Bhumi drifted in and out of consciousness.
Her vision blurred as she looked down, her thoughts slow and distant.
…Are those my hands?
She stared at the place where her arms should have been. Blood dripped steadily onto the broken stone beneath her.
Is this how I die?Why am I here?Why has my life always been like this…?
Her thoughts faded—and her past came rushing back.
Bhumi had once lived a happy life.
Her parents were working-class people, exhausted but kind. No matter how busy they were, they always found time for her. Laughter filled their small home, and Bhumi never doubted that she was loved.
Then came the day everything ended.
They had stopped near a toy shop to buy a gift for Bhumi's upcoming birthday.
That was when the bomb exploded.
The blast tore through the street. Both her parents were killed instantly. More than a thousand people were affected—two hundred dead, six hundred critically injured, and hundreds more wounded.
Her parents did not.
After the funeral, relatives came and went, offering hollow words before disappearing from her life. Only her father's brother took her in.
For two years, things were… tolerable.
Then his shop went bankrupt.
Anger replaced kindness. Grief turned into resentment.
He blamed Bhumi.
He thought her presence had brought bad luck. That her jealousy had ruined him.
One day, under the excuse of a short trip, he took twelve-year-old Bhumi to a railway station.
And left her there.
She waited.
Hours passed.Then a day.Then three.
On the third day, the truth finally sank in.
She was alone.
She always had been.
The weight of it crushed her. Depression swallowed her whole, and for a moment, she stood on the edge of making a choice she could never take back.
That was when a piece of paper fluttered through the air and struck her face.
She caught it.
It was a torn page from a comic book.
On it, a hero was being asked a question:
"Why do you do so much for this city?"
Bhumi read the reply.
"If your family were in danger, wouldn't you do the same?This city is my family.And I will never forgive anyone who tries to harm my family."
Her hands trembled.
Tears fell—her first in three days.
Something changed inside her.
If I don't have a family…Then I'll make one.
I'll protect others.I'll become someone who stands.
And from that moment on, Bhumi chose her path.
If you enjoyed this chapter, a Power Stone helps a lot."