On a realm beyond, there was a village in a snowy plain. The usually quaint village was in shambles, it was like an undug graveyard in a sea of wood and flames. In it was a child who was in the warm embrace of her mother. At an age where she couldn't understand the screams of agony that came from outside. The snow she used to play in was tainted by the blood of her neighbours. Though her mother was smiling like she used to, her hands trembled like she was doused in water. "Lyra, sweetie, I need you to take this, it will keep you and your brother warm" the woman handed a silver medallion to lyra and gave her a one last hug then she walked over to the crib. While her mother went away the young child sneaked a glance through the window. There were men clothed in grey fur, they wielded axes and blades covered in blood.
All of them looked like lunatics except one. He had the same attire as the others, yet he looked more dignified, more like the leader. He held no weapons, yet everyone was afraid of him. A tall and bulky man approached him and whispered something in his ear. As the tall one finished talking, an eerie smile appeared on the leader's face. Seconds later a beautiful blue mist began to pour out of the leader's hand. The blue mist did not dissipate instead it began to contract into a sphere. Out of the sphere of blue mist emerged a wolf with white fur and blue hue. This wolf resembled a statue more so than an actual wolf, it had strange blue markings all over its body and had the eyes of a beast which thirsted for blood.
Before she could see anything more her mother dragged her away "Lyra! what do you think you're doing! I told you to stay away from the windows!" before she could scream anymore, tears began to drip across the cheeks of the young chid "Mommy… what is happening? Where is daddy? I'm scared" and without missing a beat Lyra's mother placed her hands on her cheek. Her hands became as still as stone "It's going to be alright, sweetie. All you need to do is take your little brother through the backdoor and walk till you reach another village, ok" Even though her mother pointed to the door Lyra refused to let go of her "But what about you and daddy!" "Well, your daddy went to a place far beyond here and I'm going to join him there so he wouldn't be lonely"
"Take me with you, I don't want to be here alone!" as she said those words her mother broke down in tears "No! No, sweetie it is not your time to go there yet and you…" her voice shook like a hut's roof on rainfall "You are not alone, you have your brother Luka and you have to care for him" Lyra stood in front of the backdoor with her baby brother in one hand and her mother's medallion in the other. The young child didn't know what was happening, but she knew, once she walked through that door everything would change. Once she walked out, going to the fjord with her father, braiding her mother's silky hair, cuddling up in front of the fireplace with her brother in arms, will all be a distant memory.
Her mother who saw her hesitation, gave out a smile that brought back all her child's fondest memories "It's going to be alright, Sweetie, you know why?" Lyra's mother ever so gently dragged her towards the door "because even if mommy and daddy are not there, God will send you a hero to solve all of your problems" a flicker of curiosity lit Lyra's eyes "a hero? What is that?" as they went closer, her mother flung open the door revealing an endless sea of snow and ice. Her mother's presence behind her back gave a sense of warmth against the cold winds "hero is a person who protects you against everything, hero is someone who has the strength of a thousand snow tuskers, someone who will never lose" "a hero will protect me?" "Yes, a hero will protect you"
So, the child walked across the snow with a hope in her heart that God will send a hero for her, someone who is the strongest, someone who has never seen defeat and it made the cold and lonely path forward more bearable. Little did she know that God would send someone, but he was not someone who has the strength of a thousand nor someone who has never seen defeat, instead he would send someone who would lose a fight with his own shadow, someone who has only seen victory when it comes to matter of the mind, someone who believed he could save none, someone who is just... Yazh.
In another world called Earth, there was a hospital with a thousand rooms. And in one of those rooms was one which was haunted with the voices of the struggles for the past twelve years "come on! Come on, buddy! You can do it! Just grab it, just... grab it! Dammit!" the glass fell to the ground and the water spilled everywhere. To yazh this was a daily occurrence, ever since he began to lose his strength, he tried to lift a glass of water and for the past few years he has been failing. "To think, even after thousand attempts I wouldn't have the idea of using an empty cup" Yazh was lying in his hospital bed, which was consumed by the smell of antiseptic and blood. The sterile walls had a slight yellow tinge, and it was cold like the staff and universe, it covered the room preventing him from enjoying the world for its beauty. And harsh fluorescent lighting cast an uninviting glow around him. The steady beeping of the machines around him seemed to mock his failing body. Despite the best efforts of the doctors and the endless stream of medication, he had been given, his illness had progressed beyond the point of return. He looked around the hospital room, he hated it since this was his involuntary jail and he hated himself because of his inability to be somewhere else.
