For a long moment, neither Kashyap nor Mandakini breathed.
Vasundhara's words hung in the air like a blade suspended by a single strand.
"You were created for each other."
Mandakini's fingers loosened from Kashyap's hand.
Kashyap felt his heartbeat pounding in his ears.
Mandakini whispered, "What… what do you mean 'created'?"
Vasundhara walked toward them, her feet never disturbing the water's surface.
When she stopped just a meter away,her expression softened with something like sorrow.
"First you must understand the Council of Origin," she said.
"The first architects of reality.The beings who built the multiverse… and eventually broke it."
Kashyap's jaw tightened.
"You're saying theymade us?"
Vasundhara nodded.
"Not your bodies.Not your minds. But your connection."
Mandakini felt a chill spread across her spine.
"Our connection isn't natural?"
"No," Vasundhara said gently.
"It's older than both of you.Older than your world. It predates your births by millions of cycles."
Mandakini stared at her.
"Why us?Why create a… bond?"
Vasundhara exhaled, and for the first time, she looked afraid of the answer she had to give.
"Because the Council needed a key."
Kashyap stepped forward.
"A key to what?"
Vasundhara spread her hands.
The lake rippled—
and an image formed on its surface:
Two figures made of swirling light.
One red.
One blue.
Moving like twin stars caught in orbit.
"They needed a pair," Vasundhara said.
"Two souls bound so deeply that separation would destabilize entire timelines.A bond strong enough to resonate across worlds. Across realities. Across reincarnations."
Mandakini's voice cracked.
"Reincarnations…?"
Vasundhara nodded.
"You two have met before.
Loved before.
Died before.
A thousand times over."
Kashyap felt his breath catch.
Mandakini whispered, "Then why don't we remember anything?"
"Because remembering would make you uncontrollable," Vasundhara said quietly.
"The Council erased every lifetime you lived.Every memory. Every moment."
Kashyap clenched his fists, rage rising in waves.
"So all our feelings…what we've been through… was planned?! Manufactured?!"
Vasundhara shook her head quickly.
"No.That is the one thing they could not control."
She stepped closer.
"Your bond was engineered—but the emotions,the choices, the loyalty… those were yours."
Mandakini closed her eyes, overwhelmed.
"Why tell us now?"
Vasundhara's expression hardened.
"Because the Council believes your bond has grown too strong.Strong enough to open something they fear."
"What?" Mandakini asked, barely above a whisper.
Vasundhara raised her hand—
and the lake image shifted to a colossal structure floating in a dark void.
A citadel made of fractured light.
Infinite stairs.
A door of impossible geometry.
"The Origin Gate," Vasundhara said.
"The first and last passage.
The place where the multiverse began."
Mandakini frowned.
"And what does that have to do with us?"
Vasundhara looked straight at Kashyap.
"You are the Key."
Then at Mandakini.
"And you are the Lock."
Mandakini stiffened.
"What—?"
"The Origin Gate opens only when two connected beings of opposite resonance touch it," Vasundhara explained.
"One pushes.One stabilizes. Together, you can open the very beginning."
Silence.
Heavy.Crushing.
Kashyap took Mandakini's hand again, squeezing it gently.
"So that's why the Void-Seekers exist,"he said slowly.
"To stop us."
Vasundhara looked pained.
"No.They exist because they tried to save you."
Mandakini's eyes widened.
"What…?"
"The Void-Seekers," Vasundhara said, "are failed versions of Kashyap."
Kashyap's blood ran cold.
Mandakini's throat tightened.
"Failed…versions?"
"They were earlier attempts," Vasundhara said softly.
"Lives where Kashyap reached for the Origin Gate…and broke."
Mandakini staggered back, horror washing over her.
"Kashyap…you become them?"
Vasundhara shook her head firmly.
"No.They are outcomes that were pruned and discarded. You are the last unbroken line."
Kashyap felt sick.
Mandakini grabbed his face with both hands.
"Listen to me,"she whispered urgently.
"You're not them.I don't care what version existed before. You're Kashyap. You're mine. And I'm not letting anything rewrite that."
Kashyap closed his eyes, forehead touching hers.
Vasundhara watched them for a moment—
then her head snapped sharply toward the horizon.
The water trembled.
The sky flickered.
Her voice dropped.
"They've found you."
Mandakini turned sharply.
"Who?"
Vasundhara's glow brightened, forming a barrier around them.
"The Council's Hunters."
A ripple cut across the sky—
followed by a second.
And then a figure stepped through the tear in reality.
Tall.
Clad in black.
Eyes glowing red like dying stars.
Kashyap recognized the symbol on his chest.
"…The Origin sigil,"he whispered.
Mandakini drew her weapon.
The Hunter tilted his head.
"Key.Lock. Archivist," he said flatly.
"You will come with us."
Vasundhara's voice hardened like steel.
"Kashyap.Mandakini. Run."
Kashyap grabbed Mandakini's wrist.
Mandakini's eyes flashed.
"No,"she said.
"We fight."
The Hunter raised his hand—
and reality itself cracked around them.