Virat: Abandoned by Destiny

Narrator

Some prophecies bring hope.

Some bring fear.

And some...

Are not meant to reveal destiny.

They are meant to prepare someone for it.

That night...

Restart Village received a prophecy that would remain hidden for years.

---

The old Sage quietly finished his meal.

He placed his bowl down.

Then, without saying anything, he slowly reached for his cup.

He lifted it toward his mouth...

Stopped halfway...

Turned it slightly...

Then drank from the completely wrong side.

A few seconds passed.

He calmly put the cup down.

Nobody said anything.

The Sage simply continued sitting as though nothing unusual had happened.

After a moment...

He slowly turned his blind face toward Brald.

"...Are you the Chief of this village?"

Brald respectfully bowed.

"Yes."

"I am Brald White, the Village Chief."

The old Sage gave a slow nod.

"I have seen..."

"...something."

His fingers slowly tapped against the wooden table.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

"I must speak with someone."

Brald's expression became serious.

"Who?"

The Sage turned his blind face toward the doorway.

"Your son."

Brald's eyes widened slightly.

"V?"

The Sage nodded.

"Yes."

"I wish to speak with him..."

"...alone."

---

Brald didn't question him.

He quietly stood.

Then he looked toward the others.

"Lily."

Lily understood immediately.

She gently took T's hand.

"Kai."

Kai nodded.

Nefi stood quietly beside them.

Alistair remained near the doorway.

Brald looked at everyone.

"Wait outside."

One by one...

They left the room.

The wooden door slowly closed.

Click.

Silence.

Only two people remained inside.

The old Sage...

And V.

---

V stood several steps away.

He looked at the old man.

The Sage's blind eyes remained closed.

Yet somehow...

It felt as though he could see everything.

The Sage slowly lifted one hand.

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"Come closer."

V walked forward.

The old man's fingers suddenly moved.

He reached toward V...

Then stopped.

He tilted his head.

"...No."

V blinked.

The Sage lowered his hand.

"Too far."

V took another step.

The Sage immediately reached out again.

This time...

His fingers touched V's forehead.

He remained silent.

For several seconds.

Then...

He suddenly pulled his hand away.

"...Cold."

V looked confused.

The Sage calmly rubbed his own fingers together.

"I expected warmth."

V said nothing.

The Sage smiled faintly.

"Interesting."

Then he turned his blind face toward V.

"Sit."

V sat down.

The Sage folded his hands upon his lap.

For a while...

Neither spoke.

Outside...

The wind moved through the trees.

Rustle...

Rustle...

The sound of leaves passed through the room like a whisper.

The Sage finally spoke.

"What I am about to tell you..."

"...is not your destiny."

V looked at him.

"It is a possibility."

The Sage paused.

"Destiny is not a road that waits for you."

"It is a road you create..."

"...with every step."

V remained silent.

The Sage continued.

"But some futures..."

"...are easier to see than others."

He slowly turned his blind face toward V.

"And yours..."

"...is unusually loud."

---

The Sage raised one finger.

"First."

V reached for the notebook.

The Sage waited until he opened it.

Then...

"Break the talisman."

"And you will gain true power."

V wrote it down.

The Sage waited.

V looked up.

The Sage said nothing.

V continued writing.

Second.

"Destroy the golem."

"Everything will return to its rightful place."

V wrote it down.

The Sage's fingers slowly tapped against the table.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Third.

"Marry before the age of fifteen."

V stopped writing.

He looked up.

The Sage remained completely expressionless.

V slowly continued writing.

Outside the room...

Kai suddenly heard nothing.

He looked toward the door.

"What are they talking about?"

Brald quietly shook his head.

"We wait."

---

Inside...

V continued.

Fourth.

"Never fight..."

"...without first understanding your enemy."

V wrote carefully.

Fifth.

"There is no shame..."

"...in lowering your weapon."

The Sage's voice became softer.

"Remember that one."

V looked up.

The old man's face remained calm.

"There are moments when victory..."

"...is not winning."

"Sometimes..."

"...it is surviving."

V slowly wrote the words.

---

Sixth.

"Break the boundary."

V paused.

He looked toward the Sage.

"What boundary?"

The Sage smiled faintly.

"You will know."

V wrote it down.

Seventh.

"Seek the burning light..."

"...within the ancient banyan tree."

V's hand stopped.

For a moment...

He remembered the ancient banyan tree.

Its enormous branches.

Its old roots.

The place where he and his friends often spent their time.

The leaves outside the room suddenly moved harder.

Rustle...

Rustle...

V looked toward the window.

The Sage noticed.

"Nature remembers things..."

"...long before people do."

V slowly looked back at him.

Then continued writing.

---

Eighth.

"Embrace the darkness."

"Do not run from it."

V's expression became serious.

He wrote the words.

The candle beside them flickered.

For one brief moment...

The flame became almost black.

Then...

It returned to normal.

V stared at it.

The Sage didn't react.

As if he had seen it before.

---

Ninth.

"Half the truth..."

"...is more dangerous than a lie."

V slowly wrote the words.

Then stopped.

He looked at the Sage.

The old man smiled.

"You will learn why."

---

The room became silent.

The Sage lowered his head.

For the first time...

Something about his expression changed.

Not fear.

Not sadness.

Something closer to regret.

V waited.

The old man finally spoke.

"Tenth."

His voice was almost a whisper.

"One day..."

"Death shall come to you..."

V's hand stopped.

"...at the hands of your own younger brother."

Silence.

The candle flame moved.

The curtains moved.

Even the wind outside seemed to disappear.

V stared at the notebook.

