As they both stood in Sumendu's room, the world seemed to spin around Diya. Confusion, disbelief, fear, astonishment, care, concern—every possible emotion played across her face in rapid succession. It was more than she could contain. Her eyes instinctively darted toward Sumendu's temple, and that's when she noticed it—the wound was gone. In its place remained a faint mark, a silent testimony to an injury that hadn't existed before.
She struggled to comprehend what she was seeing, trying to make sense of a reality that refused to settle. Without thinking any further, Diya stepped forward and pulled Sumendu close, wrapping him in a tight embrace. She held him against her heart, which was pounding like an express train racing out of control. Gradually, as the storm of emotions subsided, she stepped back. A hint of shyness crept in, and the soft pink flush on her cheeks told a story far louder than words ever could.
But Sumendu was lost in a world entirely his own. His mind spiraled with questions—where was all this leading? What were they truly doing? Was this moment real, or was the reality they had just left behind the true one? The answers felt impossibly distant, the entire situation unfathomable. He stood suspended between worlds, unsure of what awaited them next.
Diya's voice finally broke the chain of his thoughts.
"Sumendu, it's completely unbelievable," she said softly, "but it feels like we're onto something—something that has transcended time itself. We need time to process all this. I think we should use the next dart tomorrow… but for that, we need to be fully rested."
Sumendu couldn't have agreed more. He gently held her by the shoulders and looked deep into her eyes. Something had shifted—irreversibly. Neither of them was the same person anymore. The moment the second dart had struck, everything had changed. They were now strangers to their former selves, trying to understand each other anew while grappling with a reality that no longer followed familiar rules.
The stillness of the night was suddenly shattered by the loud creak of the iron gate opening downstairs.
Diya's parents had returned home.