Beginning of the end & end of the beginning (chapters 1-2)

"you are the key to the lock that is destruction, as long as you exist there is no peace here nor in any of the existing verses, still do you wish to thrive in that mortal facade? just what is your reasoning for not letting go of it? why won't you shed that hope even if it all means destruction & chaos at the end of the day just why won't you take my hand at becoming one with me for eternal eternity?" ....... why would you leave me all alone here..just why

"FOR HER"

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No not again... please come back, why would you.. just why you seemed so happy just yesterday didn't you promise me to show you your novel once you finish it, now who's going to finish it, you idiot

"uh.. seriously when does this cringe-fest end..?"

she muttered to herself as she wearily watched the airing drama

How in the god's name do people even watch this boring stuff...?

these were the thoughts of the girl who was currently watching stuff recommended by her fellow friends, cuddled up with her face on the bench of her University classroom, the room was barely lit with only one of the five high-intensity tube lights burning and it was already past seven in the evening so obviously most of the students weren't present, the classroom radiated a gloomy aura synonymous to the whole University.

the girl had a pale look on her as the phone screen reflected off the pink round eyeglasses she was wearing and even her emerald blue eyes seemed dead as she stared at her phone blankly..

"10 more minutes for the episode to end.. huh, ok that leaves me with more or less 20 minutes to reach my home before eight.."

the girl gently stretched herself.. and continued watching

After a mere few seconds, an unknown shadow coupled with footsteps approached the classroom from the far end of the corridor, the steps rather felt graceful as of an athlete with a certain distinct rhythm.
in a few more seconds the unknown figure was at the doorstep, well it was a boy who seemed of the same age as her and had blood red eyes with messy black hair, he had a blue T-shirt on matched with blue shorts and both were soaking wet with sweat

"Woah..!!!'

the boy playfully jumped in and started to shout cheerfully as he was fascinated by how eerily quiet his chirpy classroom was but in the haste of the moment he had completely ignored the girl who was sitting at the corner of the last bench.

As soon as he spotted her, he put both his hands on his mouth, stopped himself from shouting more and stared at the ground with red flushed cheeks as he was embarrassed by the act.

The girl on the other hand had her earphones on, so it seemed as if she was completely unaware of what had happened, but her sheer instinct had suggested that someone had entered the class, so she lifted her head drowsily and found him blushing with his eyes staring towards the floor.

"Did ya need anything..?"

the girl enquired

"uhm..n-no it's jus-st my bag,..I came to pick up my bag that's it.."

the boy answered anxiously still not making eye contact with her as he slowly picked up the bag and started to head towards the door so he could exit but the girl on the other hand was still looking at him with a rather sorrowful look

There he is, at it again.. trying to escape from a conversation. Like hell, he doesn't even reply with his eyes fixated on me.

she thought to herself as he slowly but completely disappeared from her vision

I don't remember having a single decent chat with him even though it's been a month since the classes have started already and on top of that he sits right on the bench beside me..

Well, why am I so bothered by it in the first place..?
whatever it is let it be

but still, a major part of her was submerged in the thoughts of him

"Aren't you gonna save him?"

right out of nowhere..a deep feminine voice echoed inside her repeatedly asking her the same question.

right as she heard that her body instinctively started to long for a few more glimpses of him, it almost felt as if she had suddenly been possessed by something.
her hand turned off the phone which she was holding, she swiftly put on her bag and rushed towards the exit...

I want to see him more, talk with him more, laugh with him more, and ...

these strange yet warmth-filled thoughts bottled up inside her and weirdly enough
she subconsciously knew these weren't her thoughts, it almost felt as if something or someone is inducing those feelings into her.. commanding her to feel things toward him

She swiftly followed him as these weird yet warm thoughts swiveled inside her

the corridors were empty, and the air had a faint smell of earth, which had been stowed in from outside because of the brief rain from earlier that evening, she raced through the white corridor and made it down the spiral staircase at the corner made it to the ground floor but he was nowhere to be seen.

