"What if remembering is the most dangerous thing we can do?"
The moment Aarav's body hit the stone floor of the cave, time fractured.
He didn't pass out—he fell through.
Through memory. Through silence. Through himself.
He stood in nothingness.
But not the kind that feels peaceful—no stars, no wind, no heartbeat. Just a strange, pulsing stillness. Like the universe was holding its breath.
His voice trembled in the void: "Selene…?"
No answer.
Then, he heard it. Not words. Whispers. Twisting around him like threads of smoke.
"He's waking again...""He broke the seal too soon...""The sky won't forgive him this time…"
Suddenly, the void cracked open like glass, and Aarav fell—again.
🌌 Into the Past That Was Never Meant to Return
He slammed onto burnt grass. The same meadow—but changed. Wounded. The moon overhead hung like a broken halo, cracked down its center and bleeding faint crimson mist.
This place... wasn't the present. Not yet.But it wasn't a dream either.
It felt like a buried truth, unearthed.
Aarav staggered to his feet, breath short, pulse wild. He knew this place. Not by name—but by ache.
Then he saw her.
Selene.
But not the girl from the cave. This Selene stood taller, older. Wreathed in a storm-white dress laced with shimmering scars. A crown of silver thorns floated above her head like an anti-halo, spinning slowly. Her eyes weren't glowing—they were voids filled with stars.
In her hand, she held a sword made of moonlight, the hilt carved with runes that looked like constellations rearranged into warnings.
"You've returned," she said softly. But her voice carried weight. Like thunder remembering it was once divine.
"Where… what is this?" Aarav asked, heart trembling.
Selene stepped forward, barefoot on the scorched earth.
"This is the moment you chose me over everything. And the moment everything paid for it."
She raised her free hand—and the sky above them rippled.
Images bloomed in the clouds:
A cathedral of stars collapsing.
A field of glowing roses wilting into ash.
Aarav, older, standing on a throne of light, screaming Selene's name while the world crumbled.
"You sacrificed the sky to save me," she whispered."And I burned with it."
Aarav clutched his chest. His heart felt like it was being pulled backward, like it remembered things his mind had yet to reach.
Lightning crashed, splitting the earth behind her.
Figures emerged—tall, veiled, faces hidden by masks made of fractured moonstone. They didn't walk. They glided. Silent. Watching.
"The Forgotten Triad," Selene said. "Judges of time. Keepers of the memory you sealed."
Aarav backed away. "Why are they here?"
"Because you broke the seal," she said. "Because you're starting to remember."
She turned to him now, voice cracking—not with weakness, but with something worse: hope.
"But that hope? It's dangerous."
"Why?" Aarav asked.
Selene closed her eyes.
"Because if you remember everything...you'll have to choose again."
He took a step closer. "And what if I choose you again?"
Selene looked at him, and for a moment—just a shiver of a moment—her eyes filled with that same starlit warmth he first saw on the beach.
Then—her chest cracked.
Not like bone breaking. Like light splitting apart.
A scream tore through her. Aarav reached out—but the world began collapsing.
The Triad raised their arms, and from their hands, three threads of light shot toward him, wrapping around his body.
"You must forget again," they intoned in unison. "Or the stars will die twice."
🌑 Crash
Aarav woke with a violent gasp.
Back in his bedroom.
Cold sweat soaked through his sheets. His skin was glowing faintly, then flickered out.
The pocket watch lay shattered beside him, but its hands were moving. Ticking backward.
The eclipse was still outside—red, unending. Wrong.
Then—he felt it.
Someone was in the room.
He turned slowly.
A woman stood by the window, back turned. Elegant posture. Familiar scarf draped over her shoulder. Hair braided neatly.
"Rohini Ma'am...?" he whispered.
His former teacher turned.
But her eyes were glowing. And not human.
Each pupil was a slit of starlight—three forming a triangle, just like the symbol in the cave, just like the Triad.
Her voice was soft. Too soft.
"You were never just a stargazer, Aarav.You were the reason the sky broke."
And then she smiled—warm, loving.
"Welcome home, my lost god."
🌘 To Be Continued...