It had been a few days since we returned to Vyantara. Aranya and I had settled back into the palace, but something inside me felt unsettled. She had insisted on fixing the mirror, the one that had caused so much chaos in our lives. I couldn’t help but feel a sense of foreboding as we stood in our chamber—her chamber, our chamber. It was still strange, even after all this time, to think of it as ours.

Tonight was different.

She stood by the mirror, her fingers grazing the surface of it, her brow furrowed in concentration. I couldn’t help but watch her, mesmerized by the way she always threw herself into things. The fixing of the mirror was no different.

"You ready?" I asked, my voice a little strained, though I tried to keep my tone light.

She looked at me, that mischievous glint in her eyes that always made my heart race. "I think so." She took a breath, her hands carefully placing the final shard into place. The pieces clicked together as if the mirror had been waiting for this moment all along.

I watched her closely as she stepped back. "Is it done?" I asked, my eyes never leaving her.

"Not yet," she murmured, inspecting the mirror with a careful eye.

I could feel it now—something in the air was different. The mirror was not whole. But The energy in the room had shifted, and for a second, I could’ve sworn I saw something glimmering behind her reflection.

But before I could voice my thoughts, I heard her sharp intake of breath. I turned to see that she had cut her finger while handling the shards, and the blood, a small drop of it, trickled down her hand.

"Aranya!" I barked, stepping forward. "Can’t you be careful for once?"

She winced, pulling her finger away from her mouth where she had tried to stop the bleeding. "It’s nothing," she said, though the cut was already starting to glow faintly, as if the blood itself was somehow connected to the mirror.

I stepped closer, gently grabbing her hand. "Let me see," I insisted, my voice more concerned than I meant it to be. I lightly touched her finger, my thumb brushing over her skin. The moment I did, I felt a strange rush of energy—something stronger than anything I’d felt before.

The mirror glowed, bright and steady, and for a moment, I thought I saw the reflection of us—but we weren’t alone.

No.

It wasn’t just the two of us anymore.

Suddenly, the mirror pulsed, and I felt my vision blur for a moment. My headache surged, a sharp pain that seemed to grow with every second. I looked at Aranya, seeing the same unease on her face. But before I could say anything, the world around me began to shift, as if the very fabric of reality was bending under our feet.

Before I could even react, I felt my strength drain, my vision going dark as the force of the mirror seemed to suck the life from me.

I reached out, grabbing Aranya’s wrist instinctively. "Aranya..."

I tried to steady myself, but the darkness came over me in waves, and then—just like that—I couldn’t hold on any longer.

When I opened my eyes again, I was lying flat on the ground, a cold, hard surface beneath me.

I pushed myself up, feeling an overwhelming dizziness cloud my mind. It took me a moment to regain my bearings.

I looked around, disoriented. We weren’t in the palace anymore.

The room was modern, nothing like the grand, historical designs of Vyantara. The walls were painted a light cream color, with simple, sleek furniture arranged neatly. The bed was large, and the sheets were soft, but everything felt foreign. The walls were bare, and the strange electronic hum of a device I couldn’t identify buzzed faintly in the background.

I could barely make sense of it all.

And then I heard her.

Aranya.

I turned my head quickly to find her still on the ground, looking just as confused as I felt. She was trying to stand, shaking her head as if to clear the fog from her mind.

"Where are we? Wait my room ? " she asked, her voice strained but curious.

I struggled to my feet, still feeling the heavy weight of the dizziness in my skull. “I don’t know. What ? ”

I reached out to help her, but before I could, something in the room caught her attention.

She was staring at something with wide eyes—someone.

I followed her gaze and saw a woman standing in the far corner of the room, her eyes locked on us. She wasn’t wearing anything like the clothing from our time. No, this woman had on modern clothes, and her hair was styled in a way I’d never seen before. She looked at us as if we were ghosts, her expression one of shock and awe.

The woman stepped forward slowly, and before either of us could speak, she rushed toward Aranya, throwing her arms around her in a hug.

I was frozen for a moment, my chest tightening as I watched the woman embrace Aranya with the kind of familiarity I had never seen.

“Aaaru !” the woman cried, pulling away just enough to look at her face. Her voice was filled with relief and joy, and I couldn’t understand why. “I’ve been so scared yarr .”

And everything went black .