That evening, as Arin sat alone in his apartment, a ripple in the air sent a shiver down his spine. He turned, already knowing what—or rather, who—he would find.
One of the Elders stood before him, his presence barely disturbing the space around them. His face was calm, their gaze sharp.
“What are you doing, Arin?” the Elder asked, voice smooth yet weighted with authority.
Arin didn’t flinch. He kept his expression neutral. “I am on an observation mission,” he replied smoothly. “I will return as soon as it is complete.”
The Elder studied him for a long moment before speaking again. “You are one of our finest. You have always upheld the law without question. That is why you are given liberties no other Time Keeper has been granted.”
“I understand,” Arin said carefully. “And I will return once I have completed my task.”
The Elder’s gaze lingered on him, unreadable, before he nodded once. Then, as suddenly as he had appeared, he vanished, leaving only silence behind.
Arin exhaled slowly.
He had spoken with confidence, but in that moment, something inside him shifted. If he returned, if he left this world behind, he knew what it would mean.
He would never see Astha again.
The thought sent a pang through his chest, something sharp and undeniable. He had come here for answers, for curiosity. But now, he knew. He knew without a doubt that he could never return to a world without her.
Astha was no longer just an observation. She was his world.
She was in the way she laughed with Shanaya, in the way she fought back without hesitation, in the way she wore her independence like an armor yet secretly longed for warmth. She was in the quiet moments when she gazed at the stars, in the sharp wit that challenged him, in the unexpected tenderness that surfaced when she thought no one was watching.
She had become the reason he looked forward to each day. The reason his once-structured existence now felt uncertain but alive.
He wasn’t simply observing anymore. He was living.
And he wasn’t ready to give that up.
For the first time in his existence, Arin Verma faced a choice he never thought he’d have to make.
And he already knew the answer.
Leave a Reply