The streets of Orlogolog buzzed with life. Merchants shouted over each other, travelers weaved through the crowd, and townsfolk hurried about their day, and Mia, Ivan, and Aria walked together, taking it all in. Ivan had his hands behind his head, his eyes scanning the magnificent walls of the city. "So," he said, glancing at Aria, "is there something I should know about Kaiser?"

Aria smiled, but it was a little distant. "Not much to say that you don't already know."

Ivan raised an eyebrow. "Really? Nothing? You've been traveling with him for a while."

She shrugged. "I don't know much about his past, if that's what you're asking. He doesn't talk about it. But he saved me… and then he showed me the world."

Mia tilted her head. "Saved?" Aria's smile faded for a second. She looked like she might not answer, but then she sighed. "He saved me from a monster."

Ivan's eyes lit up. "A monster? How?"

Aria smirked. "By being himself."

Ivan frowned. "That's not an answer."

She laughed. "It is. He's kind. Really kind. But he's been hurt before." Her voice softened. "I think helping people is his way of dealing with it. He's not great with words, and he can be a jerk sometimes. But he shows you who he is through what he does."

Mia looked thoughtful. "And that's why you're with him?"

Aria nodded. "He's showing me the world. I spent my whole life in Woodrift, and in just a few days, I've seen more than I ever thought I would. If I stick with him, who knows where I'll end up?"

Ivan's eyes sparkled. "That's awesome! I wanna see everything too—every corner of the world." He grinned. "There is no end to the places that I want to visit, but my true dream is to go to the Valley of the End and meet the warriors of Morvayne!"

Mia smacked the back of his head. "Idiot! That's the deadliest place in the world!"

Ivan winced but kept grinning. "That's why I want to go! Only the strongest can make it there. If I follow Kaiser, maybe I'll get strong enough to do it."

As they talked, Aria's gaze wandered. She'd been scanning the streets the whole time, taking in every detail: the colorful banners, the bubbling fountains, the musicians playing on corners. Her world had been so small before. Now, every step felt like something new.

And then she saw something. Aria's eyes widened, her breath hitching in excitement. Before she could even think, her body moved on its own.

"Oh my god!" she squealed, bolting forward.

"I—Aria?!"

Ivan barely had time to blink before she was gone, vanishing into the thick crowd like a shadow slipping through his fingers. One second, she was right beside him, and the next, nothing. Just the shifting tide of bodies moving through the bustling street.

Mia's head snapped toward the spot Aria had stood. "You have to be kidding me." Her voice sharpened. "Aria!"

No response. Mia and Ivan exchanged a panicked glance before taking off, shoving past people as they scanned frantically for even a flash of pink, but they saw nothing.

"She's too fast!" Ivan hissed, nearly tripping over a merchant's cart.

Mia's jaw clenched as she whipped her head around, searching. "Way too fast." She came to a sharp stop, muttering, "It's like she just disappeared into thin air…"

Ivan groaned, dragging a hand through his hair. "Where the hell could she have gone?!"

Mia cursed under her breath, then grabbed the nearest person, a wrinkled old man carrying a basket of fruit. "Hey! Have you seen a girl with pink hair? Blue eyes? About this tall?" She gestured with her hand.

The old man squinted at her like she'd just asked him the meaning of life. "Pink hair? What kinda damn question is that?"

Mia's eye twitched. She turned to an old woman next to him. "Please, did you see where she ran?"

The woman's face twisted in unease, shaking her head. "N-No, sorry."

"Damn it." Mia released her with a huff.

Ivan had already moved to another person, repeating the same frantic description, only to get more blank stares and shrugs. He sighed in frustration. "She was just here! How the hell did she disappear so fast?"

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Mia crossed her arms tightly, her fingers digging into her sleeves. "…When we find her, I swear I'm gonna wring her neck."

Ivan exhaled through his nose. "Yeah, but first we have to find her."

They both ran around, questioning every person they came across for around an hour, and after they finished asking the hundredth person, they took a moment to gather their thoughts. It had already been too long. Aria could be anywhere in Orlogolog now—hell, with how fast she was, she could already be outside the city.

Mia groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. "This is a nightmare."

Then, both of them froze as a woman stepped right next to them, staring directly into their souls.

Her eyes were lifeless, pitch black voids. Her short, black-green hair was straight, framing a face that was disturbingly still. But what truly sent a chill down their spines was her neck—unnaturally long, subtly swaying, as if it didn't quite belong to her body.

Ivan swallowed hard. There was no mistaking it, this woman was dangerous. A suffocating malice radiated from her, so thick it almost made the air itself feel heavy. It wasn't like the brutal, blood-soaked aura Kaiser had when Ivan first met him. That was the presence of a monster, terrifying but understandable, as he was in a battle.

This was different.

The woman tilted her head slightly, her eerie gaze never breaking from theirs. "...Are you lost, children?" Her voice was smooth, almost polite. But there was something deeply unsettling about the way she said it.

Ivan forced himself to speak. "W-We're looking for someone."

