Anika hadn't slept a wink.
After witnessing Shiva's Tandava, her dreams transformed into something far more haunting—they became memories, jagged yet vivid.
She could see a mountain cloaked in mist, a pyre blazing against a blood-red sky, and a scream that seemed to shatter the heavens. There was a woman stepping into the flames, not out of fear, but out of sheer defiance. And at the heart of it all, there was her face.
She jolted awake, gasping for breath.
The air around her crackled with energy, and her skin felt too tight, as if it were holding onto something ancient beneath its modern facade.
Staring at her reflection, she whispered, "Who am I?"
---
Rudra Swami stood in the courtyard, waiting for the sun to rise. The birds chirped cautiously, as if they sensed a change in the air.
"You saw it," he said as she drew near.
She nodded. "The fire. The temple. The pain."
"You are Sati."
Anika shook her head in disbelief. "That's impossible. That's just a myth."
"Memory is just mythology until it comes back to you."
He extended a cloth-wrapped bundle toward her. She unwrapped it to reveal an ancient copper anklet, twisted by fire but still faintly glowing.
"You wore this the day you walked into the flames."
Anika's fingers brushed against it, and a flash of memory hit her—standing before a crowd, her father's harsh words ringing in her ears, Shiva's eyes blazing with fury, and then the searing heat.
She dropped the anklet, trembling. "Why would I come back?"
Rudra looked at her with kindness. "Because he never stopped dancing. And you... never stopped burning."
---
Shiva stood at the edge of the Arabian Sea, his gaze fixed on the horizon.
He remembered everything now—her laughter, her defiance, the moment she chose to burn rather than live in dishonor.
His rage had shattered the heavens, and his grief had turned gods to dust.
But grief couldn't halt time, and time had brought her back.
He turned around.
There she was. Anika. Or Sati. Or perhaps both.
Their eyes locked, and lifetimes seemed to pass between them.
"You came back,"
I had no idea why... until now.
He stepped closer, his voice low. "You were never meant to be erased."
"I chose to come back," she replied. "Not to relive... but to finish what I started."
They stood there, not touching, yet connected by something far stronger than mere memories.
---
At AstraDyne,
Raut observed their images flickering on a cracked screen.
"They remember each other," he remarked.
His assistant looked concerned. "Is that a problem?"
Raut nodded gravely. "It's catastrophic."
He quickly typed a new command into Project Narak:
TARGET ANIKA-EMBED MEMORY BLOCKERS.
"We can't let the world see a goddess in a hacker. It would shatter the illusion we've spent decades building."
---
Later that night, Anika sat by a fire in Rudra's ashram, the anklet on her wrist glowing softly.
"I don't want to be worshipped," she said earnestly.
"You won't be," Rudra assured her. "You'll be feared."
"I don't want that either."
He smiled gently. "Then be loved."
Shiva appeared at the edge of the courtyard, silent but present.
She stood up.
He extended his hand. "Will you walk with me again?"
She hesitated for a moment.
Then, she placed her hand in his.
"Always."
Above them, the stars shifted, acknowledging their alignment.
And somewhere in a hidden server vault, the AI monitoring emotional resonance sparked with intensity.
Because divinity had just become human once more.
And the world wasn't prepared for it.
But it would remember.