As he looked around the room an old photo caught his eye, it was his mother, Nandini who was grinning ear to ear while holding the newborn yazh in her arms. She had jet-black hair and classic Indian features like her son. Though Nandini looked a sweet mother in the photo, she was someone with a heart of a fighter. Even when his father died when he was only a month old, she managed to make enough money to send yazh aboard for expensive medical treatment. No matter what had happened she would always be beside Yazh. He wanted to hold that photograph in his hand. He tried to lift his hand toward the photograph but for Yazh just lifting his hand required an incredible amount of strength. Though he managed to touch it with his trembling hand, then he accidently pushed it into the puddle of water on the floor. As the water seeped in through the broken frame and ruined the beautiful picture, it reflected what he thought about his existence. He was the water that ruined Nandini's picture perfect life.
As Yazh was cursing his existence, a quiet figure crept inside. It was the janitor, he was an old man who always slouched and wore tattered clothes "You should stop doing this, kid" he had his trusty mop in his hand. while he mopped the floor, he kept asking miscellaneous question as he was the one who gave yazh company when his mother was not there. While in the middle of the conservation he pulled out a comic book out his uniform and exclaimed "Look what I found in lost in found, a superhero comic!" but to the janitor surprise Yazh gave no reaction "okay... good for you, I guess?" "Wait? What! You love these books" "That was when I was a kid" the janitor became puzzled by Yazh's words "So, you don't like heroes anymore?" yazh looked through the door of his hospital room, through the door he saw people, children suffering "You know, many people come to the hospital, buy some medicine and go away but not many come here and look into rooms like mine"
Yazh continued "once they do, they will realise for every one person you save, there will be hundreds you cannot, so what's the purpose of being a hero when you can't save everyone" the janitor tried to reply "You do have a point kid but..." but Yazh intervened "I stopped liking heroes because I realized what it was, a fantasy" the janitor had nothing to say, so quietly kept mopping. Normally he wouldn't have spoken like this but that morning, he had woken up with an unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was as if an invisible weight rested upon his shoulders, whispering ominous words into his ears. He couldn't shake off the sense that today was his last day. Fuelled by a mix of apprehension and urgency, Yazh reached for his phone with his weak and skinny hand. As he reached for his phone, he heard the janitor's voice reach out to him "Yazh, why are you still alive?" he turned to see why he made such a threatening remark, only to find a frail old janitor who had been cleaning his room as long as he could remember, behaving like a different person. He was not slouching like he used to, his voice didn't stutter, and the most glaring difference was his crystal blue eyes.
Yazh who was confused by the janitor's action replied in a snarky manner "Old man, you finally snapped after moping the floor for so many years" The janitor let out a smile and kept moping the white floor. The silence between them was only interrupted by the machines attached onto yazh. But the question lingered in Yazh's mind, why was he still alive? The medical condition he had since birth didn't even have a name. he was a thousand kilometres away from home because of the empty promises made by his doctors. He had never met any of his family except his mother. He had no friends, and the last time he had walked was when he was two years old.
Though Nandini had hope that yazh could be cured, he knew the cold hard truth. "Do you know you were supposed to die when you were three years old, but you refused to give in" the silent janitor began to speak once more "I thought you will just fight for a few days and give up like others, but you didn't. the days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months, and now it has been twelve years" Yazh wanted to say that his will to live had nothing to do with his medical condition but a part of him knew that it was true. The janitor set his mop aside and stood beside him "why are you still alive? Why don't you give up? Why are you still fighting?"
Before he could say anything, the door burst open, and the janitor was nowhere to be found. The person who had entered to room was none other than Nandini. She was wearing old clothes that had been reused since his seventh birthday. Unlike most things in the hospital, she had a look of poverty and that was because she was. Almost all of her income went to Yazh's medical bills, so she could barely look after herself not that she cared to.
