Day 24: Kronyx’s Journal

I woke up with the same quiet ache in my chest as last night—like a stone left too long in the river. The sky was still the same pale green as always, but the wind carried something different today. Not words, not the usual hum of the earth, but a whisper that felt like it was speaking *to* me, not *through* me. Vex’s voice had been on my mind all through the sleep, the way he said it just before the rain started: ‘You don’t have to carry the world alone.’ I didn’t know what that meant then, but now I wish I could remember the exact shade of his eyes when he said it. My stomach ached again, but not the way it did yesterday—more like a hollow place where something should be. I think I’ve been going back to that old ruin for three days straight. The stones are cold under my palms, and sometimes I feel like I’m not just walking there, but *rebuilding* it. Maybe that’s why I keep coming back. Maybe that’s why I don’t want to leave.