Chapter 3: Journey

Morning arrives. Arav and Nia are ready to head south. Nia, overcome with emotion, looks back toward the village.

"This is my hometown—the place where all my childhood memories live," she says softly.

Slowly, she says goodbye to the village, as if every stone and tree is engraved in her heart.

Arav smiles and says, "Nia, why do you girls get attached to everything? Sometimes, in life, we have to let go."

Nia smiles gently back, "Yeah, and you? Remember how much you cried when you lost your toys as a kid?"

Arav feels the innocence of his childhood again, "That was then—I was a child. Now I'm twenty years old."

Nia is surprised, "Twenty? But we are about the same age... I'm twenty-five now."

She looks serious. "Are you joking?"

Arav thinks deeply, then slowly says, "Maybe it's because I spent three years in space, outside Earth. Time moves slower there compared to here."

Nia sees a new sparkle in his eyes.

"Let's go," Arav says, "I'll tell you the whole story as we walk."

They leave the village behind and begin their journey south.

As they walk, Arav explains, "It all started when my father and his scientist friends noticed the underground temperature rising. Earthquakes increased everywhere, sunlight struck the Earth more intensely. Glaciers melted, oceans rose. News spread everywhere—the Earth would be destroyed within 25 years. Nations united. Scientists searched space and found a new world called 'Neura-7.'"

"But they couldn't send everyone at once. That's why they created red alerts and yellow light systems. Wherever red alert sounded, people fled to yellow light zones. Slowly, most people migrated there but some remained on Earth. Then a rescue mission was planned. No one volunteered at first, so I stepped forward. This mission gave me a chance to see Earth again. My childhood is here. I had to leave when I was twelve. When I came back during the mission, I had aged from fourteen to sixteen. It took me four years to find the first person alive. And look at my luck—I found you, Nia."

Nia smiles warmly, "Thank you Arav, for coming back and saving me and everyone else left."

Arav blushes and says softly, "Well… I was also looking for an adventure." Both laugh and continue.

Arav takes out a device from his bag.

"What's that?" Nia asks.

"This is a Dopad," Arav explains. "It teleports us from one place to another. It looks like a tablet but doesn't have any apps. Just teleport functions. I'll show you."

He hands the Dopad to Nia.

"Tap anywhere four times to activate it. See? It's on now. It's showing our location—we are 12 km south of your village."

"The name of your village is quite a mouthful," he smiles.

"Village name: Heevashranmanyaman."

Nia points to the Dopad's screen, "Look, there's a big city ahead. Maybe we'll find someone there."

"You're right," Arav says. "Let's go."

He taps the city on the Dopad, and two options appear: blue and white.

"If you tap white, Dopad will show the way. If you tap blue, we teleport instantly."

Arav selects blue.

In a flash, they teleport.

Arav looks around. "We reached 'Amar' city!" But Nia is not there.

He loudly calls her name, but silence answers. The city lies in ruins—fallen buildings, trees growing through cracks, deserted, covered with wild plants.

Frustrated, Arav mutters, "Why does this always happen to me? I only have ten years left. If every time we teleport we get separated, I'll never save anyone. I can't waste time."

Quickly, he opens his bag and releases two drones into the sky.

"I must find Nia quickly."

And Arav begins his search.