187: The Story Of Us (Part Two) (Patreon)

Ashani approached the door to a house—the one Vir had woken up in. Janak's home. Instead of the black, cold home from before, the abode was a brilliant white, decorated in gold.

The door dematerialized for her, and inside, Vir found a beautifully decorated home. Where Sawai aristocrats adorned their walls with paintings and lavish colors, the Imperium preferred prana as their paint instead.

Despite knowing it was the same place, Vir still struggled to accept the facts. The house he knew was dead. This one seemed to burst with life.

A mural covered an entire wall—a work of pure prana. This one depicted a tranquil tropical jungle. Even the ground and ceiling had their own beautiful prana patterns, with water affinity contrasting fire and wind against lightning.

Inside, Vir saw Ashani—the Ashani as she was at the height of the Imperium.

“You haven’t aged a day,” Vir muttered. While dressed in an elaborate gold dress that flowed behind her, the goddess looked the same.

“Does this surprise you?” she asked, freezing the simulation as she stood next to her younger self. “Like the rest of my people, Automata do not age.”

Her simple, unadorned white one-piece cast an entirely different impression from her old self. While her plain attire made her look like a benevolent, earnest goddess—the younger Ashani looked regal in a way no mortal could. Like an empress.

With her bangles, oversized earrings, and neck piece, the younger Ashani fit right in with the rest of her people.

She also looked nervous—even scared. How the other occupants of the room could scare someone like Ashani, Vir couldn’t say.

He shifted his attention to the two others.

The man caught Vir’s attention first. He sported short black hair, an enormous headdress, and a waxed handlebar mustache. He looked to be in his early thirties, but for all Vir knew, the man could have been centuries old.

His exposed, sculpted abs showed not a hint of fat anywhere on his body, and despite his slightly slender build and average height, he looked every bit a god. Like everyone else Vir had seen, his bronze skin was unmarred by even a single blemish, and his face appeared as though it’d been sculpted to perfection from a slab of bronze.

“Janak. Siya’s father,” Ashani said quietly.

“You can’t be serious. That’s Janak?” Vir cried.

He was nothing like the aged sage from Valaka Amara. Granted, that had been a prana avatar of something like a copy of Lord Janak, but even so, the difference was just too vast. The man’s behavior only highlighted that point.

“Siya, look!” the man said in a doting voice, kneeling in front of a girl no more than eleven or twelve. “Daddyyy has brought youuu a sweet, sweet friend!”

This is a god? This is ‘The’ Janak?

The man looked like a normal father spoiling his child. An ornately dressed, rich father.

“They’re talking normally?” Vir asked. When Ashani had first spoken to him, he couldn’t understand a word she’d said.

“I have modulated their speech to your dialect,” Ashani replied. “I imagine the conversations in this simulation would sound unintelligible to you.”

“Thank you,” Vir said, grateful for her consideration.

The simulation continued.

“I don’t need any friends, daddy! Karadi’s my friend,” Siya said, clutching her bear tighter and eyeing Ashani with deep suspicion. “She’s too pretty.”

Vir felt Siya was hardly one to talk. Like Janak, his daughter also boasted perfect facial features, though if there was a family resemblance, Vir didn’t see it. Where Janak’s face was edged and powerful, Siya’s was rounded and soft. Where his hair was a curly mess, hers was flowing and long. Even her clothing contrasted his. She wore a simple blue dress, and wore no adornments, save for a single golden necklace.

She looks like a doll, Vir thought. A delicate, frail doll. The toy bear she clutched only heightened that image—a bear that actually moved its limbs.

“Aiya, little rajni! Daddy made her himself! Just for you! You always wanted an older sister, didn’t you?”

If the man wasn’t a god, Vir might’ve found the scene funny—such a handsome, imposing man talking like a child made for a truly endearing sight. But Janak was a god, worshiped by all and surpassed only by Adinat himself. The thought was a bit disconcerting for Vir.

“Janak constructed me to become Siya’s friend,” Ashani said. “The friend she never had.”

“Come, Ashani. Introduce yourself!”

Young Ashani took a step forward and knelt in front of the young girl. “Pleased to make your acquaintance, Siya. I am Ashani.”

Ashani’s lines came stiff and terse, and Siya’s floating chair darted back, hiding her behind her father.

Ashani’s expression fell slightly, but she maintained her smile.

“Go on, Siya,” Janak said soothingly. “Why don’t you greet your new friend?”

Siya hesitated, then peeked out from Janak’s back. “P-Pleased to meet you.”

Janak spun Siya’s chair around and looked her in the eyes. “I know you can’t go out much these days, and I have been busy with my work. See? Now you won’t be alone anymore!”

Siya tightened her grip on her bear. “I only need you, daddy,” Siya said quietly.

She’s such a sweet little girl, Vir thought. The scene warmed Vir’s heart, but he sensed something off. Her arms and her legs looked thin—too thin, even for a small girl like her.

“She can’t walk, can she?” Vir asked.

