"Can I truly bring back the yesterday I buried inside my memories?"
The question lingered in Siya's heart like an old wound that had never completely healed.
Did I ever want to relive that past...?
Am I truly ready to face him again...?
Countless questions...
Not a single answer.
The silence between them grew heavier until Siya finally spoke.
"I have the right to ask these questions too, don't I, Ali?" she said quietly. "Don't you think it's selfish of me to decide whether he should return... or remain forgotten forever?"
Ali looked at her for a long moment before answering.
"What you think matters, Siya," he said calmly. "But you need to ask yourself why you feel this way."
He stepped closer.
"If you believe he shouldn't return simply because he'll become part of your life again... because you're afraid of facing him..."
He paused.
"...then you must question whether that fear is guiding your decision."
Siya lowered her eyes.
"I'm not telling you to obey Gurudev and bring him back," Ali continued. "I'm asking you to free yourself from the maze you've built inside your own heart."
His voice softened.
"Think about what truly matters."
"You've been given a chance..."
"...a chance to save the one who once risked everything for you."
"A chance to repay a debt that no words could ever repay."
"For once... stop thinking about yourself."
"Think about him."
Every word struck deeper than the last.
For a long moment, Siya remained completely still.
Then a faint smile appeared—not one of happiness, but of realization.
"Perhaps..." she whispered.
"...perhaps I really have become selfish."
She looked toward the endless horizon.
"When Gurudev spoke about bringing him back..."
"...all I could think about was myself."
"How I would face him."
"How my life would change."
"I forgot everything he did for me."
Her eyes slowly closed.
"As a human being..."
"...saving a life is my highest duty."
She opened her eyes once more.
This time they carried absolute determination.
"I'll go."
"I'll bring him back."
"And perhaps..."
"...I'll finally lighten the burden I've carried inside my heart for all these years."
Suddenly—
Footsteps echoed through the ashram.
Andy came running at full speed, completely out of breath.
"Siya!"
His voice carried an urgency none of them had heard before.
"Outside!"
"Something terrible is happening!"
Everyone turned toward him.
"What happened?" Siya asked immediately.
Andy struggled to catch his breath.
"It's raining..."
He swallowed.
"...acid."
Silence.
Ali stared at him.
"What?"
Andy nodded.
"Not here..."
"...not in Kashi."
His face had turned pale.
"It's happening everywhere else."
"The entire world..."
"...is being consumed by acid rain."
The atmosphere froze.
Even the wind outside seemed to stop moving.
"It feels..." Andy whispered.
"...as though the heavens themselves are mourning."
"The earth..."
"...is crying."
"The soil is dissolving."
"The rivers are turning poisonous."
"The forests..."
"...are dying before our eyes."
His voice trembled.
"I saw animals collapsing."
"Their bones..."
"...were melting."
"It looked as if life itself was being erased from existence."
No one spoke.
Even Ashwatthama's expression hardened.
Hanuman slowly lifted his gaze toward the distant sky.
The silence had become terrifying.
Siya's eyes narrowed.
"So..."
"...it has begun again."
She remembered the devastation she had witnessed before.
"Kashi..." she murmured.
"Is acid falling over Kashi again?"
Andy immediately shook his head.
"No."
"Kashi remains untouched."
"It is the only place where the rain refuses to fall."
"It is as if an invisible force is protecting this city."
Relief lasted only a second.
Because Siya already understood what that truly meant.
"If the world is burning..."
"...then Kashi is next."
Ali looked at her.
"You think this is only the beginning?"
Siya nodded slowly.
"This isn't merely a natural disaster."
"This is a declaration."
"A warning."
She looked toward the distant horizon where dark clouds swallowed the sky.
"Something far more terrifying is approaching."
"The storm hasn't arrived yet."
"This..."
"...is only its shadow."
Andy swallowed nervously.
"Then what do we do?"
Siya's answer came without hesitation.
"We move immediately."
She turned toward everyone gathered inside the ashram.
"We cannot wait for the darkness to reach Kashi."
"Even if Lord Shiva's sacred city cannot be destroyed..."
"...the innocent people living here can still suffer."
She clenched her fist.
"As long as Kaal exists..."
"...he will continue becoming the shadow hanging over every innocent soul."
Her voice echoed through the hall.
"We must evacuate them."
"Every family."
"Every child."
"Every elder."
"We'll move them into the sanctuary we created."
"Our world."
"The only place where they will remain safe."
Outside—
The sky continued weeping burning rain.
The end of an age had already begun.
And somewhere beyond those poisonous clouds...
Darkness was smiling.