Episode 176 - Leaking

Episode 176 - Leaking
I left my parents' house with my eyes burning after so many emotions; I felt tired, and putting on my helmet didn't make it any better.

Dad - That motorcycle... Is it safe?

I looked at my dad, who had always been a man of few words, looking at me with a worried expression.

Ness - It is...

I smiled and looked at him again.

Ness - Mom... Dad... I was thinking of taking a trip soon, maybe abroad... So if you don't hear from me for a while, it might be because I'm traveling... Okay? It's not like I'm forgetting you.

Mom opened her eyes slightly, her hand pressed against the doorframe.

Mom - Abroad? Where?

Her voice held a mixture of curiosity and fear, as if the word itself meant losing me again.

I adjusted my helmet strap, forcing a smile.

Ness - I don't know yet... I want to use my youth to explore... Okay?

My father frowned, his silence heavy. He had always been cautious, but this time his concern was different: less about the motorcycle, more about the distance he was about to put between us again.

Dad - Just... don't disappear again, okay, princess?

The words hit me harder than I expected. I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat.

Ness - I won't. I promise.

I started the motorcycle and breathed, I lowered the visor of my helmet and drove away from home again, but this time not as a stranger, not as a person who has to leave home because they are in a place where they do not feel they belong, but now as a person who truly felt free. After facing reality with my friends, with those I thought were my friends, and with my parents, my heart felt lighter, although it seemed as if something inside me had broken at the same time; I felt that the bond that united me to them was there, but it wasn't strong, it wasn't something that prevented me from moving forward, just like a thread that kept me remembering my life here.

The road stretched out before me, dark and endless, the motorcycle's hum steady beneath my hands. The wind tightened around my chest, carrying away the heaviness of the last two hours, but leaving behind a silent ache that refused to fade. It was quite late, and the streetlights flickered, each marking the distance, reminding me that I was still onward. My parents' voices echoed in my mind: my mother's trembling, "Abroad? Where?" my father's harsh, "Don't ever disappear again." They were no longer chains, but threads, fragile reminders of my origins.

In the distance, the streetlights ahead began to flicker in a way I hadn't expected, following a melodic rhythm, as if whispering a song, as if it were no coincidence. At first, I thought it was just the tiredness in my eyes, the blurry light against the visor. But as I got closer, the streetlights weren't just flickering, they were pulsing, dimming and brightening with a rhythm that seemed deliberate, almost alive. The glow spread along the road like a path, guiding me forward.

I slowed the motorcycle, holding my breath. The engine's hum seemed to harmonize with the lights, as if the world itself had begun to sing.

Then I noticed the shadows. They weren't behaving as they should. The buildings lining the street cast shapes that curved unnaturally, reaching toward me, curving like outstretched fingers. For a moment, I thought I saw symbols etched in the darkness: marks I recognized as Regum's, faint but undeniable.

My heart was pounding. The thought became clear.

Ness - It's leaking...

The air grew denser, heavier, as if the night itself were holding its breath. A faint glow rippled across the pavement, like heat waves, but colder, more intense. I gripped the handlebars tighter, forcing myself to keep going.

Ness - Not here. Not now.

But the signs multiplied. A billboard ahead flickered, its letters rearranging into words I shouldn't have been able to read, words that belonged to Regum. The melody of the streetlights grew louder, pressing against my skull, and I realized it wasn't a coincidence: it was a sign. By the time I reached the bend toward my apartment, the world felt thinner, more fragile, as if reality itself were unraveling. Regum was no longer a distant kingdom. It was bleeding into mine.

I parked outside the apartment and left the moto in a bad spot. I just ran up to my apartment, but when I got there, the door wouldn't open properly, so I had to push it open.

Ness - Joe!

Joe was shirtless, with a piece of toast in his mouth and a plate in his hand.

Joe - Ness?

Ness - Joe, Regum... Something's going on.

Joe froze, the toast sliding from his mouth to his plate. He squinted, confused but alert.

Joe - What do you mean?

I closed the door behind me, pressing my back against it as if the hallway itself could follow me inside. My chest rose and fell, the rhythm of the streetlights still echoing in my ears, what I'd been seeing of things changing around me.

Ness - There's a leak. Out there: the lights, the shadows, even the signs. They're not just… glitches. They're Regum.

Joe set the plate on the counter, his movements suddenly careful, deliberate. He rubbed his face with one hand, as if trying to wake from a dream.

Joe - Are you saying it's crossing over? Here? The magic?

I nodded, my throat tight, as I stared at Joe in front of me.

Ness - Yes. It's no longer contained. It seems a portal is causing something, perhaps it's our very presence that...

Joe clenched his jaw and looked toward the window as if expecting something. The refrigerator's hum seemed louder, sharper, almost unnatural.

Joe - That's impossible. Regum can't... can't just cross over like that.

I took a step forward, my voice trembling but firm.

Ness - Besides being a kingdom, it has a life of its own, it's a world with its own rules... And it already is. The streetlights, the shadows, even the signs... Regum was screaming everywhere, it's not my imagination, I'm sure of it.

Joe's face paled. He pressed his palms against the counter, settling in.

Joe - If that's true, it means the barrier separating the worlds is breaking. And if the barrier breaks...

Her voice faded, her eyes met mine, heavy with unspoken fear. She couldn't even finish speaking. The possibility of Regum's magic seeping into the earth could mean more than we could accept, from the fact that the magic the queen had used centuries ago could be broken, to the fact that something else could be threatening us, not just Regum, but also here; it could mean that something else was trying to cross over. We looked at each other, with a faint buzzing sound that seemed to be coming from the refrigerator but at the same time seemed to echo from outside through the window, from the floor, the ceiling seemed to be making noise too. Everything around us.

To be continued..