The first thing Aarav noticed was the silence.
Not the sterile silence of hospital corridors at three in the morning—but a living silence, thick with breath, with magic humming faintly in the air. The stone beneath his feet was warm, as if the platform itself had a pulse.
He slowly lowered his raised arm.
The blinding light had faded, leaving behind flickering runes etched into the summoning circle. They glowed in shades of gold and pale blue, shifting like constellations caught in stone.
Around him, tall pillars arched toward a vaulted ceiling carved with celestial patterns. Beyond the open sides of the chamber, a vast night sky stretched endlessly—too many stars, too close, unfamiliar.
This wasn't Earth.
Aarav's heart beat once, heavy and loud.
"So I didn't faint. I didn't hallucinate. I didn't lose my mind"
The man in royal clothing—Prince Kaelith—remained kneeling before him, one hand still extended.
Aarav stared at the offered hand for a long moment.
He didn't take it.
"Stand up," Aarav said calmly. "You're royalty, apparently. Kneeling in front of strangers is a bad habit."
Kaelith paused, then slowly rose to his feet. There was something strange in his gaze—not offense, not pride—but faint amusement, as though Aarav had done something no one else ever dared.
"You are not afraid," Kaelith observed.
"I am," Aarav replied honestly. "I'm just trained not to let it control my hands."
The prince's lips curved, the smallest hint of a smile. "That, Sage, is exactly why the world chose you."
Aarav exhaled. "Stop calling me that."
Kaelith tilted his head. "It is the name written in the summoning prophecy."
"I already have a name," Aarav said. "Aarav Dev Mahasura."
The moment he spoke it aloud, the runes beneath his feet shimmered brighter.
The chamber seemed to breathe in.
A low hum vibrated through the floor.
Kaelith's eyes widened slightly. "The circle accepted your true name."
"That's… comforting," Aarav muttered dryly. "Your magic circle is a good listener."
Before Kaelith could reply, footsteps echoed from the shadows.
Several figures emerged from the edges of the chamber—guards in dark armor, their weapons half-raised, eyes sharp with caution. Behind them walked a woman in flowing robes of pale silver, her long dark hair braided with crystals that glowed faintly.
Her gaze locked onto Aarav.
"So he is the one," she murmured.
Kaelith turned. "Royal Mage Liora Moonveil. The summoning succeeded."
Liora approached slowly, studying Aarav like a scholar faced with a priceless artifact. "You look… human."
"I am human," Aarav replied. "Last time I checked."
Her brow furrowed. "From which realm?"
"Earth."
Silence fell.
One of the guards let out a sharp breath. Another crossed himself in a strange gesture.
Liora's eyes shone with awe and unease. "A foreign world. The circle hasn't opened beyond Elyndor in three hundred years."
Aarav folded his arms. "Great. I'm a historical event."
Kaelith turned back to him. "You were summoned because our world is dying."
That made Aarav look at him properly.
"Define 'dying,'" Aarav said.
"The mana veins beneath our land are corrupting," Kaelith explained. "Creatures born of void energy are spreading. Our healers cannot stop the decay. Our mages cannot cleanse it. The prophecy says only a Sage from another world can stabilize the flow."
Aarav let out a slow breath. "So you kidnapped me to fix your planetary organ failure."
Kaelith stiffened. "It was not kidnapping. The circle responds only to those who are willing."
Aarav's jaw tightened. "I didn't agree to leave my world."
"You did not refuse," Liora said gently.
"That's not how consent works," Aarav replied flatly.
The guards shifted, tense.
Kaelith raised a hand, signaling them to stand down. He met Aarav's gaze directly.
"You are right," he said. "We acted in desperation. For that, I will apologize."
A crown prince apologizing.
Aarav felt something inside him shift—not trust, but surprise.
"Thank you," Aarav said quietly. "That's a start."
The air between them felt… strange.
Not hostile.
Not safe.
Resonant.
Liora suddenly inhaled sharply. "Your presence is affecting the mana flow."
"What does that mean?" Aarav asked.
"It means," she said slowly, "your soul is compatible with our world."
The runes flared brighter beneath Aarav's feet.
And then—
Pain.
Not sharp, not violent—deep, internal, as if something inside him was being gently but forcefully rearranged. His knees buckled.
Kaelith moved without thinking, catching him before he fell.
Aarav's breath came in short bursts. "What the hell is happening to me?"
"Your body is synchronizing with Elyndor," Liora said urgently. "The world is rewriting you so you can survive here."
Kaelith tightened his grip, supporting Aarav's weight. The contact sent a strange warmth through both of them, like static before a storm.
Aarav's vision blurred. Heat spread through his chest, down his spine, coiling in his core like a sleeping beast waking up.
He clenched his fists. "I don't like… updates I didn't authorize."
Kaelith huffed a breath that might have been a laugh.
"Then you and our world will argue often," the prince said.
The glow finally faded.
Aarav sagged against Kaelith for a second before straightening, forcing his body to obey him.
"…Okay," he muttered. "So I've been summoned to another world, I'm being magically rewritten, and a prince thinks I'm some kind of savior."
He looked Kaelith in the eyes.
"Fine. I'll hear you out."
Kaelith's gaze softened—just a fraction.
"Then allow me to welcome you properly, Sage," he said.
"To the Kingdom of Aethoria."
Beyond the summoning hall, the massive doors began to open.
Aarav stared at the world waiting on the other side—its torchlit corridors, its impossible sky, its future balanced on his unwilling arrival.
For the first time since his grandparents' deaths, something stirred in his chest that wasn't duty.
It was uncertainty.
And beneath it—
The faint, dangerous pull of belonging.
_________