LEYLA’S WORLD

Leyla's consciousness was slowly returning, but her body felt as heavy as lead. It was as if she were waking from a dream that had lasted too long, a dream in which she had lost all sense of reality. She opened her eyes, expecting to see the familiar walls of the yokai palace, but instead, she was met with the ceiling of an old temple.

She couldn't move immediately. Her mind was sluggish, and images from the past hours—or days? months?—flashed through her head.Naru. Kaito. The scroll.Her hand opening it despite the warnings.Light. Darkness.And then… nothing.

She abruptly sat up, her heart pounding. Her eyes widened as she frantically scanned the room. She was in a temple. The same temple where everything had begun.

"No… No, no, no…" she whispered, pushing herself to her feet.

She was in Japan. In the human world. In her world.

But how?

The temple doors opened quietly, and a familiar figure stepped inside.

The monk.

The very same monk who had warned her the first day she set foot here. His face was calm, even carrying a gentle smile.

"Welcome back," he said simply.

Leyla froze. She didn't know whether to be angry, afraid, or utterly lost.

"Back?" she repeated, disbelief lacing her voice. "What… What happened? Where is Naru? Where is Kaito? Where is everything?!"

The monk calmly folded his hands in front of him. "That door has closed. It's time for you to return to your life."

Leyla took a step back, shaking her head. "No. No, you can't just tell me that! I was there for months! I lived there! And now I'm… here?"

The monk sighed. "In the human world, no time has passed since you left. It is still the very same day you first entered this temple."

She felt her stomach twist. Her heart pounded wildly again, but this time out of pure shock.

"You're lying," she whispered.

The monk looked at her with quiet understanding. "I'm not. That is the nature of the worlds. They do not flow at the same pace."

Leyla dropped her gaze to her hands. She rubbed them absently, searching for some trace, some proof that all those nights, all those moments with Naru, had been real. But she looked exactly as she had before stepping into this place for the first time.

"This can't be," she murmured. "It can't be that I spent months there, and not even a day passed here."

The monk gave a slow nod. "But it is."

Leyla felt tears well up, panic creeping in.

"I have to go back," she said firmly.

The monk regarded her kindly but said nothing.

"I have to go back!" she cried, desperate.

"You can't," he answered simply.

Her hands clenched into fists. "What do you mean, I can't? If there was a way to get there, there must be a way to return!"

The monk was silent for a moment before he finally spoke. "Some things are meant to be left behind."

That was when she lost control.

"NO! You can't tell me that! I didn't even… I didn't even say goodbye!"

Her voice cracked, and the tears finally spilled down her cheeks.

The monk remained still, his presence unaffected by her obvious despair.

"Forget what you've seen," he said softly. "And move on."

Leyla shook her head, retreating step by step. "No… I can't just move on! You… You know what happened! Who are you, really?"

The monk tilted his head slightly. "Just someone who ensures balance between worlds."

Her breath was shaky, her heart breaking in her chest.

"You can't take him away from me," she whispered.

The monk took a step forward and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You cannot return."

And that was when everything inside her shattered. Tears streamed down her face as she stared at him, drowning in pure anguish.

"Please," she whispered. "Please, tell me how to go back."

The monk sighed. "Go home, Leyla."

She closed her eyes for a moment, praying that when she opened them, she would be back in Naru's palace.

But she wasn't.

She was still in the temple.

The monk gestured toward the exit.

"It's time to leave."

Tears ran down her face, but her legs still carried her forward.

Step by step, as if in a dream, she walked out of the temple, feeling like she was leaving a piece of herself behind.

The moment she stepped outside, the daylight blinded her.

She walked mechanically, her steps unsteady. She didn't even realize when she reached her apartment.

She opened the door, stepped inside, and closed it behind her.

Then she sank to the floor.

And let the pain consume her.