He didn't write.

Not immediately.

The Sage didn't rush him.

Finally...

V slowly wrote the sentence.

His handwriting was slightly different.

The final word remained beneath his pen for several seconds.

Brother.

V looked up.

"I don't have one."

The Sage nodded.

"I know."

V's eyes narrowed.

"Then who?"

The Sage didn't answer.

Instead...

He looked toward the window.

Outside...

A single leaf detached itself from the ancient banyan tree.

It drifted through the air.

Slowly.

Quietly.

Then disappeared into the darkness.

The Sage finally spoke.

"Some answers..."

"...become dangerous when spoken too early."

V remained silent.

---

The Sage then raised another finger.

"But..."

"There is something else."

V looked up.

The old man's expression softened.

"This is not a warning."

"It is something good."

V waited.

The Sage smiled faintly.

"You will one day do something..."

"...that no one before you has ever done."

V's eyes widened slightly.

"Not a king."

"Not a warrior."

"Not a hero."

"Something beyond those names."

The Sage's fingers slowly tightened around his staff.

"I cannot see the entire shape of it."

"But I can see its shadow."

"And that shadow..."

"...reaches farther than you can imagine."

V remained completely still.

The Sage continued.

"Years from now..."

"People will speak of what you accomplished."

"Some will doubt it."

"Some will fear it."

"Some will worship it."

"But no one..."

"...will be able to say that someone did it before you."

V slowly looked down at his notebook.

He wrote nothing.

For some reason...

Those words felt heavier than the tenth prophecy.

---

Then the Sage's expression changed again.

"Your sister..."

V immediately looked up.

"T?"

The Sage nodded.

"She will be fine."

A faint smile appeared on his face.

"More than fine."

"She will grow."

"She will become someone people remember."

"Her name will travel farther than this village."

"She will make a name for herself..."

"...in her own way."

V's expression softened.

The Sage continued.

"She will stumble."

"She will cry."

"She will make mistakes."

"But she will stand again."

"And one day..."

"People will look at her..."

"...and wonder how such a small child once managed to become such a remarkable person."

V smiled faintly.

The Sage looked toward him.

"You love her."

It wasn't a question.

V nodded.

The old man smiled.

"Then remember..."

"Do not protect her so much..."

"...that you stop her from becoming herself."

V's smile faded.

He slowly understood.

---

The Sage leaned back.

For a moment...

He seemed tired.

Then he suddenly reached for his cup again.

He lifted it.

Paused.

Turned it around.

Drank from the opposite side once more.

V stared.

The Sage lowered the cup.

"...What?"

V shook his head.

"Nothing."

The Sage nodded.

"Good."

He placed the cup down.

Then...

He looked toward V.

"You should leave."

V closed the notebook.

But before standing...

He looked at the old Sage.

"What happens if I change the future?"

The Sage smiled.

"Then it was never truly the future."

V stood.

The Sage added quietly,

"That is why I call them warnings..."

"...not destiny."

---

The door opened.

Brald immediately looked up.

Lily stood beside him.

Kai leaned against the wall.

T was holding Lily's hand.

Nefi quietly watched V.

Alistair stood farther away.

Everyone looked at V.

Kai stepped forward.

"So?"

"What did he say?"

T looked up at V.

"Did he tell you something?"

Lily gently touched V's shoulder.

Brald looked at his son's notebook.

"What did you learn?"

V looked at all of them.

For a moment...

He remembered every word.

The talisman.

The golem.

The marriage.

The enemy.

The weapon.

The boundary.

The banyan tree.

The darkness.

The half-truth.

His younger brother.

And the one impossible thing he would someday accomplish.

But he said nothing about those.

He only smiled.

"The Sage said..."

He looked toward T.

"...that my future will be interesting."

Kai blinked.

"That's it?"

V nodded.

"And?"

Brald asked.

V smiled slightly.

"He said..."

"...I should marry before fifteen."

Kai's eyes widened.

"What?!"

T tilted her head.

"Brother is getting married?"

Lily stared at V.

"Before fifteen?"

V calmly nodded.

Kai burst out laughing.

"You really are unlucky!"

V sighed.

The tension in the group finally broke.

Even Lily smiled.

Brald shook his head.

"That is certainly an unusual prophecy."

V closed the notebook.

He kept everything else hidden.

Not because he wanted secrets...

But because some futures...

Were too dangerous to place inside another person's heart.

---

That night...

The White family returned home.

The village slowly became quiet.

The moon rose above the rooftops.

The river reflected its pale light.

The ancient banyan tree stood silently in the distance.

Its branches moved with the wind.

Rustle...

Rustle...

Somewhere beneath those branches...

Something waited.

Something that had already been mentioned by the Sage...

But whose meaning remained hidden.

V stood near the window.

His hand rested over the notebook.

He remembered the old man's final words.

Not destiny.

A possibility.

He looked toward the moon.

Then toward the sleeping village.

The future had not arrived.

Not yet.

And perhaps...

That was the most frightening part.

Because somewhere beyond the horizon...

Time was already moving toward them.

---

Years later...

People would remember that night.

Not because the prophecy had predicted everything correctly.

Not because every warning had come true.

But because...

That was the night someone first tried to describe the future of a boy who would eventually change the world.

And even after the names of kings were forgotten...

Even after kingdoms rose and fell...

One sentence from that night would remain.

Not as a prophecy.

Not as a warning.

But as a reminder that the future was never something waiting to happen.

It was something...

Someone had to dare to create.

And sometimes...

The person who changes the world...

Is the one who refuses to walk the road destiny placed before him.