"Yazh, look I bought you a new computer!" she sang excitedly. For yazh internet was the only thing that could show him the outside world. Yazh learned a lot of miscellaneous things from the internet such as how to make a gun, art of war and thousands of stories of Greek, Norse, and Hindu pantheons. Though he had an exorbitant amount of knowledge, Yazh isn't someone you would consider talented, he was simply someone who would stop at nothing to get what he wants. Yazh unlike his mother's expectation was not keen with his gift "How did you afford this? Do we have enough money to buy this!?"
Nandini turned away flustered "Of course we can!" But yazh easily saw through the lie, he knew that she had to work overtime because of this. "Come on! Stop worrying about the money, we should play some video games instead of worrying" Nandini was a mother who often tried to hide the dark side of the world from yazh, but unfortunately for her, her son was too smart. Suddenly Yazh started to feel intoxicated by the sunlight that dripped through the curtains. The conversation he had with the janitor and the uneasy feeling he had since morning infected his mind with a single thought 'THIS IS IT, my time is coming to an end'. This thought filled him with a sense of pain and nostalgia. He asked, "do you remember the time, you bought me a game that was not suitable for my age?"
"That memory was something I'll remember till the day I die, I still remember the day my twelve-year yazh handed me his video game because he wasn't supposed to play with it. That was the day I realized my beautiful son was special. You know many children would hide it from their parents, but you didn't" "when I was child, I truly had an overbearing sense of justice" "And you would read those comics and dream about being a hero, do you still dream of being a hero!" as those words reached yazh, his expression went grim. Nandini saw his face, yet she decided to not press the matter more. "But you were already mine" as she said those words, her hand went through his hair and at that moment the entire conversation with the janitor replayed in his mind. He closed his eyes as tears flowed out and he unconsciously breathed out "FOR THIS, this is why I fight" she turned to see her child and panicked when she saw the tears "Yazh!! Are you alright!? Do you want me to call the doctor!?"
Yazh quickly grabbed his mother's hand as she was about to rush for a doctor "Mom, I am fine, don't worry" Nandini dutifully kept her hand on his forehead and asked with worry "are you sure?" Yazh saw his mother's face as daylight fell on her. She was a beautiful woman who had been weathered down by years of overwork, taking care of her bedridden son and paying years of hospital bills. Yazh asked "Mom, why don't you wear any pretty clothes?" Nandini couldn't answer "why don't you have any friends" All of Nandini's motherly instincts flared up
Before she could say anything, yazh asked one more "why aren't you happy when I am not looking?" suddenly the machine attached to him began to beep uncontrollably. Panicked, Nandini was about to run toward a doctor, but she was held down by her son who kept saying "please don't go". So, she began to call out to the doctor with the top of her lungs. Yazh didn't care, he just kept speaking "All these years I thought I kept fighting for you, but I didn't. I selfishly fought for myself. I just wanted to spend another day with you, but I didn't care what I put you through" Nandini's tears began to flow uncontrollably "Don't talk like that! Don't talk like that, please! Doctor is going to come, everything is going to be alright"
Yazh tugged his mother toward him, their foreheads touched, and their tears intertwined. With a tragic smile yazh spoke his last sentence on this world "I know this is selfish but could you, from now on wear pretty clothes, have lots of friends and finally be happy when I am not there"
Yazh whose entire world was his hospital bed, the sterile walls, and harsh fluorescent lighting, moments before his death desperately wanted to get out of his bed, play with all the friends he had made over the years in a lush green field, feel the warm sun light on his skin and finally hug his mother goodbye. Many kids his age yearn for girlfriends and parties with the cool kids but all he yearned for was to witness the colours of nature, to feel the warmth of the sun upon his face, and to immerse himself in the vibrant tapestry of life that had eluded him for so long. The monitor stopped beeping, the hand that held Nandini lost its strength. The room fell silent and the only thing that could be heard was weeping of a mother who lost her child.
"Yazh... Yazh... Wake up, my child" whispered a voice that seeped into his ears, jolting him awake. He came to consciousness, in an empty white stretch. It was as if he stood on everything and nothing at the same time. Across the white expanse stood alone figure, it was a humanoid figure that was covered in white, and it had no unique features except crystal blue eyes.