Is he well-versed in teleportation magic and shit..?

these were the exact thoughts of hers as she was rather puzzled as to where he had vanished in such a short amount of time since he left the classroom

No way would he have made it out of the building within the time frame, but where did he seriously vanish to though..

By this time she was already standing at the University building's entrance which was completely furnished with marbled floors and compared to the whole University was rather well-lit with a chandelier hanging through the roof, She stood in the middle as she searched for possible ways the boy had slipped out from.

She checked out the opposite way of the corridor too and had little to no luck but as soon as she was about to give up, she heard the faint sound of steps approaching from the upper floor through the same spiral staircase which she walked down from a few minutes ago.

The tapping sounds of footsteps grew louder with each second.. and through the last curve she could see a boy's silhouette, well yes it was him.

as soon as she saw him her eyes started sparkling and she started to move towards him slowly

"whoa he was still here..nice"

she muttered to herself

and the next moment she was already behind him.
the boy on the other hand had his blue earphones on and was busy with his phone so obviously he didn't notice her

the girl slowly but steadily followed him, the boy wore a loose red Tracksuit contrary to the shorts and T he had on him while he entered the classroom earlier.

Must have gone to the changing room right after he left the classroom wonder i couldn't find him anywhere.

she thought to herself

"ehh..uh-m Revati..?"

she heard a faint voice come from right ahead, yes it was of that boy, she looked towards him and as soon as they made eye contact, the boy averted his gaze and started to scroll through his phone again and walk away as if he didn't care about having a conversation and blatantly ignoring her

there it is, being mean again and yeah he seriously needs a lesson in "how to ignore without them noticing that they are being ignored" what harm have I done to you to be shot down this hardly least be a bit more gentle at it shithead

she anxiously rebuked him in her thoughts as she followed him

"idiot..!!"

she muttered towards the boy, hoping in thoughts he wouldn't hear as he had his earphones on but surprisingly the boy stopped and turned around and still not making eye contact enquired

"well was that directed towards me?"

Revati alarmed by this, averted her gaze from him and lied as easily as she breathed

"uhm..no was talking to myself"

"ah sorry for that.."

the boy replied in an apologetic tone

the boy knew that it indeed was directed towards him, but he let it off for some

now they stood there awkwardly with their gazes averted both not knowing what to do next.
the foyer which was majestically designed with a white marble floor and the chandelier hanging on top weirdly made the whole atmosphere more awkward somewhat making it look more like something straight out of love stories in fairy tales which certainly wasn't the case here.

the boy took a step back turned around and slowly started walking back towards the entrance, there was awkward tension in the air and it was quite apparent that the boy was trying to escape this.

Revati gazed at the boy with quite a disheartened look

Well there he goes.. not like the first time he has done that, no wonder most of the girls tend to ignore him for that attitude

"Save him please.."

the deep feminine voice again chimed in her heart, her body yet again was longing for the boy who was marching away from her slowly
her hands moved on their own and she suddenly pulled the boy's shoulder by his tracksuit

"Akira ..u-hm.."

she gently called his name

Akira surprised by her action quickly jumped forward and turned around to face her

"Yeah.."

he uttered

"well, are you heading home now..?"

Revati enquired gently in a feeble tone though

Akira gazed at her with utter confusion the red gleaming eyes of his contact with Revati's eyes for just mere seconds before he averted them again as he replied in a gentle tone

"yes, why though..?"

Revati was caught off guard because she didn't plan the conversation also the plain & blunt way he answered almost seemed as if he was trying to end the conversation with a word or two

Revati started to panic internally

Ah fuck wait well obviously he is heading home.. like is it even the right way to start a conversation, he sure thinks I'm a weirdo for asking something obvious as that ah shit shit shit what should I do.. how do I keep the conversation going without making a joke outta myself fuck, why is it so hard for me to start a conversation with this guy, honestly I might just die from this embarrassment..

right as the awkward aura between them was building up into unbearable tension, Right as it was turning into more of an awkward situation, A faint tune started to emit from Revati's bag, The Tune resembled the Ringtones from the flip phone era with a mix of modern electro-beats.

