Ren talked with Bahamut, having their usual banter, when the marks on his body flared of their own accord. His eyes widened in terror as the illusion broke around him. Chaos was a very powerful element, but that wasn’t the main thing at the moment.

Ren was in the middle of laughing at Bahamut.

"Well, maybe if you stopped attracting psychopaths like some cursed romance protagonist-" his body froze. The markings across his fur suddenly flared crimson.

FWOOOSH!

Chaos energy burst outward violently, and Ren’s eyes widened instantly.

"No."

The world around him warped. The street twisted unnaturally, the sounds became delayed, and even Bahamut’s laughter echoed wrong. Ren’s instincts screamed at him in warning. This was an illusion! He reacted instantly.

SHHHT!

His small bunny body vanished and reappeared several meters away. Then again, and again, and again. The scenery kept changing unnaturally every single time. One moment, he was beside a market, the next beside an alley, then a rooftop, and somehow inside a silent corridor. Yet despite the changes, he could still vaguely SEE the real world like shattered reflections overlapping one another. People moved where they shouldn’t, buildings folded incorrectly... spatial directions no longer made sense.

"Tch!" Ren’s ears twitched violently. "Whoever made this thing is insane..."

His marks glowed brighter. Chaos naturally disrupted order, space included. That was why he could partially perceive the real world despite still being trapped inside the illusionary zone. But perceiving it and escaping it were two entirely different things. The illusion adapted. Every direction looped endlessly, and every turn bent reality; even his senses were beginning to distort.

"This is bad."

For the first time in a while, Ren sounded genuinely serious. Then it happened.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

A colossal explosion shook the district, and the illusion cracked instantly. Ren’s eyes widened as he instantly figured out the source of the explosion.

"Bahamut!" Without hesitation, his body expanded rapidly. His bones shifted, while his muscles compressed and reformed. The small rabbit vanished. In its place stood a six-foot humanoid rabbit with glowing crimson markings spreading across his body, his clawed hands flexing sharply while chaos energy spiraled around him violently. He bolted instantly toward the source of the explosion. The shattered illusion flickered around him now like broken glass.

He could finally navigate. The buildings had stabilized, and the false paths had disappeared. He suddenly stopped. Someone stood ahead of him silently. The person was a veiled girl with black and white hair peaking from below her veil. The Black Fang Prodigy.

Ren immediately frowned. "She’s still trapped?"

He stepped forward quickly.

"The illusion’s broken. We need to..."

Then he heard her voice, soft, distant, and painfully nostalgic.

"I miss using my name." Ren halted completely: the world seemed to stop. "...Sylvia Ashley."

His pupils shrank instantly. The name hit him like lightning, a memory buried months deep resurfaced violently: a girl glaring at him. Even though he was blind at that time, he could feel the glare. And he teased her endlessly. The words escaped his mouth before he could stop them.

"Sylvia?"

The veiled girl stiffened violently as her head snapped toward him instantly. Even through the veil, Ren could feel the shock in her expression.

"What?"

Silence engulfed the place as they stared at each other. The air itself felt frozen.

Ren stared at her and asked again. "You are Sylvia?"

The girl took a small step backward unconsciously. Her heartbeat accelerated while her mind raced desperately.

No. Impossible. Only the elders knew. Only ONE other person knew.

And he...

"Who are you?" she asked carefully. Her voice carried genuine fear now. Fear of truth.

Ren opened his mouth slightly.

"I... am Ren." The girl froze completely, but her eyes narrowed sharply.

"No." Her aura shifted instantly as darkness leaked subtly around her.

"Yeah. Bahamut named you that, right?" she said quickly.

As if trying to convince herself and trying to deny what she was deducing..

"No," Ren answered softly. "My actual name is Ren."

He stared directly into her eyes.

"Ren Sekhem."

The world went silent again. The girl’s breathing stopped for a second as Ren tilted his head slightly.

"Blind boy."

The words shattered her composure instantly. Her eyes widened fully beneath the veil. No one knew that nickname apart from the Ren she named.

"You..." Her voice trembled slightly now. Ren scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

"I will save my virginity for three years," he quoted suddenly.

The girl’s eyes widened further.

"First kiss? Remember?"

FLASH.

A memory surfaced instantly. She recalled when she’d received this long mission, which would take years, though it had been less than a year. That wasn’t the point. When she got the mission, she realized that meeting Ren again was a very long shot, so she tracked him down and kissed him.

"Unfortunately, we can’t be together. This is my last farewell. If fate so desires, let us meet. I will keep my virginity intact for three years in hopes you survive."

The memory hit so hard that Sylvia staggered slightly.

"No way..."

Ren smiled nervously. "Long time no see?"

Sylvia’s mind blanked entirely. Months of pain, months of silence, and months of believing she’d never see him again. It wasn’t as if she would never return, but despite what she felt for him, she knew that reality was cruel, especially to someone as disadvantaged as him. It would sound cold-hearted, but she was sure he would be dead now. Though his current appearance wasn’t any better.

"You became a bunny," she finally whispered weakly.

Ren pointed at her immediately.

"And you became edgy!"

"How?!"

"It’s a long story."

"Short version!"

"I died, Bahamut happened, and I became a bunny."

"I don’t understand a thing."

"Let’s check out the explosion first. I promise to tell you everything afterwards."

"You’d better keep your promise."

"You too, Miss Virgin."

"It really is you."

"Took you long enough to realize."

Ren and Sylvia rushed towards the explosion. He caused a crack in space, creating a rift and jumped through it with a shocked Sylvia in his arms while the darkness elemental, who had remained silent the whole time, giddled.

Things had just gotten more interesting.