I woke up feeling like I hadn't slept at all.
Which made sense, considering I didn't.
Hard to sleep when the cosmic entity inside you is doing… renovations.
Tessa was already poking the fire, hair sticking out in every direction like she had fought a wind spirit and lost.
She looked up.
"Oh good, you're alive."
"Physically," I said. "Spiritually? Debatable."
Lune handed me a piece of bread. Hard. Dry. Potentially a blunt weapon.
"Eat."
I bit it.
I think it bit back.
"…Lune. This is not bread. This is a building material."
"It keeps well."
"It could kill someone."
Tessa nodded solemnly. "We could use it to knock out bandits."
I considered that.
Then nodded.
Yes.
This was our Anti-Bandit Brick Loaf™.
---
The Problem
While we ate, the air felt… thicker.
Like the atmosphere remembered something about me that it didn't like.
Lune noticed my silence. "How bad?"
I poked the dirt with a stick.
"So uh… you know how the god in me was kinda—quiet creepy?"
"Yes," they both said.
"Yeah, well, now he has… a voice. A clearer one."
Tessa froze mid-chew. "Like, language voice or emotion static god radio station voice?"
"…both."
Lune's jaw tightened.
"What did he say?"
I swallowed.
"He said, and I quote: 'The shell is soft. But it will harden soon.'"
Tessa blinked.
"…Are you the shell? Or us?"
I looked at the sky.
"See, that's the problem. I didn't ask."
Lune stood. "We resume training. Now."
---
Training, Part II: The "Don't Cause a Black Hole" Drill
Basically, the lesson was:
Do nothing.
Which sounds easy, right?
No.
Turns out not using infinite reality-bending mana is like trying not to think about penguins wearing little hats.
Tessa held up a leaf. "Okay. Just… touch it. Gently. Like a normal person."
Right. Normal.
I touched it.
It burst into white flame and turned into a small floating cube.
Just a cube.
Hovering.
Humming.
Vibrating with the energy of a thousand screaming universes or whatever.
Tessa scribbled in her notebook:
> "Rei cannot touch things."
"Yes I CAN—!"
I touched a pebble.
It turned into a frog.
A frog that was on fire.
The frog screamed in Latin.
Lune clapped her hands once, loudly.
"REI."
"Yes??"
"Stop touching reality."
"OKAY!!"
We all stared at the frog.
The frog stared back.
Tessa pulled out her cloak and put the frog in it like she was collecting rare Pokémon.
"We are NOT keeping the frog," I said.
"We are ABSOLUTELY keeping the frog," she said.
The frog screamed again.
---
The Night Comes Back For Me
We walked until sunset.
Campfire crackling.
The forest was quiet.
Too quiet.
Lune sharpened her sword.
Tessa doodled the frog (with heart eyes).
I stared at my hands.
They didn't feel like mine anymore.
Like someone else was inside them.
Like someone was trying them on.
My vision flickered for a second — stars, void, a throne of broken time.
And then his voice:
> "You are adapting. Good."
I breathed sharply.
Not fear.
Not anger.
More like—
Recognition.
Like seeing a mirror reflect something behind you.
"If I evolve," I whispered, "what happens to me?"
He didn't answer.
He only said:
> "You were already changing. I just made it visible."
The fire popped.
Tessa hummed softly.
Lune watched me like she was ready to stop me if I exploded again.
And for some reason…
that made me feel grounded.
Like I wasn't alone in this cosmic horror show.
I leaned back and let the night breathe around us.
"…Tomorrow," I said quietly, "we reach Aurelia."
Lune nodded.
Tessa smiled, hugging the frog, who was still screaming but softer now.
Yeah.
Tomorrow starts something bigger.
Something I probably can't undo.
But tonight?
Tonight I'm just Rei.
A little unstable.
A little cursed.
But not alone.
--