I continued following them on my bike when I saw their car come to a stop.
My heart immediately sped up.
This was the moment.
The moment when everything was supposed to begin.
Luz rushed out of the car, clearly upset after arguing with her mother.
In her hand, she held her favorite Good Witch Azura book.
Just like in the show…
she raised it, ready to throw it into the trash.
Then… I saw it.
The owl.
Just like in my memories, it suddenly swooped down, snatched the book in its beak…
and flew away.
Luz didn't hesitate for even a second.
"Hey! Get back here!" she shouted as she ran after it.
And me…
I pedaled after her.
The wind struck my face as my hands tightened around the handlebars.
It felt unreal.
This scene I had watched so many times on a screen…
I was living it now with my own eyes.
Every beat of my heart echoed in my ears.
The owl flew straight toward the woods.
Toward an isolated shack.
The shack.
The place where destiny would open its door.
I swallowed hard and kept pedaling.
This was no longer fiction.
This was real.
Luz was still chasing the owl when she spotted the shack.
"Wow…"
The owl headed straight toward it and rushed inside at full speed.
"Hey! Come back right now!" Luz shouted as she picked up her pace even more.
On my side, I was out of breath after riding my bike all the way here.
"Ah… I'm exhausted…" I thought while trying to catch my breath.
It really wasn't easy cycling through a forest.
But this wasn't the time to complain.
I needed to hurry.
The moment Luz entered that door, she would disappear, and I would probably lose any chance of getting there myself—at least not anytime soon.
But there was a problem.
If I entered at the same time as her, she would definitely see me.
And that… would be a big problem.
For now, if I wanted the story to follow its original timeline, I couldn't interact with her.
I slowed down slightly as I approached the shack.
My heart was pounding hard.
I could hear Luz's footsteps inside, along with her excited voice.
She was already in there…
Too late to turn back now.
I quickly parked my bike near the trees and walked toward the entrance.
The door was slightly open.
A strange light was spilling out of it.
An energy… unlike anything I had ever felt.
I gritted my teeth.
This was where everything truly began.
But I had to be careful.
One wrong move… and she would see me.
I took a deep breath and slowly entered the shack.
Inside, everything looked normal… at first glance.
Strange objects, books, clutter everywhere…
But that wasn't what caught my attention.
No.
It was that door.
That massive glowing structure in the center of the room.
It was vibrating slightly, as if something inside it was breathing.
And Luz…
Luz was already walking toward it.
"What is this thing…?" she whispered, fascinated.
I stayed completely still.
I knew what was about to happen.
In a few seconds…
everything would change.
Seeing the owl fly inside, Luz realized there was no turning back.
"There's no going back now…" she muttered.
I also rushed forward immediately.
I couldn't afford to lose this moment.
This was it.
The point of no return.
Luz stepped through the door and arrived in some kind of tent-like structure.
I followed right after her and quickly slipped behind her at full speed before she could notice me.
I hid myself, making sure she didn't see me.
In front of the tent, there was a woman dressed in red, selling all kinds of objects.
She seemed to be praising her goods like they were priceless treasures.
"Look at this! An invaluable artifact! Isn't it magnificent?" she said dramatically.
But if you looked closely…
you could tell her items were nothing more than completely ordinary objects.
And that's when Luz saw it.
Her book.
Without wasting any time, she rushed forward, grabbed it from the woman's hands and said, "Sorry!"
Then she turned and ran back toward the portal.
But the moment she tried to reach it…
the door folded in on itself like paper.
And transformed into a briefcase.