swoosh
As the warm wind from far away washed over their faces, everyone looked at each other, confused.
"We… We should have died—"
"We survived—"
"How—"
Everyone kept speaking as they tried to understand.
"Anvit… Anvit, wake up," Gaurav softly slapped Anvit's face to wake him.
Anvit slowly opened his eyes. No tears came out, but he was silent—almost expressionless.
He stood up as Gaurav helped him, then slowly walked toward a pillar where Nex stood.
Nex's hand rested on the pillar, supporting his body, his breathing heavy.
'Aghh… is this the side effect?'
A slight darkness covered the edges of his vision, but he still gazed toward Mayukh.
Mayukh lay unconscious, the ominous power covering him having disappeared completely.
Anvit walked silently, nearly falling at times but holding himself up. His eyes shifted between Nex and Mayukh.
As he reached Nex, he grabbed his t-shirt collar.
"Why… why did you go… if—"
"A… Anvit," Gaurav tried stopping him but was stopped by Nex.
Tears streamed down Anvit's face.
"If… if you were there… if only you… Zero would have—"
Anvit fell to his knees as he kept stuttering, tears covering his face, his mind unable to handle the loss.
'If I was there? Zero? What happened?'
Nex tried looking at Gaurav, but his vision blurred, his head spinning like a Ferris wheel.
He held his head.
'First… I have to send everyone home before it gets worse.'
The old man, who had been hiding behind a pillar, kept looking at everyone and mumbled in a low voice,
"M… my ability… it always—"
"Wait, do you hear it?" Aryan said as he tried looking outside from the unfinished wall.
"What… what, after all this now?" Janvi said, her voice breaking.
"Army." Aryan's face brightened. "It's the army!"
"What?" Gaurav's spine straightened.
"Why are you worrying? It's the ar—" Akshil lowered his shoulders.
"We should worry. Haven't you seen on the news what the army does to those awakeners?" Pranidhi rushed her words.
"But we are not like them, right?" Ridhima smiled at Pranidhi.
"Do you think they would listen?" Tahira placed both her hands on Ridhima's shoulders.
Everyone started arguing as the sound of army vehicles grew louder and louder.
'What… what are they saying… I can't hear properly… what is it… army?'
Nex tried looking at the others, but his blurred vision wouldn't allow it.
"Ughh… whatever," Nex mumbled, lifting his hand and pointing at them.
"You all are going… home."
"What… Ne—" Gaurav tried speaking but couldn't finish.
A faint light covered the room, and in an instant everyone disappeared, leaving only Nex and the man.
Baam
Nex fell to his knees, panting.
'When did breathing become this difficult… it feels harder than fighting him… huff… huff.'
The man rushed toward him, trying to help him stand.
The sound of soldiers and vehicles only got closer.
"I think they would check every building after everything that happened," Nex said, struggling to breathe.
"Tell me where to send you… I will send you."
Nex looked the man in the eyes.
"If you stay here… they might consider you a bad person."
The man glanced around the room, avoiding eye contact.
"I… I will stay here. I have already hurt many people… I only cause deaths."
"But if you stay here—" Nex coughed before he could continue.
The man patted his back, trying to help him.
"A week later is my daughter's birthday… but I can't celebrate it anymore. I don't have anything left…"
Nex didn't say anything. He just listened.
"Go… my ability still has cooldown, so it won't be a problem… so please," the man whispered as he heard footsteps.
"Fine," Nex mumbled, his vision almost fully covered in darkness as his feet stumbled.
Two soldiers came up the stairs just as Nex teleported away, barely catching a glimpse of him.
They held AK-103s, now pointed at the man. One soldier blew a whistle, and more soldiers rushed up the stairs.
"Reveal your identity," the soldier in front demanded, his gun aimed at the man.
'Maybe I will meet you soon.'
A strange smile covered the man's face.
---
As the sun set, dying the sky in orange, silence covered the city.
Anvit sat in a corner of his room, his eyes fixed on a light blue bowl, half-filled with dog food.
"Zero," he mumbled.
He looked at his hands—thinking about how Zero had perished in them.
Gaurav stood on his balcony, staring at the setting sun. He lowered his gaze, stared at his hands for a few minutes, then looked back at the sun.
Akshil lay on his bed, one hand on his stomach—the place where Mayukh had hit him.
It doesn't hurt much now… how did it heal so fast?
Aryan sat on a chair in his room, scrolling through his phone. His eyes were on the screen, but his mind was elsewhere. Without realizing it, he messaged Akshil.
Pranidhi tried to sleep but couldn't. Every time she closed her eyes, everything replayed—the sight of Zero perishing, Anvit breaking, and the swords hanging above them.
Ridhima sat on the roof of her house, creating small sparks of lightning between her fingers and watching them fade.
Janvi tried eating some fruits, but her trembling hands couldn't hold them. She picked them up again and again, but they kept falling.
I can't seem to shake this feeling.
Tehira walked alone in a small garden near her house. She stopped for a moment and raised her hands toward the sky, as if trying to form a giant energy ball—but nothing happened.
How did I do that?
Mayukh lay on the bed, still unconscious. His mother and sister sat beside him.
"Ring… Ring."
Mayukh's phone rang on the table near the bed.
His mother picked up the call.
"Yes… um… Mayukh is at home, but he isn't conscious right now… No, he isn't here… sorry."
"Oh… okay. Thank you."
Nex's mother ended the call and looked at Nex's father.
"Why hasn't he returned? Did something happen to him? What if…" she mumbled, her breathing shallow as she gripped the phone tightly.
"Don't think like that," Nex's father said, clenching his jaw.
---
Trees covered the area for hundreds of meters in every direction, the wind blowing through them making it seem like they were moving.
The sound of rustling leaves and insects filled the forest as the last rays of sunlight filtered through the trees and hit Nex's face.
Nex slowly opened his eyes, the cold ground pressing against his body, green grass coiled around his fingers.
He tried getting up, but his body wouldn't listen to him.
He moved his head slightly, trying to understand the area.
'Uhh… this pain… how long have I been here…'
He slowly managed to get on his knees.
'I have to get home… or everyone might worry…'
He held his head for a few seconds, then lowered his hands, touching the grass beneath him.
He closed his eyes, trying to concentrate—but nothing happened.
Slowly, he opened them again, looking first at his hands, then at the trees surrounding him.
"Fu*k."