The doors groaned open not with the shriek of rusted hinges, but with a low, harmonic hum—a note that resonated in the chest, not the ears.
Veer stepped forward, Crownless Sigil still glowing faintly in his hand, though dimmer now, as if even it feared what lay beyond.
The chamber was vast. Cavernous. Circular. A perfect sphere of carved stone that defied explanation. Its walls were smooth and dark, absorbing light, sound, and sense. There were no torches, no crystals—yet everything was visible.
Light didn't exist in this room. Memory did.
Veer froze as the temperature dropped again—not physically, but spiritually. His thoughts felt slower, more vulnerable, as if being unraveled. Agniya took one cautious step beside him, but even she, ever defiant, reached instinctively for his arm.
"Something's… wrong," she murmured.
"Everything here is wrong," Veer replied.
Then the walls began to shift.
Not physically—visually. Visions appeared all around them, as if memories were bleeding from the very stones. One by one, scenes unfolded across the chamber walls, flickering like flames caught in amber:
> A boy crying over the body of a woman wrapped in a red sari, her hand clutched around a small, broken trident.
> A warrior covered in blood, screaming Veer's name as fire consumed a village.
> A throne room filled with masked figures arguing in a language not spoken for centuries.
Agniya turned sharply. "That… was you, wasn't it?"
Veer nodded slowly. "And the boy. That was me… the day my mother died."
He stepped closer to one of the visions, hand outstretched.
The moment responded. Time shimmered like ripples in a pond, and suddenly, the room bent.
The floor dropped away. The ceiling swirled. Agniya shouted—but it sounded far away, echoing in a thousand directions.
Veer wasn't falling. He was splitting.
He stood in a forest now.
The smell of rain. The sound of laughter.
And before him—a child. Himself. No older than six. Sitting under a neem tree, carving the name "Ma" into the dirt with a stick.
"Do you remember this?" a voice asked behind him.
Veer turned.
A man stood there—barefoot, robes grey with age, a crescent moon glowing on his brow. His presence didn't command fear… it demanded reverence.
Veer's knees almost buckled.
"Lord Shiva…"
The god smiled faintly. "Or perhaps just your memory of Me."
Veer swallowed, unsure. "Why… why show me this?"
"Because you've begun to rewrite your path," Shiva said, walking toward the child-Veer. "You stand at the edge of a blade, Veer. Between destiny and desire. Between kinghood and chaos."
"I don't want to be a king," Veer said, his voice hoarse. "I just… I want to protect people. I want no other child to cry the way I did."
Shiva turned to him. "Then carry their grief as you would a crown. Heavy. Never forgotten. That is the mark of a true king."
Suddenly, the forest trembled. The child-Veer vanished. The neem tree burst into flame.
The sky cracked.
And Veer was ripped back.
He gasped, back in the chamber.
Agniya stood across from him, surrounded by mirrors. Her swords were drawn, eyes wide.
"What happened?" she shouted.
"I—I don't know," Veer replied. "I saw… Him."
Agniya turned sharply. "Who?"
"Shiva."
She didn't question it. Just nodded once, as if accepting that such things were no longer impossible.
Then they heard it.
A sound like shattered time—glass being broken across centuries.
A rift opened in the center of the chamber.
From it emerged a figure cloaked in gray, face covered by a veil of shadow. In its hand, it held an hourglass that dripped backward, sand flowing upward into the top bulb.
> [System Alert: Entity Detected – The Forgotten Chronarch]
[Status: Guardian of the Chamber]
[Function: Filter of Timelines / Sealer of Regrets]
[Trial Commencement: Present Self vs Possible Future]
"What the hell does that mean?" Agniya muttered.
The Chronarch raised its hand.
And from the edges of the room, two figures stepped forward.
Another Veer. Another Agniya.
But they were… different.
This Agniya was older, colder. Her armor heavier, eyes devoid of warmth. She held her blade like it was part of her soul.
And the other Veer—
His face was scarred, his crown gleamed with obsidian, and his eyes… were filled with emptiness.
"I don't like this," the real Agniya said.
The Chronarch spoke, its voice layered and unnatural.
"Witness who you may become. And choose."
The doubles attacked.
The fight was fast—brutal. Steel clashed in echo. Veer fought his shadow-self, every blow revealing things he hadn't thought himself capable of—merciless strikes, cruel counters. The dark version moved like someone who had nothing left to protect.
"You are me?" Veer spat, pushing back. "When? How?"
The other Veer didn't answer—only attacked harder.
Agniya battled her own mirror. The two were matched in skill, but not in heart. Agniya fought with purpose. Her shadow fought with rage.
Then the system pulsed again:
> [Final Choice: Embrace or Reject the Timeline]
Veer was knocked to the ground. His double raised a blade—one carved with flame.
Then Veer remembered Shiva's words.
> "Carry their grief as you would a crown."
He dropped his weapon.
And spoke:
"I forgive you."
The shadow froze.
"I forgive myself," Veer continued, tears rising. "For surviving. For failing. For being afraid. I am not this future."
The shadow trembled.
> [Choice Confirmed: Timeline Rejected]
[Chronarch Withdraws]
The rift closed.
Both shadows dissolved—like dust caught in sunlight.
The chamber grew quiet.
Veer stood, heart racing. Agniya sheathed her weapons, her hands trembling.
"You saw what I saw," she said.
He nodded.
"They were us," she whispered. "If we… forget who we are."
"We won't," Veer said. "We can't."
> [System Update: Memory Aligned]
[You may now exit the Chamber of Fractured Time]
[Bonus Gained: Word of Stillness – Usable Once to Freeze Time for 5 Seconds]
As they made their way to the exit, the chamber behind them began to dissolve—no longer needed.
They didn't look back.
Beyond the final threshold, a new path opened: a bridge of golden light that led across an abyss filled with swirling stars.
And on the other side?
A black tower, rising like a fang into eternity.
Svar Lok's Heart Throne awaited.