The fog stretched endlessly over the ruins of the fallen city, swallowing light and sound alike. Every step Riku took echoed faintly, as though the stone itself whispered back.
They had left the mountain behind, but its weight followed them in silence. The battle with General Var'gon had changed something — in all of them.
Ren's injuries hadn't fully healed, even with the relic's power. Mina was quieter now, her bright eyes shadowed with worry. And Arin… Arin had grown distant.
Her eyes scanned the mist, her bow drawn but relaxed, every motion careful and practiced — like someone who'd been hunted before.
Ren led the way through the ruins, limping slightly. "According to the markings on the relic's casing, this city might be where the first Fountain clue is hidden."
Riku looked around at the cracked marble towers half-buried in ash. "You sure? This place feels like the world's forgotten graveyard."
"It is one," Arin murmured, walking past him. "The City of Echoes. A place where the dead remember what the living forget."
Her voice held a weight that made Riku glance at her. He wanted to ask — but the look in her eyes warned him not to.
⸻
The Hall of Whispers
They found shelter inside a half-collapsed temple. Moonlight filtered through the broken ceiling, catching the dust and turning it into drifting sparks. Strange runes glowed faintly across the walls — symbols that pulsed like heartbeats.
As Mina lit a small flame from her staff, the glow revealed faded murals: warriors kneeling before a river of light, their reflections whispering secrets into the water.
"What is this place?" Riku asked.
Ren studied the carvings. "Looks like an old shrine. Maybe to the souls who tried to cross over but failed."
Arin didn't move. She was staring at one of the murals — a hooded woman holding a bow of light, surrounded by countless shadows. Her hand trembled slightly.
Mina tilted her head. "Arin? You okay?"
For a long moment, the archer didn't answer. Then she exhaled softly. "No one's called me by name like that in years," she whispered.
Ren raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
Arin stepped closer to the wall, her fingers tracing the glowing outline of the hooded woman. "I wasn't supposed to end up here."
⸻
Arin's Past
The group sat in the quiet temple, the mist pressing against the broken walls outside. Arin finally lowered her hood, revealing sharp, tired eyes — eyes that carried too many sleepless nights.
"I was… a guardian," she began. "In my old world, I belonged to a small monastery deep in the mountains. We protected the Veil Trees — ancient trees said to bridge life and death."
She smiled faintly, bitterly. "One night, I failed to guard them. Someone came — soldiers, masked, wielding flame and hunger. They wanted to cut the Veil Trees for their power."
Riku leaned forward, silent.
"I tried to stop them," she continued. "I fought until the forest burned and the sky turned black. When I finally fell, I remember seeing one of those trees reach out to me — not with roots, but with light. The next thing I knew, I was here. In this place. In this realm between."
She looked down at her hands, trembling slightly. "For the longest time, I thought I was cursed. But then… I met Mina."
Mina's eyes widened. "You… remember me?"
Arin nodded. "You were wandering near the outer borders of the Silent Plains. I found you unconscious, surrounded by those soldier goons. I almost didn't help — I thought you were gone. But when I touched you, my bow glowed for the first time since I came here."
She looked at Riku and Ren. "That's when I realized something. Every connection we make here… awakens a part of what this world stole from us. Maybe that's the key to finding the Fountain — not just clues, but each other."
The room fell silent. Even the fog outside seemed to pause, listening.
Ren, leaning against a cracked pillar, smiled faintly. "You're more philosophical than you look, archer."
Arin smirked. "Don't get used to it."
⸻
The Warning
As they prepared to leave the temple, Mina noticed something strange — one of the glowing runes had changed. It now pulsed red instead of blue.
"Ren," she said softly, "was that always there?"
Before he could answer, the rune shattered — releasing a gust of wind so cold it burned.
The ground trembled. From the fog outside came the clatter of armor.
Riku drew Eclipsera instantly, the blade glowing faint silver. "We're not alone."
Dozens of red lights appeared in the mist — eyes, burning with hatred.
Figures began to emerge — the goons, their armor blackened and rusted, swords and spears dragging along the stone.
Ren cursed under his breath. "How did they find us here?"
Arin notched an arrow, the glow from her bow illuminating her determined face. "Doesn't matter. We hold them here."
Mina's light flared, casting golden radiance through the temple. "There are too many!" she cried.
Riku took a deep breath, grounding his feet. "Then we'll make them count."
The first goon lunged from the mist — Riku's sword met it in a flash of silver. Arin's arrow pierced through another's helmet, dissolving it into smoke.
But for every one they struck down, more stepped out of the darkness.
From the edge of the fog came a low, heavy voice — distant but powerful.
"So… the Relic-bearer still breathes."
Ren froze, eyes widening. He recognized that voice — deep and cruel, one of the Ten.
The ground shook again. A shadow moved in the distance — massive, towering above the ruins.
The goons stepped aside as though making way for something far worse.
Riku turned to Ren, his heart pounding. "Ren… what is that?"
Ren's expression hardened. "That's not a goon. That's a general."
The voice rumbled through the air again, closer now.
"You've walked long enough. It's time you remembered why this realm exists."
Mina's staff flickered. "We need to move—now!"
But before they could, the temple walls exploded outward in a burst of dark energy. The shockwave threw them all to the ground, the mist swirling violently.
When Riku looked up, his ears ringing, he saw the silhouette of something impossibly large step through the dust.
A figure clad in molten armor, holding a spear that pulsed like a living heart.
"I am Kael'Rath, Keeper of Lost Souls," the voice thundered. "And you have trespassed in my domain."
The ground split beneath their feet as the goons surged forward once more.
Riku raised his blade, heart pounding. "Everyone—get ready!"
The temple filled with light and shadow, steel and fire, as the battle for their lives began once more.