Ira woke with a sound lodged in her chest.
Not a scream.
A pressure.
As though something vast had been placed where her breath should be.
She sat up sharply, lungs dragging air in shallow bursts, heart racing against a heaviness that did not move.
The world resolved slowly.
Stone.
Water.
Light without source.
Her hands trembled as she pressed them to her chest.
The weight did not lift.
It responded.
She squeezed her eyes shut.
Emotion flooded her — not panic, not fear, but something far older. A stillness that stretched so wide it had forgotten its own edges.
"You're awake."
The voice came from her left.
She turned.
The man from the street stood a few paces away, posture straight, expression composed, eyes darker than the shadowed halls behind him.
Up close, he did not look inhuman.
He looked… controlled.
But the space around him felt empty in a way space should not.
"Don't come closer," she said instinctively.
He stopped immediately.
Good, some part of her noted. He listens.
"What happened?" she asked.
"You entered Vayukshi," he replied. "You touched me. You collapsed."
"That's not what I meant."
"It's all that occurred."
Ira exhaled shakily and glanced down at her hands.
They were steady.
Too steady.
Her pulse was normal. Her breathing was normal.
Her heart was not.
She focused inward, the way she had practiced since childhood.
Usually, there was movement — passing emotions, distant aches, impressions that rose and faded.
Now there was… occupation.
As if something had settled and claimed residence.
"How long have you been alone?" she asked suddenly.
The question slipped free before she could restrain it.
The man's gaze sharpened.
"I don't know," he said after a pause.
That answer was wrong.
No one lost track of time unless time had lost meaning.
Her throat tightened. "What's your name?"
"Devansh."
"I'm Ira."
She shifted her legs over the edge of the platform, the world tilting faintly as she stood.
The weight did not resist.
It belonged.
"I can still feel you," she said quietly.
Devansh's brow furrowed. "That should not be possible."
Her voice dropped. "Neither should you."
Silence expanded between them.
And for the first time since she entered the city, Ira realized something that made her stomach sink.
She was not feeling pain anymore.
She was carrying it.