Chapter 4

The view that I was seeing was different. It was not from the present. It was my past. My past memory that I had thrown away somewhere. Two people who were holding me in their arms. One man and one woman whose skin, once vibrant, now bore the marks of an unseen enemy—reddened, blistered, and sometimes weeping in cruel patterns. Each step they took felt heavier, as if the very air conspired to drag them down, their energy drained by a force they couldn't see but could feel eating away at their insides.

Their hair, once a part of their identity, began to fall away in handfuls, like brittle leaves in an unforgiving wind, exposing the raw vulnerability beneath. Some spoke of the pain in their bones, the deep ache that never seemed to let up, while others felt the tremor of their weakened hearts, racing as if trying to outrun an inevitable fate.

Those were my parents. It is true that no matter what happens, your parents will not leave you alone. Even though they were suffering from the radiation at a very high level. They still were willing to take care of me and throw the money to make sure that I always stay in good condition.

They suffered a lot. They believed that there is God who will free them from their suffering.

This is why I will—

My eyes start to open. Only a little blur is what I can see. Something is wrong. When my vision gets clear, I see something else.

A city where the whispers of olden beauty had fallen linger in the wind, weaving tales of conquest, culture, and eternity. It is a realm where the earth seems to pause, contemplating the meeting of two worlds. A vast sea of destruction can be seen as the reflections of fallen ancient minarets and modern skyscrapers. Here, this city has fallen down like a historical empire. A mosque can be seen which is broken from the destruction of the war.

"This is no ordinary mosque you are seeing" a voice came from behind.

I jump back in shock and turn towards my behind to check who the person is. Kalki.

"You are alive?! Or am I seeing things?" I asked him quickly.

"I am well alive. It looks like when the explosion was hitting us, the director had launched some sort of safety in which the lab, after sensing the danger, threw us from a different path way" he explained to me.

"There is possibility that many of the people survived too from the explosion"

"Yes. There is definitely several chances that they survived like us"

I looked back at the broken mosque.

"What is this place?"

"This city is 'eis tēn polin' which is a Greek word which means' in the city '. It is a modern city named Istanbul in Turkey. It is a historical city in the past. It was once the capital of Roman Legion's emperor, Constantine the Great in 330 year, as he was Christian emperor and later on this city was capital for the Ottoman Sultans empire" Kalki explained me the history of this city which was once historical and now had really became ruins of history.

"The mosque looking thing you are seeing is the famous Hagia Sophia of the old time. A beautiful thing it was before the war" he told me.

"War always ruins everything"

"War is both destructive and creative. It destroys lives, cultures, and landscapes, leaving scars that linger through generations. Yet, from its ashes often emerge unity, innovation, and redefined moral compasses. The paradox of war lies in its ability to act as both the architect of peace and the harbinger of chaos" he speaks this thing in the most common way in a sweet tone.

"It just ruin the lives"

Suddenly, a scream came out.

"What's this sound?"

"It looks like a woman helping," he joked around.

We quickly rush towards the source of sound.

Something is wrong. When I rush. It felt like I was just built differently.

When I reached the source of the scream.

It was a woman surrounded by weird creatures, its flesh desiccated and clinging to brittle bones, yet imbued with unnatural strength. Its skin is a mottled gray or black, stretched taut over its frame, with gaping wounds that never bleed. Eyes like burning coals peer out from hollow sockets. A stench of decay.

The woman looks beautiful. Her hair is straight and of a brilliant red color with a slight purple undertone. She has long hair. Her eyes are the same shade of red as her hair and thin eyebrows. Her attire is a long, strapless red dress with dark pink lace across the front. The light pink sleeves form a sort of long mantle behind her back and are attached to her forearms by a dark pink band ringed with light pink feathers. She looks like a beautiful royalty princess.

"What should we do?!" I look behind me to get an answer from Kalki.

But a shocking thing happened because Kalki is not here.