Chapter 168: Episode 168 - The Weight of Ordinary Days

Specifically, 3 weeks, 21 days have passed since we returned from Regum, since we found that Kris had disappeared, and that Tobias and Luke had not returned with us to Earth. After having lived through the most unreal adventure of our lives, all that remained was the memory and that faint magic that we could still invoke, those small flashes of light that gave us hope from time to time; Despite having spent months of our lives away, upon returning, everything had been frozen in time; it was like waking up from a dream where several events occurred, a very, very long dream.

Joe decided to go this week to be with his mom and brother. Even though their relationship wasn't very affectionate, he had been missing them when we stayed in Regum, and this was just what he needed to give closure to everything he had been feeling, to that feeling of guilt for disappearing without saying goodbye. Joe's absence left the apartment strangely empty. I tried to fill the silence with routine—the return to classes, coffee, the endless shuffling of papers—but every time I touched a pen, a faint spark ignited between my fingers. It was harmless, fleeting, but it reminded me that Regum hadn't let go of me. Three weeks, twenty-one days, and the world still felt strange. The streets were the same, the faces unchanged, but sometimes, out of the corner of my eye, I could swear I saw the forest for the trees. A shadow of branches bending where there were no trees. A whisper of wind out of place.

One night, while driving home, the streetlight flickered. For an instant, the glow wasn't yellow, but silver, the same hue that had marked the doorway. I gasped and froze. The light stabilized, but the memory lingered.

Ness - Regum is leaking...

When Joe finally returned from his mother's house, he stormed in, slamming the door behind him. He came to my room with eyes that reflected a similar unease to the one that had been overwhelming me.

Joe - At my mom's house... The fireplace lit itself. No matches, no wood. Just the flame.

We exchanged a glance, one of those that needed no words. Regum wasn't finished with us. Days passed, and the signs grew stronger. Tobias and Luke's dreams became clearer, less like memories and more like a presence. I heard Tobias's voice in the silence: "Together." Luke's calm tone echoed in my mind, helping to calm me when I faltered. And then, one night, a letter appeared on the desk. No one had delivered it. The paper was old, the ink faded and illegible, but I recognized that handwriting from somewhere. I knew I'd seen it before, but I couldn't say for sure.

Joe - These are pretty obvious signs... aren't they?

Ness - Not so obvious, but it seems someone or something from Regum is calling us.

Joe didn't doubt my words; at this point, nothing seemed strange to us anymore, and although we were looking for our own way, we seemed to have already accepted that we didn't seem to be on Earth. The night passed in a flash, with us chatting in my room like in the old days. We had quit our jobs before Regum disappeared, so now we were living off the severance pay we'd received, thinking this was only temporary.

Joe - Do you really think we can go back to Regum?

The question crushed me. I felt a heaviness in my stomach and a knot I couldn't explain.

Ness - I don't know what I'll do if we can't...

Joe - Well, nothing. We'll have to move on, get new jobs, continue our lives as we left them.

I looked at him seriously, clutching the pillow in my hands.

Ness - Could you?

Joe - What? Move on?

Ness - Yeah, like nothing happened.

Joe - It's not like nothing happened, it's like it was just something that happened.

Joe shook his head slightly, but when he spoke I could see his eyebrows arch slightly and involuntarily.

Ness - Like it was just something that happened... It was months, Joe.

Joe - It only took a day here, Ness. It's been three weeks since we left. Do you really think if we go back, they'll still be the same as we remember?

Ness - Regumnians live longer than humans.

I said, with a half-smile on my face that didn't reach my eyes.

Joe - Do you know how long a hippogriff lives? A cocotup? Yes, perhaps the nymphs will still be there if we return, but... what about everyone else? The creatures we freed from all they endured: the alcortes, the goblins, the elves, the mercinars?

Joe's words hung in the air, heavy and sharp. I pressed the pillow to my chest, watching the faint sparks dance on my fingertips.

Ness - Maybe they're not the same. Maybe nothing is. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try.

Joe lay back, the flame extinguished, his expression a mixture of exhaustion and defiance.

Joe - Do you think Regum is waiting for us?

The silence stretched on, broken only by the hum of the city outside. But even that felt strange, distorted. The wind rattled the window, and for a moment I swore I could hear the forest again: branches bending, whispers cutting through the night.

I lay in bed, restless, that pillow seeming to be my only anchor.

Ness - The signs don't fade, Joe. They grow stronger. The letter, the light, the dreams… Tobias and Luke haven't gone…

Joe - Ness… Don't you think you need to tie up loose ends here?

I remained silent.

Ness - How could I? When I close my eyes to sleep, I hear whispers, shouts in my ears, I see shadows, images that aren't there.

Joe - But... Don't you think that, aside from everything we went through in Regum, you should try to tie up loose ends here?

I remained silent, frozen, thinking about what I had truly left unfinished here.

Ness - I don't have a family...

Joe - You had friends.

Ness - So what should I do? Tell them everything that happened?

I raised my eyebrows, and my eyes felt a slight burning sensation. I wanted to cry, but I didn't know why.

Joe - Ness, you're denying yourself a lot of things because you're clinging to what we were in Regum. We were heroes, we were the ones who waited so long for a prophecy. We're not that here.

Ness - And what are we, Joe? Are we... just children who knew magic, who faced death time and time again? Are we simply memories in someone else's mind, or hope in the minds of the elderly?

I stood up, leaving the pillow on the bed, and stared out my bedroom window with a bitter taste in my mouth.

Joe - Shit!

I turned around quickly to look at Joe.

To be continued..