"Go back to your Realm. Have your Queen assemble her troops.
Trust me—I don't want this either, but it's inevitable.
That's why I tried to warn you."
Jentil left before I could respond.
And honestly? Her words haunted me.
I knew she was right.
I just… refused to accept it.
---
Two weeks blurred past like a bad montage, and somehow, everything slipped back into normal.
No magic.
No Quintiel.
No weird transmigration sparks buzzing in my veins.
Just… me.
My Semester finals were around the corner, but that was the least of my concerns. Whisper-Realm was in danger, and I couldn't do anything about it.
Forget proverb.. I needed my novel back ASAP. To fix things. Everything.
Whatever force dragged me into the Kingdom before… was what I longer for. It was my only hope now.
Normality became suffocating and the world started to feel so boring without magic.
Then, my fingers literally itched to write more.
And so, I did.
Not rage-baiting or for drama.
Just… sparkles of peace.
What the realm would look like without people like Quintiel messing everything up.
A quiet world. A gentle one--
"NIRIT ZARIN! Get your butt down here this instant!"
I froze. Dropping my pen.
Right.. That.
We were supposed to visit the Orphanage this weekend, and Mom had an important business trip.
"It's worth a thousand-dollar contract--" she'd said.
Oh she'd really done it this time.
But looking at the brighter side, it was kinda nice. Things were finally falling back into place. The once chaotic world I lived in as a child was smoothing back to a polished canva.
Mom finally got a stable job, that's something worth rejoicing.
Somehow I'd signed an agreement with Albert Orphanage Homes to submit dozens of storybooks every month.
And of course, Mom got the bigger share of the revenue.
Typical.
"NIRIT!!" Nula called again. Harsher this time.
"On it!" I yelled, scrambling from my desk.
Nula tossed me a helmet the second I got downstairs, already halfway out the door without even looking at me.
"I have a really important class," she muttered, tightening the straps of her helmet,
" Try not to make me late!
I didn't wait for a second invite. I hopped on behind her before she got any ideas of leaving me.
Nula drove like she had a personal vendetta without speed limits, and by the time we arrived, my stomach was already performing backflips.
The very reason why I hated going anywhere with her on that cursed bike.
---
"Nirit!"
That was Cecee. Her face brightened instantly on seeing me.
"Or should I call you.." A smirk crossed her face, "..Emila?"
We both giggled. Honestly, that was the most hideous name I'd ever come up with in any setting.
"Wow. Didn't expect you to know my real name," I teased.
"I work here full-time. I knew it before you even showed up," she admitted as we walked down the corridor.
We headed straight to the collection room. With mountain of books and collectables waiting for us in queue. Talking became secondary.
A stack kept Cecee behind my shelf as she struggled to keep up.
"How do you work here if you can't even finish a single stack?" I snickered, picking up another box. That was my third so far.
Cecee was still struggling with her first.
" Right, right. Says the princess who walks in from her comfort zone while I'm here slaving from sunrise till dusk." Cecee flicked a book into place dramatically.
"Whatever~" I bent down for the next pile and promptly tripped over an empty box.
"Karma!" she cackled.
"Oh, shut up." I fired back, "Save your strength for important things!" I bent over to pick the box.
Something gleamed from beneath the shelf.
What…?
..A feather?!
It was Crimson red. Blazing.
My heart dropped to my ankles.
"You've got to be kidding me."
I hesitated, then reached for it, but it seemed to sit just out of reach under the shelf.
Great. So much for discovery.
"Um… Cecee?"
"What now? Did you break your ankle? I pray so," she replied, almost annoyed.
I could see from the gap between the shelf's root and the floor, her shoes going in another direction.
"Would it kill you to come over here for a sec?" I yelled at her.
"Oh don't mind me, I'm 'preserving my energy for useful things'."
My fists clenched. "Such a pain in the rear!"
I wriggled halfway under the shelf until my fingers finally brushed it.
"Gotcha!"
"…What was that?" Cecee asked.
"N-nothing!"
The feather changed, its crimson deepened, then warmed into gold.
"Just like before!"
It was from my novel's world. I didn't know how, but I could feel it.
I took an empty jar beside me and put the feather in it, tightening the lid. Then, I covered it with a large newspaper, just incase Cecee somehow shows up.
"Do you clean this place every day?" I asked her.
"Dusting, sweeping, sorting.. yeah, all me. Why?" She asked.
"And by some chance did you.. per chance come across a feather? Say... red-coloured?"
***
Narrative POV
"A feather?" Cecee mumbled, suddenly, stopping mid-motion. Her hands brushed past a vase she had just fixed in place. She was deep in thoughts.
Her memories flickered back to Quintiel, to Quell, and to everything she tried to convince herself she hadn't seen.
"Telling her sounds crazy… but."
She dumped all the ceramics back in her box and walked over to where Nirit was at.
Cecee turned toward Nirit. She'd made her decision.
"It wouldn't hurt to tell one person, would it?"
But then..
The golden feather shimmered violently, breaking into particles of light.
The jar glowed brighter— too bright.
"Oh no—"
Nirit's eyes focused on it instead.
She knew what would come next.
The same thing that happened before. Back in the storage room.
"Nirit, look, this might sound crazy but--"
Cecee froze.
Her eyes widened in horror as her friend's body began dispersing into golden particles.
"What in the name of--WHAT IS HAPPENING?!"
" I can explain," Nirit yelled as the world faded, "--as soon as I get back! PROMISE!"
---