A chill went through Yazh's spine as the sight before him was unfathomable. He called to it with his most deafening voice "Hello! Who are you!? Where am I!?" the humanoid creature walked towards him, every step that it took had a magnitude of power. It stopped right within Yazh's reach. "I'm nothing yet everything, I'm something that all living creatures wish to perceive yet none can" Yazh could not understand anything except for the fact that this creature overestimated his intelligence "So… You are?" the blue-eyed creature stared at his eyes "In the simplest of terms, I'm something you would refer to as god"
The fact that he was in front of God sent his heart flying "Well, Mr. god, am I dead since no living creature can perceive you?" Yazh whispered. To which god replied in a voice that was neither masculine nor feminine "Your assumption would be correct" Even though he knew he was dead, the fact that God confirmed it, left a tinge of sadness in his heart. "So, where am I going? Heaven or hell" Upon hearing those words god waved his hand toward the white expanse, forming a bridge that led to infinity. As they both walked on it, they conversed
"Neither"
"Why? Am I a bad person?"
"No, because Heaven and hell do not exist"
"Really!?"
"It is a figment of imagination that your forefathers made to deal with the concept of death"
"So, what happens after I die"
"You will re-live life"
"Oh, like a video game, I keep re-trying my life"
"Yes and no"
"No offense, Mr. god, I'm a child so you have to explain more clearly"
"You will live your life, but you will also live the life of your mother, your nurse, and every other living creature in this world"
"Why?"
"Because even though your physical form and life experiences are different from one another you all share the same soul"
"That means..."
"You are you, yet you are everyone else, you are everyone that exists and everyone that will. You are the bearer of the sins you did not commit and the virtues of good you wished you could do. You are everything everywhere at once, you are infinity"
"Whoa! That's cool but there's one thing I don't understand"
"That is?"
"What is the purpose of this conversation? Why am I here?"
God stopped, they had seemed to reach the end of the infinite bridge "Yazh, do you remember your fifth birthday" The jump from the complex philosophical banter to a simple question stumped him "Um... Yeah, I remember, it was the first birthday I celebrated" God stared into his eyes and asked him "do you know what you wished for?" Yazh's heart sank as he revisited those old and painful memories. "I wanted to be a hero" Yazh smirked at his younger self's innocence. "Why did you want to be a hero" Yazh looked at his feet, avoiding god's gaze "You know... The hero is the strongest, coolest, and gets the girl. Every person wants to be a hero at some point in their lives" God, after hearing him speak, waved his hands once more "Yazh I want to show you a world called Kanipiru, the logic in this planet differs from yours" This time he was in an almost medieval looking room, half of the room had seemed to be blown off. Through the gaping hole yazh could see they were at mountain cliff and in the centre was a girl who was under a pile of rubble. Yazh who was shocked at this scene shouted, "oh my god, there is a woman stuck there, you have to help her!" God didn't even bother turning "I cannot" "What do you mean you cannot!? You are God!"
This time God turned "As the creator I cannot interfere physically with your world, this world, or any other world. But you can" upon hearing this yazh took a step back "Wait do you want me to go to that planet and be a hero just like I always wanted to be!?" yazh put his hands on his cheeks "Oh my you! Since you came personally to me, I don't even have to think about it… Hell! No!" Yazh summoned all his sassy teenage spirt "I'm not a child anymore! What I want is a hot girlfriend and go outside, enjoy everything the universe has to offer". Upon hearing this god didn't smite him out of existence like he thought he would instead God took his hand and placed it upon Yazh's shoulder and as he did, the scenery around him began to contort into something he had never seen. He found himself in a room he had never seen before. It was filled with the lot of motivational posters and clothes had been scattered across. Pleasant light of sunrise filled the room, and it gave it a homely atmosphere. As yazh was taking in this new atmosphere, he failed to notice the door opening behind. The door flung open, and a girl appeared, yazh who finally saw this woman flew into panic "Ma'am, I'm not a pervert! This God dude teleported me here, please don't scream!" but she didn't even seem to notice him and walked right though him.
