For several moments, nobody spoke.
The black ocean stretched endlessly around them while the ruins stood silent beneath the dead sky.
The spirit watched them.
Wick watched the spirit.
And Prishka...
Prishka was staring at everything except the giant nightmare in front of them.
"This place is ugly."
Wick blinked.
"That's your first observation?"
"What?"
She pointed toward the endless darkness.
"Look at it."
A pause.
"Zero stars. Zero atmosphere. Terrible architecture."
Wick almost laughed.
Almost.
The spirit didn't seem amused.
Its countless shifting faces remained fixed on Prishka.
Studying her.
Measuring her.
Trying to understand her.
And that was exactly what bothered Prishka.
Because she had no idea why.
"Okay."
She looked at Wick.
"Why is it looking at me like that?"
"Hope she's not into you."
"Very comforting."
"You're welcome."
Prishka rolled her eyes.
Then something changed.
The moment she stepped forward, fragments of images flashed through her mind.
Not memories.
Not visions.
Something in between.
Ancient ships.
Storms.
Drowning sailors.
Women singing beneath black water.
Villages disappearing overnight.
People kneeling before something emerging from the sea.
Prishka staggered.
Wick immediately caught her arm.
"Prishka."
"I'm fine."
"You almost fell."
"I'm dramatically processing information."
The joke sounded weak.
Even to her.
Because the images weren't stopping.
The spirit wasn't just showing her things.
The Other Side itself was reacting to her presence.
Slowly, she looked up.
And finally understood.
"Wick."
His gaze shifted toward her.
"I know what this thing is."
The spirit immediately moved.
Fast.
Too fast.
The black water exploded upward as the creature lunged toward them.
Instinct took over.
Wick shoved Prishka aside.
The creature crashed into the ruins where she'd been standing a second earlier.
Stone exploded.
Black water erupted into the air.
For the first time, the spirit stopped pretending.
No smiles.
No games.
Only violence.
Wick was already moving.
The iron kada around his wrist glinted faintly beneath the dead sky.
He wore that in his knuckles using it as weapon.
The spirit lunged.
Wick stepped inside its reach and drove his punch across its chest.
The moment the kada connected—
The creature screamed.
Not in pain.
In surprise.
Dark energy burst from the impact.
The spirit staggered backward.
Prishka's eyes widened.
"That worked?"
Wick looked equally surprised.
"That always works."
The spirit looked at the kada.
Then at him.
For the first time...
It looked annoyed.
"Excellent."
Wick rolled his shoulders.
"I've always wanted to punch an ancient sea demon."
The spirit roared.
"Wick."
Prishka deadpanned.
"Please stop provoking the nightmare."
"That's how I communicate."
The nightmare clearly didn't appreciate the conversation.
It attacked again.
Its body shifted again.
Too many faces.
Too many eyes.
Too many things that shouldn't exist.
And slammed toward them.
Prishka stared.
Then pointed.
"Okay, that's definitely not in any psychic book I read."
Wick wiped blood from his lip.
"You should ask for a refund."
"I bought them second-hand."
"Then ask for two refunds."
Wick shoved Prishka behind a broken pillar.
The stone shattered.
The impact threw him backward.
He rolled across the ruins before pushing himself upright.
Immediately.
Without hesitation.
The spirit attacked again.
Wick met it head-on.
The kada struck its jaw.
Then its shoulder.
Then its chest.
Every hit forced the creature back.
Every hit left cracks of black light across its body.
For several seconds...
He was actually winning.
The spirit realized it too.
Its countless faces twisted with frustration.
The ruins trembled.
The ocean churned.
Reality itself seemed to bend around it.
And slowly...
The balance changed.
Because this wasn't Wick's world.
Every movement became heavier.
Every breath harder.
His arms felt slower.
His legs felt heavier.
Like the realm itself was fighting him.
The spirit noticed immediately.
A terrible smile spread across its face.
"There you are."
The next impact sent Wick crashing through a ruined pillar.
Ancient stone exploded around him.
Pain shot through his ribs.
Prishka's heart nearly stopped.
"WICK!"
A hand emerged from the rubble.
Then another.
Then Wick stood up.
Slowly.
Covered in dust.
Bleeding.
Exhausted.
Still glaring at the spirit.
The spirit looked genuinely confused.
As if it couldn't understand why he kept getting back up.
Wick cracked his neck.
"You know..."
The spirit growled.
"This would've been a lot easier if you had just stayed dead."
For the first time, even the spirit seemed offended.
Prishka's heart nearly stopped.
He looked toward Prishka.
"If we survive this..."
He pointed at the nightmare.
"...tell your sister I fought an ancient grumpy sea lady for her."
The spirit immediately screams.
Wick frowned.
"See? Even she admits she's grumpy."
---
Another blast of dark energy threw him backward.
Prishka winced.
"Wick!"
"I'm fine."
"You are very obviously not fine."
He pushed himself upright.
"Fine-ish."
The spirit lunged again.
Wick barely dodged.
Its claws missed his face by inches.
"Okay."
He took a cautious step back.