Akira stared at her bag as soon as he heard the sound coming off it but Revati was rather still and there was an odd sense of terror and confusion on her face, she had become so stiff that she couldn't even move her hand.

"Yo, R-Revati your phone.."

Akira saw her face shake still, he didn't know the cause nor was he close enough with her to ask the cause for that reaction.

he gently poked at her shoulders

"well something's ringing, you might want to
shut that"

As soon as he poked her, Revati came back to her senses

Akira was rather close with a concerned look on his face and his red eyes gleamed beneath the well-lit hallway.
She slowly unzipped her bag, still with her hands shaking, and reached out to her phone and took it out

"Ah, I knew it.."

she put it back in and unzipped another compartment dug through the rubble and suddenly stopped at once and took out a small worn-out phone, it donned a cute pink casing which had an illustration of a girl on it.

she flipped the screen towards her and her face sank more in despair as soon as she saw the screen, her consciousness slowly started to shake because of the sheer tension she felt.
Akira was seeing all this unravel in front of him.

"Well are you okay?.. should we go to the infirmary or anything.. like you are shaking crazy you know.."

Akira spoke to her

Revati who had completely lost her composure now didn't hear him and was shaken still as she stared at the screen of her phone

"uhm-..Revati.."

he gently poked at her shoulder as he called out for her

"ah ye-yees what uhm.."

she suddenly snapped back to sense and answered also simultaneously switched the notification off on her phone and put it back in jeopardy

"Are you all right?"

Akira enquired again with a deep sense of concern on his face.

woh that's new

Revati was quite surprised by this strange yet complete change in the character of his as soon as she seemed stressed.

"it's nothing.."

she uttered

"Okay if you say so but still you seem quite out of it"

he replied

there was a long 5-10 seconds awkward pause before Akira engaged the conversation again.

"you are going back home, right? ..well let me escort you till there.."

he said in a hesitant tone

Revati was swept off by surprise again seeing him being concerned for her sake
she knew there wasn't any malicious intention behind those words but just genuine concern and care for her, still, the face he made while enquiring about her made her even more curious behind his reasoning.

"Aah, don't take it the wrong way, I'm not hitting on you or anything, it's just..uh.."

Akira's face was flushed red and was struggling to make eye contact with her but on the other hand, Revathi was completely clueless as to what Akira was going on about

"what..?"

Revati asked as her face revealed that she was utterly confused

"Nothing.. nevermind then"

Akira replied as he turned around again

"also as to what I suggested are you okay with that?"

Akira enquired with his back turned towards Revati

"yeah sure, if you don't mind that is"

Revati replied.

Akira slowly started to walk ahead as Revati closely followed his footsteps, they passed the main entrance, the path ahead was well-lit with street lights in the middle and a small straight road on either side, the air had a faint smell of moist earth caused due to rains earlier that evening.

"it's way too quiet".

Revati said in a feeble voice

"yea"

he replied

and the silence crept in again.

Revati started to feel anxious by this time as she figured out that this awkwardness between them would drag on and on up until they reached her home if she didn't somehow manage to turn it around, so she started to take the initiative.

"aight'

"well, are you the type of person who prefers quietness?"

Revati enquired

"huh.., well yeah..- no I love the calmness and tranquility of the night as it is but yeah nothing beats having a stroll at night with soothing music resonating in the background..you know like you get this feel as if you are in your little world with your preferred music, no burdens to be taken care of whatsoever ...yeah it's the best feeling in the world..right alongside the feel you get when you see something you have admired for quite a lot of time finally getting the recognition it deserves..you know something like that.."

Revati silently followed him as he went on talking enthusiastically about something, It was her first time seeing him being so genuine with her, as of now she couldn't hear much of what Akira was saying but she was rather just mesmerized and lost in the way she was exposed to the rare honesty and genuine feelings he was oozing out towards something, Akira gently looked behind as to check on Revati cause she was oddly quiet, the moon which was engulfed by clouds up till now slowly started to fade and right as Akira faced slightly towards Revati, half his profile was being beamed with moonlight, the sight almost felt surreal with Akira looking like a literal embodiment of pristine..revati could only watch it dazzled as she uttered..