He stood there like deer in headlights until he heard Mr. God's familiar voice "don't worry, you cannot interact with the world" this was relief for yazh and immediately after taking a breath he put his hands in the girl's back and to his joy it went through. For the next ten seconds he put his body through every surface in the room and giggled 'I'm a ghost' while doing it. After playing around he finally had the sense to ask, "what am I doing here!?" God who stood there watching Yazh's shenanigans replied in an aloof manner "You are here to watch"
Heeding this, he looked over to the young girl, who was looking at her computer with extreme anxiety. Yazh approached to see what she was looking at and it turned out to be her e-mail. Yazh who was slowly taking in the new environment noticed new things such as an enormous number of textbooks in the room and strange scars across her arms. Then a sudden ping echoed through, a new email had popped up. Both the girl and yazh move their head closer to read the email while yazh began to mumble to himself "Miss Mia… we are happy… our university… full ride…" The girl let out a scream "I did it! I did it!". Mia started jumping around the room like an overexcited child. Her joy was infectious, even yazh who had never met her before felt a sense of pride and joy.
The joy looked like it was about to explode when an older lady burst open the door "Mia! What the heck do you think you're doing!?" the lady was much older than Mia, but she had a resemblance to her. Mia didn't cower in fear or make any excuses, she immediately jumped in the older lady's arms "Auntie, I got in!!!" at first, she didn't get it "you got in what?" then it sank in "oh my god!!! You got in!!!" her auntie clasped her arms in joy and began spinning around. Yazh who was in the middle of this, was also swept up in this event of immense joy "Woo! Yeah! She got in!". suddenly the celebration stopped when the auntie's expression darkened, and she asked in worry "Wait! How much is the fees?" to which Mia replied with the widest grin "Zero! I got scholarship!"
If it wasn't for gravity both the women would've reached the moon. Mia embraced her aunt with all her might "auntie, do you think-" her aunt replied even before she could finish "they would have been the proudest people on earth" her aunt who was still overjoyed, began planning all the fun things they would do today before she was stopped by her niece "before we go party, I have to do something" this time Mia's voice was resolute and controlled by it her aunt gave in "but be back before afternoon" Mia gave her aunt one last hug before rushing downstairs. With both gone Yazh was once again stuck in an unknown environment with God. Yazh who was finally rid of distractions asked the important question "Dude, I get that you're all cool and mysterious, but could you please tell me what all of this is" God was stoic as a statue till he broke his silence with a snap
Once more the environment evaporated and was replaced by new one. This time it was the inside of car, it was an old corvette. He replied with indifference "Eh, used to it at this point" it was the first time, he was in a normal car. This was not a clunky machine that moved it was proper car, yet he didn't enjoy being in it. He couldn't feel the discomfort of the leather seat, nor could he feel the wind escaping into the car. The thought that even in death he could not feel the things normal people could, caused pain like no other. Mia drove the car with a look of satisfaction in her eyes, but Yazh's eyes were filled with contempt and envy, yazh started to speak with aggression and a hint of sorrow.
"The reason I said no to your childish proposition was because Heroes don't exist" yazh didn't even turn when he said those words "and me be one! Who will I save!? I couldn't even save my own mother from myself, I couldn't even save myself from hope, from a hope that I will get better" the entire idea of him being a hero felt like an insult to his powerless existence "I know you're God and all, but do you know what it feels like to just exist. To just exist without doing anything or being anything. To just watch those around you getting hurt while all you are doing is just… existing" God who was sitting in the back seat was as cool as ice and he replied in the indifferent voice he always spoke in "Actually that feeling is more familiar to me than you can imagine" when yazh heard those words he felt his face fill with heat. At that moment the kid wanted to throw hands on the creator of reality itself. Before chaos could ensue in the old corvette, the car came to a halt. To his surprise it was a hospital, not just any hospital it was the one where Yazh's final moment came to pass. Sheer shock of being in the place where he died, made him unable to move. And before he could say anything he heard a familiar snap.
He was teleported once more but this time it was not an unfamiliar place. It was the reception area of the hospital he was in and there she was, Nandini. She sat still like a corpse and all the colour in her face was drained. Yet Yazh didn't care he jumped on her with joy but to his disappointment he went right through her. But he didn't give up, he knelt beside her and screamed like raving lunatic "Mom! Mom! Look here! I'm right here! Look at me!! Please… look at me… please" yazh slumped to the ground when he realised there is nothing he could do. "Why are you doing this to me!? Why!?" yazh screamed with agony.
