Chapter 48: "Chains Break, and Eyes Remember Galaxies"
—Where Even Without Power, a Goddess Still Finds Her Husband—
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[Scene 1: The Captives in the Dark]
The room stank of mildew and fear.
A single weak bulb buzzed overhead, swinging slightly with the coastal wind. The place was a rotting wooden house near the cliffs of Goa, hidden behind rusted fences and thorny bushes.
Inside were twelve captives: eleven girls and one boy—real Boby.
Some girls were still crying. Others stared blankly, drained. Real Boby sat against the back wall, arms tied behind him, watching everything. Waiting. Thinking.
> Boby (inner monologue):
"Three guards. They rotate every twenty minutes. Scar-face smokes while walking. Nervous guy always checks the lock twice. The third… he likes to check the girls."
"I counted. Eleven girls. One boy. Just me."
Suddenly, a girl—maybe seventeen, in a white shirt torn at the sleeves—was dragged in screaming. Raviel.
> Kidnapper #2 (snarling): "Found her near the highway, wandering like a drunk rich brat. New meat."
Her wrists were bleeding lightly from the rope. Her face was dirt-smudged. Sweat clung to her neck.
> Raviel (thinking): "What… is this horrible feeling in my muscles? This burning… Is this pain?"
"This body is so weak."
She staggered forward and was shoved against the wall beside Boby.
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[Scene 2: The Boy Notices Her]
> Boby (looking over at her quietly): "So… Miss, your family's rich, right?"
She looked up, confused, barely registering his face through her blurry human vision.
> Boby: "Because if they're not… the kidnappers are going to sell your body. Either to some rich boy… or worse… some old man."
Raviel blinked slowly.
That voice. That tone.
And when she looked directly at him—
> "Her eyes… they held galaxies."
Even in her human form—weak, hungry, dirty—they sparkled like she remembered all of creation.
> Boby (narrowing eyes): "…Wait…"
She leaned forward. Her eyes shimmered.
> Raviel (whispering, weak): "Boby... husband…"
Before he could react, she hugged him tightly, her trembling hands clinging to him.
A few of the girls looked up.
One—a blonde foreign girl with tear-streaked cheeks—stared with wide eyes.
> Blonde Girl (whispering to herself): "What… is this? Who is she…?"
Just then, the kidnapper with the scar, their leader, walked by the door. His jagged scar ran from the top of his left brow down to his chin—earned in a bar fight, rumored to have killed five men. He chewed a clove constantly, spitting in the corners.
He paused at the door.
> Scarface: "Oi. What's this? Romance now? We're not running a damn love hotel."
Boby glared.
Raviel kept her head on his chest, pretending to cry.
> Boby (cold): "She's scared. Leave her alone."
> Scarface (smirking): "Talk again, and I'll take your tongue."
He walked on.
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[Scene 3: Raviel's Weakness – and Strength]
Later that night, the guards changed shifts. The nervous one double-checked the locks, as always.
Inside, Raviel clutched her sides, trying to steady her breath.
> Raviel (gritting teeth): "Why… do I need water? Why does my stomach hurt… this hunger is unbearable…"
She looked at Boby, who sat still.
> Raviel (softly): "I don't have powers. I can't fight. But I'm here."
> Boby (looking at her): "Why… do I feel like I know you?"
> Raviel: "Because you do."
She reached forward, her rope-burned fingers touching his cheek.
> Raviel: "You wrote me. I came for you."
In the silence, Boby stared at her—and something cracked inside his soul.
> Boby: "…Raviel?"
Tears blurred his vision. She nodded, smiling gently, despite her pain.
> Boby: "But how? You… you shouldn't exist here."
> Raviel (smirking weakly): "A goddess can walk even when she's lost her wings. If it's to find her husband… I'll walk through every Hell."
And then, softly… she leaned in, and kissed him.
Even bound. Even bleeding.
It was soft. Human. Mortal. Real.
The blonde girl gasped slightly, covering her mouth in shock.
Was it love? Was it magic?
She didn't know—but something shifted in the air.
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[Scene 4: The Buyer's Name – and the Clock Ticks]
That evening, in a whispered conversation outside:
> Scarface (on phone): "Yeah. We got the shipment. Eleven girls. One boy, but he's just extra."
> Phone Voice: "The Sheikh wants untouched. Virgin only. He pays in crypto—double for foreign girls. You deliver, you get your money. No screw-ups."
> Scarface: "Understood."
Inside, Boby's mind spun.
> Boby (thinking): "They're going to sell the girls. The Sheikh… I need to break free before they move them."
> "Even if I'm powerless… I still have my brain. Still have my will."
He looked over at Raviel.
She looked back. Weak, tired… but smiling.
> Raviel (whispering): "I'll protect you… this time."
> Boby (softly): "You already did. Just by coming."
And outside, somewhere far beyond Earth's veil—
Something stirred.
A spark.
A heartbeat.
The story… had resumed.
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TO BE CONTINUED.