The scene froze.

“The symptoms started manifesting when she was only four,” Ashani said, looking at Siya with sadness. “With each year that passed, she lost more and more control over her body.”

“I thought you said the Imperium had solved disease? That you’d become immortal?”

“We had,” Ashani said, walking around the frozen simulation. “Siya’s case was an exception among exceptions. For all our magic and our technology, we proved no match against a single disease. It was why Janak devoted the last two decades of his life to his research.”

“Research? He was an academic?” Vir asked. “Wait, two decades? Siya doesn’t look that old. Or did Imperium children age slower?”

“No, Siya was twelve at the time.”

“Which means Janak knew about the disease before she was born,” Vir said. “How?”

“Her mother, Bhumi, had the same condition.”

“Wait. If Janak was still researching it, then that means…”

“It claimed Bhumi’s life, yes,” Ashani whispered. “Her mother subjected herself to test after test, but her condition stymied our most prominent minds.”

“I don’t understand,” Vir said. “If everyone could become as smart as everyone else, how could any disease stop you?”

This was the Prime Imperium. Living gods. For a single illness would stymie them for so long seemed absurd.

“And yet, this is the truth. I now believe her illness was one that attacked the spirit, not the body.”

“The spirit…” Vir said. “Like the chakras?”

Ashani frowned. “Chakra. Circle. I am familiar with the word, though not in this context.”

“It’s… Well, I don’t understand it all that well myself, but it has to do with the spiritual. It can be made to attack the soul, and the metaphysical. At least, that’s what I’ve heard.”

“I see. Then, yes, it is likely exactly as you say. The spiritual domain was a blind spot for my people. Advanced in the ways of prana though we were, we knew nothing of the metaphysical. Indeed, I had felt the same, until I obtained my own power.”

“The Ash Gates,” Vir said.

“Yes. I feel the source of this power is beyond anything based in the physical realm. Perhaps that is why it is able to ignore reality, bridging two places that would otherwise never have met.”

“Just surprises me that your people wouldn’t have known about it.”

“Rather, I feel as though the spiritual realm has grown stronger after the Fall. As though it had been dormant, only manifesting when my people fell.”

It was an interesting thought. If whatever the gods had done fundamentally reshaped the world, who was to say that the concept of chakras only came into being after? He’d always thought of the fall of the gods as a period of destruction. But what if it was a time of creation, too?

“There was nothing wrong with her or her mother. Not physically,” Ashani said. “She just… stopped functioning. Bhumi’s illness began with her lower body. No matter what my people did, her impediment did not regress or slow. Siya’s mother died just before I was created.”

Ashani allowed the simulation to play out again. The young Ashani did her best to speak to Siya, but both were clearly very nervous. Their interactions were stilted and awkward, and Janak’s presence did little to help.

Vir now understood why the young Ashani looked so distraught earlier. She was created quite literally to be Siya’s companion, and yet the girl was rejecting her.

“The search for a cure consumed Janak,” Ashani said. “It became his sole purpose in life. Every second of every minute of every day was spent in research. It… swallowed him in the end. In his desperation to save his daughter, he lost himself.”

“He’d just lost his wife,” Vir said. “I… I think I know how he felt.”

I’d do exactly the same, wouldn’t I? Vir’s heart clenched at the thought of losing someone dear to him. He didn’t have to imagine—Vir had Narak’s memory. The feelings he’d had when he’d lost his wife, Reyi, had nearly crushed Vir. The feeling had faded with time, and Vir took solace knowing it was just an echo from a prior incarnation.

What if it was Maiya? What would I do? Vir didn’t know. Would he break down and lose his way? Would he endure and carry the wound with him for the rest of his days? He couldn’t say, and that scared him. Deeply.

“The tragedy of Bhumi’s death was eclipsed by the time he lost with Siya. The precious, precious time he had with his one and only daughter. For someone like me, whose memories never fade, those emotions feel as raw as the day they happened, all those years ago.”

“I’m sorry,” Vir whispered, balling his fists. “I can only imagine what that must feel like.” Reliving such memories, feeling everything she’d felt back then… It must have eaten at her.

Ashani bit her lip, but kept her silence.

“Come, my little rajni,” Siya’s doting father said. “Why don’t you explore the new park with your friend? I think you’ll get along just fine,” Janak cast the young Ashani a stern glance only she could see.

Ashani’s younger self stiffened.

“Janak never lost hope,” Ashani said. “Right until the end. He never accepted that Siya’s condition couldn’t be reversed.”

“Was it her disease that brought down the Imperium? Did it spread?”

“A good guess. But no. No, I’m afraid our Fate was far worse.”

The scene shifted abruptly around them. Siya’s bedroom faded, replaced by the bustling foot traffic of a busy road. A young Ashani pushed Siya’s floating wheelchair, navigating around the crowd.

“I bring you now, to the moments before the end,” Ashani said.

Vir gasped in shock.

