The Introvert

Lena's mind was a storm.

She tumbled through darkness, fragmented voices echoing around her. Faces she didn't recognize—memories that weren't hers—flashed like shattered reflections of a life she had forgotten.

And at the center of it all—

That name.

Aarya.

It wasn't just a name.

It was her name.

Wasn't it?

Lena gasped as she was yanked back into consciousness.

She bolted upright, her body drenched in sweat, her pulse erratic.

But she wasn't in the palace anymore.

She was somewhere else.

A small, dimly lit room, the air thick with the scent of incense and old books. Shadows flickered against the stone walls, cast by the single lantern burning beside her.

She wasn't alone.

Riven sat across from her, watching her in silence.

Lena's breath came in ragged gasps. She pressed her palms against her temples, trying to silence the whirlwind in her mind.

"What—" Her voice was hoarse. "What did you do to me?"

Riven leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "I didn't do anything."

Lena snapped her gaze to him, anger flaring in her chest. "Don't lie to me."

Riven sighed. "You saw something, didn't you?"

Lena swallowed hard. "A name."

Riven's expression didn't change, but she caught the flicker of something in his golden eyes.

She exhaled shakily. "Aarya."

The silence that followed was suffocating.

Riven's fingers tightened against his knee. "You remember."

Lena shook her head, her nails digging into her arms. "I don't… I don't know. It doesn't make sense."

Everything inside her was unraveling.

She was Lena Carter.

A high school girl from Mumbai.

An introvert.

She wasn't—

Whoever Aarya was.

But then why did it feel like—

Like she was breaking apart?

Her voice trembled. "Who is she?"

Riven studied her for a long moment.

Then he said, quietly—

"You."

Lena's heart stopped.

No.

No, that wasn't possible.

She shook her head violently. "You're wrong. That's not—"

"You've always felt like you didn't belong, haven't you?" Riven's voice was calm, but there was an edge to it. "Like something was missing. Like there was a part of you that didn't fit into the world you knew."

Lena clenched her fists.

He was right.

He was too right.

But that didn't mean—

"I'm not her," she whispered.

Riven's gaze didn't waver. "Then tell me, Lena Carter—"

"Why does hearing that name hurt you so much?"

Lena sucked in a sharp breath.

Her body trembled.

Because it did.

It hurt like a wound being ripped open.

Like something that had been buried deep inside her was trying to force its way out.

She pressed her forehead against her knees, trying to breathe.

Riven didn't push her.

He simply waited.

And deep down, Lena knew—

Her life would never be the same again.

---

A Lingering Echo

The silence between them stretched, thick with words left unsaid.

Lena clenched her fingers into the sheets of the cot she was sitting on, feeling their rough texture against her skin. Her mind was caught in a vicious cycle, looping over the same terrifying realization:

I don't know who I am.

She forced herself to look up. "If… if I was Aarya—why don't I remember?"

Riven leaned back, studying her. "Because someone erased your memories."

Lena felt an invisible weight press against her chest.

"Erased?" The word tasted bitter on her tongue. "That's impossible."

Riven tilted his head slightly. "Is it?"

Lena tried to breathe evenly, but her heart pounded in her ears.

She had spent years feeling like something in her life didn't fit. Like she was a puzzle missing its most important pieces.

And now, she was being told those pieces had been ripped away.

"How?" she finally asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Riven exhaled, as if deciding how much to tell her. "There are ways. Spells, rituals. But the kind that can completely rewrite a person's existence…" His golden eyes flickered with something unreadable. "That kind of magic is rare. And dangerous."

Lena's stomach twisted.

Magic.

She still wasn't sure she could accept any of this. The secret organizations, the people with strange abilities, the fact that she could vanish into thin air.

But this?

This was something else entirely.

Her entire identity—her memories—weren't even hers?

She swallowed hard. "So… someone erased Aarya. And made me—Lena?"

Riven nodded. "It seems that way."

Lena clenched her fists. "Why?"

For the first time, Riven hesitated.

Lena noticed.

She sat up straighter, the fire inside her flickering to life. "You know something."

Riven held her gaze. "I know pieces."

"Then tell me."

Riven was silent for a long moment.

Then he said, "Aarya was powerful."

Lena's breath caught.

Riven continued, his voice careful. "More powerful than most. People feared her. People wanted her."

Lena shivered. "Wanted her?"

"She was important," Riven said. "And dangerous."

Lena exhaled sharply, trying to process it.

If Aarya was dangerous, did that mean… she was dangerous?

Was that why someone had erased her memories?

To keep her from becoming… whoever she had been?

She pressed a hand to her chest, feeling the rapid beat of her heart.

Everything she thought she knew about herself was coming undone.

Her past wasn't real.

Her memories weren't real.

So what about her?

What was she supposed to do now?

She looked up at Riven, feeling something dark coil in her gut.

"If I was so important…" Her voice was steady, but inside, she was shaking. "Then whoever erased me—"

She met Riven's gaze.

"—they won't let me remember."

Riven's expression darkened.

"No," he murmured. "They won't."

A shiver ran down Lena's spine.

Because that meant—

She wasn't just a girl caught in something bigger than her.

She was a target.

And if she wanted answers, if she wanted the truth—

She'd have to fight for it.

Even if it meant facing the people who had tried to erase her.

Even if it meant becoming Aarya again.

And for the first time in her life—

Lena wasn't sure she wanted to know who she really was.

---