The silence after the merge felt wrong.
Not peaceful.Not calm.
Heavy.
Like the world was waiting to see if I would collapse under the weight I'd just accepted.
Arjun lay on the cold concrete, chest rising and falling too fast, eyes wide and unfocused as reality caught up to him. The girl knelt beside him, steadying his shoulders, murmuring reassurances that sounded more like anchors than words.
Aaryan stood a little apart, arms crossed, studying me with an intensity that wasn't rivalry.
It was assessment.
I straightened slowly.
The motion sent a ripple through my spine — not pain exactly, but density, like my body had learned a new gravity.
Memories that weren't mine brushed against the edges of my thoughts.
— Running through a street that never rebuilt— Calling a name that never answered— Feeling the certainty of erasure settle like snow
I clenched my jaw.
The other Ishaan wasn't screaming anymore.
He wasn't separate.
He was… quiet.
Not gone.
Integrated.