"Beautiful"

"huh, what ..sorry if i talked too much.., i didn't want to bore you, like my brakes turn off as soon as someone asks something about myself"

Akira replied in a rather embarrassed tone, and yeah obviously he was blushing as usual.

Revati slowly crept beside him

"no don't worry, listening to you rather talk your hearts out was rather refreshing"

Revati indeed was surprised and delighted.

"Really?".

Akira asked in a feeble voice

"why would I lie idiot?"

Revati replied in a playful tone

Akira let out a breath of sigh

"as long as i don't annoy you it's well and fine I guess.., you know what"

"nah i don't"

Revati mockingly blocked him right in the middle of his sentence, Akira started to chuckle at this gesture

"Not gonna lie, you might be the most cheerful person in the class"

Akira replied

"oh, you have been watching me huh? you peeping cat.."

in a teasing manner, Revati replied with a smirk on her face

"uh..eh no well I mean ..there aren't a lot of interesting people in our class, I mean..well fuck I don't know how to get it out"

Revati was finding the situation quite amusing..and wanted to tease him more

"woah you are interested in me now?..weeh you gonna make me blush"

Akira was extremely embarrassed with the way Revati was keeping on with her playfully taunting replies and desperately wanted to make a comeback

"aahh...I can't, You win yeah I have been trying to have a conversation with you"

Akira declared

"eh..what uhm..heeee ok"

Revati's face had turned quite red because of what Akira had stated just now and was left with utter confusion as to what she should say ahead.

"I mean well .. I certainly didn't mean it in that way..like yeah there is a selfish reason as to why I wanted to talk with you and it's mainly because Kuron me..- well nevermind"

Revati was confused by Akira's mentioning of Kuron's name

"Kuron? how is she relevant in this conversation though?"

"don't worry about that much, I will explain it to you later some day..yeah that's obviously if we somehow strike up a conversation like today"

there was a slight tint of sadness to his voice but it was obvious that he was trying to keep the mood as cheery as possible

"Hey don't just leave me in a curious state .. I want some answers, mister"

Revati tried persuading him on a rather curious note.

Akira gently turned towards her and uttered

"Yeah as I said if we ever have more of these talks again I will say it to you"

the expression on Akira's face rather made her quit pursuing as it felt as if he was requesting her to keep this talk for any other day.

"yeah if you say so"

ah wait doesn't it mean he wants to keep getting involved with me..well it's not like I'm happy or anything but yeah it's quite strange.

Kuron was the class representative of their respective class, She was quite popular with both the boys and girls and was well known for her outgoing personality also she's a close friend of Revati and Surprisingly enough she is Akira's Non-identical twin.

Well anyways let it be..I'm gonna get to know it anyway by tomorrow if I just enquire her..

"Akira you should be involved more with your classmates you know.."

"no I didn't know, thanks for the advice mam"

Akira replied in a rather noble yet playful tone

Revati giggled with his rather abrupt reply

"Well you certainly are hyper-active with your activities involving just the boys"

"who's the peeping cat now, huh?"

Akira glanced at her as he uttered those words

it was true that Revati indeed was always observing him..like it was more like her eyes always followed him around subconsciously.

"No, i was just said so by Kuron, she constantly babbles about you from time to time as to how you are overly enthusiastic and curious about learning and doing things also how you always act like you ignore girls in your class, but you are rather just timid and shy to talk with them and some other shit too, though honestly thought most of the things she said about you were fake as she is known to trust and believe the facades of other people"

Revati replied in a rather calm tone

"That was harsh though yeah, you can say she is on point with most of the things she has revealed"

Akira admitted with a gesture of humiliation

"Yeah"

Akira replied with a slight sorrowful look on his face, Revati noticed this and immediately talked on

"Akira, well why don't we get rid of that problem, you are having a decent talk with me quite breezily right?"

