---
> "In a world where no one dies, the soul dies every day."
—Smriti of the Black Flame
---
Scene 1 – Entering Vaikun-9
Vaikun-9 was no ordinary city.
Suspended high above the mainland of Neo-Bharat, it hovered between synthetic clouds like a glass halo—wide, serene, and clinical. The government called it a utopia.
But locals whispered another name:
> "The City That Refuses Death."
Agnivesh stood at the checkpoint with Aranya Devi and Vritra Devi by his side. Sharvani remained below, watching the ley lines in case the Network tried to cut off spiritual currents.
A holographic AI flickered into view.
> "Welcome, citizens. All guests must submit to the Anitya Protocol [Impermanence Law Scan]. Please confirm you possess no death-enabled memories."
Vritra muttered, "That's like asking a fire not to remember warmth."
Agnivesh remained still. He remembered this place… barely.
It was once a battlefield where death was defeated—but not understood.
---
Scene 2 – Death Is Outlawed
Inside the city, the rules were absolute.
No cremation.
No mourning rites.
No mention of rebirth, karma, or the soul.
AI-controlled nanites repaired any fatal wounds.
Suicide was punished with memory erasure.
Life was enforced like a permanent contract.
But the people were empty.
Eyes dull.
Smiles mechanical.
Even laughter sounded… synthetic.
> "They have bodies," Aranya whispered, "but no closures. No endings."
> "Which means no beginnings," Vritra added.
Agnivesh watched a boy fall from a hover-bike. Blood pooled.
Nanites swarmed. The wound closed.
But the pain in his eyes never left.
> "Pain doesn't die," Agnivesh murmured. "They've removed death, but not suffering."
---
Scene 3 – The Hall of Preserved
In the city's core stood a white tower: The Hall of Preserved, a holy site where elders were kept in stasis at the moment of death—but never allowed to pass on.
Their bodies floated in amniotic crystals, pulsing with forbidden light.
Vritra growled, "This is necromantic defilement."
Aranya nodded. "No soul should be tethered this long."
Agnivesh moved toward a sealed chamber.
On its door:
> "Access Denied: Guardian Soul Threshold Detected."
He placed his palm on it.
The seal dissolved.
Inside lay a woman in black robes, arms crossed, eyes closed—but she wasn't dead.
She was waiting.
> "You found me, finally," she whispered, without opening her eyes.
---
Scene 4 – The Death Guardian
She stepped out from her crystal without effort, her body surrounded by wisps of black agni-dhūma [spiritual smoke that appears during soul liberation].
Her voice was calm. Timeless.
> "You let me sleep too long, Agnivesh."
> "I had no choice, Mrityumaata."
> "There is always a choice," she replied.
She was once called Mrityumaata [Mother of Death]. The third Guardian. Keeper of Exit Gates. Watcher of Departures.
> "The world has caged its children," she said, walking barefoot. "They scream silently, trapped in immortal lives they didn't choose."
> "Then return," Agnivesh said. "Be my blade again."
She turned, eyes glowing.
> "I will. But there is a cost."
---
Scene 5 – The Cost of Death's Return
> "You must let someone die in this city," Mrityumaata said. "Only then can I awaken fully. Until then, I'm incomplete."
Vritra flinched. "This place punishes death."
> "Not just legally," Aranya added. "Spiritually. It blocks the soul's path."
Agnivesh knew what had to be done.
> "I'll offer myself—temporarily."
> "You'll be caught," Vritra warned.
> "Let them catch me. Let them see death. Maybe then they'll remember what it meant to live."
---
Scene 6 – The Trial
Agnivesh stepped onto the public square.
He raised his voice—not yelling, but chanting:
> "Om Tryambakam Yajamahe Sugandhim Pushtivardhanam…"
[We worship the three-eyed one who nourishes all beings…]
It was the Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra—chant of liberation from death.
People froze.
The AI trembled.
Alarms rang.
Drones activated.
> "You are under arrest for Death Invocation," the speakers blared.
> "Let them come," he said.
One drone fired a paralysis beam.
He stood still.
Then collapsed.
His breath slowed.
His body fell into silence.
But even as his eyes shut, a smile touched his lips.
> "Now… awaken, Guardian."
---
Scene 7 – Death Walks Again
The moment Agnivesh fell unconscious, the world shook.
The stasis crystals in the Hall shattered.
Elders' souls screamed—joyfully—as they were finally allowed to pass on.
Children in the square began to cry—not from fear, but from sudden emotion.
Mrityumaata stepped into the light.
Black lotus petals rained from the sky.
Her robes unraveled into mist as she walked barefoot across the square.
Time froze for all, except her and Agnivesh's companions.
She knelt beside him.
> "He chose to die, even briefly, so others may live again."
She touched his chest.
> "Rise, Fire Sealer."
Agnivesh gasped—alive again, but changed.
A faint black sigil burned on his heart.
The sigil of impermanence.
---
Scene 8 – Rebellion Sparks
That night, thousands tuned in to pirate broadcasts of the event.
The Network tried to censor it.
Failed.
Too many now remembered what death was meant to be—a gate, not a glitch.
People whispered her name again:
> "Mrityumaata."
Temples banned for decades reopened.
Chants returned.
And a third thread bound itself to Agnivesh's soul.
Three Guardians walked beside him now.
But the cost was still rising.
---
Scene 9 – Back at the Brahm Archive
Agnivesh knelt before an ancient stone tablet, watching the sigils rearrange.
The Great Realm Break was no longer just a prophecy.
It was happening.
More Ripwalkers were spawning.
Dreams were bleeding into reality.
And the fourth Guardian?
> "He betrayed me," Agnivesh whispered. "And I'll have to face him next."
---
Chapter End Note:
Mrityumaata, the Death Guardian, has awakened.
The flame of death now walks.
Three Guardians walk with Agnivesh.
The balance trembles.
And betrayal waits in the next city
---
Would you like me to continue Chapter 15 next?