They did not return to the upper city in silence.
The hum beneath Vayukshi had changed.
It no longer waited.
It gathered.
Ira sat in the Hall of Still Waters, hands clenched in her lap, breath slow but unsteady.
Reincarnation.
The word echoed without voice.
Devansh stood nearby, unmoving—but not distant.
"You are not obligated to stay," he said.
She lifted her gaze to him.
"Do you really believe that?"
His silence was answer enough.
Rehaan watched them both.
"You don't just carry emotion," he said to Ira. "You trigger structures. Memory frameworks. Seals."
She closed her eyes.
Images pressed behind them.
Designs.
Choices.
Regrets.
"I don't remember who I was," she whispered.
Rehaan's voice softened. "Good. If you did, you might refuse to become who you need to be."
Devansh turned sharply. "And who is that?"
Rehaan met his gaze.
"The only being capable of rewriting what you are."
Ira's chest tightened.
"Not rewriting," she said quietly.
They both looked at her.
"Ending," she finished. "Or freeing."
The weight inside her did not resist.
It aligned.
For the first time since entering Vayukshi, Ira felt something new surface beneath the heaviness.
Not fear.
Not pain.
Direction.
And somewhere beneath the city, something ancient smiled in its sleep.