Manithan Vaanam

After last words are spoken towards each other, the party excuse themselves to their rooms, and try to sleep the night, to no avail. Everyone either tosses in their bed or meditates upon the upcoming ritual. In the early morning hours, before the sun rises, knocks are heard on Shwari's and Haavani's doors. Shwari is greeted by a cleric, who takes her to the prayer room and shows where the rangoli must be drawn. She starts painting the floor with colorful powders and designs, determined to make the art as pristine and clean as possible. She draws it in between the statue of Veyyon and a newly sculpted statue of Dhara, the two deities placed facing each other.

While Shwari is busy, Haavani is taken to the confessional room, where she meets Thalaivi Veyyoni, Annpolli, and a few other clerics. Thalaivi Veyyoni conducts a meeting about the ritual, explaining everyone's positions and duties. After the meeting concludes, Annpolli approaches Haavani and explains her anxiety about the exorcism, worried that she will make one wrong step. Haavani reassures her, and helps Annpolli read over the scrolls once more. Afterwards, the confessional room is cleared, and Haavani takes a seat to pray, casting her worries and fears into the air. As she prays, she feels settled, then heads to the prayer room, and sees the other clerics preparing the statues for the rite, bathing them in water, milk, and jasmine flowers. Shwari finishes the rangoli as well, and the two await Aadhi and Bhavannan.

Bhavannan meditates the whole night, making peace with his role in the ritual, satisfied with his journey and the realization that it may end. A cleric knocks on his door, and hands him a veshti that is white and adorned with a simple gold border. He thanks the cleric, and changes out of his clothes into the skirt. Afterwards, he heads to the prayer room, leaving his armor, spear, and a letter written to his family in the room.

Aadhi spends the whole night drafting and crumpling letters, dissatisfied with almost all of them. However, as she finally finishes the last batch, Thalaivi Veyyoni knocks on her door. She offers Aadhi a plain white saree with a simple gold border, and asks for three personal items to place at the rangoli. Aadhi hands her the dancing sticks from Lagaab, a hand-held mirror, and offers the saree she is wearing once she changes. Thalaivi Veyyoni takes the items and lets Aadhi change into the white saree before leaving for the prayer room. As Aadhi drapes the fabric, she prays to the Kadavuls, wanting the exorcism to work, and illustrating her peace with a likely death. After she finishes, she heads to the prayer room, seeing everyone finish their preparations. Aadhi makes her way to everyone, and thanks each person for their help. As she does, Shwari's anxiety rises, worrying that her twin will die in just a few moments. Haavani calms Shwari down, explaining that Veyyon willing, everything will go according to plan. Bhavannan sits in a quiet repose, except for his remark of being ready, and his determination to succeed. Aadhi returns to the party, and they all share a few words of reassurance as they wait.

As the clerics wrap up the last minute details, Thalaivi Veyyoni calls everyone to attention. She first explains the process to everyone, and then gestures for Aadhi and Bhavannan to sit at the foot of one of the Kadavuls present, effectively starting the rite. Aadhi sits underneath the crude, blackstone statue of Dhara, and Bhavannan sits under the glowing, gold statue of Veyyon. A cleric goes to each member and starts chanting, anointing them with holy ashes, and bathing them with water, milk, and jasmine flowers. For Aadhi, the chants ask for a healthy mind and a healthy conscience to push Bodhi out. For Bhavannan, the chants revolve around strength and protection for Aadhi, asking for the constitution and fortitude to keep Aadhi within the rangoli. The bathing ends, and the two stand up, jasmine flowers sticking to their skin. Then, Thalaivi Veyyoni casts a levitation spell upon them so they can float to the center of the rangoli without messing up the powders. They drift towards the rangoli, Aadhi gently sits in the center and Bhavannan stands right behind her, placing his hands on Aadhi's shoulders. As they settle in, Thalaivi Veyyoni gestures for Haavani and Shwari to take their places: Haavani next to the Veyyon statue, and Shwari next to the Dhara statue. Thalaivi Veyyoni then explains that they must cast their holy light onto the center at the same time. The group readies themselves, and after a deep breath, Haavani and Shwari count down from three, then cast light from their hands, sunlight and moonlight crashing into each other and enveloping Aadhi and Bhavannan in a total blaze.

The moment the light hits, Aadhi and Bhavannan burn intensely, the light piercing through all layers of skin and bone. Bhavannan, from the heat and the force, starts inching towards the edge of the rangoli involuntarily. For the first few seconds, Aadhi holds on, feeling Bodhi broil in her psyche. However, the pain intensifies, and Bodhi takes over, screaming to be let out of the holy fire. She tries to scratch Bhavannan, but to no avail. However, Bhavannan's resolve falters yet again, and he finds himself pulling Bodhi towards the edge of the rangoli. Aadhi is fully shut out, Bodhi takes the brink of the blaze, shrieking at the top of her lungs. The wails of Bodhi snap something in Bhavannan, and he somehow gains an unbreakable resolve within himself, determined to end Bodhi's vile existence. He drags her back to the center, and cements her into the ground, arms turning to iron. As he does so, the sun and the moon seem to rise at the same time, positioning themselves above Haavani and Shwari, funneling more power into their light. Bodhi finally collapses into the ground, rendering her and Aadhi fully unconscious. However, the blaze starts to incinerate Bhavannan, and with a serene look on his face, he slowly dissolves to ash, content with his mark on the world, and the dharma he has lived his life with.

Even though the manithan are unaware of what is happening within the rangoli, they watch as three blue orbs, Bodhi's life essence float to the air and dissipate into nothing. Thalaivi Veyyoni yells towards Haavani and Shwari to stop, and then immediately rushes to Aadhi, healing her back to health. As Aadhi regains consciousness, she immediately reaches out for Bhavannan, yet only finds air. Aadhi then looks to the ground, and finds his ashes upon the colored powders. Aadhi starts to weep, shaking uncontrollably as she wraps her head around what happened. Shwari and Haavani rush towards her, and they both stare in horror at Bhavannan's ashes, unable to comprehend that their friend was gone. Thalaivi Veyyoni apologizes for their loss, and offers to collect his remains and the powders into an urn. The three nod silently, and watch as the clerics start to pile the colors into his ashes, and place them into a golden urn. Thalaivi Veyyoni hands them the urn and asks them to give it to Bhavannan's family, and the three agree. The clerics and Thalaivi Veyyoni leave, preparing for the koyil to open. The three left silently wait for the night, knowing that his family was expecting Bhavannan for dinner. They walk over to Marathan's house, holding the urn, his armor, the spear, and the letter addressed to the rest of his family. They break the news to Marathan, Bhavannan's mother Chinnamma, and his four older siblings. Chinnamma cries openly, bewailing the loss of her youngest son. Marathan opens the letter, and reads Bhavannan's last words out loud, which entails his love for his family, the vaanam, and his willingness to fight for both, marking his thyaagam as most profound act of love he can conceive.