Elara didn't sleep that night.
Even when she returned to her bed—somehow waking up curled in her room as though nothing had happened—her body ached with fatigue, and her mind refused to quiet. Her pendant no longer glowed, but its weight against her chest reminded her the night was real.
Kael was real.
And he believed they had lived before.
She sat on the edge of her bed, fingers clutching the sheets. A past life? A curse? A kiss that saved him? It sounded like a fairytale or some tragic legend… not something she was supposed to be a part of.
And yet—her dreams had never lied.
Every time she saw him in the past, she felt it: that pull in her chest, like a string connecting her to someone far away. A longing without explanation.
But why me?
---
Later that day, as the morning sun painted golden streaks across the sky, Elara wandered into the bookstore where she worked part-time. The bell above the door chimed as she entered, the familiar scent of paper and dust grounding her.
"Hey, dream girl," said Mara, her coworker and closest friend. "You look like you didn't sleep at all."
"I didn't," Elara muttered, slipping behind the counter.
Mara tilted her head. "Another dream?"
Elara hesitated. Normally, she would laugh it off. Make a joke. But her fingers drifted unconsciously to the pendant around her neck.
"I think I saw him," she whispered.
Mara blinked. "Him?"
"The boy from my dreams. I think I met him. For real."
Mara's teasing grin faltered. "Wait, what do you mean, 'met'?"
"I don't know," Elara murmured. "It's like… I was pulled into another world. He said I saved him once. That I died for him. That we're—" She stopped, afraid to finish the sentence.
Mara stared at her for a long second. "Okay, this is... wild. Like next-level fantasy. But you've always had strong dreams. Maybe this is some kind of subconscious message or... past trauma?"
Elara shook her head. "It wasn't like that. He knew me. And I felt it. Like I'd known him my whole life and forgotten."
Before Mara could reply, the door creaked open behind them. Elara turned—and froze.
A man stepped in.
Tall. Dark-haired. Dressed like someone from a different time, but his presence commanded the room effortlessly. The same silver eyes locked with hers.
Kael.
Her breath caught. He was here.
In her world.
---
"I told you," he said softly, walking toward her, ignoring the startled stares from other customers. "I would find you."
Elara's voice trembled. "How are you here?"
"I crossed the veil," Kael said. "Only briefly. The seal is weaker now that you've awakened it."
Mara stood dumbfounded, glancing between them. "Who is this—?"
Kael looked at her, polite but distant. "A friend. Of hers."
Elara's heart pounded. "What do you want?"
Kael's gaze softened. "To protect you. They'll come for you now. Those who cursed me… they never wanted us to reunite."
A chill ran down her spine. "Who's 'they'?"
Kael didn't answer right away. Instead, he reached into the folds of his coat and handed her a small, glowing fragment—glass-like, pulsing faintly with golden light.
"A piece of your past," he said. "When you're ready to remember… hold it close. And don't let them take it."
And with that, before she could ask another question, Kael vanished—like mist burned away by morning light.
Leaving Elara standing breathless.
With a glowing shard of memory in her hand.