Silence.
A force underestimated by most… yet powerful enough to hollow a person from within.
It does not scream.
It does not attack.
It simply lingers… until the mind begins to fracture under its weight.
And sometimes—
that silence alone is enough to destroy a life.
---
Maan stood in the aftermath of it.
The temple, once heavy with presence, now felt unnaturally still. The air itself seemed suspended, as if time had paused to watch him unravel.
But Maan was no longer the same.
He had understood.
Every word Siya had spoken… every pause… every unspoken meaning behind her gaze. If he ever wished to see her again—if he ever wanted to reclaim what he had lost… what he now called family—
Then he would have to follow her path.
Without hesitation.
Without question.
Every instruction.
Every signal.
---
Yet something was wrong.
The silence around him… wasn't peaceful anymore.
It had changed.
It pressed against his senses. Crawled beneath his skin. Wrapped around his thoughts like an unseen force tightening its grip.
Maan frowned slightly.
This wasn't normal.
Even after everything he had witnessed… everything he had felt—
this… was different.
He was still lost in Siya's presence… replaying her voice, her touch, the warmth that had felt undeniably real.
It wasn't an illusion.
He knew that.
What he saw… what he felt…
was real.
---
And then—
He noticed it.
A mist.
Thin at first.
Barely visible.
But growing.
Slowly spreading across the temple floor… rising… thickening… until it surrounded him completely.
Maan's breath slowed.
The world beyond the fog… disappeared.
No walls.
No exit.
No sound.
Just him.
And the silence.
---
Then—
A whisper.
Soft.
Almost too faint to notice.
But it was there.
"Maan…"
His body tensed instantly.
He turned.
Nothing.
No one.
Just fog.
His heartbeat quickened.
Then again—
"Maan…"
Closer this time.
He swallowed.
"Who's there?" his voice came out low… uncertain.
No answer.
Only the silence.
And then—
The whisper returned.
Slower.
Clearer.
"Look at me… my child…"
Maan froze.
A cold sensation ran down his spine.
"My… child?"
His lips parted slightly, but no words came.
The fog around him seemed to shift… responding to the voice.
Then—
"I am here… Maan."
"…your mother."
A drop of sweat slid down his temple.
His fingers clenched.
"No…" he whispered, almost instinctively.
"That's not possible…"
His voice trembled now.
"I don't have a mother."
The silence stretched.
Then the whisper returned—
Soft.
Familiar.
Dangerously familiar.
"I am here, Maan… your Siya."
His breath stopped.
For a moment—
everything inside him froze.
"You forgot…?" the voice continued, almost gently.
"You just called me… mother."
---
Maan's mind spiraled.
This voice…
It was hers.
It sounded exactly like Siya.
Every tone. Every pause. Every emotion.
And yet—
something felt wrong.
Subtly wrong.
But enough.
---
His thoughts clashed violently.
Truth… illusion… memory… reality—
He couldn't separate them anymore.
He couldn't think.
He could only feel.
And what he felt…
was her.
---
The voice came again.
Closer now.
Warmer.
"Come, Maan…"
"I'm right here…"
"Come to me…"
---
His body reacted before his mind could resist.
One step.
Then another.
His feet moved forward… slowly… as if pulled by something deeper than thought.
The fog thickened around him.
Swallowing everything.
The temple… the ground… even the air itself.
Gone.
---
"Maan…"
The whisper wrapped around him now.
Guiding him.
Pulling him.
Calling him.
---
He tried to stop.
He really did.
But he couldn't.
Because no matter how much doubt tried to rise within him—
That voice…
was Siya's.
---
And so—
Without another thought…
Without another question…
Maan stepped deeper into the mist.
Into the silence.
Into the unknown.
---
And the fog closed behind him.