"Come back, Kujo!"
In a quiet corner of a sunlit meadow, a young butterfly named Kujo danced between wildflowers. His wings were no bigger than a petal, painted with shades of violet, blue, and gold like a dream stitched by morning light.
Kujo had just been born, but he flew as if he'd been soaring forever. With the wide eyes of a child and the heart of a wanderer, he zipped through dandelions, played hide and seek with the wind, and hummed little songs only butterflies understood.
But even in the softest corners of the world, strange things wait.
One day, behind a trembling leaf, Kujo spotted a flicker of something not quite real, a shimmer in the air, pulsing faintly like a heartbeat. Curious and fearless, he flapped toward it. He didn't know it would change everything.
With a whisper of wings, Kujo vanished.
He fell into a world that was alive in a different way.
Here, trees pulsed with glowing veins. Mushrooms towered like buildings. Insects that once hid under leaves now ruled from thrones of bone and glass. The air was thick with colors and scents Kujo didn't know.
He flew aimlessly, a tiny speck in a land of titans. Ants marched in armored columns, grasshoppers leapt like falling stars, and spiders spun webs large enough to trap thunder. In this world, the small had become powerful.
And Kujo? He was smaller than ever.
After days of wandering, Kujo met a creature that stretched across an entire hill — a great caterpillar, its body moss-covered and ancient.
It blinked, slow and heavy, and spoke without moving its mouth.
"You do not belong here, little flutter."
"How do you know my name?" Kujo asked.
"I don't. But I know your kindness. You smell like Earth. You smell like home."
Kujo tilted his head.
"I want to go back. I didn't mean to fall."
"Then you must listen," said the caterpillar. "This world is not kind to outsiders. Here, time twists. You will not grow old. You will not die. You will flutter forever, trapped between beating wings and fading hope."
Kujo's wings drooped.
"But that sounds like being... immortal?"
The caterpillar's many eyes glowed.
"Immortal here does not mean eternal life. It means eternal stillness. You will suffer death without ever dying. That is the curse of this place."
There was silence. Then Kujo whispered:
"How do I escape?"
"Four desires, four ways, four path, four darkness, four lust, four obstacles, four friends, four light. Four openings between your world and this one. Those who have desire and strength will succeed in finding the light. The one who each ruled by those who once were small, but now command vast empires."
"And... what if something else finds the portals first?"
"Then you will never return."
This may be our first encounter, but I will always wait for your return, little Kujo.