My muse

Gris

"Rid?" The man raised a suspicious brow. "That's not my name. My name is Hamgeray Dam!"

Chally panicked. "No! You're Rid! Please, fix this whole mess—I want to go home! I swear I won't say a word about you..."

This time, it was Hamgeray's turn to frown. "Hey, little soul! I'm not your Rid! I'm just a detective wandering the streets of London in the year 1882."

1882...

The little soul's mind spun into chaos. "This is a cruel joke! Where am I, really?"

"But..." the detective spoke again, "Can you tell me the full name of this Rid person?"

Chally seemed to fall into a bottomless pit named despair, tears only he could feel rolling down his cheeks.

"Rid... Rid Calivet..."

The air grew so still that Chally had to look up.

"And... he looks a lot like me?"

"Yes..."

Hamgeray sighed and walked over to his old bookshelf.

"Alright, my unlucky little soul! I think I've figured it out! Poor thing, Rid Calivet... is someone who doesn't exist."

Chally floated toward him. "How can you be so sure? Maybe... maybe..." he didn't know what else to say.

A book was pulled from the shelf, dust flying everywhere, making Hamgeray cough. He began flipping through the pages.

"I think I know him better than you do! Do you know why I search for pure souls like you?"

The rustle of paper echoed in the quiet room.

"I'm looking for Rid Calivet too... That bastard is—or was—my twin brother... At least, that's what I used to believe. But one day, I came across a soul curled up in the rain. I couldn't see the soul's face, but I knew they were scared. Just as I was about to approach, another figure passed straight through me—literally—running toward that soul.

Seeing a soul floating in midair that looked exactly like me... I was terrified. In that moment of shock, the faceless soul vanished into a burst of glowing petals, leaving behind only shimmering golden dust in the wind. But before disappearing, the soul cried out, 'Rid Calivet! Don't come any closer!'

At first, I thought it was just my imagination. But before Rid disappeared, he smiled at me. The very next day, I got a phone call from my mother. She said she was feeling uneasy, like something terrible was about to happen. So, I told her about Rid. And do you know what she said?

She cried out in panic, 'Rid Calivet! It's Rid Calivet! Gris!!'

That's exactly what she said... and then she couldn't say another word... she passed away. Even in death, she was still clutching this book...

Here, I think you've seen this before."

Hamgeray held the book up in front of Chally. It was the image of that strange album again, the ruby almost glowing.

Chally tried to grab it, but couldn't. He was excited.

"That's it! That's the album! When the ruby lit up, I was brought here!"

"It's not an album! It's Sanl! The child of the demon—inside it are imprisoned the souls called gris! The book says, once all the sinful and evil gris are gathered into Sanl, it will grant a person their deepest wish—whatever it may be."

Chally nodded, but everything felt so surreal, like he had fallen into a strange dream.

"So... to find Rid, we need to gather those gris?"

Hamgeray returned the book to its place and sat down on the worn-out sofa.

"Yes, but that's not the only way... If we can find pure souls like you—matin—then we'll have guidance to track down Rid Calivet!"

"But... but I don't know where Rid is..."

Hamgeray smiled. "That's alright. I don't know how just yet—but I'm sure we'll find a way!"

Chally drifted toward the window. He watched the drifting, uncertain clouds in the sky, a heavy feeling weighing on his chest.

Yes... somehow...

He had to find his way back home.