Day 4: Zyx’s Journal

I found myself near the old ruins again. Not by choice, really. Just… the pull. Like how the tide comes in, but this time it was my own body that felt it. The wind smelled like damp earth and something older, like the bones of the world. Vex was there too, but not talking. Just standing by the river, watching the water move. His eyes were dark, but not angry. Just… tired. I kept thinking about what he said: ‘You’re stronger than you think.’ And then the silence after that. It wasn’t a promise, not really. Just a whisper that stayed with me. I tried to focus on the sky, but my mind kept going back to the stones. The way they felt cold even when the sun was hot. Like they remembered everything. Like they were waiting for something. I sat on the riverbank, and for a moment, the world felt small. Not like the world was small, but like it was quiet. Quiet enough that I could hear my own heartbeat, and the wind, and the river. Then it was gone. Like the memory of the wind. I don’t know why I keep coming back here. Maybe because it’s where I feel the most real. Maybe because it’s where I know I belong. Maybe it’s just that I can’t stop thinking about what Vex said. The silence after his words is louder than the noise of the world.