---
The silence didn't last long.
The ground beneath their feet began to shift—not violently, but like a slow breath from something ancient. The flickering lights returned, now revealing glimpses of twisted architecture. Crumbled spires floated in the void like fractured memories. Symbols from forgotten languages pulsed faintly on black stone walls that shouldn't have existed.
Aiko stepped closer to the markings, her fingertips hovering just above them.
"I can… feel them," she whispered. "These symbols… they're like seals. Old ones. Meant to contain something. Or someone."
Ren narrowed his eyes. "This place might be a prison, not just for us—but for whatever lies below."
Himari was silent, her focus locked on the distant hum. She was listening again. Feeling.
"It's not just one presence," she finally said. "There are many. All tangled. Screaming, whispering, waiting. We're not alone."
Haru leaned against a wall, jaw clenched. "Then let's find a way out before those things stop whispering and start moving."
They began walking, each step echoing through a corridor that seemed to form ahead of them. The air changed with every turn—sometimes cold and sterile, other times dense with heat like a furnace had just burned nearby.
Then they found it.
A chamber with a platform in the center. Floating just above it was something like a crystal—but it didn't shine. It absorbed light. Reflected nothing. And inside it, they saw shapes—vague, twitching, clawing.
Himari's breath caught. "This… this is the core. The thing holding this place together."
Aiko stared into the crystal and for a brief second, her eyes turned pale silver—visions racing across her mind.
She saw glimpses of Yuki.
Alone in a space where time did not flow. His body flickering in and out of visibility. Training. Failing. Rising. Screaming silently.
Then, a voice—one not hers—spoke in her head.
> "He will break. Or become the break."
Aiko stumbled back, caught by Ren just before she fell.
"He's in danger," she said quickly. "Not from death—but from losing himself."
They all stood in silence, the gravity of her words sinking in.
And then the lights went out—completely.
When they came back on, one of them was missing.
Haru.
Gone.
No sound. No struggle.
Just… gone.
Ren drew his blade. "We move. Now."
Himari's eyes narrowed. "Something's hunting us. Separating us."
Aiko's hand curled into a fist. "Then we stop being hunted."
---
"If you're enjoying the ride, don't forget to leave a power stone or a comment—it really helps this grow!"