Eventually I climbed to my feet, dusted myself off, and began the long trudge home. It was hard to remember the way. It’d been so long.

  By the time I got to my apartment, I was crying. They were very manly tears, of course. Tears of loss and heartache.

  I stuck the key into the lock and entered the room which wasn’t much bigger than a kittle litter box.

  Kind of smelled like one, too.

  It was dirty in here. I hadn’t been good at cleaning. Well. That’s kind of true and untrue. I had worked too hard to waste time cleaning. Bookstore clerks don’t get paid well, you know. They survive solely on spite and bitterness.

  But the smell seemed especially sour tonight. Maybe I hadn’t noticed it before, but since having Nekos to do my cooking and cleaning, I’d adjusted to a more cleaner lifestyle.

  I looked around my little apartment, sniffling. Small couch. Small bed. Old sheets on it. Tatty curtains. Windows greasy with grime from outside pollution.

  Unwashed dishes piled in the sink.

  Pot with last night’s noodles. I hadn’t finished them all.

  Yesterday’s uniform draped over the couch. I unbuttoned the one I was wearing and tossed it on top.

  Stood there, in my boxers.

  And cried some more.

  That’s right. I cried.

  Like a baby. I bawled like a kid whose candy had just been ripped from his grasping hands.

  And I’m not ashamed of that.

  I took a step and felt something crunch under my show. Looking down, I saw the remnants of a Cheeto. With a shudder, I steadied myself against the closest wall, still not believing I was here.

  Home.

  The System had sent me home. After all I’d done for it? It sent me back here.

  Why not to somewhere else? Surely another world would have been better? The Demon Lord had said the System was a virus which wanted to spread. Didn’t it know I’d do anything for it if it meant being able to drown in the arms of my lovely Nekos every day?

  Why would it throw me aside like this?

  I didn’t want to sleep in the bed.

  It looked awful.

  The couch looked awful.

  I stripped the sheets and threw everything into the laundry machine which squatted in the cramped bathroom. It took me a few minutes to remember how to turn it on. Then I slumped on the tiles with the hot water on and listened to the rumble of the machine.

  I tried to call up my Stats.

  Nothing.

  Nothing would respond. The System had abandoned me.

  I really was home.

  From Nekomancer to Nothing in just one flash of light.

  As the hot water kept raining down on me, I began to regret killing the Demon Lord. If I’d let him live, would I have been able to spend the rest of my life in Neyteria?

  I felt the old familiar bitterness and spite creep into my body again. Like crystals, it formed around my heart. The Universe had played the cruellest of jokes on me, I thought.

  But it wasn’t finished.

  Because right at that moment, the water went from hot to cold like someone had switched off the boiler.

  Which reminded me I hadn’t paid the Hot Water bill.

  And there wasn’t enough money in my bank account to do so for another week.

  Scrambling and screeching, I finally managed to turn the water off and stood panting, dripping and cold.

  Nothing else, I groaned. Nothing else could go wrong.

  Which is when the electricity also turned off.

  Because of course I hadn’t paid that either.

  My laundry machine ground to an immediate halt with a screech of gears, my sheets still wet inside its belly.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  In pitch darkness, shivering and wet, I looked up to the mold-crusted ceiling and screamed; “Anything else?”

  Distraught, I fumbled for my towel and dried myself before flopping onto the empty bed. The pillow smelled of stale sweat. Not even a hint of Neko. I hated it.

  Eventually, sleep came.

  My dreams were filled with dancing Nekos who began to cry and call my name. I kept calling back to them, trying to hug them. But they were ghosts.

  Or I was a ghost.

  It was hard to say.

  I was woken by my phone. Its alarm function snapping me loose and causing me to panic as I realised I couldn’t remember how to turn it off. I also couldn’t remember the access PIN to get into it. I managed to swipe it to silence at least.

  Crawling from my bed, I hesitated to make breakfast.

  Opening the fridge, I had some milk. Also a small tin of beans was in there. And, oddly, a stick of rhubarb.

  I used the milk to make cereal with a bag of oats, feeling more depressed as I ate.

  Everything was reminding me of my Nekos.

  The milk, especially. How they’d loved milk.

  Still sniffling, I left my apartment to go to work. I wasn’t really sure how to get to work, but as I stepped out into the bright sunshine, the absolute soul-crushing depression worked to give me gentle prods which had me feeling I was going in the right direction.

  I had to catch a train.

  Then a bus.

  Then walk.

  “It’s too much,” I muttered to myself about an hour and half later. “I can’t do this.”

  I thought about walking in front of a truck. I’d done it once, and it’d worked out fine. How could a second time be any worse?

  I was almost to the front door of the bookstore I worked at when I happened to glance into a window. A jewellery shop.

  For a brief second I remembered the cute little collars I had made for my Nekos. Bright leathers of pink, blue, and purple with small golden bells on them so I could hear them tinkling along behind me. For the special Nekos in my life, I’d have them encrusted with some precious gem or another in the shape of their name along the band.

