[CRISIS SITUATION DETECTED]
[VITALS CRITICAL: HEART RATE HIGH, OXYGEN DEPLETING]
[ACTION REQUIRED: MOVE TO SAFE AIR]
'That voice again.' Baines thought weakly.
[SAFE ZONE DETECTED 6M WEST]
[NAVIGATION: ACTIVE]
A bright green line flared across the cracked ground, cutting through the dim glow of his night vision.
His breath hitched as he struggled to face where the line pointed.
'No.' He roared in his mind.
The safe zone was exactly where he had just fled, straight back to the statues.
This meant something.
The statues… weren't blocking the way.
No.
They were keeping the air out.
'Then…I have to go back.' His chest burned. Black spots danced at the edges of his sight as he stared at the silent stone guardians.
The realization was jarring.
The mechanical voice returned,
[TIME UNTIL OXYGEN DEPLETION: TEN SECONDS]
'And what happens after that?'
[RESPONSE: DEATH]
It sounded cold and final.
Baines instantly whirred into motion. His body moved before his thought could catch up.
He couldn't stand but instantly went to the next option.
He dropped to his belly and crawled.
Sharp stone tore at his already bleeding knees and palms. Pain lanced through him, but he bit down every scream.
Survival was all that existed now.
The glowing line was his only world.
He didn't feel the statues he passed.
He didn't realize he had crossed until—
[OXYGEN LEVEL: STABLE]
Air—thin, stale, but breathable—flooded his lungs.
"Huuu…" He sucked it in greedily until it couldn't take more.
Then, he exhaled, and everything else crashed down at once.
"Arghh!"
The scream tore free before he could stop it.
Pain from torn skin, cracked bones, burning lungs—everything hit like a hammer.
That wasn't all.
He was still half-under one of the statues when the cry escaped.
As he had previously realized, these statues reacted to sound. This time, Baines' scream echoed continuously, and the guardian knew exactly his position.
Its movement was slow, just like it moved.
It swept its hand, heavy, that hit Baines, shoving him backward into the cave. It was only a light shove; however, to the bleeding and aching body of a ten-year-old?
The world spun.
Baines left the ground, body tumbling through the air like a broken doll.
Bang!
He slammed into the cave floor deeper in.
His body rolled, skidding across jagged rock, more skin ripping and blood smearing dark trails.
When he finally stopped, he lay still.
Blood pooled beneath him. His consciousness had slipped away, and the darkness reclaimed its silence.
…
Several meters away from the cave stood a jagged black mountain, towering over the landscape. Grey, fractured paths wound toward its peak, radiating a strange energy that seemed to consume everything nearby.
At its summit stood a figure draped in a black cloak.
Despite the absence of air, the cloak billowed with unnatural grace.
The figure watched.
They had watched everything that occurred several meters away like it were before it. It had seen everything—every movement, every mistake.
Still, they did nothing.
Whether the situation was dangerous or trivial, they remained unmoved. Their thoughts were unknown.
But their actions couldn't be more obvious.
The figure was waiting
For what—or who— remained unknown.
For now.
.***
The world was quiet when Cecilia spoke.
"You went there…"
---
"So instead… do what you must. But don't give them an easy death."
Baines tried to breathe — but his chest tightened.
---
He glanced up at the high window. Cecilia watched from their mother's room, a faint silhouette against the candlelight.
If he went to her now, he would never leave.
---
The door opened before he finished knocking.
Kwon stood there.
Exactly as he remembered.
---
The market was burning.
Black figures emerged from the shadows, masks marked with the bleeding eye beneath a dagger, and attacked anyone in sight.
The emblem burned into his mind. The same symbol.
The same night.
The same fear.
---
"Not again—" he choked. "Please— not again—" His hand reached out, fingers clawing at the air, but there was nothing to grasp, nothing to save.
---
Baines' eyes fluttered open.
Pain dragged him back to the cold stone.
"Gurgh…" He clutched his throbbing head.
'What sort of dream is that?' He pushed himself up and scanned his surroundings.
Same darkness.
Same jagged cave.
Same blood, both dried and fresh coating his body.
He looked toward the statues. They stood silent again, holding back the airless void.
"So… it wasn't a dream," he muttered, voice hollow.
He had hoped it was all a nightmare.
Across the pond, green eyes glowed—watching, waiting.
Seeing no immediate danger, Baines pulled his knees close and stared at nothing.
That dream again.
The goodbye that never happened.
Kwon's betrayal felt too real.
'What was that dream?' He couldn't understand. Those events had never happened before.
Then why did it feel so vivid?
He couldn't understand.
And those final words, echoing from somewhere deeper:
…Remember our promise.
He pressed his palms to his temples.
"Which promise?" he whispered to the dark. "Did you put me here, Cecilia?"
The cave offered no answer.
Only silence and the weight of suspicion growing heavier.