The morning light went across the stone courtyard. Pale gold. Tentative. The kind of light that existed only for a few minutes before the sun got its confidence back.

  Anand sat at the edge of the fountain and watched it move.

  Ten years. He'd been counting the mornings.

  The fountain was extremely old maybe even older than some of the elders.

  He loves sitting here and resting . 10 years ago he woke up in a body that couldn't walk, couldn't talk, couldn't do anything except lie there and feel the weight of a dozen ancient eyes staring down at him like he was a prophecy come to life. His grandfather had carried him everywhere that first year. Held him up to windows, to tapestries, to the faces of elders who came to study him..

  Look, Pitamaha would say. This is your clan. This is your inheritance. This is what you will rule.

  Anand had looked. Had nodded when nodding was expected.

  Now his legs dangled over the fountain's edge, his divine physique hadn't done much yet . His hair, black and thick as his mother's, fell past his ears and kept going.

  He pulled a strand away from his face and tucked it behind his ear.He sometimes does same thing he did in his previous life like Adjusting glasses that weren't there anymore. Reaching for phones that didn't exist. Waking up in the dark and reaching for a light switch, only to remember that here, you whispered to the oil lamp and it answered.

  Ten years.

  He still knew nothing about his deadbeat dad. From what little he could gather it seem his dad is some kind of bigshot who is doing something important and is busy cultivation somewhere.

  Blood, death,destruction was so common here. He has seen so many of his cousins die , oh by cousin , he lost count how many cousins he has, In this world strong rules the weak. Strong can have as many wife or husband they want. This is a word devoid of any concept of equality at its core. It completely works on laws of matsya. laws of fish. Where strong devour the weak.

  He also learned about many other clans, lokas , and specially sects where people go to train. Most sects come under juridictions of some kingdom but some powerful sects are above it

  The wisdom hall waited at the top of the stairs. Seven hundred steps, carved into the mountainside.

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  Anand started climbing.

  The Brahmapuri below, floating on nothing, held in place by mantras and geometry and the accumulated weight of ten thousand years of ancestors.

  In his other life, he'd seen the Ganga at dawn. Sat on the ghats with the aghori and watched the sun burn the mist away. Thought he'd understood something about eternity.

  He hadn't understood anything.

  "Climbing again?"

  The voice came from behind him. Light. Female.

  Anand turned. His mother stood three steps down, wrapped in silk the color of old roses, her hair loose and falling past her waist. She looks so young but he knows she hundreds of years old . He had learned a lot about her too. She is from an extremely rich ancient family.

  "Where else would I be mata shree , nothing else to do! You guys dont let me cultivate! So i just play all day with maids and cousins!" he said cheerfully

  She smiled.

  "Climbing," she agreed. "Always climbing." She reached out and touched his cheek, brief and warm. "Your grandfather wants to see you after the lesson."

  "About what?"

  "He didn't say."

  Anand nodded and said "Alright mata shree! Going to grandpa, cya bai bai"

  "Go son" She smiled at her son. He is extremely naughty she thought

  The wisdom hall was cold. It was always cold, even when the sun hit it directly, even when the fires burned in all twelve braziers.

  The elder was already there. Same beard. Same robes.

  "You're late," he said.

  "Am I?"

  "No." The elder almost smiled. Almost. "Sit."

  Anand sat. Cross-legged on the cold stone, spine straight, hands resting on his knees. Same way he did in his previoud life. The elder raised a hand and then suddenly Seven points of light flickered to life between them.

  "Today," the elder said, "we talk about what flows inside."

  "You've mastered the physical sheath," the elder said. His voice had that old-man quality "Now you need to understand what flows inside it."

  He raised his hand and seven points of light flickered to life. They floated in the air between them.

  "The human body has one hundred and fourteen marmas," the elder continued. "Junction points. Places where energy gathers." He paused, letting that sink in. "But seven of them matter most. The Sapta Chakras. Seven wheels along your merudanda your spine."

  Anand looked at the lights. He knows this much. In his previous life he lived at ghats of kashi along with aghoris. They had taught him all this. He used to think all of this is just myths but here he is learning it again and even in more detail

  "These chakras aren't physical. Not flesh and bone. They're doors. Doors that Prana moves through." The elder leaned forward slightly. "And Prana isn't just breath, boy. Don't make that mistake. It's the life force itself. The thing that makes every cell buzz, every thought happen, every flicker of awareness mean something. When Prana flows right through the chakras, the body works. When it gets blocked..." He shrugged. "Disease. Weakness. Death eventually."

  The elder pointed to the lowest light, near where Anand's feet would be if he was standing.

  "Muladhara. The root. Above it, Svadhisthana. Then Manipura, Anahata, Vishuddhi, Ajna, and finally Sahasrara at the crown." His finger traveled up as he spoke. "Seven gates. Each one needs opening. Each one needs mastering."

  Anand nodded. Made sense. Simple to understand because he knew all this. The actually doing it part? Probably not so simple.

  The elder waved his hand and the seven lights dimmed. Twelve new ones appeared in their place, climbing in an arc like stairs going somewhere you couldn't see.

  "Beyond the chakras are the Dwadasha Bhumika. Twelve Stages." He pointed at each one as he named them. "Jagriti. Swapna. Sushupti. Turiya. Turiyatita. Bhuma. Ishwara Prakriti. Maha Maya. Sadashiva Tattva. Shakti Tattva. Para Bindu. Parabrahman Dham."

  He let the names hang there. Heavy. Important-sounding.

  "Those who reach the twelfth stage become Chakravarti Samrat. Emperors of the Wheel." The elder's voice dropped, almost reverent. "Their word becomes law. Across all three worlds."

  Anand studied the twelve lights. Twelve peaks. Made him wonder what came after. If anything did , nothing is end in these kind of fantasy world. well if this world follows the same logic of fantasy world he read in his previous life

  "Our clan's founder and his main wife had reached that stage," the elder added quietly. "No one since."