Location: The Hollow World – Beyond the Mirror
Aarav stared into the reflection.
But this was no mirror—it was a memory carved in divine flesh.
The being staring back at him looked exactly like him: same raven-black hair, same fire in his eyes, but older, impossibly ancient. Power coiled around the reflection like a living storm. He wore no crown, no armor—just simple robes from an age lost to history.
> "Who are you?" Aarav whispered.
The reflection tilted its head.
> "I am you... and I am not."
The Lawbreaker's Heart throbbed in Aarav's palm, sending ripples through the inverted temple. The Wheel of Dharma, now bearing all five Regalia, cracked even deeper. Time within the Hollow World slowed to a crawl. Even Nyra, frozen mid-scream, hung motionless behind him—trapped outside this moment.
> "You don't recognize me yet," the reflection said calmly. "But you will. The moment you touched the Heart, you reached across the boundary. And now… here we are."
Aarav narrowed his eyes. "You're the one who made the fifth Regalia. The one the gods erased from history."
> "Yes. I broke the laws of the Cycle. I forged power not meant to be wielded—not to dominate, but to correct."
He stepped closer, the mirror distorting like water.
> "And I failed. I tried to rewrite the ending of an Age, and instead… I shattered it."
Aarav took a step back. "Why do I look like you?"
The being didn't answer at first. Then, he smiled with unbearable sadness.
> "Because you are me. Or rather… a fragment of me. One born at the edge of possibility, molded by pain, loss, and fire. You were not supposed to exist, Aarav."
Aarav's breath caught.
His worst fear wasn't that he was becoming a god.
> It was that he already had been one.
And had failed.
---
Echoes of the Creator
The being waved a hand, and the mirror vanished—replaced by a vision.
Cities floating in the sky. Oceans parted by thought. Trees that whispered the names of stars.
An India that never was—but almost had been.
> "This was what I tried to build," said the god. "A perfected Age. No war. No blood. But perfection requires sacrifice… and I wasn't strong enough to choose who should suffer for it."
The vision twisted, revealing a world consumed by flames. Ash fell like rain. The sky cracked in two. People screamed, clawing at the heavens for mercy.
> "I reversed too much. Unwound too many threads. Even the gods feared what I had become."
He looked at Aarav, eyes filled with regret.
> "They broke me into fragments—scattered me across time and soul. One piece became the Heart. Another, the Hollow World. And the last… became you."
---
The Choice
"Why show me this?" Aarav asked, barely above a whisper.
> "Because the Cycle is ending. Ashvra seeks dominion. The gods have vanished. The Wheel is no longer a judge, but a hostage."
The being floated forward, touching Aarav's chest.
> "You must choose, Bearer. Take the Heart, complete the Wheel… and become what I once was."
Aarav looked down at the Regalia. The Lawbreaker's Heart hummed with power beyond imagination.
> With it, he could rewrite his entire past.
Bring back Diya.
Undo Ashvra.
Even erase the First War of the Yugas.
But something deep inside him screamed.
> "You'll become him."
And Aarav was not ready to become a god again. Especially one who had failed.
He dropped the Heart.
It hit the floor of the Hollow World—and instead of shattering the realm, it simply stopped glowing.
> "No," he said. "I don't want to overwrite the world. I want to protect it as it is. Pain and all."
---
The Shatterpoint
The god laughed, not with cruelty, but with relief.
> "Then you've surpassed me already."
Suddenly, cracks began spreading through the Hollow World. Time resumed its motion—Nyra gasped and stumbled forward.
> "What happened?! I—I couldn't move!"
Aarav picked up the Heart again—but now, its glow was dim. The Wheel fused it into the final arc, but the core no longer threatened to break the world. It had been… tempered.
> Because Aarav had refused its original purpose.
The Hollow World began collapsing.
> "We need to get out!" Nyra shouted, gripping his arm.
But just as they turned to leave, a roar shook the skies.
It wasn't from the Hollow World.
It was from outside.
Something had felt the Regalia awaken.
And it was coming for them.
---
Meanwhile: In the Dominion
Ashvra stood in his private sanctum, surrounded by pools of liquid memory. Each pool reflected a different city of Bharat. Each shimmered with unease.
> "The Bearer touched the forbidden piece," his advisor muttered. "Yet… the world still stands."
Ashvra's eyes glowed like twin embers.
> "Which means he didn't take the god's path. He's trying to stay human."
He turned toward the Heart of the Dominion—a massive crystal that pulsed with the energy of a thousand conquered temples.
> "Then I'll remind him that gods don't ask. They take."
Ashvra raised his arm, and the crystal cracked. A storm formed over his capital.
> "Begin the Convergence. All Realms must kneel."
---
Back in the Real World – Kanchipuram, Reborn
As Aarav and Nyra reemerged from the rift, reality felt different.
> The air tasted sharper. The light carried weight.
The sky above Kanchipuram shimmered with celestial glyphs—runes left by the gods when they sealed away the Fifth Regalia. Now, those seals were broken.
Priest-Guardians rushed to meet them, followed by Aashi and Commander Rudra.
> "You were gone for days," Aashi cried, hugging Aarav. "Time didn't flow right. What happened?"
Aarav looked at her—eyes older now. "I saw the one who made the Regalia. I saw what I could become."
Rudra frowned. "Did you take it?"
> "Yes," Aarav answered. "But not to use it. To protect it."
Aashi frowned. "And now?"
Aarav looked north.
> "Now Ashvra knows I have it. He'll come for all the Regalia."
Nyra nodded. "And he won't come alone."
---
A New War Begins
That night, Aarav stood on the temple balcony, holding the fully completed Wheel.
It no longer shone like before. Instead, it hummed—alive, aware, and calm. Balanced.
He could feel every thread of destiny gently tugging at him. Every choice made. Every life touched.
> But most of all—he felt the storm building.
> Ashvra was no longer content with ruling.
He wanted to remake the world.
And only one person stood in his way.
---
To Be Continued…