Scene 1 — Assumptions
Same moment.
Different trial.
Shlokh stood still in the crimson chamber, his senses sharper than fear itself. The space around him felt dense, layered with pressure that didn't come from gravity—but intent.
Veere faced him calmly—
not like an enemy,
not like an ally—
but like someone who knew time was slipping away.
"I know," Veere said, his voice steady, almost gentle,
"you're already building assumptions."
Shlokh didn't deny it.
His mind was moving faster than his words.
If I'm here…
then the other two must be somewhere too.
"You know what I'm about to ask," Shlokh said quietly.
"And you know why."
Veere exhaled.
"This is complicated," he replied.
"And confusing."
A brief pause followed.
"I can only tell you fragments."
The air vibrated faintly, reacting to the restraint in his words.
"I am Veere," he continued.
"A Deva."
Shlokh's throat tightened.
"…Like you."
Before Shlokh could respond—
Veere's voice buzzed, distorting for a fraction of a second. The crimson chamber trembled violently, its edges warping as if reality itself had lost focus.
"We don't have much time—" Veere said quickly,
"and—"
His voice cracked.
A sharp, unfamiliar pressure surged through the space.
Veere stiffened.
"…She's coming," he muttered under his breath.
Reality twisted.
A Realox effect began forming—unstable, invasive, eating at continuity itself.
But Veere reacted instantly.
He raised his hand.
Riddhox energy flared—controlled, precise.
At the same moment—
Something answered inside Shlokh.
His own Riddhox ignited instinctively, not consciously summoned but awakened by threat. The energies fused, reinforced, stabilized.
The distortion halted.
Silence rushed back in, heavy and sudden.
Veere lowered his hand.
"Good," he said softly.
"Your instincts are faster than I expected."
Shlokh stared at him, breath uneven.
Questions burned behind his eyes.
What is she?
Where are Vaibhav and Shourya?
What is happening to us?
Veere stepped back.
"That's all I can do for now," he said.
"The rest… you'll have to survive."
He turned away.
"All the best," Veere added, without looking back.
"For the Stonic Rumbling."
Shlokh opened his mouth.
"Wait—!"
But the chamber was already dissolving.
The crimson hall fractured into light. A thin white ray split the space cleanly in two, swallowing everything in its path.
Shlokh felt heat rush through him—
sharp, toxic, unfamiliar.
The air burned his lungs.
Then the pressure shifted.
The light vanished.
He stood on another planet.
The ground shimmered, cracked with faint glowing lines. The atmosphere was hot, acidic, heavy enough to sting with every breath. The sky hung low, slow-moving, alien in color and texture.
His stone reacted immediately.
A deep vibration surged through his throat—automatic, defensive.
Not fear.
Adaptation.
Shlokh's eyes widened as he absorbed the reality.
Heat.
Poison.
Distance.
This place was not meant for him.
And yet—
He was here.
The planet remained silent.
Watching.
Scene 2 — Counter
Shourya.
Fear didn't crush him.
It entertained him.
He stood within the cracks of a volcano, inside a cavern carved by pressure and time. Lava pulsed somewhere deeper, slow and alive, its glow painting the walls in shades of molten orange.
He climbed out and sat on a rock near the edge.
The moment he settled—
His left eye reacted.
A future flashed.
Him sitting there.
His skin igniting.
His body collapsing into ash.
Instant.
Shourya froze.
Then stepped back.
The vision ended.
The rock burned.
Heat surged upward exactly as shown.
His eye throbbed violently.
Something pulled.
Not outward.
Inward.
The stone linked to his eye tightened, dragging sensation, vision, awareness with it.
He staggered away from the edge.
Pain followed him.
But it wasn't panic.
It was calculation.
Vaibhav
The desert stretched endlessly.
Sand burned beneath his feet. The sun pressed down, merciless, unforgiving.
Confusion surfaced—but didn't deepen.
Then he noticed—
The stone was gone.
Not embedded in his chest.
Not visible anywhere near him.
He looked up.
The black crystal hovered above his head, rotating slowly, silent, distant.
Yet—
Its cosmic rhythm still echoed inside him.
The connection remained.
Without warning—
The world folded inward.
A void swallowed his senses.
Vaibhav collapsed.
Darkness took him.
Shlokh
The acidic planet steadied.
The burning pressure faded.
Shlokh reached for his throat.
Nothing.
No vibration.
No resistance.
Silence.
Normal.
Then—
The golden stone appeared in front of him.
Floating.
Aware.
Just like before.
But different.
This time—
Shlokh didn't wait.
He focused.
Not on fear.
Not on survival.
On control.
The stone responded—slightly.
Enough.
The air shifted.
And for the first time—
The stone didn't lead.
He did.
Scene 3 — Heating Effects
Shlokh focused harder.
This time, the stone answered more clearly.
A thin, translucent layer of Riddhox energy unfolded around him—instinctive, adaptive.
The air bent.
Heat slowed.
Poison retreated.
For a moment—
He was protected.
Then the planet resisted.
Pressure surged.
Temperature spiked beyond tolerance.
The shield held.
His body didn't.
Blood traced down from his nose.
His vision blurred.
A ringing filled his ears.
The protection shook violently, holding just long enough for him to remain conscious—
and then Shlokh collapsed.
Vaibhav
He wasn't dreaming.
He wasn't awake.
He wasn't himself.
He was inside another body.
Same face.
Different will.
His perspective locked.
The body walked toward the city.
Toward familiar roads.
Toward home.
Vaibhav tried to speak.
No voice.
Tried to stop.
No control.
Names echoed inside him—
mother… brother… father…
A deep rumble followed.
Not sound.
Meaning.
Sacrifice.
The Voice of Creation watched.
The city appeared.
Then his area.
Then the house.
The body entered.
His mother turned.
Recognition.
Fear.
The body moved.
Vaibhav felt every second—
unable to look away,
unable to interfere.
Pain filled the space—heavy, final.
His brother rushed forward.
Was stopped instantly.
The sound that followed wasn't loud—
just irreversible.
Then—
his father.
Standing.
Silent.
Unmoving.
For a moment, the world slowed.
Vaibhav begged.
Not with words.
With everything left inside him.
The body stepped forward.
Hands pressed against his father's chest.
And then—
something was taken.
Not described.
Not shown.
But felt.
The moment shattered Vaibhav completely.
The body dropped to its knees.
Vaibhav collapsed inside it.
Guilt crushed him.
He tried to scream.
Couldn't.
Tried to close his eyes.
Couldn't.
Tried to die.
Wasn't allowed.
What sin did I commit,
that you made me witness this?
The Voice of Creation answered—
with something that resembled a smile.
Not cruel.
Not kind.
Knowing.
The heat surged again.
Reality burned.
END OF CHAPTER 17 — SUNBURN: FATUITY