Chapter Text
You have stepped from one world to the next, how many times now? How many times has your soul ventured forth into strange new seas, fighting to keep your head above the waters of the unfamiliar?
The first time you crossed over, the first thing you saw was the light. It still ghosts the backs of your eyelids even now. You became a hero of two worlds, though the crown sits askance on your head. You did not do it for any virtuous cause, really. You followed your heart, that torn and bloodied thing that beats not in your own ribcage, but against those of your friends. You saved two worlds in order to bring those fragments of your heart back to the one that you call home.
The second time you crossed over, you were awash in a language not your own (it was, once, but that was long ago, when you were whole). The familiar unfamiliar towered around you, and for the first time in a long time, you felt truly small. There is a part of you that wishes you could have remained, taken on the guise of "familiar". It is an easier title to bear than that of champion, saviour, warrior. But again, your heart called you home.
The third time you crossed over, the silence sucked the breath from your lungs. You did not hear the ghosts at first, not until you grasped at the threads of their voices, and then that silence became a roar, all those words unspoken in life begging for release in death, like birds uncaged from the restraints of fleshy throats. The words of your enemies cut deep, but it was those spoken by your friends that threatened to bleed you dry. When you returned, you felt as if a piece of yourself had stayed behind, but also as if you had found something you had lost a long time ago. You found a chance to say goodbye, and the resolve to ensure you would never have to again.
Always crossing over. Always returning.
Always called back home.