Morning arrived with the thunder of war drums echoing through Zargah's central square. But to the soul now living in Arshin's body, the sound felt less like a celebration and more like the countdown to an execution.
Kaveh Karimi woke to the clash of two lives reverberating in his mind: Arshin's dread of humiliation, and his own bitter despair from a wasted life. Together, they forged an iron resolve.
"[…User Integration: 34%. Cognitive stability: fluctuating…]"
His hand brushed against the Relic. Its warmth calmed him, like the reassuring weight of a phone charging in his pocket.
In the grand hall, his turn had come. His legs trembled, but steel willpower drove him toward the Stone of Tanesh. His family's eyes bore down on him:
Kian: the eldest brother, gaze dripping with contempt, certain of his failure. His armor shimmered with shards of Jargan.
Bonyan: the second brother, watching less Arshin himself than their father's reaction, with a politician's calculating stare.
Arina: the eldest sister, not scornful but tense, fearful—as if she knew something terrible was about to happen.
Paria: the youngest sister, eyes brimming with tears, the only one openly worried for him, not for the family's honor.
As expected, when his hands touched the stone—nothing happened. Stifled laughter rose around him. Kian smirked. Bonyan arched a brow. Sima lowered her gaze. Lale clenched her fists.
But Kaveh didn't yield. He focused on his foreign memories: the raw violence of electricity, the searing hiss of a live wire, the warmth of the Relic pulsing in his palm.
"[…Accessing foreign memory data… Conceptualizing…]"
A faint spark flickered between his fingers—pale blue and searing white, hissing like a severed cable—before vanishing into the air.
Silence swallowed the hall.
Reactions shifted like a storm:
Kian: his smirk collapsed, face twisting with rage and disbelief.
Bonyan: for a heartbeat, his calculating mask cracked—true shock flashing in his eyes—before he quickly composed himself and turned toward their father.
Arina: color drained from her face; she inhaled sharply as if she'd seen a ghost.
Paria: eyes wide in astonishment, then softening into a small, hopeful smile.
Mirkaweh, their father, leaned forward. "What was that?" His voice was dry, hard.
Kaveh—within Arshin's body—spoke with a trembling yet steady voice. "That… was me."
After a long pause, Mirkaweh said, "You will stay. But tomorrow, you leave for the Caravan Academy. You must learn what this… thing… is, before it destroys you—or this family."
The word family carried a deliberate, sharp weight.
On the way back, each sibling reacted differently:
Kian: shouldering past him, whispering in his ear, "What was that pathetic trick? Don't think you fooled anyone. You won't last a week in the Caravan school."
Bonyan: calm on the surface, but curiosity smoldered beneath. "Interesting display, brother. Unorthodox. Just make sure your… unorthodoxy doesn't cost the clan." A warning—yet his eyes gleamed with the curiosity of an opportunist sensing a wild card.
Paria: rushing up, clutching his sleeve with teary eyes. "Arshin! I thought they'd cast you out! That light… it was scary but… please, promise me you'll be careful!" Her sincerity struck Kaveh like cool water quenching fire; in his old life, he'd had no one.
Arina: waiting in the shadows. As he passed, she whispered—only for him to hear: "That blue light… it's the same light that haunts the forest at night. The light that carries voices… chains… wails." And then she vanished into the mist like a phantom.
Her words clicked like a key turning in Kaveh's mind. The Relic. The forest. The blue light. The voices. All connected.
Back in his room, he drew out the Relic. This time, it bloomed into a three-dimensional holographic map of Zargah and its surrounding forests. Golden energy traced the borders like an impenetrable wall. In the depths of the forest, blue points pulsed like beacons. Beyond them… nothing. Only black void.
Kaveh stared at the map. "A cage. And we're the birds inside."
Then his gaze fell to his hands—hands that could now spark truth into being. He realized he had to change not only the fate of this body, but of the family he'd unwillingly inherited. A family where every sibling carried secrets of their own.
[System Note: Integration: 51%. New Objective: Unlock the Map. Decipher familial dynamics.]