"ehm..yes"

Akira replied

"Then from now on I will have a conversation with you on a regular basis, will greet you wherever I see you and your job is to carry on with my greeting and talks, how about that"?

Revati was holding back her embarrassment as she declared this, though she had no malicious intent behind her statement, but it was rather just the idea alone which seemed quite childish for two college students to follow, something inside her was driving her to these lengths to help him.

"Well that certainly is a good idea, but why though? like I haven't done anything for you nor was I a close aid to you in the past..still why are you agreeing on to help me in this"?

Akira asked her

"Well, there certainly wasn't any need for you to escort me to my house, but still as soon as you found out I was feeling a bit uneasy you went out of your way to escort me."

"Anyone who found you in that situation would have done that"

Akira interrupted her abruptly and said that

Revati glanced at him with a kind look on her face and replied

"no they wouldn't trust me on this, also you should stop belittling yourself and admit that you were kind enough to offer me aid even without asking for it, these are the small things that matter, and forgot to mention how hard it would have been for you to just get the talk going with the troubles you have with having talks with us girls, see I won't ask what happened in the past for you to be in this kind of "gynophobic state", but just for now accept my proposal ."

"Proposal"

Akira said in a shy tone

"Ah I meant eh uhm ..the proposal of the that communication thing I said earlier"

Revati replied in a rather state of distress

"ok"

Akira replied and there was a big smile on his face, Revati looked back at him only to be lost in his smile again.

they talked up until her house and it was finally time for them to part, Revati just wanted this to go on and on but here she was right outside her house which she...hated with all her guts.

"Akira meet you tomorrow then, it was totes fun talking with you, and thanks a freaking lot for escorting me"

"No actually thanks to you that I was able to talk so much, hoping to talk to you more from tomorrow onwards"

Akira replied cheerfully.

he was met with a happy smiling face of Revati which conveyed her words without actual words involved.

Revati went inside her apartment building, hopped onto the transparent glass elevator, and tapped the floor button, the elevator music played a piece of soft jazz music and through the transparent glass she could see Akira walking off at the distance, Revati waved at him playfully even though she knew he wouldn't wave back as he was too far away, within a few seconds she already was halfway through her elevator ride she slowly glanced upward towards the sky..she oddly noticed it being a tint of lavender the night sky almost seemed magical yet instilled a slight sense of unknown nostalgic terror in her.

I wonder why though..

she slowly approached her house..and gently tapped on the door...

The door opens, only to be met with the sight of a woman in her early 30s, she had her glasses on and wore a red apron she seemed like she just walked straight here from the kitchen.

"Revati, do you even know what time is it?"

she enquired angrily

"8-8-30 I guess"

Revati replied in a stoic tone

"I know the time, it just isn't safe for you to be outside at this hour"

she said with a rather concerned tone

"I know I know.."

"Well then, welcome home"

"yes I'm home"

Revati answered

"no not like that"

the women replied

"ok ok, I'm home Mom "

Revati answered in a stoic yet cold tone again

"there it is, though next time try saying it a bit more cheerfully"

Revati's mom replied as she welcomed her inside.

it was around midnight Revati lay on her bed recalling all the events that happened later that evening, it almost felt unreal that she got so much closer to the one guy she thought she would never get to know that too in the span of a single evening, she was excited for the days to come and was still equally terrified as for the fact she still didn't know much about the voices she heard inside her head at that certain time and also obviously the mysterious messages her old broken phone's been getting.

Well I'm certainly scared to get more into that stuff tonight, but I can't keep running from it can I?, well I should get to know the truth about it someday right?

"it's here they have found him, tomorrow's the day, to save him"

she was suddenly alerted by the same voice again.

there it is again, shit did I turn crazy or something?

she slowly turned towards her right..only to be met with the sights of her clock displaying 8:30 on it.

"Shit I overslept.."

she hurriedly did her chores, by that time her dad had already gone to his respective job whereas her mother had gone to the nearby market and as for her baby little sister..she was still in her deep sleep, so she locked the house from outside rushed into a nearby bus stop.

