The trees looked fake.
Too tall.Too still.Like they'd been painted in a rush and forgotten.
Takeshi walked behind the silver-haired girl, trying not to stare too long at the cracks in the sky.
"Where... are we?" he asked.
She didn't look back. "Nehvarra."
He blinked. "That's not a place."
"Not one you've heard of."
The wind made no sound.The leaves moved like they were breathing.
It felt like a dream.But sharper.
Like it could cut him if he stepped wrong.
"Are we... asleep?"
She gave a small nod. "Halfway."
He frowned. "So I can wake up?"
"Maybe," she said. "If this place lets you."
They stepped into a clearing.
The grass turned to black glass.The air shimmered, like heatwaves after a fire.
She finally faced him.Up close, her eyes were silver too—cold, but not cruel.
"I'm Lyra," she said. "Your guide."
"Do I need one?"
"You will."
She raised her hand.Light bloomed in her palm—a slow, glowing ring that pulsed like a soft drum.
"This," she said, "is a Drift."
Takeshi stared at it.It didn't look like power. It looked like memory.
"Where's mine?"
"You haven't touched it yet."
"How do I get it?"
"You don't," Lyra said. "It finds you."
A sound tore through the forest.A scream that didn't belong in any world.
Takeshi turned—and froze.
Something was crawling out of the trees.Long arms. No face.It moved like it had too many bones.
"What—what is that?"
"A Remnant," she said. "Don't worry. It's not after me."
The thing hissed.
Takeshi felt something burn under his shirt.The mark on his chest—it pulsed.
Lyra's eyes flicked to it. "You felt that?"
"Y-yeah."
She stepped forward. "Stay back."
He didn't listen.Something inside him pulled.Like a thread tightening.
The Remnant slowed down.Just a step.
Lyra turned, surprised. "...It flinched."
"I didn't do anything."
"That's the scary part," she whispered.
The monster lunged.
Lyra moved like wind—clean and fast.One swing. The creature burst into ash.
She turned to him. "You're not normal."
Takeshi was still shaking. "I keep hearing that."
She walked closer.
"You've got something rare," she said. "A Drift that sleeps too deep."
Her voice dropped.
"A Singular."
End of Chapter 3.