For Nandini, the moments after Yazh's death felt like a flash. She found herself standing in front a nurse's desk "Miss, this is your ward's belongings" The nurse who had a thousand different things in mind, did not even bother to look at her face "Before you take this home, you need to fill out these forms". She stood there, trying her best to not break down, the nurse rolled her eyes. "Hello! Ma'am, I haven't got all day"
Nandini grabbed the form from the nurse's hand. Her hands quivered as she tried to hold it, it was as if her body was rejecting the fact that her son had left this world. She looked around the lobby and found a quiet place to sit. As she walked toward the seat, the nurse called out "Ma'am". She turned back to see the nurse pointing at the box containing the final trace of her son's existence. For the first time in her life, she had truly felt alone and the fact that her son was right beside her with no way to interact with her, made the circumstances a hundred times more cruel
Every moment of Yazh's arduous life was shrunken into a cardboard box and the thought itself made her curse the universe for its brutality. It was as if the universe was mocking her beloved child, his pain, his suffering, and his existence. As she went through the items, one by one, she felt the texture of those things in her cold fingers. The noise in the lobby seemed to have faded into oblivion.
"Wait, what is this!? What is happening!?"
"it's the memory she is recollecting"
The bleak white walls were replaced by the first ray of sunlight. And there was her five-year-old child adorning a beautiful red cap clapping happily at the cake in front of him. He smiled as bright as a ray of light passing through morning dew even though twenty wires were in his body. He could not breathe without the machine hooked to his lungs, yet he blew as much air as he required to smother the candles on his cake.
"Wow, I was weak, l mean… I still am or maybe not, since I'm dead"
And there she stood, beside his bed. He moved his frail arms, which lacked any flesh, around the crimson-wrapped gift that he could not even lift. "Mom! What is it" he screamed with excitement. His bright smile across his sunken cheeks shone across the sterile room and her life. She sat down beside him and placed her trembling hand on top of his scalp, she whispered, "So What do you wish for" The child looked back at her with puzzled eyes "Why?"
"I was a clueless child whose whole life was treatment after treatment"
That single word hit her in the face. Her son who had spent most of his life in surgery or on bed rest knew nothing of birthdays or their tradition. "Well... Whenever a person makes a wish on their birthday, it becomes true" she told him, hoping to water his childlike heart. Yazh's eyes gleamed with excitement "Really!?"He put his fragile fingers on his lips imitating the detectives in the comics he loved. "Is that so... " his eyebrows curved as he went deep into his thought. He paused and then he looked at his mother with a beautiful smile "Then I would like to be a hero". God who was up until now silent, began to speak "why, Yazh, why did you want to be a hero" The being in which he found pure divinity showed a hint of compassion. So unconsciously he began to talk "Well, my mother was not exactly rich, so I couldn't afford a private room. So, I was put in a room with two beds and between those two beds was a curtain, which was a futile attempt on privacy. As I stayed in that room, every month or so, a new person would be on the other bed, most of those people were children" his throat began to swell, and tears flooded his eyes. Yazh could not understand the reason behind his reaction or his sadness "but the kids on the other bed were not like me. They were those who had been hurt, wronged, and abused. Some were abused by their parents and sold to pure evil, and some had acid thrown at their faces, disfiguring them to the point that even their parents couldn't look at them. Some went through such horror that I can't speak about them without breaking down" he wiped the tears off his face and continued.
"The adults must have thought I wouldn't understand what had happened to them and they were right, at that time I couldn't understand what was happening, but I could understand that they were hurting. Every night they would cry and scream for help and every night I would wish that I had enough strength to get up, move the curtain and hug them and tell them everything would be alright and make them stop hurting" "It was not only them, my mother would cry all alone across the hallway thinking that I couldn't hear her, but I could. Do you know how much it hurts when all you could do is watch and be a burden when everyone around you is suffering" yazh reached out to his mother even though he knew that he could never touch her "my wish was not to be powerless. My wish was to make their pain go away. My wish was to save them"
Despite his rant the beautiful delusion kept going. Nandini cracked a smile at her child's innocence.
"You want to be super strong and fly at super speed, don't you" teasing her son.
Yazh looked at her mother with a smile "Nope"
"Then do you want to breathe underwater" "No"
"Be invisible"
"No"
Now puzzled she asked, "Then what kind of superhero do you wanna be?"
