The expedition was supposed to return immediately after documenting the ruins.
That had been the original plan.
Survey the region.
Collect information.
Return to Dominion.
Simple.
Unfortunately, the moment historians discovered the underground chambers, the idea of a "simple" expedition vanished completely.
Nobody wanted to leave.
Especially the researchers.
Every day revealed something new.
New carvings.
New records.
New pieces of a civilization forgotten by time.
What initially appeared to be a ruined city slowly revealed itself as something much larger.
Something important.
And after a week of exploration, even Kaien understood why.
The ruins weren't merely old.
They were ancient beyond expectation.
Older than any surviving civilization humanity currently knew about.
That fact alone was enough to make historians lose sleep.
Several of them genuinely looked ready to spend the rest of their lives there.
Kaien wasn't entirely convinced they wouldn't.
The underground chambers stretched far deeper than anyone initially expected.
Entire networks of tunnels existed beneath the city.
Some had collapsed long ago.
Others remained perfectly intact.
Every day new passages were discovered.
Every day new questions emerged.
And every answer somehow created even more mysteries.
Kaien spent much of his time assisting exploration teams.
Not because they needed protection.
The region had proven surprisingly peaceful.
Rather, his abilities made navigating collapsed areas significantly easier.
Several times he simply moved debris weighing hundreds of tons that would have otherwise taken weeks to clear.
The researchers quickly learned this.
Which unfortunately meant they kept finding more things for him to move.
"You've become construction equipment."
Lyss delivered the observation while watching Kaien casually lift a stone slab larger than a house.
Kaien looked at her.
The slab remained balanced in one hand.
"I dislike how accurate that statement is."
Nyra laughed.
The nearby researchers didn't.
They were too busy celebrating another newly opened passageway.
The deeper chambers contained something different from the upper ruins.
Something more personal.
The city above told the story of a civilization.
The lower levels told the story of its people.
Homes.
Meeting halls.
Schools.
Places where ordinary lives had been lived.
That was what fascinated Kaien the most.
Not the grand structures.
Not the architecture.
The people.
One afternoon he found himself standing inside what appeared to have once been a classroom.
The room was remarkably preserved.
Rows of stone desks remained intact despite thousands of years passing.
Fragments of educational materials still existed along portions of the walls.
The researchers were ecstatic.
Kaien simply stood quietly.
Observing.
Imagining.
Children once sat here.
Learning.
Talking.
Laughing.
Complaining about lessons.
Exactly like children did now.
Thousands of years separated them.
Yet somehow they felt familiar.
The realization followed him throughout the rest of the day.
Civilizations changed.
Technology changed.
History changed.
But people remained surprisingly similar.
That evening the expedition gathered around the central camp.
The researchers had spent the day translating newly discovered inscriptions.
Most of the findings were historical records.
Population counts.
Construction projects.
Political decisions.
Ordinary things.
Then one researcher made an unexpected discovery.
The ancient civilization had no records of major wars.
At first everyone assumed the translations were incomplete.
Surely a civilization existing for so long must have experienced conflict.
Yet the records repeatedly suggested the same conclusion.
Disputes existed.
Problems existed.
Challenges existed.
But no large-scale wars.
The discovery sparked immediate debate.
Some researchers believed evidence was simply missing.
Others argued the civilization genuinely maintained peace for extraordinary lengths of time.
Nobody could reach a conclusion.
Kaien listened quietly from the edge of the discussion.
Eventually one historian approached him.
"What do you think?"
Kaien looked toward the distant ruins.
Moonlight illuminated portions of the ancient city beyond the camp.
Silent.
Peaceful.
Forgotten.
"I think they're gone."
The historian blinked.
Clearly expecting a different answer.
Kaien continued.
"Whether they lived peacefully or fought constantly doesn't change the outcome."
The historian frowned.
"That's a little pessimistic."
Kaien shook his head.
"No."
His gaze remained fixed on the ruins.
"It's reality."
The civilization had disappeared.
Yet somehow that wasn't tragic.
Not entirely.
Because something remained.
Their stories.
Their achievements.
Their lives.
