Chapter 1: Wanting To Go Back

  Hero, Jake Carter’s Perspective

  It was morning again.

  I lay on my bed staring at the ceiling, not moving. The room was cold—not freezing, just enough to make getting up feel like a bad idea. The kind of cold that seeps in quietly and convinces you to stay still.

  Honestly, the dorms at Aurellia’s Academy felt more like home now than St. Friede’s Cathedral ever did. That thought sat there longer than I wanted it to.

  “Jake!”

  Lachlann’s voice cut through the room.

  I didn’t answer.

  “Get up,” he said again. Louder. “She’s calling us.”

  I kept staring at the ceiling.

  A second later, Lann’s face popped into view, blocking the light. Then his hands grabbed my arm and yanked.

  “Come on,” he said, hauling me off the bed.

  I didn’t fight it. Didn’t really care.

  “It’s our turn,” he went on. “You don’t want to disappoint the young lady, do you?”

  I groaned as my feet hit the floor.

  “I still don’t get it,” Lann continued, shaking his head like this was a personal injustice. “You’re always surrounded by beautiful girls. Even Aurellia’s young lady. Are these the perks of being a chosen Hero? It’s unfair!”

  I tuned him out while pulling on my clothes.

  Black fitted shirt. martial grey pants. Sandals. Black sash. The Cuffs of Burden—cold metal settling around my wrists like always.

  I caught my reflection for a second. Same face. Same body. Different world.

  Funny thing was, I finally escaped my old life. No school. No grades. No expectations from anyone back home.

  And all I could think about lately was wanting to go back.

  “Let’s go,” I said, heading for the door.

  “Finally,” Lann muttered.

  We took the stairs two at a time. Halfway down, Lann grabbed two paper bags from a bench and shoved one into my hands.

  “No time for the cafeteria,” he said. “Eat while we move.”

  We ran toward the Eastern District.

  The streets were quieter than they used to be. Less shouting. Less movement. Too much empty space.

  Nearly a third of Auresta’s people had died.

  You don’t really see that number. You feel it.

  We arrived at the site a few minutes later. Hunter trainees were everywhere—carrying crates, hauling planks, stacking bricks. Reconstruction duty. Days off meant nothing anymore.

  Lann tapped my arm and pointed.

  “Look.”

  I followed his finger.

  Alliyana was on a rooftop, hammer in hand, steady as ever. Just… fixing things. Like this was normal. She wore the trainee uniform, but she still stood out.

  What is she even doing?

  “She’s beautiful,” Lann said, almost reverently. “A bit strange though.”

  I rolled my eyes.

  The old man—yeah, I still thought of her like that sometimes, out of habit—doesn’t seem to notice the looks she got.

  Or she doesn’t care.

  A lot of the trainees, and even a few Hunters, kept staring. Whispering to each other when they thought no one was listening.

  She had no idea.

  Or maybe she did and just didn’t think it mattered.

  “Hey,” Lann said quietly. “You think the rumors are true?”

  I shrugged. “Who knows.”

  Rumors about her fighting an Archdemon were spreading fast. The old man didn’t confirm them. Didn’t deny them either.

  Then something tapped my arm.

  Not hard.

  Celestine.

  “Don’t just stand there,” she said. “Help carry crates.”

  I grabbed one of the heavier ones and caught up to her.

  “Aren’t you supposed to have permission for this?” I asked. “From the Cardinal?”

  She snorted. “Who cares about his permission?”

  I didn’t answer.

  Something one of the demons said floated back into my head.

  Centuries ago, a Pope proposed a solution. Sacrifice some to save the rest.

  I kept walking.

  “Drop it by the bench,” Celestine said.

  I nodded and set the crate down. One of the carpenters gestured at me in thanks. I gestured back.

  Then I noticed something that made me slow down without realizing it.

  Ysira was working beside Gravem Tor.

  Ysira lifted long wooden planks with controlled bursts of wind, guiding them into place like they weighed nothing. Gravem followed right behind her, using miracles to haul bricks and chunks of stone, stacking them with careful precision that didn’t match his size at all.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  I’d forgotten how massive he was. And yet he moved carefully, like he was afraid of breaking something—or someone.

  I shook it off and went back to work.

  The rest of the day blurred together like they all had lately. Lift. Carry. Hammer. Sweat. Repeat. It felt like time had lost its edges.

  It all blurred together after a while. Days stopped feeling like days and started feeling like a current I was just drifting in.

  Wake up.

  Train.

  Sleep.

  Wake up.

  Reconstruction.

  Sleep.

  Just motion—like if I stopped moving for even a second, I’d sink.

  I didn’t even remember when the sun dipped low. I only noticed because my arms finally gave out.

  I dropped onto a nearby crate and leaned back, letting the night air hit my face. It was cold in that way that wakes you up instead of putting you to sleep. I looked up at the sky.

  Stars. Still there. Same as always.

  I let out a long breath.

  Lann leaned against a wall a few steps away, arms crossed. “It hasn’t been the same,” he said quietly.

  I didn’t answer right away.

  “…Do you think it ever will be?” I asked.

  He looked down at the ground, kicking a pebble with his boot. “I wish.”

  That was it. No reassurance.

  “Auresta’s lucky,” he added after a moment. “Big cities can protect themselves. Walls. Hunters. Infrastructure.” He gestured vaguely toward the gates. “Small towns don’t have that. People’ve been showing up every day. Whole families. Just… relieved they made it.”

  I followed his gaze, then looked back up at the sky.

  And the guilt crept in again.