It was a cloudy morning and the mood almost felt melancholic, Revati had no time to notice the usual weather as she had already been quite late to leave her home and was quite literally on the verge of missing her bus.

as she hurried to the bus stop, The bus was still there, No one was boarding the bus and the bus was meagerly packed, Revati hurried onto the bus and The bus slowly started to move.

"Huff.. barely made it"

she let out a sigh of breath as she said this and sat down at an empty seat, The bus had an eerily silent atmosphere. Revati noticed this as soon as she sat down at her seat but there was one more thing that caught her eye.

she felt a vague sense of deja vu, The passengers who accommodated the bus were almost the same ones who had been there the previous day, and to her surprise, they had even sat in the same seats.

"Weird.."

she let out a small whisper, But she couldn't care less about it, She put in her headphones and started her usual playlist.

Within a few minutes she was at the university, but oddly enough the atmosphere felt eerily gloomy, not like it ever oozed out a fun aura but today the vibe was just pitch black.

The atmosphere felt vaguely heavy, Even though on the surface it felt like your usual Cloudy morning

She walked through the seemingly empty hallway, Which was quite unusual considering it was peak rush hour at uni.

did I mistake the day or something?? is today a holiday by any chance?

She hurriedly checked her phone, Well it was a working day.

"Weird"

she uttered

She walked into her oddly silent classroom, All of her friends and students turned their heads toward her in a synchronized way, Their movement felt vaguely robotic to the extent it felt as if they were being commanded or programmed to do so.

Revati felt an odd chill go up her spine as soon as she noticed this

she silently sat in her seat and hesitantly turned behind to confirm something.

"Hey Nami what day is it today?"

"it's Tuesday"

the girl sitting behind replied in a consistent monotone, Which almost felt artificially generated.

Revati's hand started to tremble and her face started to get pale as she turned back toward the front..she realized, Something was wrong, Terribly wrong because it was certainly supposed to be Wednesday today.

"What's happening...??"

she was severely confused ..she looked around with distress and weirdly enough all of the students' gaze were fixated on her.. Everyone's eyes seemed lifeless so did their actions, Everything started to feel uncanny, Among this her eyes unconsciously started to search for him, Akira.

"Akira.."

she called in a feeble tone, as she turned towards his seat, He wasn't there nor was Kuron present.

"Why-.."

A bright blue flash suddenly envelopes the classroom, So bright that it makes her close her eyes with shock, In a moment she opens her eyes again only to be met with a horrifying scene.

'Wait how..what.."

Revati slips deep into shock seeing the scene unfold in front of her.

The classroom it's walls had been dyed Red, and Revati herself was soaked in a red fluid..blood to be exact, Every single one of her classmates, Her friends whom she had come to know for the past month had decimated to thin air in a mere blink of an eye, Leaving behind nothing but blood.

"agh-..wh--..aaaaa...hhh"

Revati was struck dumb and couldn't get a single word out of her mouth nor did she get what had just happened around her. Suddenly she hears a tune come out of her bag..though she still sat on the seat with almost lifeless stillness, The tune slowly and gradually turns louder and louder, To a point it almost resembles the loudness of your usual flip-phone ringtone..yes it was the flip phone ringing, The same pink flip-phone Revathi was shocked to see ringing the day before but the current revathi was in more despair to even notice the phone ringing.

Just as Revathi is about to faint due to the intense shock she had witnessed ..a feeble voice catches her ear, She immediately recognizes the nostalgic yet fairly new voice she had come to like recently, It was Akira's.

A Silhouette of Akira appears amidst the blood-soaked classroom, As he walks faster toward Revati she can barely make out his expression, But she instantly knows with just a glance, that something is wrong.

He was Smiling so empathetically even as he walked through the remains of his classmates, As he drew closer to Revati he hugged the still yet blood-soaked body of Revati who sat on the seat lifeless with despair.

He bursts out in happy tears as he hugs her and lets out.

"IT'S BEEN 1002 WEEKS SINCE WE LAST MET".