People thousands of years later were still standing here discussing them.
Still learning from them.
Still remembering them.
Maybe that was enough.
The following morning brought an even more significant discovery.
Deep beneath the central district, researchers uncovered what appeared to be the city's archive.
The announcement threw the entire expedition into chaos.
Historians practically sprinted toward the location.
Scientists abandoned breakfast halfway through eating.
Several researchers forgot basic safety protocols entirely.
Kaien followed behind at a much calmer pace.
The archive proved extraordinary.
Unlike most structures, it had been intentionally sealed.
Protected.
Preserved.
Thousands of stone tablets filled enormous chambers beneath the city.
Records.
Knowledge.
History.
Entire lifetimes of information waited there.
The discovery guaranteed the expedition would remain for weeks longer.
Possibly months.
Nobody complained.
As work began organizing the archive, Kaien wandered deeper into sections not yet fully explored.
Several security personnel accompanied him initially.
Eventually they spread out conducting their own inspections.
Leaving Kaien alone.
For the first time since arriving at the ruins, he found genuine silence.
No excited researchers.
No discussions.
No celebrations.
Just ancient stone corridors stretching through darkness.
The atmosphere felt strangely familiar.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
It reminded him of another place.
The distorted space between lives.
The thought arrived unexpectedly.
For years he had focused entirely on the present.
On rebuilding humanity.
On leadership.
On creating a future.
Yet deep down, one question never truly disappeared.
Why him?
Why had he retained memories when others hadn't?
Why had he been reincarnated repeatedly?
Why had fragments of his soul continued crossing worlds and lives?
The questions remained unanswered.
And perhaps always would.
Still—
standing within ruins older than recorded history made him think about them again.
As Karna, he had believed fate controlled everything.
As Aditya, he learned fate could be challenged.
As Arin, he fought against fate directly.
And now as Kaien—
he wasn't entirely sure what he believed anymore.
The corridor eventually ended at a small chamber.
Unlike the others, it contained almost nothing.
No records.
No artifacts.
No decorations.
Just a single stone bench positioned beneath an opening in the ceiling.
Sunlight poured through it.
The scene was simple.
Beautifully simple.
Kaien sat there quietly.
Watching dust drift through beams of golden light.
For several minutes he simply existed.
No responsibilities.
No meetings.
No reports.
No decisions.
Just silence.
Then he heard footsteps approaching.
Nyra.
And Lyss.
Of course.
The twins stopped near the entrance.
Neither spoke immediately.
Eventually Lyss sat beside him.
Nyra followed shortly afterward.
The three remained silent for a while.
It was comfortable silence.
The kind that only existed between people who understood each other completely.
Finally Nyra spoke.
"We've been looking everywhere for you."
Kaien nodded.
"I noticed."
"You disappeared."
"I walked."
"Very far."
Kaien considered that.
"Perhaps."
Lyss laughed softly.
The conversation faded afterward.
Silence returned.
The sunlight continued pouring through the opening above.
Golden.
Warm.
Peaceful.
For some reason, the moment reminded Kaien of every life he had lived.
Not the battles.
Not the tragedies.
Not the sacrifices.
The people.
Vrushali.
Supriya.
Liora.
Nyra.
Lyss.
His parents.
His friends.
His allies.
Across countless years and multiple lifetimes, those connections remained the only things truly constant.
Not kingdoms.
Not powers.
Not civilizations.
People.
Perhaps that was why civilizations mattered.
Not because they lasted forever.
Because they gave people places to live meaningful lives.
The forgotten city had once been full of laughter.
Dreams.
Families.
Love.
Now it was ruins.
Yet somehow those lives still mattered.
Kaien smiled faintly.
Maybe that would be humanity's fate one day as well.
Thousands of years from now.
Cities reduced to ruins.
History buried beneath time.
But if future generations discovered those ruins and found evidence of people who lived well, loved deeply, and built a better world—
then perhaps that would be enough.
As the sunlight illuminated the chamber around them, Kaien found himself hoping that when humanity eventually became history—
it would be remembered not for its wars.
Not for its suffering.
Not for its victories.
But for the future it chose to build afterward.