  Diamonds.

  Emeralds.

  Rubies.

  All very gaudy, but they loved them. Nekos love shiny things.

  I couldn’t help but feel a warm smile somewhere in my broken heart as my gaze slid across the rows of precious decorations.

  And then I saw it.

  A single ring glowing brightly in the morning sun. Its stone not so valued as the others. In fact, it was priced so low I might have been able to buy it if I saved for a year and a half.

  It was small and iridescent. Dark, yet transluscent in patches. When turned in the sun, I knew it would glow with blue or green light from somewhere deep in its heart.

  The sign called it Labradorite.

  I knew it as Aetherite.

  When I was in Neyteria, Aetherite could be used to provide a burst of Experience Points. I was struck by the sudden thought of what might happen if I were to absorb it here on Earth. Would it trigger something inside me? Would my powers return? Would I become the Nekomancer again?

  It was a faint hope.

  It likely wouldn’t work.

  My ears thrummed as my blood quickened. I felt a wash of dizziness ride over me. It was the only hope I had! I needed it. I needed that stone!

  “Bexley?”

  I turned, scowling as my name was called in a hideously contemptuous fashion. I saw a young woman, who I knew as Darla. Not too remarkable to look at, but slim. My first encounters with her had left me with a few wet dreams. But I was younger then.

  Still, when I’d left Earth, she was ten years younger than me at the time.

  And she was my enemy. My adversary. My most despised and hated opponent.

  Which was only natural as she was my Manager.

  And the store owner’s daughter.

  Which is why she was the Manager.

  I tightened my lips, not wanting to be distracted when Aetherite was right here calling my name with a sweeter tone. “Yes, Darla?”

  “Your shift starts in two minutes. What are you doing out here?”

  I squinted at her. Would she make a good Neko? It could be that on Earth, as in Neyteria, the forces of Hell had corrupted the good people of the world. Maybe… Maybe I could free her?

  I sucked on my lip, thinking hard.

  She was a pain in my ass, though. Would I ever be able to see her as a cute little Neko?

  I glanced at the Aetherite.

  Then at her.

  And remembered the first Neko I had created. Jade. She’d been an annoying mercenary when we’d first met. She’d despised me. But, after becoming a Neko, she’d been so loyal and cuddly.

  I’d forgotten how cuddly she’d become.

  Would Darla be cuddly, too? It seemed ridiculous to think so.

  Darla snapped her fingers, scowling back at me. “Hey! Bexley! Wake up! You’ll be late!”

  Her words made me flinch.

  Which made me freeze in shock as I realised something else I’d forgotten.

  My vow! I had made a vow when the System gave me my first skill.

  I had knelt in the warm earth and raised my fist to the heavens and spoke words I knew were coming from my soul.

  “I vow,” I murmured, remembering those words now. “To protect all Nekos until the end of time and at any cost.”

  Any cost.

  I had to protect my Nekos.

  “Darla?”

  “What?”

  “You’d make an awful Neko. Kindly go fuck yourself,” I said. And pushed the door open to enter the shop full of baubles. The shop assistant called something to me, but I didn’t listen.

  I jumped the counter, invigorated by smooth purpose.

  She screamed.

  I reached out. Took the ring in my hand.

  Turned towards where she was stabbing a panic button and smiled at her. She was really quite cute, I thought. “You’ll make a great Neko one day,” I told her.

  Sirens wailed in the distance.

  But they didn’t matter.

  Nothing mattered as I opened my mouth, put the ring on my tongue, and swallowed it. My stomach acid should break down some of it, I thought. Hopefully something would be absorbed and then something would happen.

  It had to.

  Soon.

  I was sure of it.

  I blinked.

  Tapped my foot.

  The sirens got louder.

  Nothing happened.

  I chewed on my lower lip as the shop assistant started looking confused when I wasn’t running around making more mayhem.

  I flushed a little as I suddenly started thinking this might have been an impulsive mistake. “Umm,” I told her, reassuringly. “Any minute now. I’m sure of it.”

  “Sure,” she said, humouring me. I think she thought I was referring to the cops. She definitely thought I was on meth.

  Did my stomach suddenly feel like it was fizzing?

  I nodded, feeling a tingle in my extremities. “Any second now.”

  The front door crashed open.

  A cop charged in. Gun at the ready. Pointed.

  The girl screamed, pointing at me.

  The cop screamed, aiming at me.

  Seemed like everybody was screaming. It was so loud.

  But not loud enough to drown out the most beautiful and heartwarming sound I’ve ever heard in my life.

  A small bell-like chime.

  And words, magical and bright, suddenly flowed in front of me. I wanted to reach out and hug them.

  Welcome to the System.

  Initializing. Please wait.

  I smiled at the shouting faces in front of me as relief filled me right to the very bottom of my soul.

  Then I put my hands on my head so the cops wouldn’t shoot me.

  “I’m home again,” I told him with a pleased grin. “I’m finally home.”

  Everything was just fine.