Night in the forest carried a cold silence that pressed on the cabin like a heavy blanket. The wind had died completely. Even the crickets were quiet, as if the woods were holding their breath.
Inside, the air was still. Xesre sat on the edge of his bed, his eyes sharp and unfocused. The events of the past days spun in his head like fragments of broken glass—Sakura's worry, Akira's suspicion, Fortuna's piercing gaze.
His fingers clenched tightly around a small blood dagger. The blade trembled faintly, reflecting the flicker of the candlelight.
It doesn't stop.No matter how far I run… it follows.Their voices, their faces… my own thoughts.
Outside, Sakura and Akira were arguing softly by the campfire, unaware of the storm brewing inside. Fortuna sat nearby, eyes half-lidded, watching everything. She noticed every shift in Xesre's behavior, every crack in his composure, storing it away like pieces of a puzzle.
Inside the room, Xesre's breathing became shallow. His vision blurred at the edges. He pressed the blade against his chest, not to end his life—he knew death wouldn't come—but to feel something real through the numbness.
If I cut deep enough, maybe it'll drown everything else out.
The dagger pierced his skin. A thin line of golden blood traced down his chest.
The moment it did, something inside him snapped.
Pain flooded in—not from the wound, but from deep within his soul.Memories. Screams. Chains.His mind fractured like a mirror struck by a hammer.
And from the cracks, something else pushed through.
The room darkened unnaturally. The candle's flame bent sideways, as if recoiling.
Xesre's body stiffened, then jerked violently. His pupils dilated and then sharpened into slits. His once blonde hair darkened rapidly, threads of black flooding through until it was entirely shadow-dark. His aura changed—gone was the unstable boy drowning in pain. What replaced him was something colder. Older. Obsessive.
The air thickened, pressing against the walls.
"...Finally," a low, unfamiliar voice whispered from his mouth.
Outside, Sakura felt the surge first.Her head snapped toward the cabin. "Something's wrong."
She bolted inside, Akira and Fortuna following behind.
What they saw froze them in place.
Xesre stood in the center of the room, the dagger still buried in his chest, but he didn't bleed. Black hair fell messily over his face, and when he looked at them, his eyes were not his own.
They were swirling—cosmic, endless, like staring into a star-filled abyss.
Sakura gasped, stumbling back. "X–Xesre?"
The boy—no, the being—tilted his head slowly, studying her like one might study an insect. His gaze was unsettlingly sharp, filled with a possessive intensity.
"You're… in my way."
The voice was deeper, smoother. Not Xesre's.
Akira instantly stepped forward, his instincts screaming. "Who the hell are you?!"
The being ignored him completely, stepping closer to Sakura.
Fortuna's eyes narrowed. She recognized the shift immediately.
So… this is it. The other one.
She didn't interfere—she observed. Her mind raced, cataloging every detail of this transformation.
Sakura trembled, raising her hands defensively. "Xesre, stop! This isn't you—"
"I'm always here," the voice cut her off. "Watching. Waiting. He just keeps pretending I'm not."
The way he said it made her blood run cold.
Then, like a storm collapsing in on itself, his body suddenly shuddered.
His knees buckled. His hair began to lighten, the black fading away like ink in water. His pupils returned to their sharp blue.
And then—he collapsed, unconscious, hitting the floor with a dull thud.
Sakura rushed forward, catching him before his head struck the ground.
Her hands shook. Her heart was racing.
"Wh–what was that?" she whispered.
Akira stood frozen, fists clenched, trying to mask his unease. "Whatever it was… it wasn't him."
Fortuna stepped closer, her eyes gleaming faintly in the candlelight.
"Don't speak of this to him," she said softly but firmly."It's better… if he doesn't know. For now."
The authority in her voice left no room for argument.
Sakura looked down at Xesre's unconscious face—peaceful, but deceptive. She nodded weakly, though unease gnawed at her chest.
Akira gritted his teeth but eventually agreed.
For eight days, Xesre remained unconscious.They traveled during that time, Fortuna carrying him with levitation magic as they made their way slowly toward the Middle Continent.
But none of them forgot the look in those cosmic eyes.
And somewhere deep within Xesre's fractured soul, Ersex waited patiently for his next chance.