Ayan stared, wide-eyed. Even in a place where gravity, time, and space held no meaning, that single act shattered his understanding.
This isn't just a mysterious man.He's something beyond comprehension.A being from higher dimensions… maybe something cosmic.
Kanisk regarded him with quiet calm and gestured. "Son, sit."
Ayan and Kanisk both sat in those strange, cosmic chairs. The silence between them hummed with something deeper, as if the space itself were listening.
Kanisk turned to him, eyes calm but curious. "Ayan, tell me something. Why aren't you afraid of me?" he asked. "I don't look like you. We're not even the same species. I'm not human."
Ayan lowered his gaze to his lap and clasped his palms together. He hesitated for a moment, before answering quietly.
"Well… after seeing what you can do, I don't even know where to begin. But on Earth, we have theories about multiple dimensions, alternate realities, civilizations beyond our understanding… Some say they can bend the laws of physics—break them, even."
Ayan paused. "Wait… how can you even speak our language?" He shook his head slightly. Words caught in his throat. "Never mind. If you're really some kind of higher being, I guess that doesn't matter."
Ayan's hands tightened, fingers pressing hard against each other. "And you said I could be alive again. That you have the power to make it happen." He swallowed. "I still have things I need to do. Unfinished work. I didn't have enough time… not yet."
Ayan looked up, eyes steady. "So if you really have that power, I'll listen. I'll do anything to achieve my goal."
Kanisk looked at Ayan with a flicker of wonder in his eyes. "I see. That's it," he murmured. "I didn't know your goal or why you wanted it. But I felt it... the presence of someone who needed time. More time. And now you're here."
Kanisk paused, then smiled faintly. "I understand now. My choice wasn't wrong." He straightened a little, voice firm. "Look at me."
Ayan met his gaze.
"I'll give you the power to reach your goal. But you have to promise me one thing." Kanisk's tone was steady, unwavering. "Promise me you'll achieve it. That you'll live. No matter what happens, you won't die. Although, with the power I'll give you... dying won't be an option anymore—"
Ayan froze, a sharp pressure in his chest. Panic surged as he cut Kanisk off mid-sentence. "What?! What do you mean I can't die?" He glanced around at the warped space surrounding them before turning back, locking his eyes on Kanisk. "That's a curse!" he said, voice trembling.
"Yes," Kanisk replied without flinching. "It will be a curse. You will be cursed!" His eyes stayed locked on Ayan's, unblinking.
Ayan didn't speak. He just stared, jaw clenched, breathing uneven, as if the weight of what he'd just heard froze him in place.
"Now listen carefully," Kanisk said. "With this ability, every time you die, your consciousness will travel back through time. More precisely, your present memories, everything you've experienced, will return with you. They will merge with the consciousness of your past self. You can call it Time Travel… or a Time Leap. And maybe, later on, you can name it yourself. It's up to you."
Kanisk glanced around at his surroundings. Countless bubbles of space twisted and shimmered, and the light bent as it passed through them. He watched in silence for a moment. "Do you know about timelines?"
Ayan drew in a slow breath, then gave a firm nod. His voice came quiet, but steady. "Yes."
"Okay. I think you'll understand now." Kanisk's voice was low and controlled. "When you die, your consciousness will travel back… but not to your old timeline. It will be an alternate one—identical, or nearly identical. The same people. The same events."
He leaned forward slightly, eyes fixed on Ayan. "But only if you change something there—only if you alter the future—will it shape your present timeline. If you don't, the same outcome will repeat. The future from your old timeline will return."
Kanisk went silent. His gaze dropped, and when he looked up again, something behind his eyes had dimmed.
Kanisk broke eye contact. His gaze dropped to his lap, and his voice came low. "Using this power, every choice you make will have consequences. Some will be good. Moments you'll cherish for the rest of your life." He paused. "But others... they'll be terrifying. They'll break you. Damage your mind."
His fingers curled slightly as he continued. "After every failure, after countless attempts, the trauma from your past timelines will follow you. You'll dream of the lives you couldn't save, and the ones you cared about. If you don't act, those nightmares will come true. Again and again. The same pain. The same loss."
He looked up at Ayan, eyes shadowed. "You'll go insane. You'll carry the burden of every failed timeline with you. That will be your curse."
Kanisk's voice hardened, edged with something darker. "Are you ready to try again and again? Are you ready to carry that curse?"
Ayan took a deep breath. His eyes shut for a moment, then opened steady, like he had just witnessed something inside his mind. "Yes. I'm ready to be cursed."
He narrowed his gaze toward Kanisk. "But first, you have to tell me something." His voice was calm, but firm. "How do you know I've lost people? The ones I care about?" He leaned forward slightly. "I only said I have a goal to reach. I never told you what it was."
Kanisk's eyes sparkled at Ayan's question. "Oh… I guess I forgot to tell you about myself while explaining everything." A faint smile tugged at his lips. "Sorry about that." He opened his mouth to say more. "I—"
Before he could finish, the space around them lurched. Reality twisted, and the air shimmered with unstable energy. The chairs beneath them vanished in a blink.
They were both floating now, face to face, suspended in the shifting chaos.
Kanisk glanced at the collapsing surroundings. "Our time is up," he said. "You'll learn who I am… on the path to achieving your goal."
He met Ayan's eyes, his tone urgent but steady. "Now, we have to hurry."
Kanisk raised his hand and pressed a single finger gently to Ayan's forehead.
Even though their bodies were just manifestations of consciousness, Ayan felt that something was about to happen. He wasn't sure how he would receive the power, but his heartbeat quickened, pounding with each passing second.
Ayan's eyes widened. Somewhere deep inside, he felt it—
From this moment on… I will be cursed.