Veilguard Facility – Moments Later
Click.
The door shut with a soft finality, and the silence that followed was heavier than the conversation.
Arjun let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. He stared at the door for a long moment, half-expecting Dharan to walk back in and say, "Just kidding. You're actually in a coma. Wake up now."
But no such luck.
He leaned back in the chair, hands clasped behind his head, eyes scanning the ceiling. Blank. Just like everything else in this place. No windows. No noise. Not even a humming light or flickering fan.
"You'll train here," Dharan had said. "Learn control."
Arjun snorted. "Sure. Control. After nearly nuking a hospital room with my bare hands."
He glanced down at his palm. It looked like any other teenage hand—except he'd jump-started someone's heart with it. Brought her back from the dead. And, oh yeah, apparently summoned a demon while doing it.
Neat trick.
He rubbed his face, trying to shake the feeling of static still buzzing under his skin. Whatever this Shakti thing was, it hadn't turned off since that moment. It was like something inside him had cracked open and was leaking electricity.
Tapasya. Trauma. Diksha.
He didn't fit into any of the three. Which meant either the rules were wrong… or he was.
And that was the part that bothered him the most.
He wasn't a monk. He wasn't some secret bloodline heir. He was just Arjun Joshi—fifteen, barely passing science class, and terrible at sports. He helped out at the hospital because his mom had worked there. He liked puzzles, didn't believe in fate, and hated being told what to do.
So what exactly had happened to him?
"Great," he muttered. "Now I'm the mystery everyone wants to solve. Can't wait to be the science project."
Still, a part of him couldn't forget the feeling—when the girl's heart kicked back to life under his hand. That flash of something bigger. Terrifying, sure. But also… right.
Like he was meant to do something. Like he'd been asleep his whole life and only just now woken up.
He shifted on the cot, still dressed in yesterday's blood-stained clothes. Everything felt surreal. Sterile. Like the world was made of glass, and one wrong move might shatter it all again.
He remembered the screaming. The way the creature had looked at him. Like it knew him. Or feared him.
Or worse—recognized him.
A shiver ran down his spine. "Nope," he said aloud, shaking his head. "Not going there tonight. Freaky shadow demon logic can wait till morning."
He lay back, staring at the ceiling again. His hand rested on his chest, over his heart. It was still beating. Still human. Right?
Tomorrow, we talk chakras, Dharan had said.
Arjun let his eyes close slowly, exhaustion finally catching up.
"Hope there's a chapter on 'How Not to Explode People by Accident.'"
The dark didn't answer. But somewhere deep inside him, a pulse of warm green light flickered softly—like an ember waiting to become flame.