She glanced at the shadow and ignored it, as if she had never noticed it at all.
Yet the words of the two old people echoed relentlessly in her mind. They had told her this planet was called Blue Baby. Crystals like the one she carried existed only among the people of the Blue Palace. They had pointed toward the east, saying her palace stood there, waiting. And they had said that if she crossed the river, she would meet a boy.
His name would be Veer.
They had met him only a month ago, they said. He had told them he would live on the far side of the shore for a few months, hidden from the world.
Lost in these thoughts, she reached the riverbank.
Behind her, the shadow still lingered, maintaining a careful distance, never close enough to touch, never far enough to disappear.
Just as she stepped down from the boat, something shifted inside her. She moved quickly, almost instinctively, climbing down and running toward the shore. In her haste, she collided with someone, and the ground vanished beneath them both.
They fell into darkness.
She landed inside a house built beneath the earth, the air cool and faintly glowing blue. The walls shimmered softly, alive with quiet energy.
The boy spoke first, clearly startled.
"Please," he said quickly, "I'm a very shy person. Don't behave like this."
Before she could understand what was happening, he caught both her hands. He was above her now, his grip firm but not cruel, his eyes sharp with suspicion.
"Little devil," he said softly, almost accusingly, "I hid my home very carefully. And yet, you're inside it."
His gaze darkened.
"Tell me… you aren't that one, are you?"
Then it struck her.
Not like fear.
Like truth.
Her breath caught as the moment tilted, as if the world itself inhaled and forgot how to exhale.
This isn't real.
No.
It couldn't be.
The underground house, the blue-lit walls, Veer's closeness, his voice wrapped around her thoughts like a secret, all of it shattered quietly. Not into darkness, but into memory.
Déjà vu.
Not the borrowed kind.
The rehearsed kind.
Her eyes flew open.
She was still in the boat.
The river lay calm beneath her, silver-blue and indifferent, brushing the riverbank as it always had. The oar rested beside her, untouched. Her hands trembled as she gripped the edge of the boat, grounding herself in the cold certainty of now.
Her heart was still racing.
She turned back suddenly.
Behind her, the air warped.
A portal, faint and trembling, was closing in on itself. Its edges folded inward like a wound learning how to heal. Blue light bled softly from its seams, urgent and fading, vanishing second by second.
She hadn't imagined it.
She knew that now.
Before the déjà vu had seized her, before the world had dragged her forward into something not yet lived, there had been a presence.
The shadow.
Her eyes scanned the shore.
It was gone.
No distortion.
No movement.
No watcher lingering just beyond sight.
Which meant only one thing.
The shadow she had seen earlier wasn't a hallucination.
It hadn't followed her into the vision.
Because it didn't belong to the future.
It belonged to now.
Her pulse slowed, heavy with realization.
The déjà vu wasn't a dream.
It wasn't a warning.
It was a memory that hadn't happened yet.
And Veer…
Her chest tightened at the thought of his name, spoken only in her mind, yet echoing as if he were already waiting.
Somewhere beyond the river.
Beneath the earth.
Behind a door he had hidden from the world.
The portal sealed shut with a final shimmer.
Silence returned.
But it was no longer empty.
The boat touched the riverbank.
She stepped out slowly.
The shore was strangely quiet. No people. No footsteps. Only countless flowers blooming in impossible colors, swaying gently, as if they were watching her, aware of her presence.
Suddenly, a small white rabbit hopped out from between the flowers.
It stopped before her.
Tilted its head.
And spoke.
"Hey, dear," it asked softly, "is there someone you are looking for?"
She froze.
Her breath caught.
Rabbits did not speak.
Yet her voice answered before her mind could stop it.
"…Veer."
The rabbit smiled.
"I am Veer."
The air shifted.
Light wrapped around the rabbit's body, spiraling upward like a living current. The ground vibrated softly. The flowers bowed. In a single breath, the small white form stretched, reshaped, transformed.
A boy stood where the rabbit had been.
Human.
Real.
His eyes were unchanged. Deep. Familiar. As if they had known her long before this moment and had never forgotten.
She stumbled back, shock rushing through her.
"Y-you… who are you?" she whispered, her voice trembling.
He smiled, calm and slightly teasing, as if this meeting had always been destined.
"I am Veer," he said gently. "I can take the form of my ancestral animal."
He stepped closer, lowering his voice.
"You already know this, Nyra," he said quietly. "You know there is more to you as well."
Her heart skipped.
He studied her face, searching for something only he seemed to remember.
"What are you doing here?" he asked softly.
"And… have you forgotten me?"
The question wasn't sharp.
It was wounded.
Something inside her chest loosened, like a door opening after ages of being sealed shut.
"I haven't forgotten," she whispered.
A sudden understanding struck her.
Just moments ago, something stirred inside me, she thought. A memory that felt older than this life. And what I saw… it was this. It was him.
So maybe… this really is Veer.
The flowers trembled.
The river stirred.
She took a slow breath.
In this body, she realized, my name is Nyra.
She looked at him again and spoke carefully.
"I've lost my memories," she said. "I don't remember what happened before. Two old people saved me… they didn't tell me much."
She hesitated, then asked, "Will you take me to the palace?"
Veer's gaze softened.
"Of course," he said. "I will take you there."
Far away, hidden among the trees, several shadows watched.
They smiled.
Veer turned, offering his hand to Nyra, and together they began walking toward the palace.
But as they moved forward, one question lingered in the quiet air:
Who was the shadow watching them from afar?
And why did it smile when their paths finally crossed?