Morning sunlight poured into the hut, warm and calm like nothing bad had ever happened.
Rei sat up in his bed, his eyes wide open. The same birds chirped outside. The same smell of morning dew in the air. He looked around the others were getting up just like yesterday.
Kajala yawned, pulling on his boots. "Morning, sleepyhead," he said to Regulus, who was already fumbling with his belt and tripping over a stool.
Rika was brushing her hair with her fingers, while Elyra tied up her long blond hair under her dark cloak.
Rei didn't move. He just stared. His heart was racing.
This… this was the exact same day. Again.
The same conversation started. Vetra walked in. "Alright, time to split into teams again. Kajala with Regulus. Rika and Elyra. Rei, you're on your own."
Rei blinked. "What?"
Vetra raised an eyebrow. "Something wrong?"
Rei shook his head slowly. "No… just déjà vu."
Kajala chuckled. "You're always weird in the mornings."
Rei stood up, his fingers curling into a fist. He remembered it all being chased, climbing the building, throwing a chair, dying… and now it all reset.
He muttered under his breath, "So this really is my ability…"
The others didn't hear him. They were too busy getting ready.
Rei exhaled slowly and turned toward the door. "Alright. Let's try this again."
Rei blinked, confused. The old woman sat on a creaky wooden chair, staring at a blank wall. There was a teacup in her hand, but it looked empty. The whole attic smelled like dust and herbs.
She slowly turned her head toward him. "You're the pizza man?"
"…What?" Rei said, still catching his breath.
"The pizza man," she repeated. "You're late. I ordered mushrooms. And shadow cheese."
Rei stared, unsure if she was serious or just completely out of her mind.
Outside, boots hit the rooftop. The knights were getting closer.
Rei ducked down and whispered, "I'm not the pizza man, lady. You didn't see me, alright?"
She nodded solemnly. "I see lots of things. Most of them not real."
Rei crept toward the window on the other side of the attic, stepping over piles of yarn and old books. Just as he opened the window to slip out
"Watch out for the loose tile," the woman said.
He paused. "What loose—?"
His foot hit it, and the tile snapped. He almost fell, but caught himself at the last second.
"…Thanks," he muttered.
She just sipped her empty cup and said, "Shadow cheese…"
Rei dropped onto the next rooftop, still running, still trying to escape but now just a little more weirded out than before.
Rei landed on the next rooftop with a rough roll, his boots scraping the shingles as he steadied himself. His heart was hammering from the chase, but also from the bizarre encounter with the strange woman in the attic. He didn't have time to think about it too much. The corrupted knights were still on his trail, and he couldn't afford to slow down.
He ducked behind a chimney as a loud clank echoed from the rooftop behind him. One of the knights had made the jump too.
"There!" a gruff voice shouted. "He went this way!"
Rei groaned quietly and looked ahead. A small alley split the two buildings in front of him. He backed up a few steps, then sprinted forward and leapt across the gap. His foot barely landed on the ledge, and he had to scramble to pull himself up. He could feel the air behind him shift as a bolt of magic shot past and exploded into a rooftop pipe.
"Damn it," he muttered, pulling himself fully onto the next roof. He kept running, weaving through metal vents and cracked tiles, his body sore and tired but moving on instinct. He slid under a bent antenna and used the momentum to spring off an air duct, flipping onto another rooftop.
Below, the narrow streets of Hallin Way were starting to thin. He was getting close to the city edge.
But the knights weren't slowing down.
Rei could hear them shouting, their boots pounding like drums behind him. He ducked low and cut left, leaping down onto a lower building. The impact jolted his knees. He hissed, pain shooting through his legs, but he forced himself to keep going.
Another magic blast shattered a chimney inches from his head. Dust and brick sprayed across him, but he didn't stop.
He spotted a construction site ahead an unfinished tower with scaffolding clinging to its sides. It was risky, but it might be his best chance. He sprinted toward it, vaulted off a rooftop railing, and crashed through a canvas tarp into the scaffolding.
It creaked under his weight, but held.
Climbing up the metal bars, Rei twisted through narrow gaps and support beams. Behind him, the knights hesitated. Not all of them were brave enough to chase him onto a half-finished building.
One tried anyway. The man was fast, and Rei could hear the clang of his armored gauntlets on the bars.
Rei reached the top of the scaffolding, where a wooden plank led to the tower's second floor. He darted across it, ignoring the wobble, and ducked into the open window.
The inside was just as unfinished as the outside dusty stone, no walls, no furniture. Only open space and bare beams.
He ran through it and found a stairwell. As he bolted down the steps, something inside him started to throb—an instinct, a memory. The kind that didn't belong to this life. His past life's battle sense.
Halfway down the stairs, he skidded to a stop. His eyes scanned the wall. A hanging rope. He grabbed it, stepped back, and waited.
Just as a knight rounded the corner, Rei yanked the rope hard.
A pile of loose bricks from above collapsed with a crash, burying the knight in a cloud of dust.
Rei didn't wait to see if he got back up. He kept going.
He burst out of the building's side door and ran into the street again. His lungs burned, and his muscles were screaming, but he pushed through it.
Finally, he saw the edge of the city the fields stretching beyond Hallin Way.
Freedom.
But as he made it past the last alleyway, something slammed into his side.
A knight.
Rei hit the ground hard, gasping for air as the knight raised his blade.
Rei rolled, barely dodging the strike, and kicked the man's knee. The knight staggered. Rei grabbed a nearby rock and slammed it into the man's helmet.
It dented. The knight dropped.
Rei stumbled forward, limping now. Blood trickled from a cut on his arm. He didn't care. He just needed to keep moving
Something sharp slashed across his neck.
Rei froze. The world tilted.
He saw the masked figure again.
A flash of silver.
Then darkness.
Rei jolted awake with a loud gasp.
He was back at the hut.
His hands shot to his neck, but there was no wound. No blood. Just sweat. He was breathing hard, his eyes wide and unfocused.
He looked around. It was still early morning. The others hadn't woken up yet.
He pulled his knees up to his chest and stared at the wooden floor, his chest rising and falling fast.
It happened again.
He had died. Again.
But now he knew. He knew the knights were faster. Smarter. And that masked figure… he wasn't just a soldier. He was something else entirely.
Rei got to his feet quietly. His body was still sore from the run, even if it had technically never happened.
He stepped outside. The air was cold. The sun had just started to rise, casting a pale orange across the sky.
He needed a plan.
The door creaked behind him.
Kajala poked his head out, rubbing his eyes. His ears twitched. "You're up early."
"Couldn't sleep," Rei said simply.
Kajala looked at him for a long second. "You get that look in your eyes sometimes… like you've seen a ghost."
Rei didn't answer.
"You gonna be okay?" Kajala asked.
Rei nodded. "I have to be."
The wind blew through the trees, carrying with it the scent of dust and distant smoke. Whatever was coming next, Rei knew it wouldn't be easy.
But this time… he'd be ready.