I felt a tug in my heart like it was made from strings. The moment his tiny body hit my chest and I felt that soft fur, something inside me cracked open. I didn't even know why I felt emotional. We hadn't been together for that long, this tiny creature… yet he was my family. My nose stung, my eyes watered on their own, completely uninvited.

"Oh… Beelzebub… how I've missed you." I pressed the tiny, squeaking fluffball against my chest, and he answered with those happy little chirps that always sounded like he was gossiping about something important. His warmth calmed everything inside me.

Then, from below, a voice carried through the wind.

"Beatrice!"

High-pitched, loud, but gentle… like a flower unfolding in spring sunlight.

"Elira!?" Her name slipped out of me before I even realized I'd spoken. I hadn't seen her in what felt like forever, all because of me… all because of my hunger, my stupidity, everything I kept messing up.

Relief finally washed over me, loosening every knot inside my chest. The tension I had been forcing myself to hold for sleepless nights and endless days just melted away. For the first time in so long, I felt like I was home. Even if this wasn't a house, even if these were nothing but wild lands with no roof, no walls… they were here.

I'm home…

At that thought, and with a happy tear sliding down my cheek, the darkness washed over me. My vision blurred, my head spun, and… nothing. I don't remember anything after that.

The next time my eyes opened, a canopy of trees greeted me. Blue sky peeked between the leaves, softer and brighter than I remembered. It felt different, almost unreal, like everything before this moment had been a strange dream. My body felt light, as if I had fallen asleep on a cloud. Even the air felt gentler.

The first thing I heard was birdsong drifting between the branches. Then the rustle of leaves, brushing together in the cool wind. I lifted my arm toward the sky, wanting to hold onto that sense of connection for just a moment longer… only to pause when I saw my own skin.

Pale. Almost translucent. As if the blood had drained from my arm while I slept.

Before I could question it, the air around me shifted. A gentle swirl formed above my head, and a system window shimmered into existence, glowing softly against the morning light.

This one was different. It surprised me.

[You have received a new quest: {To the Lands Far Away} Objective: Explore the Shadowlands in the far north and retrieve the Fire Core stolen by the Shadow Emperor. Absorbing the core will double your level and complete the quest. Time limit: Six months. Failure will result in the system being stripped from the user.]

Ah… of course. Give it a pretty title, then add something that has nothing to do with it just to make me suffer. Fine. Fine. Six months, huh. More than enough.

A sound of crunching leaves pulled my attention to the left. I turned my head, and not too far from where I lay, a familiar figure walked through the clearing.

Elira.

"Beatrice! You're awake?"

She dropped the bundle of twigs in her hands without hesitation. Her feet skimmed across the ground, and the next moment she was on her knees beside me. I barely had time to blink before she wrapped her arms around my neck, clinging to me as if she thought I would vanish again the moment she let go.

This silly girl… I gave in and wrapped my hands around her arms, allowing myself to sink into the warmth of her touch.

Soft hiccups escaped her as tears poured freely down her cheeks.

"I… I thought I'd never see you again. When you disappeared, I didn't know what to do." Her words trembled, soaked with fear and relief. Each one felt like a knife sliding into my chest, twisting guilt deeper inside me. "I searched, and Beelzebub did too, but we couldn't find you. Then one day he felt you, far, far away, but it was impossible for us to leave the giant gates… we… we…"

Giant gates? What is she talking about?

I tried to push myself up, but the moment I moved, pain surged through every bone in my body. My muscles trembled and forced me back down.

She couldn't say more. Her tears wouldn't let her.

"Elira… I missed you a lot too. But what giant gates are you talking about?"

I tried to piece it together. There were only a few places with gates tall enough to be called giant, and none of them were anywhere near where we had last been. How could she and Beelzebub possibly end up on the other side? None of it made sense.

She pressed a gentle hand to my shoulder, pushing me down before I could sit.

"They were dark and… and tall as a mountain. We only passed because a woman in black helped us. She guided me and Beelzebub through the gates, and then we found you and brought you back. She said this place was safer."

My heart dropped to my stomach.

"A-and how did you end up there in the first place?" My voice trembled more than I wanted.

"That… I don't remember…" Her brows knitted, as if the memory slipped away the moment she reached for it.

A soft crunch of leaves came from my right, but I didn't dare turn. My instincts screamed. My blood ran cold.

"Ah, she's here. The one who helped us." Elira's face brightened with relief.

And my heartbeat almost burst straight through my chest.

"Beatrice, I'm so glad you're alright and alive… mmm… how I've missed you."

I turned toward the voice I had hoped never to hear again.

Crimson hair glowed under the sunlight. The stolen bloodline. The very lineage that let vampires walk under the sun. The legacy that should have belonged to Beatrice alone… but flowed in her veins instead.

I hated her for that. I hated her for letting Beatrice die in the story. And now she wanted to smile at me, pretend to be some caring mentor, as if I should be grateful.

Was she here to "guide" me again? Or just to make a game out of my life?

"Lyssandra…" Her name scraped out of my throat, trembling with anger and dread. Of all people… She was the last one I ever wanted to see.

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