Ayani feels heartbroken, appalled, and blames herself for what happened to her relatives, but she can't do anything because it's too late. She tells her parents everything that happened in Patallok and how they got out.
"Does this mean you've begun to awaken your powers?" Ayani's father asks, his voice heavy with both wonder and caution as he turns to Ahmaya.
Ahmaya lowers her eyes, uncertain. "Perhaps… I don't truly know. I think I can stir them… when I focus or when something stirs me deeply… But I haven't yet mastered them. I still have much to learn—how to use them with clarity and control."
"Obviously…," he mutters, then turns to his daughter, "Now that she has a sense of her awakening, we must send her back to where she came from…... as soon as possible; it's very dangerous for her to be here, and it is a harm to cosmic order."
Ayani nods. Her heart is in deep sorrow.
Her father hesitantly adds, with a shadow over his face, "Gyanwati… she said she'll come for your mother in a few days."
Ayani freezes. Her breath catches. She lifts her gaze slowly, staring at her father—eyes cold, then flooded with tears that pour freely.
He reaches out, tapping her gently on the back.
"Everything will be fine, my child."
"Dad…fine? How can you even say that? Those evil took them… all of them. They came here to help—to help me—and she… she is so powerful… she had the power to take so much of Aokma's together…. And now she is also after Mom." She says, shivering… in tears.
"Do you think I don't feel it?" He growls softly, pain brimming in his throat.
"They were my kin, my companions, for longer than your lifetime. Every moment since, I feel as though a blade carves through my chest. But Bub… we cannot drown in sorrow. There is still much left to protect. Your mother. You. Ahmaya. We can't let the tears overtake us…we need to perform action instead of grieving."
He takes her hand and wipes away her tears.
Ayani nods slowly, then embraces him tightly.
"Yes… Dad."
Their path becomes clear. The first step is to train Ahmaya to wield her powers and return to her timeline.
Ayani's father leads her through the spiraling cliffs, until they reach the wind-swept peak of a sacred mountain—where the earth meets the heavens. There, beneath the vast sky, the training begins.
Ahmaya's voice is soft, but firm. "I think… I have the answer, I have the answer to your question—why I want to learn how to handle my powers."
"Okay…so what's the answer?" he asks, studying her closely.
"Because this… this is who I really am. The powers are not apart from me. It is me."
He smiles at her "correct answer…now let's begin."
"Hold your posture with purpose. Let your breath flow slow… slower than the wind. You are the soul within, simply residing in someone else's body. Your essence… your soul must return to the body it truly belongs to."
Ahmaya sits upon a smooth stone, eyes closed, spine straight, each breath becoming quieter than the whisper of the leaves.
"Raise your hands gently. Call your powers. Think of what you love most. Think of what you miss from your true world… Let your soul remember where it longs to be." The father guids.
She obeys, her mind steeped in memory and yearning. A warmth begins to surge through her arms—then a tingling, a force, building within.
"Now", his voice becomes an echo in the wind, "speak within—tell yourself: I wish to return to where I truly belong."
A shiver runs through her.
She feels it—her spirit loosening, unthreading from the vessel of Pushpa's form. Lightness. Disconnection.
But then—confusion.
She opens her eyes, startled.
"I… I could feel it. My soul was leaving—but then… I didn't know how to go. I was lost. I couldn't move."
He narrows his eyes thoughtfully.
"Did you managed to...? You've managed to sever your spirit from the borrowed body….? Come with me."
"Where?" she demands, still shaken.
He leads her into an ancient stone chamber nestled within the mountain, where an old book lies sealed beneath threads of silver runes. He opens it, revealing faded but potent verses.
"These hymns,", he explains, "are sacred bridges of sound. Learn them while holding in your mind the image of where you must return. They will guide your soul across realms."
He places the book in her hands.
"We will conduct a ritual. I shall sit before you. Ayani will sit beside you. Together, we will chant the hymns—pouring strength into you. It will be the tether you need to return."
Ahmaya stares at the pages, then looks up, her voice trembling.
"Do you truly believe I can go back?"
"Yes…you are really powerful; my daughter was correct. You are more powerful than us, you are different... You were able to sever soul from body faster than any I have seen.
He meets her gaze with steady faith.
"Now learn these hymns swiftly. We don't have much time."
.
2024 ~~~ The day Ahmaya time travelled.
"Oh my god… Ahmaya!" her grandmother cries out, her voice trembling as she spots Ahmaya lying still, unconscious beneath the sandalwood tree.
She panics, checking her pulse, nerves and everything.
"Ahmaya… wake up, child," she says, lightly shaking her shoulders. But Ahmaya doesn't respond.
She splashes water on her face, but she does not wake up.
With a strength born of desperation, the old woman somehow lifts her up. Her arms tremble, but she manages to carry her inside the house.
She gently lays Ahmaya down on the couch, brushing the hair from her face.
Her fingers reach for the phone to call a doctor—but just then, something catches her eye; she realises something strange.
"Did… did she… transport herself? But how come....?" the grandma asks herself.