BOOOOOOOOOOM.
Final Gate ka poora frame violently shake karne laga.
Sky crack ho gya.
Reality distort hone lagi.
Aur us giant fracture ke andar se..
woh massive black hand aur bahar nikal aaya.
Uski har finger mountain jitni badi thi.
Aur uski skin...
Vo toh thi hi nahi.
Pure darkness.
Jaise existence ne uske liye shape banane se mana kar diya ho.
Complete silence.
Sab freeze ho gye the.
Even Heaven's End ki giant black eye motionless ho gayi.
Jaise woh bhi us cheez ko dekh kar react karna bhool gayi ho.
👉 "AARAV RUN!"
Kael phir chillaya.
Uski awaaz mein genuine fear tha.
Woh fear jo Aarav ne pehle kabhi usmein nahi dekha.
Aarav confused tha.
👉 "Kya hai woh?!"
Kael ne seedha jawab diya..
👉 "Something we should've killed long ago."
Room silent.
Subject 0 instantly tense ho gaya.
Watcher peeche hat gaya.
Aur Origin...
Origin literally panic kar raha tha.
👉 "Aarav!"
👉 "Door se door reh!"
Aarav ka heartbeat fast ho gaya.
Kyuki agar Origin panic kar raha tha...
toh situation bohot kharab thi.
CRAAAAACK.
Gate aur toot gaya.
Aur fracture ke andar se..
do glowing red eyes slowly open hui.
Not golden.
Not white.
Red.
Deep blood-red.
Kabir ka face completely white ho gaya.
👉 "Nahi bhai."
👉 "Nahi."
👉 "Main is level ki problems ke liye paida nahi hua tha."
Meera bhi speechless thi.
Zoya ke systems completely dead ho chuke the.
Har screen black.
Har signal gone.
Jaise us entity ki presence ne technology ka concept hi destroy kar diya ho.
Suddenly..
woh giant hand Gate ko pakad kar aur kheenchne laga.
BOOOOM.
Ek aur fracture.
BOOOOM.
Aur ek aur.
Kael instantly move hua.
Uske around golden energy erupt hui.
First time full power.
Entire sky illuminate ho gaya.
👉 "GET BACK!"
Usne gate par energy blast maari.
Massive explosion.
Golden light everywhere.
Few seconds tak kuch dikhai nahi diya.
Aur phir..
light dissipate hui.
Silence.
Gate still standing.
Hand still moving.
Not even a scratch.
Kael freeze ho gaya.
👉 "No..."
Aarav ka blood cold ho gaya.
Kael...
jo existence create karne walon mein se tha...
woh bhi us cheez ko stop nahi kar paa raha tha.
Then. .
andar se ek laugh sunayi di.
Slow.
Deep.
Distorted.
Reality ke har corner se ek saath.
HAHAHAHAHAHA...
Poora world shake karne laga.
Kabir literally apne kaan cover karke baith gaya.
👉 "Yeh has kyun raha hai?!"
Kisi ke paas answer nahi tha.
Aarav ne gate ke andar dekha.
Aur us moment..
usne kuch impossible dekha.
Andar...
stars nahi the.
Darkness nahi thi.
Wahan..
broken realities thi.
Infinite shattered worlds.
Jaise kisi ne hazaaron universes tod kar ek jagah phenk diye ho.
Aur un sab ke center mein..
ek throne.
Black throne.
Aur us throne par...
koi baitha hua tha.
A human silhouette.
Watching.
Waiting.
Smiling.
Aarav ka heartbeat skip ho gaya.
Kyuki us silhouette ka face...
uska khud ka face tha.
👉 "Nahi..."
Aarav peeche hata.
Par silhouette ne slowly apna head raise kiya.
Aur directly uski taraf dekha.
Red eyes.
Same face.
Different monster.
Then..
woh bola.
Softly.
👉 "Finally."
Complete silence.
👉 "A version worth meeting."
Subject 0 ka face pale ho gaya.
Watcher instantly bola..
👉 "Don't answer him."
Par late.
Aarav already usse dekh raha tha.
Silhouette throne se uth khada hua.
Aur uske khade hote hi..
Gate ke around reality crumble hone lagi.
Heaven's End ki giant eye suddenly close hone lagi.
Retreat.
Jaise woh bhi us cheez se door bhaagna chahti ho.
Kael ne disbelief mein whisper kiya..
👉 "Impossible..."
Aarav ne uski taraf dekha.
👉 "Tum jaante ho usse?"
Kael ka jawab sun kar sab freeze ho gaye.
👉 "...Yes."
Silence.
Aarav ka heart sink ho gaya.
👉 "Kaun hai woh?"
Kael kuch seconds chup raha.
Jaise woh naam bolna hi nahi chahta ho.
Phir dheere se bola..
👉 "The first thing we ever created."
Room silent ho gya.
Kabir blink karta reh gaya.
👉 "Wait."
👉 "FIRST thing?"
Kael ne slowly sir hilaya.
Aur uski awaaz shake ho gayi.
👉 "Before worlds."
👉 "Before stars."
👉 "Before life."
Pause.
👉 "We created him."
Aarav ka saans ruk gaya.
👉 "Why?"
Kael ne directly Gate ke andar dekha.
Aur whisper kiya..
👉 "Because we wanted a guardian."
Silence.
👉 "Instead..."
Pause.
👉 "...we created a god."
CRAAAAAAAAACK.
Final Gate mein sabse bada fracture appear hua.
Aur andar baitha red-eyed Aarav smile karne laga.
Slowly.
Patiently.
Jaise usse pata ho..
ab uska bahar aana sirf waqt ki baat hai.
Aur phir..
usne ek line boli jisne sabko silent kar diya.
👉 "Tell me, Aarav..."
Pause.
👉 "...when I step outside..."
Uski smile aur wide ho gayi.
👉 "...which one of us will be real?"
To be continued..