[Gateway of Slumber – Entry to the Dream Realm]
Under Vasundhara's guidance, Akarshan and his companions stood before a massive lotus, suspended above a pool of silver mist. This was no ordinary place—it was the Gateway to the Dream Realm, a plane that touched the very soul of Ash.
> "In this place," Vasundhara warned, "you will walk through his past, his fears, his hopes… and perhaps his breaking point."
> "Your bodies will sleep. Your souls will wander. Do not lose yourselves—or you may never wake again."
One by one, they touched the lotus.
And fell.
---
[Within the Dream Realm – The Temple of Forgotten Days]
The world around them formed slowly—crimson skies, golden grass, temples built from memory and sorrow.
They stood in Ash's childhood.
But not as the Ash they knew.
Here, he was Asuryan, the youngest Supreme Being.
A being who laughed with stars, cried over the first dying flower, and stood defiant against his own kind when they sought to dominate creation.
---
[The First Vision – The Fall of Asuryan's Trust]
They witnessed the betrayal.
Ash (Asuryan) standing before Adityan, offering him forgiveness.
> "We are the same. We do not need power to prove our worth."
Adityan, broken and hungry for recognition, struck him down instead.
The scene replayed again and again.
> "Why… Why did I ever believe in them?" Ash whispered in the echo of his dream.
Akarshan clenched his fists.
> "He never stopped hoping."
> "Even when the gods fell, he believed."
---
[Monish's Trial – The Mirror of Fear]
Suddenly, Monish was pulled away from the group—dragged by vines of shadow.
He was thrown before a mirror.
In it, he saw himself—crowned, robed, in Ash's place, ruling as the next Supreme Being.
And beneath him? His friends, kneeling.
> "Isn't this what you want?" the mirror whispered.
> "You always felt small beside Ash."
Monish gritted his teeth.
> "That's not strength. That's envy."
He smashed the mirror, and the shadows released him.
---
[Akarshan's Revelation]
Akarshan stood alone in a hallway of stardust.
And there, he saw Ash—young again, sitting by himself in the darkness.
> "Why did you leave us for 18,000 years?" Akarshan asked.
Ash looked up.
> "Because I was tired of hurting everything I loved."
> "Even gods need peace… and I couldn't find it among immortals."
Akarshan knelt beside him.
> "Then we'll bring peace to you. Even if you try to destroy it."
---
[Return to Reality]
They awoke.
Breathless.
Changed.
Now they understood—Ash wasn't just a destroyer.
He was a wounded creator.
And time… was running out.
---