Den went to sleep, then Aban soon after. It was weird to have to sleep after such a gruesome sight. What even was this challenge supposed to show? Sure, it showed powerlessness but was that it. Then why kill off all those people in the most gruesome way possible.
Actually, power? Aban was the type of person to question a deal after he heard it. Though he hadn't had the chance to deeply think about the words the doppelganger had said.
'All in all, losing your name for power beyond what you can imagine is a deal I would take.'
Why didn't he just say absolute power, sure they mean similar things, but at the same time absolute power usually triumphs power beyond imagination. That's because it's absolute, while normal power is already beyond imagination.
Aban is probably thinking too hard about this. That's when he remembered something he had heard before.
'The stars had lost their name to our sun, and so they died out.'
It was a children's story his mom told him before his death. That's when he was woken up. Lydd was shaking him.
"It's your shift now, it's been a little more than half the lighter fuel. Save the rest and wake both me and Den up when you hear anything or one of us wakes up first."
"Alright."
Aban looked out. Then he realized something, he didn't know much about the people he was experiencing this nightmare with.
"Before you go to bed, can you tell me a little about you and Den?"
Lydd looked with an inquiring expression. Then what she said surprised him.
"You're not Raiden are you."
This immediately shocked Aban. Then he sighed, dropping the expression.
"He never asked about you, did he? Yes, I'm not Raiden. Also no, I'm not trying to kill you."
"You are right he never asked about us, he was dedicated to his job. He thought of everyone as acquaintances, the only person he trusted was Lug. It was pretty obvious you weren't trying to kill us."
Lydd looked up somberly. She was looking up to the top of the caves, but she had a gleam in her eyes as if she was looking at the sky.
"You wanted to know what our relationship was with him. I think I love him. From the day we met, I have loved him. Even with his frantic personality, and fearful nature. I shaped my personality to fix his flaws to everyone else. That was because I wanted all his flaws to show when talking directly to me. I love him with all my heart and soul."
She looked at Aban.
"Have you ever known of love Raiden, or whatever your name is?"
Aban looked at her. The fire from the lighter glistening in her eyes, and skin. Thats when he noticed her off-hand holding onto Den hand.
"You can tell me later, if we get out of this. I kind of want to sleep."
She let go of his hand, then yawned and stretched.
"Well, now you know something about our relationship. Goodnight, and wake us up if you hear anything."
She went to bed sleeping near Den. Seems like their relationship was mostly platonic for now. Even despite the feeling she has shown for him.
Aban turned off the lighter. Both him and Lydd agreed that it would be beneficial to conserve their one source of light here in the dark. He tried focusing his senses into his hearing and possibly smell in remembrance of the main hub.
He realized something while waiting for however long it was.
'Didn't realize waiting for my death would be so boring.'
He spent the majority of time messing around fidgeting. He played rock paper scissors with himself. That didn't work well because he knew the victor every time. Still the only other option was fidgeting with his thumbs.
It was only after what felt like hours, he heard something in the darkness.