  The operation to shut down the farms had been top secret. A handful of Hunters and Paladins deciding the fate of the world for everyone else. Alliyana told us about the farms—but not why they existed in the first place.

  None of us knew this would happen.

  Not the Hunters. Not the Paladins.

  She did.

  My chest tightened.

  Then the memories came anyway.

  Hooks.

  Bodies.

  Blood soaking into stone.

  That woman. Barely able to speak. Looking at me like I was the last thing she’d ever see. Asking me to kill her.

  I shook my head hard and sucked in a breath.

  “Hey,” Lann said, frowning. “You good?”

  “Yeah,” I said quickly. Too quickly. “I’m fine.”

  A familiar voice cut through the quiet.

  “You boys mind accompanying us to dinner?”

  I looked up.

  Alliyana stood a short distance away, hands behind her back like always. Celestine was beside her, staff slung over her shoulder, and Ysira stood just behind them, arms folded.

  Lann straightened instantly. “Uh—wait—both of us?”

  Alliyana smiled, small and amused. “Yes. Both of you.”

  Lann turned red so fast it was impressive.

  “Are you sure?” he blurted.

  She laughed. “I wouldn’t have asked otherwise.”

  That was all it took.

  Lann grabbed my arm and started dragging me along. “We’re coming,” he said like someone might stop him.

  They ended up at a tavern near the eastern road. Lann pushed the door open first, and the warmth hit me right away—firelight, cooked meat, that low buzz of voices all layered together. It felt weirdly comforting. Like stepping into a memory that didn’t belong to me.

  I spotted her right away. Ysira was already seated at a big round table near the center. She noticed us and waved like she’d been waiting all night.

  Lann and I walked over and sat down together. I glanced around. It was… lively. More than I expected. People laughing, clinking mugs, arguing about nothing important. Like the city was pretending hard enough, maybe things would actually go back to normal.

  “Excuse us,” Alliyana said.

  I turned just in time to see her and Celestine coming back from the counter carrying trays—actual trays, stacked high. A couple of guys followed behind them, barely managing the rest of the food.

  No one even blinked.

  People were used to it now. Hunters ate a lot. Alliyana ate more.

  They set everything down, plates and bowls covering half the table. One of the men laughed and shouted something about her appetite, thanking her for keeping business alive. Alliyana shook his hand like it was nothing.

  “Anytime,” she said.

  I sighed and thought, at least pretend to be a girl.

  We ate.

  Or… tried to.

  It was quiet in that way where no one wants to be the first to talk. Lann had been hyped the whole walk over, but now that he was actually sitting across from Alliyana, his brain had completely shut off. He stared at his plate like it was going to judge him.

  I stood up. “I’m gonna get some air.”

  Lann immediately grabbed my sleeve and leaned in. “Don’t leave me,” he whispered like he was about to be interrogated.

  “I’ll be right back,” I muttered, prying his hand off.

  Outside, the air was cool again. The kind that wakes you up just enough to remind you you’re still here. I sat down against the tavern wall, knees bent, and let my head fall back. Closed my eyes. Breathed.

  The door opened behind me.

  Someone sat down next to me.

  I didn’t need to look.

  “I’m fine,” I said before she could ask. “Just tired.”

  She didn’t argue.

  I cracked one eye open and saw her leaning back too, eyes closed, face tilted up toward the sky. There was a small smile there. Not fake either.

  I closed my eyes again.

  “You know,” I said, “I’ve noticed what you’ve been doing.”

  She hummed. A sound that meant go on.

  “The walks. The hikes. Keeping us busy with reconstruction. Dragging us places so we don’t just… sit there.”

  She didn’t deny it.

  There was a brief silence after.

  I swallowed. “If there was a way to go back,” I asked, “would you take it?”

  She snorted softly. “Sometimes old memories come back,” she said. “Nostalgia. But I already lived a full life.”

  I turned my head toward her.

  “Besides,” she added, “being reincarnated into a world with magic? My younger self would’ve loved it.”

  That caught me off guard.

  “You were… normal?”

  She laughed. A real one. “Am I not?”

  For a moment, I wasn’t sure if she was serious.

  She glanced my way. “What about you?”

  I thought about it longer than I meant to. Then nodded. “Yeah. I would.”

  Heat crept up my neck. Same kid who ran the first time. Like I hadn’t changed at all.

  She didn’t say anything.

  I frowned. “I thought you’d give me some old-man advice or something.”

  She chuckled. “You can’t keep running away when things get hard.”

  I pulled my knees closer and rested my forehead against them. “I know.”

  There was a pause.

  “When does it get easier?” I asked.

  “Never,” she said immediately.

  My arms tightened.

  “You just get stronger.”

  That one hurt more than I expected.

  I stared at the ground and thought, Figures. Didn’t matter if it was Sanctera or Earth. Same me.

  I wiped my face against my pants and stood up before she could say anything else.

  She stayed seated. “Call them,” she said. “We’re heading out.”

  Inside, Lann looked like a statue. So much for his excitement earlier.

  “It’s time,” I said.

  He stood up way too fast, like the chair had shocked him. Ysira and Celestine followed, quiet again. No one really looked at anyone else.

  Ysira passed me without a word.

  As I turned to leave, Celestine leaned her head against my back.

  My heart spiked—then I forced it to calm down.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “I want to hang out again,” she said softly. “The three of us.”

  I smiled before I could stop myself.. “Yeah. That sounds good. A nice change of pace.”

  Her eyes lit up. She hugged me quick and ran ahead before I could react.

  I followed after her.

  Come to think of it… Me and Ysira really are her only friends.

  The thought stuck with me longer than it should’ve.

  Friends.

  I couldn’t help but smile.