The night in the human world was still.
Too still.
Aresando sat on the roof of his grandfather's garage, legs dangling over the edge, the magical coin glinting faintly between his fingers. Below, the yard was quiet. The stars above — dimmer than those in Solarnis — blinked like they knew he didn't belong here anymore.
He exhaled slowly. The wind didn't carry the smell of pine and spell-dust. No hint of dragon musk or enchanted pollen. Just… smog, car oil, and a faint trace of laundry detergent.
How the hell do you go back to homework after purifying a demon-lord with a glowing sword you summoned through raw willpower?
The phone buzzed beside him. The school, again. Probably wondering why the ghost of Aresando had skipped out for a month.
He ignored it.
Instead, he turned the coin in his hand.
It was quiet now. Innocent-looking.
But he knew better.
"Why'd you bring me back?" he murmured. "Was I done over there? Was I supposed to stop Jade from getting too attached?"
His voice cracked slightly at the last word.
Jade.
She had probably torn half the guild apart by now looking for him. She'd punch a portal into this world with her bare claws if someone told her how. She'd sniff him out between the dimensions and drag him back, tail swishing and fury in her golden eyes.
He smiled to himself.
"I didn't even say goodbye."
Down below, in the garage, his grandfather's things still sat. Untouched. Covered in dust, but somehow humming with the same quiet power Solarnis had.
He climbed down.
Inside, old swords, maps, scrolls, and broken magical trinkets lay scattered across wooden shelves. A cracked helmet hummed softly when he passed. A bent staff lit up as he walked by.
Everything here whispered of the past — and of home.
He stepped to the center of the room. There, on the worktable, sat a crystal orb. Not large, not dramatic. It had a single rune carved into it — one he recognized now.
Calling.
His grandfather hadn't just left behind memories. He'd left behind a doorway.
Aresando stared into the orb.
And in that moment…
He saw her.
Jade. In Solarnis. Panting from running. Her claws dug into a spellbook she clearly didn't understand, a wild gleam in her eyes. She was talking — no, threatening — an old wizard whose beard was definitely trying to strangle him.
She was looking for him.
Fierce. Loyal. Mine.
He gripped the edge of the table.
"I didn't choose to come back here," he whispered.
Then he stood tall, his voice steady.
"But I'll choose what happens next."
He turned to the coin in his palm. "You listening, you shiny jerk? I'm not a puppet. If you dragged me back here, then you can drag me the hell back there."
The coin shimmered — faintly at first, then brighter.
The orb pulsed in reply.
The runes on the walls — ones he hadn't even noticed before — began to glow.
And somewhere, deep inside, the magic stirred.
Not the magic of a hero.
Not the magic of a chosen one.
But the magic of someone who decided.
Aresando placed the coin on the orb.
"I'm coming back," he said. "Because someone's waiting."
---
Meanwhile, in Solarnis...
Jade slammed the spellbook on the table so hard it broke the leg off the bench. The old wizard flinched.
"I said — translate this!" she growled. "It talks about dimension threads! Gate magic! Something about echoes and—uh—probability weaving, or—whatever! Use your big wrinkly brain and make it WORK!"
"I—I need more time!"
"You've got until I count to ten."
"One!?"
Jade bared her fangs. "One."
Suddenly, the air shifted.
Like the world had taken a breath.
The coin in her pouch — the one she'd kept ever since the first time he disappeared — began to glow.
She stared.
It wasn't just glowing. It was singing.
And then…
A pulse.
Magic, thick and real and his, flooded the room like a summer storm.
Her heart stopped.
"…Res?"
She turned.
A portal opened behind her — jagged, gold-edged, alive with furious light.
And through it—
"Aresando!" she screamed, half furious, half overjoyed.
He stepped through — a little soot-stained, covered in garage dust, and holding the coin like it owed him an explanation.
"Sorry I'm late," he said, smiling, chest heaving. "The stupid coin got moody."
She punched him in the chest.
Then hugged him so tight he nearly dropped it again.
"You idiot," she mumbled into his shoulder. "I was gonna punch a god."
"Yeah," he whispered back, holding her tight. "I know."
Behind them, the old wizard fainted.
---
Two worlds. One bond. And a coin that might just be the most chaotic force in existence.
But Aresando and Jade were together again.
And that was all that mattered.