Both of them refused to bow to the lord while saying we can't bow to something this cruel... , Saint got furious and ordered with anger, Either do it or die with my curse
Shan and Tamaya stood in silence, gazing at each other, the weight of the unknown pressing down on them. They were lost, caught between worlds, their thoughts tangled in a web of confusion and disbelief. What was next? What could be next? The monk's presence, calm and steady, did little to answer the gnawing emptiness within them.
He stepped closer, his voice gentle yet firm. "Do not worry, young ones. You shall find your place with us. I will admit you to my gurukul."
They exchanged looks, eyes wide, unsure of what a "gurukul" even was. "School," the monk explained, his voice almost dismissive, as if the word itself should've explained everything. "You must know of the school, through your... maddychip, yes?"
Shan and Tamaya's confusion deepened. How could he know about the maddychip? A technology so new, so foreign to this time, yet he spoke of it as though it were commonplace. The unsettling familiarity of it all sent a chill down their spines.
The monk's gaze softened, though his words carried a weight neither of them could ignore. "Your souls are one. You complete each other. I do not lie. And remember, young lady, you must guide him on his journey… If one of you falls, the other shall fall with them."
Tamaya's heart pounded in her chest. She nodded, though the truth of his words seemed more like a nightmare than a promise. Shan looked at her then, his eyes caught in hers, as if searching for some sort of anchor in the storm. The unsaid words between them were heavier than any spoken.
The monk's presence was like a fog, smothering their senses. Without a word, he turned and, with a strange flick of his hand, vaporized the dead lion into nothingness, turning it to soil, as if to show them just how much the world had changed around them. They didn't understand. They couldn't. Nothing made sense anymore.
Monk asked both of them to remove their oxygen masks, both of them did it out of despair.. But to their surprise, For first time they felt free.. They didn't needed it!!!
As they left the cave, still trembling from the surreal experience, Shan's voice broke through the silence. "What is your name, sir?"
"Shishtacharya," the monk replied, his name echoing in their minds long after they had left him behind.
The world outside was a sight neither of them had ever imagined. The vast Himalayan range stretched before them, a sea of green that felt more like a dream than reality. Every tree, every breath of air was foreign, yet strangely soothing. Shan picked an apple from a tree, biting into it as though it held the secrets of the universe in its sweetness. He'd never tasted anything like it.
"Will we ever return to our time?" he asked, his voice thick with the weight of longing.
The monk's voice carried a quiet certainty. "Yes, you will. And when you do, you will find the one who took your father from you. But be careful—don't lose the pin you found on the riverbank."
Shan felt the fire of vengeance stir within him, mingled with the bitter taste of loss. This journey had become more than a means of survival; it had become a quest for justice, a search for the one who had destroyed everything he'd known.
Days passed, and they ventured deeper into the forests. The houses were crude, made of mud and stone, but to Shan and Tamaya, they felt like a relic from another world—a place they didn't belong. They entered the dome, where other students gathered, their faces open and unguarded. But to Shan, they were little more than strangers, a strange breed of people who worked, who lived in ways he couldn't understand. Cooking their own food? Learning in ways that seemed so primitive, so... uncivilized
Tamaya, on the other hand, seemed to adjust, her heart more open to the world around her. She made friends quickly, her laughter a bright, warm light in the shadow of their confusion. She urged Shan to open up, to stop hiding behind his arrogance. "These people live in the real world, Shan. We spent so long in the metaverse, talking to people who weren't real. But here, it's different. Here, people live, breathe, feel. They may not have the technology we know, but they know how to live."
But Shan couldn't shake it. The world was so small here, so isolated, so painfully real. He wanted to escape, to find his way back to the comfort of a world where nothing mattered beyond a screen, where every conversation could be paused, rewound, and replayed until it felt right. A world where food didn't need to be cooked, where people didn't care about each other's lives unless it served some digital purpose. Here, in this foreign time, he felt lost—utterly, hopelessly lost.
He wandered alone through the muddy streets, bitter and resentful. Tamaya had found her place, but Shan? He was still searching for something—anything—to fill the void that stretched deep inside him. Every day, he grew more disconnected from the world around him, a stranger in a strange land.
And yet, no matter how hard he tried to bury it, the bitterness gnawed at him. He wanted to go home—to a time where things made sense, where people had meaning, where he didn't have to struggle to live. He missed the metaverse. He missed the world he had left behind. And most of all, he missed the one thing he had never been able to protect: the father whose death still haunted every step of his journey.