. Ren, I'm not sure that we are going to be getting our son back," I say happily.

"I don't think that Nilima will put up with that," Ren says. "She loves Nik, but I know she doesn't want a baby right now."

"Sunil can be very convincing when he wants to be," I say, and then wish that I hadn't.

"Why do you say that?" Ren asks suspiciously.

"Well, I didn't mean to say it, but since I did, I have to explain it, don't I," I say. "I talk to Sunil a lot when I wake up in the middle of the night. He pretty much says the same thing to me that I say to you. I just believe him instead of listening to myself," I explain.

"You don't have to pretend you don't have friends, Kells," Ren says sympathetically."

"I just feel bad that I tell him more than I tell you, just because of your different reactions."

"Well, I mean, I wish you would tell me everything, and I think you should, but I'm not going to divorce you over it," he jokes.

"It's just things like, a few nights ago when I went to bed early, I woke up really early, and I went downstairs to get a mug of tea, but he was already down there. I told him about what Kishan said, and what we need to do, and how I feel about it. I don't tell him everything, just things I don't tell you...," I ramble.

"Kells, you can stop," he says. "I understand. I know that Sunil loves Nilima almost as much as I love you, and I know you love me nowhere near as much as I love you, but a lot none the less-,"

"Not true," I interrupt. "I love you just as much, but probably more, as you love me."

Ren looks at me through the rear-view mirror and smiles. "Whatever you say, iadala."

"But I'm glad that you are okay with it," I mumble.

"Kelsey," Ren says exasperatedly. "Did you really think that I wouldn't? You have a friend that you talk to. I'm not going to forbid you to talk to him or anything. I mean, he is technically our brother-in-law."

I adjust my seat while I continue the conversation. "Good. I just didn't want it to be an issue where you get jealous again, and then it blows up."

"Again?" Ren says incredulously. "When was I jealous before?"

"Really, Ren?" I say with a laugh. "You have to ask? Don't you remember Oregon?"

"I was thinking with Sunil!" Ren justifies.

"Okay, Ren," I say sarcastically. "I'll just forget about the time you almost hit Kishan because he butted in on our date."

"And got a ring to propose to her even though she was dating me," Kishan says, joining in.

"But if we forget all that, yeah, you were never jealous," I say.

Ren shakes his head and doesn't continue the conversation, but Kishan and I banter back and forth for a while, and eventually Ren gives in and talks to us for the rest of the journey.

~TR~

The next morning, before it is open to the public, Ren, Kishan, and I went to temple where our quest essentially began.

As I hike up the path, hand in hand with Ren, to the ancient building, I think about how naïve I was when we started this whole mess.

I wasn't totally naïve, but wasn't, by any stretch, prepared for what my life was to become. I had no idea that I would end up killing one of the most evil men, who had become a demon, in history.

As we enter the temple, I clutch Ren's hand tighter as Kishan finds a bell.

I place a few different small religious pieces on the indentation on front of Durga's statue. There is a small wooden cross representing Christianity and a thin, gold-plated Star of David for Judaism among other things.

Kishan rings a bell in the distance, and then jogs back to Ren and me. He takes me left hand and begins speaking.

"Mi-Goddess, I ask for protection over my four brothers and sisters; Ren, Kelsey, Sunil, and Nilima; as well as my nephew, Anik. I ask for guidance for our task, and I ask lenience for any mistakes we may make," he says sincerely.

"I ask for the same things, with the wisdom to discern what is real and what is false," I add.

"I ask for the wisdom to know where to go, and what do to where we end up," Ren says softly.

Kishan morphs into a tiger and I drop down next to him. I knew that he could still become a tiger, but I'd never thought about it until now, and I didn't realize how much I'd missed having a tiger with me.

I hug Kishan's neck and kiss between his ears.

Suddenly, it gets really hot. I stand up, but instead of feeling confused, I feel peaceful. I want to know why it got really hot, but the foremost thought in my mind is not 'What the heck,' it's 'Wow, I feel good'.