While the automaton looked identical to the day she’d met the young girl, Siya certainly did not. Her limbs had all atrophied visibly. The frail girl of before now looked like a stiff wind would break her. And yet, despite her miserable state, there was an unquenchable fire in her eyes. Her condition might have attacked her spirit, but as far as Vir could see, the girl blazed brightly despite it all.

“Do you think he’ll like it, Shani? I think he will. He really likes Water Affinity jewelry,” Siya said, chatting animatedly with her friend.

“Little rajni, your father will treasure any gift you give him,” Young Ashani laughed, and Siya giggled back.

“You really think so?” Siya asked, smiling bashfully.

How can she be so cheerful, knowing what was in store for her? Knowing what happened to her own mother, Vir thought, tears trickling down his face.

“I know so, little one.”

“Shani, that’s rude!” Siya huffed. “I’m not little! I’m just… petite.”

“Of course, dear,” Ashani replied.

Their relationship had progressed so much, Vir could hardly believe it. The stilted dynamic of their first meeting was gone without a trace, and if someone said the two girls were sisters, Vir would’ve believed it.

“Siya was like the sun to me,” Ashani said, freezing the world in its tracks. “She was so strong. So blindingly bright. Never once did she complain. I envied her so very much. All I could think about was how this precious girl, my only friend, would soon leave me. Her life should have been measured in millennia, not months. For it to be robbed so cruelly was… It was unbearable for me. Those days were the happiest of my entire life, and my saddest.

“Shall we see some dresses, Shani?” Siya said.

“Again?” Young Ashani asked. “Did we not just visit the other day? You said their selection was lacking!”

“I know… But didn’t you hear? There’s a new line of dresses by Lady Vera herself! I can’t wait to see you in them, Shani!”

“Me? Why me?” Ashani replied. “Why not you?”

“Because you’re pretty, Shani! And those prana patterns are just so delightful, don’t you think? I feel like I could stare at them all day long.”

“Yes, yes, princess. Whatever you desire.”

“I’m not a rajni!”

“You’re my rajni, rajni,” young Ashani whispered, nearly inaudible, but Siya’s cheeks flushed, anyway.

The scene sped forward as Siya and the young Ashani made their way to the dress shop.

“Janak left a hole in her life,” Ashani said. “A hole I so desperately tried to fill. If Siya could be so strong in the face of her illness, how could I wallow in sadness? I did everything I could. I became the sister she never had… But there was no replacing Janak. Entire weeks went by without her seeing him. Precious time that Janak would never recover.”

“Shani quick! Make me presentable!” Siya said, moving her hands weakly. The pair still hadn’t reached the dress shop, but Siya had brought her floating chair to a hard stop.

“What is it, my dear?” Young Ashani asked, bending next to the girl.

Siya tugged on the sleeve of Ashani’s golden dress. “Look! It’s Amar!” she said, face flushing red.

“He’s coming over! He’s going to see me!”

“You look fine, Siya. More than fine. Be confident. You are perfect as you are!” Young Ashani whispered before righting herself and stepping back.

“A fine day to you, Siya!” Amar said, approaching. Around the same age as Siya, he wore the same golden garments as everyone else, though even Vir could tell the man would grow up to be handsome. Even now, as a child, he cut an impressive figure.

“I-I-I, good!” Siya stuttered.

Amar cocked a brow in amusement. “‘Tis good that you are well!”

“How, um. H-how…”

“I am fine, Siya,” Amar replied with a chuckle. “I’ve been meaning to ask you… About the upcoming ball…”

Siya waited patiently for Amar to continue, and Vir could almost hear the heavy beats of her heart.

“Y-yes?” she asked, when the boy slowly turned away from her.

Siya looked absolutely stricken, and young Ashani squeezed her arm in consolation.

“What is that?” Amar asked, pointing to the central spire that rose in the distance.

Vir followed the boy’s gaze and found a column of white clouds, enveloping the spire.

“Oho!” Siya said, clapping her hands together. “A demonstration? How surprising. Isn’t it wonderful, Amar?”

“N-no, Siya. That isn’t—”

Like a drum, a deep sound thundered in their chests. Vir felt it as well.

A siren blared, and a disembodied voice commanded all to return to their homes. “The weather control dome has failed. Please seek shelter. The weather control dome has—”

There was no warning. Buildings ruptured like waterskins filled with too much liquid. Prana barriers flared to life, but were immediately extinguished by some unseen force. A colossal force that eradicated all that it touched.

Inscriptions, previously invisible, lit up on all the nearby buildings. They held… for a moment.

Flakes of material crumbled away, and then all failed.

Amar’s body was flung like a rag doll. Siya’s floating chair tumbled end over end, ejecting the paralyzed girl.

Young Ashani leaped up to cradle the falling Siya, but the roads under her undulated, like fabric swaying in the wind.

Streets cracked, buildings crumbled.

The heatwave hit, and the shockwave followed.

Vir watched in horror as all of Imperium creation was vaporized in the split-second before the world turned blindingly white.