Her head tilted the other way, too slow, too precise. "Who might that be, young ones?"

Mia stepped forward, her voice steady. "A girl with pink hair." The woman blinked once, unhurried. "…Why?"

Ivan took a breath. "She's our frien—" Mia slammed her hand over his mouth making Ivan's eyes widened in shock. "Mmf?!"

Mia tightened her grip, heart pounding. "She's extremely dangerous."

The woman's gaze sharpened ever so slightly.

Mia continued, voice cold and convincing. "She's an extremely dangerous person. We're warning people in town to avoid her at all costs."

The woman remained still for a long, dreadful moment. Then, slowly, the corners of her lips curled. "…Is that so?" she murmured.

Mia didn't blink. "Yes."

The woman's long neck swayed slightly, like a serpent sizing up its prey. Those empty, black eyes never left Mia's. There was something fundamentally wrong about her presence, something that made the air feel thick, like the world itself was subtly rejecting her existence.

Then, with an eerie, deliberate grace, she turned away.

Mia didn't dare blink. She watched as the woman drifted through the crowd, her movements slow yet unnervingly smooth, like she was gliding rather than walking. The sea of people swallowed her, yet she never seemed lost in it—if anything, the crowd parted around her, as if instinctively unwilling to touch her.

Mia kept her gaze locked on her, heart pounding.

Through the shifting figures, she caught sight of the woman stopping at a nearby wall—one covered in overlapping silver scales, blending seamlessly into the architecture. With the faintest flick of her fingers, the woman pressed her hand against the surface.

Mia's breath hitched as she saw the silver scale in her hand sink into the wall, vanishing like a stone into water. Then, soundlessly, the bricks shifted, and a doorway, previously nonexistent, slid open with perfect smoothness. Without pause, without hesitation, the woman stepped inside, and the wall sealed shut behind her, swallowing her whole.

Ivan finally exhaled, realizing he had been holding his breath the entire time. His heartbeat pounded against his ribs. "…What the hell was that?" he whispered.

Mia let go of his mouth, taking a shaky breath. "I don't know." She turned to him, her expression tense. "But that wasn't a normal person."

Ivan nodded stiffly, still staring at the wall as if expecting it to open again. Then his eyes snapped to Mia, his confusion finally catching up to him. "…And why the hell did you tell her Aria was dangerous?!"

Mia's lips pressed together, and she grabbed his sleeve, pulling him away from the alley. She only spoke when they were a safe distance from the wall. "Because," she said, keeping her voice low, "that woman was either a very dangerous mercenary or a full-blown serial killer. And if I told her that Aria was just some random girl we were looking for, she might've gone after her."

Ivan blinked. "…Oh."

Mia crossed her arms. "Think about it if she believes Aria is dangerous, she might avoid her instead." Ivan opened his mouth, then closed it, processing that. His hand slowly ran through his hair as he groaned. "Shit… I didn't even think of that."

Mia sighed, rubbing her temples. "Yeah, well, I didn't have time to explain while she was staring at us like we were corpses she was measuring for a coffin."

Ivan visibly shuddered. "Ugh. Now I really don't wanna find out what was behind that door."

Mia glanced at the wall, her stomach twisting. "Yeah. Me neither." They both stood there, exhaling, letting the tension finally leave their bodies.

Then reality hit them like a cart of bricks. Aria had been gone for over an hour, and they were no closer to finding her then when they began searching. Ivan groaned, running his hands through his hair. "Holy shit! Kaiser is gonna kill us!"

Mia's eye twitched. "Kill? He's going to skin us alive!"

Ivan gripped his head in both hands. "And we're not even gonna have a body left for a funeral!"

Mia mirrored his pose, pulling at her hair. "Oh my god, this is it! This is how we die!" At that moment, two random townspeople casually walked past them, pausing slightly as they watched two teenagers standing in the middle of the street, grabbing their heads and screaming into the sky. One man muttered, "Tourists," before walking away.

Ivan finally stopped screaming, gasping for air. "Okay, okay, we need a plan. A solid, foolproof plan." Mia nodded. "Right. But first… let's get a snack before we die."

Ivan clapped his hands together. "Genius. We at least deserve a last meal." Still somewhat hysterical, the two made their way toward a nearby food stall, the smell of grilled meat and fresh bread filling the air.

Ivan practically drooled. "Oh my god, that looks amazing."

Mia's stomach growled. "Yeah. Yeah, this is a good choice. Let's do it."

Ivan reached into his pocket, and then froze in place, making Mia frown. "What's wrong?"

A horrifying realization dawned on him. "The money…"

Mia's eyes widened.

Ivan slowly turned to her. "Kaiser gave it to Aria."

A long silence followed, broken as Mia's eye twitched. "…You're joking."

Ivan laughed. A dry, humorless, dead laugh. Mia grabbed her own head again. "Oh my god! We can't even afford to eat before we die!"

Ivan looked down at his empty hands, then at the golden, perfectly cooked food sizzling in the stall. "…This is the worst day of my life."

They were so unbelievably, cosmically, apocalyptically screwed.

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