Ren takes my hand as Durga's statue begins to melt. Stone slides off of the statue, and Durga's face is revealed. Her ruby lips look lovely on her dark skin again, and Fanindra is wound around one of her forearms.

"Welcome, my family," the Goddess says warmly.

Kishan walks forward slowly. "I missed you, meri shreshthata," he says as he wraps his arms around her tiny body.

Durga lets herself relax in his embrace for a moment, and then straightens up. She says something in a language that sounds like it consists of a series of clicks and hums. Almost like the sound of machinery, only... more human sounding. It's very bizarre.

Kishan grins, and responds in the same tongue. It sounds like he is asking Durga a question, and she responds by shaking her head, so I get curious.

"Is something wrong?" I ask.

Durga turns to face me. "No, my daughter. Something is very right, actually. I will let my husband tell you, when... he's... ready." She glares at Kishan, and I decide to ignore it.

"Now, to business," Durga says briskly. "And before you all begin being formal, please, call me Ana, or Mika. I so rarely hear that name now."

Ren steps forward. "Mika, then. Can you tell us anything that will help us?"

I can tell you one thing, and give you many more. But your gifts will come last," Ana says, beckoning me forward with a wave of her hand.

"Kelsey, you have had a hard life for a few weeks haven't you?" she says sympathetically.

"Yes, Godd-Ana," I say. "But I am trying."

"I know," the goddess says softly. "I do have things that will help, though."

She motions for me to move even closer. "The Queen of the Serpents."

Fanindra slithers up my forearm, and I pet her head.

"The Golden Fruit," she says shortly, and ties it with a thin string to my belt loop.

"The Divine Scarf," Ana says as she wraps the Scarf around my waist.

"The Pearl Necklace," she says and clips the jewels around my neck.

"The Rope of Fire," she says, and the onyx whip finds itself in my grasp again.

"And last, but certainly not least," she says dramatically, "the Damon Amulet."

She settles the full Amulet over the Necklace, and I feel power rush through my veins once more. I bow to the goddess, and retreat to Ren's side. "Thank you, Ana."

"It is your turn, White Tiger," Ana says, and Ren walks forward after kissing the top of my head.

"Give me your hand," she says, and Ren extends his right hand, palm facing upwards.

She hovers her hand just above his, and a white mist flow through the inch separating their hands. Ren cringes in pain, and I step forward to help him.

"No, do not come close," Ana says sternly. "He must adapt his body to the Tiger again."

"You mean he'll be able to be a tiger now?" I say ecstatically.

She nods, and Ren falls to the floor. I rush to his side, ignoring Durga's protestations.

I hug Ren's furry neck tightly, and then pull back to look at his face. I realize that I had the entire ting memorized, down to the placement of his stripes. Ren leans his enormous forehead against mine, and then pulls his head back, panicking.

"Ren, what's wrong?" I frown. He looks at all his paws, and then relaxes. He holds out his front left paw, and there is a gray stripe of fur.

He changes back to a human, and the ring comes with him. "Thank goodness," He says, and wraps me into a tight hug. "I almost thought that I'd lost it."

"You know, even if you did, we could have gotten another one, and when you needed to turn into a tiger, I could have taken it for you," I laugh.

"It still scared me, rajkumari," Ren says.

Ana cleared her throat, and we turn to face, though Ren keeps his arm around me shoulder.

"There is more." She waves one of her arms, and the air around the base of her statue shimmers.

The gada, chakram, trishula, my bow and arrows, kamandal, and two brooches appear.

Ren's eyes widen, and I have to hold him back from rushing up to the steps and grabbing all the weapons.

"These will all be of use to you on your quests," Ana says. "There is one more thing unfortunately.

"Dhiren, Kelsey, your son is vital to the quest. I wanted to make sure that you took him to my servant home because I knew that it would make him happy, but you must take him with you."

I nod, but Ren runs out of the building.

"Oh, no," Ana frowns. "When one of you eaves, I change back," she says, her skin taking on a grayish tone. "My brother and his betrothed would be help-." She's gone.

