The ruins fell deathly silent.
Aarohi stood at the center — in one hand, the thread of time given by Vrinda; in the other, the Kalchakra seal pulsing from her chest like a heartbeat echoing across centuries.
Two Ishaans. Two futures.
The calm one looked at her with eyes full of quiet sorrow, as if he had already lost her.
The fiery one stepped forward with desperation. "Choose me," he said. "I can protect you. I can burn it all down if it ever dares to hurt you again."
Her heart pounded.
And then… she heard it. A faint whisper in the wind.
"Aarohi, the choice you make will not only bind time… it will define it."
It was Vrinda's voice — not the echo, but the real Vrinda, speaking through the bond only a mother and daughter could share across timelines.
Suddenly, the ruins began to shiver. Cracks formed along the stone floor, and an ancient clock made of roots and stars emerged beneath their feet. The Tree of Time — Kalvriksha — had awakened.
And it demanded resolution.
Each tick of the celestial clock pushed the Ishaans further apart — their timelines diverging irreversibly.
Aarohi had seconds left.
Tears streamed down her face.
She walked towards the calm Ishaan, the one who had once held her hand under the rain, who whispered poems to her soul, who believed in her even when she doubted herself.
But halfway there… she turned.
And ran toward the fiery Ishaan.
She placed the thread of time in his hand.
"You may be chaos… but you are my chaos."
The thread dissolved into flames.
Time screamed.
Suddenly, the Tree of Time ignited, its branches forming a burning cage around them. The other Ishaan — the calm one — smiled faintly, almost as if he knew this would happen.
"I was never meant to be chosen. I was meant to be remembered."
With a soft glow, he disappeared… not into death, but into memory — forever etched in the fabric of time.
Aarohi collapsed to her knees, breathless, as the Kalchakra branded itself onto her back — a mark no one could now remove.
Ishaan knelt beside her, fire still glowing in his veins.
"You chose me," he whispered.
She looked up, shattered yet whole.
"I didn't choose the easier path… I chose the one I could live with."
Above them, the stars rearranged.
Time had accepted her choice.
But fate?
Fate had only just begun its game.