Scene 1 — The Disturbance
Something was wrong.
Vaibhav felt it first.
Not pain.
Not fear.
A disturbance.
Like the air itself had shifted by half a degree—small enough to ignore, heavy enough to notice.
Shlokh's steps slowed beside him.
Shourya stopped joking mid-sentence.
All three felt it at the same time—an unseen pressure pressing inward.
Then—
At the edge of the carnival gate, a man stood.
Normal clothes.
Black glasses.
Hands in his pockets.
Nothing about him stood out.
And yet everything did.
He tilted his head slightly and smiled.
"Oi… so these are the new devas?"
The words weren't loud.
They didn't need to be.
They echoed.
Vaibhav's chest tightened.
Without thinking, he turned toward Shlokh and Shourya.
"I… washroom. I'll be right back."
Before either of them could respond, he disappeared into the crowd.
Vaibhav
He walked fast.
Past lights.
Past laughter.
Past music.
Toward the old Trendwell—the massive air-balloon structure near Sagar's carnival grounds.
With every step, the air thickened.
A reddish sensation crawled beneath his skin, slow and invasive.
Then—
Darkness.
Not around him.
Inside him.
The world blurred. Sounds thinned. Reality dipped into shadow.
Vaibhav felt nothing.
But the black stone did.
A sudden pulse erupted from his chest.
A Riddhox wave.
Silent.
Violent.
Instant.
The darkness shattered.
Light rushed back.
Noise followed.
People laughed again.
Vaibhav staggered, breath uneven.
"What… just happened…?"
Shlokh & Shourya
They watched Vaibhav vanish into the crowd.
Shourya frowned.
"Bhai… mujhe kuch ajeeb lag raha hai."
(Bro… something feels strange.)
Before Shlokh could answer—
A flicker.
A memory glitch.
For half a second, the carnival stuttered—faces repeated, lights skipped frames.
Then—
Normal.
Shourya blinked.
"…kuch hua kya?"
("...did something happen?")
Shlokh didn't respond.
The golden stone in his throat vibrated faintly.
He felt watched.
The Man (Elsewhere)
The man adjusted his black glasses.
"So… Riddhox," he murmured.
His smile faded.
"Or maybe…"
Something red flickered around him—then vanished.
Voice of Creation
Low.
Uncertain.
"Realox…"
A pause.
"Even I do not fully understand it."
Another pause.
"And that… is dangerous."
Shourya — Vision
His left eye burned.
A sudden image flashed—
The man.
Standing above them.
A reddish aura bleeding into the air.
Shourya gasped.
The vision collapsed.
Nothing remained.
Only unease.
The carnival lights flickered.
Music continued.
People laughed.
But something had entered Sagar that night.
Something that did not belong to the cycle.
And the blur had begun.
Scene 2 — Fracture
Shlokh studied Shourya closely.
Something wasn't right.
A barely visible green shimmer flickered near Shourya's left eye—so faint it could be imagined.
Shourya laughed suddenly, forcing normalcy.
"Broooo—
why doesn't school give holidays instead of charging fees, huh?"
He even hummed a stupid tune.
Shlokh didn't laugh.
Confusion tightened in his chest.
Elsewhere—
Vaibhav stood still.
Sound returned.
Then came the murmur—
Countless lives speaking at once.
Infinite.
Dense.
Overlapping.
In front of him stood a man.
Only his back was visible.
Near the spinal cord, a reddish Riddhox aura pulsed slowly.
Not violent.
Not calm.
Controlled.
Back at the carnival, Shourya and Shlokh suddenly felt normal again.
Too normal.
They searched.
Left.
Right.
Crowd.
Stalls.
Vaibhav was gone.
They were standing in the same place… yet one of them was now facing the unknown alone.
Realox (Concept)
Realox is not power.
It is a glitch in reality—a restraint placed on forbidden truths.
It hides memories.
Breaks continuity.
Erases understanding before it forms.
Not to protect people—
But to protect secrets.
Scene 3 — Contact
Vaibhav swallowed.
Confusion wrapped tightly around his thoughts.
"Who… who are you?"
The moment the words left his mouth, pain flared in his chest.
Not sudden.
Not explosive.
Steady.
Like pressure being turned one notch higher at a time.
The man began walking toward him.
Calm.
Unhurried.
As if time itself had slowed to match his steps.
Someone spoke.
Not loudly.
Not clearly.
"Crystal…"
Vaibhav frowned, breath uneven.
"What… what are you talking about?"
Then—
The man vanished.
And reappeared.
Right in front of him.
No movement.
No sound.
No transition.
Just there.
The black stone panicked.
Its pulse went wild—erratic, desperate.
Pain ripped through Vaibhav's chest.
He shut his eyes.
Someone… save me.
The thought barely formed—
Before everything cracked.
A violent surge of Riddhox energy burst outward.
Not outward.
Not inward.
Everywhere.
Reality fractured like glass under pressure.
Then—
Silence.
Light.
Normality.
Vaibhav opened his eyes.
Music.
Voices.
Laughter.
The carnival.
Behind him, Shlokh and Shourya came running.
"Vaibhav!"
But before he could respond—
His knees buckled.
The world tilted.
Darkness swallowed him whole.
Later
Two hours passed.
Vaibhav's eyes opened slowly.
A familiar ceiling.
His room.
Home.
The carnival felt distant now—like a dream he couldn't fully remember.
But one truth remained.
Something had found him.
And it would not stop.
END — CHAPTER 9: BLUR,