Alex stopped walking when something glinted near the base of a glowing fern.At first, he thought it was just dew catching the light — until he crouched down and saw it:a neckce.

  A fine chain, silver-white and bck, with a gem that looked like it cost more than everything he owned combined.

  “The hell…?” he muttered, picking it up carefully.

  The metal was warm. Not just from the air — it pulsed faintly, like a living heartbeat.

  He turned it over in his palm, brows knitting together. “This… this is Ethan’s. I’ve seen him wear this.”

  He frowned deeper, rubbing his thumb along the gem. The stone shimmered, catching the moonlight — and for a split second, it felt like the world around him shifted. The air thickened. The glow of the pnts brightened unnaturally.

  Then, in the distance — somewhere deeper in the maze — a cry echoed. Soft, strangled, and unmistakably pained.

  “Ethan?”

  Alex straightened instantly, the neckce dangling from his hand. The air buzzed like static. Every instinct screamed something was wrong.

  Eri stumbled forward, clutching her chest.The moment Alex’s fingers had closed around the neckce, a shock of pressure tore through her. It wasn’t pain — not exactly — more like her body was being pulled.

  Her tails flickered, fading at the edges like smoke. Her breath came in short gasps.

  “No… no, please, not now—” she whispered, grabbing at her chest.

  She could feel it — something tethering her, yanking her toward the neckce’s warmth. It felt like gravity itself was turning against her, dragging her toward being Ethan again.

  She dropped to her knees, hands digging into the grass. Her tails whipped wildly, shimmering and phasing in and out. Her fox ears fttened as she squeezed her eyes shut.

  “Not yet… I can’t… please—!”

  Alex, still standing there, stared at the gem as it flickered — the white and bck veins of color twisting like smoke inside it.

  “What the hell is happening?” he breathed, clutching it tighter.

  A faint, shimmering wind blew past him, carrying something with it — like the sound of a girl’s voice, soft and desperate, whispering from somewhere close by.

  He froze. “...Ethan?”

  The light inside the gem pulsed once more, stronger this time, and the world around him seemed to breathe.

  Back in the garden depths, Eri trembled, every part of her screaming to hold on. But the pull wouldn’t stop. The connection between her and the neckce was alive again, dragging her toward it like a current.

  She could feel Ethan’s form trying to cw its way back through her — bones tightening, warmth fading, silver bleeding away into shadow.

  Her voice broke into the quiet air: “No—don’t—touch—it—!”

  But Alex, to far away, only heard a whisper carried by the wind — and gripped the neckce even tighter.

  The light from the neckce dimmed slowly, leaving Alex staring at the gem in disbelief.It wasn’t just a piece of jewelry. It pulsed, as if alive. The warmth in his palm was unnerving, crawling along his skin like a heartbeat he could feel through his bones.

  He dropped to one knee, gripping the chain tighter. “This… this belongs to Ethan,” he muttered. “I’ve seen him wear this before. But… what the hell is happening?”

  Then he heard it.

  Soft, tremulous — and unmistakably female.

  “Alex…”

  He froze. The voice wasn’t coming from the neckce itself. It was in the air, all around him, coming from somewhere nearby.

  “Who… who’s there?” he called, his voice cracking.

  A shadow shifted between the glowing pnts. Pale, slender, and graceful, a figure emerged. Silver hair glimmered in the moonlight, drifting around delicate fox ears that twitched nervously. Ten long, fluffy tails fanned behind her, brushing the luminescent grass, catching faint glimmers of light with every subtle movement.

  Alex’s heart skipped. He knew this was impossible. “What… what the hell?” he whispered.

  The girl — or whatever she was — took a tentative step forward. Her eyes, silver and luminous, met his for just a moment before darting away. Every motion carried a fluid grace, as if her body had been designed to move silently, naturally, in ways he couldn’t fully comprehend.

  The tails shifted behind her, brushing each other with soft, whispering swishes. Every instinct in Alex’s body screamed that she wasn’t human — and yet, she was standing there, looking at him with something like fear, or maybe urgency.

  “That neckce…” she said, her voice barely above a whisper, trembling, “give it back.”

  Alex’s stomach tightened. He looked down at the chain in his hand — the gem pulsing faintly again. He knew it was Ethan’s. But everything about this moment made no sense. The way the girl moved, the way her ears twitched, the tails, the soft shimmer of her silver hair — it was like stepping into a dream he couldn’t wake from.

  “Who are you?” he asked carefully, voice low. “What… what’s going on?”

  The girl’s ears fttened slightly. One of her tails twitched toward the ground, brushing against her ankle. She looked smaller somehow, vulnerable, even with all ten tails fanned behind her in an impossible dispy of elegance.

  “I… I’m not supposed to be seen,” she murmured, voice quivering. “Please… don’t take it from me.”

  Alex’s grip on the neckce tightened. He gnced down at it, feeling the warmth pulse in rhythm with her words. Somehow, the chain wasn’t just metal. It was alive, tied to her in ways he didn’t understand.

  The girl’s tails flicked slightly, brushing the air with delicate precision. Her fox ears twitched toward him again, sensitive to every sound. Her silver eyes, bright and alert, flicked toward the neckce in his hand.

  “Please,” she whispered again, softer this time, “don’t… don’t take it.”

  The gem pulsed violently, reacting to her voice, and the air around them seemed to ripple. Alex stumbled back, startled, almost dropping it.

  She crouched slightly, wrapping one of her tails closer around her body. Another tail twitched toward her chest, brushing lightly. She flinched but didn’t pull away, shivering in the moonlight.

  Alex swallowed hard. “Ethan…?” he started, but stopped. His mind raced. He knew it was Ethan’s neckce, but this… this wasn’t Ethan. Not exactly.

  Her eyes flicked up at him, wide and shimmering, silver against the glowing garden light. Her tails twitched in agitation, brushing each other and the soft ground. Her fox ears quivered like antennae, alert to every sound he made.

  She was beautiful.And utterly impossible.

  The neckce pulsed again, responding to her presence. Alex’s hand shook. He had no idea what he was holding — or what might happen if he let go.