"Personal space clearly wasn't invented in your century."
The creature screamed.
The ruins trembled.
Black water exploded upward.
Prishka looked genuinely concerned.
"I think it's angry."
"I punched it six times."
A pause.
"That's usually how anger works."
---
The spirit smashed him into another wall.
Prishka covered her face.
"Wick!"
"What?"
"You keep getting thrown!"
"Strategic repositioning."
"No it isn't."
The creature attacked again.
Wick blocked with the kada.
The impact echoed across the ruins.
The spirit roared.
Wick pointed at it.
"Lady watch your breath."
He looked at Prishka.
"That stinks asf."
"You're insulting the demon?"
"It started it."
After another brutal exchange, Wick was breathing heavily.
The spirit wasn't.
Prishka noticed.
"Wick..."
He already knew.
He was getting tired.
The spirit wasn't.
Still, he smirked.
"If I die here..."
Prishka glared.
"Don't."
"... Tell everyone about my folklore now I fought a grumpy lady."
"You got thrown through three walls."
"Details."
Now the spirit moved with more
Precision.
Violently.
Vigorously.
For the first time since arriving, the spirit stopped talking.
Now it was trying to kill them.
Wick rolled to his feet.
The mantras came instinctively.
Kaal Bhairav Mantra.
The air around him changed.
Prishka felt it immediately.
The spirit felt it too.
For a brief second—
It recoiled.
Not from the mantra.
From him.
Again.
The same reaction.
The same hesitation.
The same fear.
The spirit roared.
Before he could finish even haft of it.
The sound shook the ruins.
Then attacked again.
This time harder.
Stone pillars shattered.
Dark water surged across the platform.
The entire landscape trembled.
Wick met it head-on.
The collision sent both of them sliding backward.
For a few seconds he actually held his ground.
Then reality reminded him where he was.
This wasn't his world.
Every second strengthened the spirit.
Every second weakened him.
The creature struck again.
Wick was thrown across the ruins.
Ancient stone exploded beneath him.
Pain shot through his body.
Prishka's heart nearly stopped.
"WICK!"
"I'm alive."
"That's not reassuring!"
He pushed himself up.
Slower this time.
Much slower.
The spirit noticed.
And smiled.
A terrible smile.
Back in the abandoned house, the situation wasn't improving either.
Aryan had reached maximum stress.
Which unfortunately meant maximum talking.
"How long does this usually take?"
Deep looked at him.
"You think I do this every weekend?"
"Fair."
Another five seconds passed.
"What if they're stuck?"
"Still fair."
"What if they're dead?"
A light slap hit him.
Again.
"STOP ASKING THAT."
Varsha shouted.
"I'm contributing."
"No you're not."
Kritika replied.
Meanwhile, Sonal sat quietly near the doorway.
Listening.
Nobody noticed.
Not yet.
Back on the Other Side, Prishka finally understood why the spirit had attacked.
Because she had been right.
And it knew it.
The visions returned.
Clearer this time.
The necklace.
The ocean floor.
Years beneath the sea.
Waiting.
Sleeping.
Hidden.
Then Shristi finding it.
Then everything beginning.
Prishka looked directly at the spirit.
"You weren't hunting her."
The creature froze.
Wick noticed immediately.
Prishka continued.
"You were trapped."
The black ocean began to churn violently.
"You followed the necklace.
The ruins trembled.
"You needed a way back."
Silence.
Then the spirit screamed.
A sound so powerful it shook the entire realm.
And suddenly they understood.
The spirit hadn't chosen Shristi.
Shristi had simply been unlucky enough to find the key.
The spirit attacked again.
Faster.
More violent.
More desperate.
---
This time Prishka was ready.
Or at least...
Partially ready.
The strange awareness growing inside her finally awakened.
Not fully.
Not completely.
But enough.
The world slowed.
The ocean.
The ruins.
The spirit.
For a brief moment she could see things differently.
Feel things differently.
---
Connections.
Energy.
Threads.
And among those threads...
She saw Shristi.
Not physically.
But trapped.
Far away.
Hidden behind the spirit's influence.
"She's here."
Wick turned immediately.
"What?"
"Shristi."
Prishka pointed toward the darkness beyond the ruins.
"She's still here."
Hope surged through him instantly.
Then Prishka's expression changed.
"No."
The word stopped him.
Because she wasn't finished.
"Finding her isn't enough."
The spirit smiled.
As if it already knew what she was about to say.
Prishka looked toward Wick.
Then toward the necklace hanging around his neck.
Finally the last piece clicked into place.
Her eyes widened.
"Oh.
Wick frowned.
"What?"
Prishka stared at the necklace.
Then at the spirit.
Then back at Wick.
And suddenly she understood exactly what had happened.
The necklace never failed.
It had been protecting Shristi the entire time.
The spirit had simply removed it.
The realization hit her like lightning.
"Wick."
His expression hardened.
"What?"
"You need to go back."
The spirit's smile vanished.
Instantly.
And for the first time since arriving...
Prishka saw real fear in its eyes.
---
To be continued…