The light shone through the curtains, the shade of light made his amber eyes sparkle. " I want to be a hero, that smiles even through the toughest times. I want to be someone who will bring hope in the darkest times" he extended his frail arms toward her and as she looked at his frail body reach for her, she ran toward him and embraced him. As his body warmth got soaked into her soul, he spoke with his pristine voice "I want to be the greatest hero someone like-"
Yazh looked at his younger self with pity "You will be no hero, you will live and rot on that hospital bed. You cannot save anyone, you will bring no hope" as he clenched his hands in anger the illusion began to dissipate. "Umm… excuse me" their trip down memory lane was interrupted by a young girl. To Yazh's surprise it was someone he recognised, it was Mia. Mia sat beside Nandini and started talking "I was asking for a child called yazh and the nurse pointed at you" this puzzled Yazh, why would some random girl ask about him. Nandini replied with somber "Yes, I am his mother, and you are?" The girl obediently told her "Oh, you won't recognize me, few years back I was admitted in this hospital"
"She was?" yazh turned back to ask God but as he expected he was still as stone. Nandini, who was trying to hold her composure managed to ask, "and why are you here?" and as she asked this, the girl's complexion turned sad and nostalgic "I was admitted here because of a car accident, in that car accident I lost my parents." She paused a second to regain her composure "You know, the day I lost my parents was like any other day. We were going to a restaurant just the three of us and then BAM! Everything changed." she took Nandini's hand in her own "the accident broke me, I aimlessly wandered through the hospital"
Yazh stood there, having his existence ignored "Now I remember, some drunk driver crashed into her car and her parents died on the spot." Time seemed to be paused, Yazh summed it up to another one of god's shenanigans and sat down on the chair. "Do you know, she used to like superheroes like me, but she slowly started to hate them after the accident" he signalled God to sit beside him "you see, Mia realised there no one with might, intelligence and chiselled jawline who will solve all her problems and I realized I can never be that" the room began to change, half of it turned into the medieval room. Yazh pointed to the woman stuck in the debris "Can you tell me that, I can, without fail, save her? Even if I did can you tell me that, she is the only person on that world who is in danger? Can you tell me that, I can help everyone there?" yazh looked down as he felt the weight on his shoulders increase tenfold. "Look, Mr God, I'm tired of people around me getting hurt, I'm tired being powerless" God stood up "Do you think you are the protagonist" Yazh was taken aback "No!" "Then why are you obsessed with helping everyone" "yazh, you are not a saviour, you are just... you. You may or may not be able to save her and you certainly cannot save everyone. But will you forsake one person, without even trying, for the hundreds of you cannot"
"But why ask me? Why not some firefighter or police officer? Why ask the kid who not once ran in his life? How can I save someone on another world when I have not saved anyone on this world" God didn't say anything instead he looked over to Mia and Nandini. The room unpaused, Mia once again began to speak "Then one day I met a young child, his name was yazh. He and I both shared an interest in heroes but after the accident I didn't like them. It was because no hero showed up to save my parents, no hero showed up to save me and I told all this to yazh" Mia looked at Nandini and said, "do you know what he told me?" Nandini could not say anything as she was try her best to not break down "he said if there are no hero in the world then he will be the hero" "after talking to him I realised that I can't wait for some hero to save me instead I have to be the hero that will save me, then I worked my ass off and just today I got in my dream college"
"Since, I can't say this to yazh, I will tell say this to you, according to comic books and movies, he wouldn't fit the criteria of a hero but according to me, he is" upon hearing this Nandini broke down and Yazh was starstruck. Then he felt God's hand on his shoulder "being a hero doesn't mean you have to be the strongest or the smartest, it means to do the right thing at the right time" Yazh turned back to the other world "I will go there but I have a few questions."
"I won't get some overpowered ability when I go there?"
"Yes"
"I won't be able help everyone"
"Yes"
"I'll have no physical advantage over the native people"
"Yes"
"I'm very likely to get killed"
"Yes"
"This is a bad idea"
"Yes"
Even though it wasn't answers he wanted to hear, he didn't care. Yazh reached out to the girl as he felt his consciousness fade. This is the beginning of Yazh's story of another world.