"Some scars are written not on skin, but on trust."
The sky churned.
A massive gust of wind swept through the ancient trees surrounding Pralay Kund, as if the elements themselves had awakened. Avantika and Devsena stood beneath the symbol in the sky — a trident woven with flame and wave — now glowing in ominous silver.
Vrinda, standing a few steps behind, looked pale. She clutched her chest — not out of fear, but out of memory.
"It's been activated…" she whispered. "The mark of the Betrayer."
Devsena turned sharply.
"Whose betrayal?"
Vrinda didn't meet her eyes. Instead, she opened her palm.
There, on her skin, a faint symbol was appearing — half flame, half water — and a bleeding crescent.
Avantika froze.
"Mother… you bear the Dvandva Seal?"
Vrinda:
"No… I was never the Dvandva. I was the bearer of its truth. But I failed."
Flashback: Years ago.
A secret council of elemental guardians.
A prophecy unearthed.
The twins born.
And one man trusted with protecting them… but who turned traitor.
"He didn't just betray the throne," Vrinda said, her voice shaking. "He betrayed me. He betrayed us."
Devsena's flames burned higher.
"Who was it, Maa? Who did this to us?"
Vrinda raised her hand toward the eastern mountain ranges, toward a region long forbidden.
"His name… was Rudraksh."
Avantika gasped. "The elemental general of the North? He disappeared during the twin wars!"
Vrinda nodded.
"Because he didn't die… he vanished with the ancient relic — the Shankh Astra. He has it. And if he's back, the world may fall before we're ready."
At the same moment, in the far north, atop a snow-covered citadel, a shadowed figure stood before an ancient horn-shaped relic glowing with fire and frost.
He placed a hand over the same trident symbol now seen in the sky.
"The Dvandva has awakened. Let the cycle complete itself."
He turned.
His eyes — one burning red, one icy blue.
Back at the temple, Devsena's voice was steady:
"Then let's go to him. Let's end what he started."
Vrinda looked at her daughters, both blazing with power, both standing taller than ever before.
"Then prepare. The final storm begins… in the land of snow and betrayal."