Chapter 20: “Why Is There a Fox in My House?”

I blinked, disoriented. I was back.

Back in my room. The dull, gray walls were familiar. The comfort of

my bed beneath me, my cluttered desk... it all felt right, yet wrong at

the same time. I sat up, rubbing my eyes.

"Wait... what?" I muttered, confused.

How did I get here? One second I was in Vaylora, standing on a cliff

with Kyuu by my side, feeling the weight of a world crumbling. And

now—nothing. Just my bedroom. It didn't make sense.

Suddenly, my girlfriend's voice cut through the confusion. "Hey, I

found a fox outside. Isn't it adorable?"

I turned to see her holding a small, fluffy fox. It looked at me with

those strange, glowing eyes.

"Wait... why is there a fox in my house?" I asked, my voice strained.

She giggled, "I don't know, it just showed up. We should keep it."

I stared at the fox, and a deep sense of familiarity washed over me.

It had the same mark I had seen in Vaylora. The mark I had

somehow forgotten about, like a distant memory tugging at my mind.

That... couldn't be.

"Does it have a mark?" I asked, my heart suddenly racing.

"Yeah," she said, showing me. "It's kinda cute, huh? I think it might

be some sort of symbol."

I felt cold dread seep into my bones. The mark—it was the same. I'd

seen it before, in Vaylora. But how? Why?

My mind was a fog. My memories of everything that had happened

were blurry, fragmented. It was like someone had wiped them clean.

But this mark... it felt like a piece of a puzzle I'd once had. I knew it

meant something, but I couldn't place it.