Kishan sprints out after Ren, bellowing his name.

"How could you?" he says. That was the last time I will see her in who knows how long, and you stopped it!"

Ren turns around, furious. "I'm sorry, but your wife just told me that we have to bring my infant son on a quest that has nearly killed all of us! Should that not upset me?"

Kishan's temper seems to cool down a bit, and then he sighs. "Ren, if Kelsey just dumped you off without an explanation or many memories, and you saw her for the first time in a month and a half. Would you be mad at me for making her turn back into stone?"

"No," Ren says, even though we all know he would be.

"Okay, okay," I say, stepping between the boys. "Kishan, I know that he upset you. I also know that he is infinitely more upset than you. Let it go," I say, narrowing my eyes at Kishan.

I turn to face Ren. "But you had no right to just run out. We knew that this would be a possibility. It's going to happen, and there isn't anything we can do but protect Nik with everything we have, which is quite a lot," I say surely. Ren is refusing to look at me, so I tap on his chin.

"Hey," I say softly. "It'll be okay."

Ren turns away and stiffly walks back to the Jeep.

I sigh and turn back to Kishan, only to see that he has gone back to the temple to collect the weapons.

I pull my phone out of my pocket, and hit a button to call.

"Hello?" A voice says on the other end of the line after a few rings.

"Nilima?" I say wearily. "It's Kelsey. We need to talk.

~TR~

The next morning just before dawn, we meet Nik, Sunil, and Nilima at the entrance to Kishkindha.

Nilima is cradling a sleeping Nik into her shoulder and holding Sunil's hand on the opposite side. A backpack is carelessly flung over Sunil's shoulder, but I don't know why. We told them about the Fruit and the Scarf.

Nilima appears to be carefree and smiling, but, upon closer inspection, her smile seems slightly forced, as does her laughter. I quickly take Nik from her and pepper him with kisses, but I hug her tightly soon after.

"Ren exaggerates quite freely," I whisper in her ear. "It's not nearly as bad as he makes it seem."

Nilima relaxes at this, and we follow the men into the temple.

"We need to figure out a way to get into Kishkindha," Ren is saying to Kishan as we walk in.

"No, we don't," I say with an eye roll. "The first way worked just fine, as long as you don't mutilate yourself again."

"I'm not going to hurt you again, Kells," he says without looking at me.

"Then Kishan can do it. He isn't man or beast either," I answer back.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Kishan says, waving his hands in front of him. "Slow down. What's going on?"

"The entrance of Kishkindha will open after we repeat the lion guy's task," I say, gesturing to the statue. "One of you needs to turn into a tiger at dawn, scratch me, and then I can sit on your back, or you could turn back into a man and I could sit in your lap, et cetera." I glance outside. "But we need to make a decision soon because it's almost dawn."

Ren and Kishan glare at each other. "Neither one of us is going to hurt you, bilauta," Kishan says surely.

"Oh, please," I say exasperatedly. "I've gotten paper cuts worse than what Ren did to me to get the entrance to open. Just hurry!"

Ren grumbles for a moment and turns into a tiger. He walks over to the entrance of the temple and glares at me with tiger eyes.

I glare right back, and hear Nilima giggling in the background.

I hand Nik to Nilima, and walk over to my husband. I kneel down to Ren's eye level and hold out my arm. "Thank you."

He grunts and lightly runs a claw over the soft skin of the underside of my forearm. He presses just hard enough to draw a bit of blood, but I can hardly feel it.

He quickly switches to a man and sweeps me into his arms. I squeal, and he kisses me softly.

"You know, we never did experiment with your ticklish disposition," he comments.

I groan as the wall slides up Ren assumes that I am scared.

"We'll be okay," he says sweetly. "Everyone will."

"That wasn't the problem," I say. "I was hoping you wouldn't remember that."

Ren laughs softly as he carries me down into the magical Land of the Monkeys. Everyone follows us.

A/N: HAHAHAHAHAHA! Seriously, I am going to post the next chapter in the next 7 days. I am working on it as you seethe at me :)