The world had changed.
It wasn't the skies or the roads or the strange silver bird flying overhead that unsettled him most-it was this bizarre metal box on wheels that people voluntarily got into.
"Cab is here!" Shaurya announced with the enthusiasm of someone about to go on a Goa trip, not escort his possibly brain-damaged elder brother home.
Karna stared at the vehicle.
A chariot with no horses. No reins. No charioteer. Only four wheels, a smell of old air freshener, and a man in a printed shirt chewing something suspicious.
He cleared his throat and walked toward the cab like a soldier marching toward a battlefield. Act natural, he reminded himself. You've fought wars. You've met Krishna himself. You can sit in a box on wheels.
He slid into the backseat and sat stiffly between Shaurya and Arnav, while Yash took the front seat beside the driver.
Not the first time, not the first time, Karna repeated in his head. Just a...weird chariot with glass windows. That's all. Very normal.
"Finally!" Arnav sighed from beside him. "This hospital was sucking the life out of me."
Shaurya chimed in, "Yaar, seriously. Also, Didi will kill me if I don't make Karan bhaiya rest properly. I don't wanna die unmarried, thanks."
"Pretty sure even marriage won't save you," Arnav said. "She's got that wild heels swing."
Karna blinked. Marriage saving from death by weaponised chappals? What kind of weapon is a heels now?
He turned his eyes to Yash in the front seat. Dharmaraj...
There was something unchanged about him. Even now. Even in this age, in this body. His shoulders still bore a quiet dignity, his spine carried that same weight of decisions. That stillness. That silence.
He hadn't changed.
He looked back at Karna and smiled gently. "Are you okay, Karan bhaiya?"
Karna didn't reply.
Yash hesitated, but then turned around again, letting silence take the seat between them.
They kept talking-about how Yash and Karan had gone out to grab momos from a street vendor. Yash wasn't even hungry, apparently, but was the planner. Then...an accident. And then hospital. Arnav and Shaurya were called immediately.
Bhavesh and Nikhil weren't even informed at first. Kavita and Meera were the last to know.
Karna kept silent, only nodding when needed. Acting normal.
At least...as normal as a man could act when he was supposed to be dead 5000 years ago.
---
The cab stopped outside a large bungalow with tall gates and a tiled pathway. It looked oddly peaceful-normal even.
The moment Karna stepped out of the cab, he was greeted by a loud voice.
"Karan beta!"
Radha Verma.
Karna's heart paused.
She came rushing across the gate with a dupatta flying behind her like a trailing flag of some ancient army. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears, and she wrapped him in a hug without warning.
"Maa Radha?" he whispered before he could stop himself.
Radha blinked. "Huh?"
"I mean...Radha kaki," he corrected.
"Kaki?" She whacked his arm playfully. "Don't try being formal with me, you overgrown child.You call me maa normally. I've held you since you were in diapers!"
Shaurya burst out laughing behind him.
Bhavesh stepped forward, grabbing Karna in a casual arm-lock. "You sure he's okay, ma? He's acting weird."
"I always act weird," Karna muttered, trying to hide how shaken he was.
Then came Nikhil. The youngest of the Malhotras. Sharp eyes. Lean frame. A grin that could make mirrors crack.
"You look like you saw a ghost, bhaiya."
Karna turned to Bhavesh. His gut churned.
Bheem.
Then Nikhil.
Nakul.
"I'm surrounded," he muttered under his breath. "This is a punishment."
Radha was fussing over him again. Adjusting his collar. Fixing his hair. Muttering something about needing to oil it.
"Alright, alright," she finally said. "You go inside and rest. I'll let Rhea, Diya, and Sia know you're back."
Rhea...
Something flickered in his chest. A warmth. A pain.
Vrushali?
Before he could think more, she was already halfway back to her house across the garden.
Karna was left standing in the living room, surrounded by boys who didn't remember they'd once drawn blood on battlefields together.
Arnav stretched his arms. "I've been told to keep watch. You better sleep."
Bhavesh flopped on the bean bag. "Yeah, and I got roped in as backup. Apparently, my biceps make me trustworthy."
"Your biceps are an illusion," Arnav said.
"Your existence is an illusion."
Karna raised his hands. "Vasudev, help me."
He didn't expect a reply.
But he got one.
A voice. Not from outside. But within.
> "Deal with it yourself."
He stiffened. Looked around. No one else had heard it.
He had heard Him again.
Krishna.
---
Scene Shift
The Malhotra house was alive with murmurs and footsteps, but in the living room, Nikhil and Shaurya were lounging like it was a Sunday picnic.
"He's back," Nikhil said, munching chips. "Alive and grumpy."
"Sounds like our Karan bhaiya to me," Shaurya replied.
Meanwhile, in the Verma house, calm had almost returned.
Rhea stood near the window, arms folded, her eyes fixed across the garden.
"He's back," she whispered.
"You okay now?" Diya asked.
She nodded. "I felt it. He is safe now and I am more than okay. "