I couldn't do something for a moment, wishing they had never stood there. I pondered more on what I wanted to say until I mustered all my courage and said calmly to both of them, "I'm not myself today, so I was trying to think, but it's like my mind stopped."

  I noticed Bron was reflecting on what I said, while Aleyas stared at me with suspicion. I looked at her; her hair and eyes did not differ from mine. Bron was different—he was taller and more handsome, with stunning green eyes and long black hair. Those two weren’t in my childhood, but in my memories, they were. Aleyas, who was a year younger, resembled me, while Bron, who was the same age as me, looked back and forth between us. I still couldn’t digest this strange reality—how, who, and why.

  As I contemplated these thoughts, Aleyas sighed and said, "Let’s go back to the house. We can talk about this." At first, I thought about what house, then I realized people who I did not know their names adopted us, but house is house, so I replied, "It's better than talking in the open." As I finished gathering my thoughts, we approached the house we now lived in. It looked no different from my aunt's house and my own, which mattered little.

  We entered the house to find two people sitting on the couch in the living room, both looking happy to see us. They were the people who had adopted all three of us. It felt strange because they looked similar to my mother and father in the album my aunt had shown me—they both had brown hair, but their eyes were different. They had black eyes instead of green and red, but I didn’t care too much.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  After greeting our parents, we went upstairs to Bron’s room. It was simply a gym in my book; the smell would overwhelm anyone's nose. I sat down on the bed while both of them stared at me with childlike expressions. Aleyas then said, "Tell us what happened to you earlier." I sighed and replied calmly, "I acted that way because I had a painful headache." That was all I could say. I suggested I should sleep for now and headed to my room.

  As I slowly understood everything, I thought to myself, should I leave this place? I was still Ray, so there was no difference from my real world. Should I try to find it or not? I remembered my aunt and how lonely she would feel if I left her alone that maybe I should try. I couldn't let the only person who believed in me live a lonely life and possibly die. I needed to go back.

  But how? I knew it was in a castle, but where was the castle? How do I get there? How do I open the chest, and how do I use the fragment to return? I contemplated these thoughts and finally understood it wouldn’t be easy; it would be challenging. But I had to do it to see the person who cared for me. I have to, no matter what, return to her. As I gathered my thoughts, I went to sleep.

  In the castle, a person was wearing a black kimono sitting opposite the chest door. He was wearing a black mask with a golden flower in the middle. He slowly stood up, picked up his sword in a scabbard, and swung it; instantly, a gust of wind swept through the room as he swung his sealed sword. The pressure from his swing opened the doors and windows of the castle. The guards were momentarily shocked so that they could remember that a monster was inside—a monster that was once known as the hero of serenity.