The narrow path Lira led us down was decent, spiraling into a deep,jagged canyon where the perpetual darkness seemed to settle thicker than usual.
Lira walked ahead,her movements conserving energy.
Kael followed slowly, leaning heavily on his staff.His breath was ragged, and the front of his robe was stiff with dried blood,but he still remained sharp. Xeno walked guardedly to Kael's injured side, shovel ready, his blindfolded gaze fixed on Lira's back.
"You need to stop," Kael rasped, his voice raw.
Lira paused, not bothering to turn around.
"Sentiment is a waste of metabolic fuel,Kael. The scouts are active."
"It's not sentiment," Kael retorted. "It's protocol. We just encountered something that attacked the mind, not the physical body. We stop,we assess,we name it. That's how we survive the fall."
Lira finally turned,her expression unbothered.
"That was a Mimesis entity. It feeds on projected fear. It was targeting Yona's memory State after the loop. The solution is awareness, not rest. Now what's protocol for keeping a valuable asset alive?"
Kael leaned his weight onto his staff, steadying himself.
"Protocol dictates, you answer this question. Who are you? Your clothes and weaponry are not scavenged. They were manufactured post-fall, with a knowledge base that shouldn't exist outside the Enclaves."
Lira didn't answer.
Kael opened his mouth to argue again, but I stepped forward first, my voice trembling more from confusion and fear.
"Can you tell me this..."
I cleaned my cheek, the dried goo from earlier cracking under my fingers.
"How...are you clean?"
That made Lira look at me.
Her gaze swept over me,the smeared goo on my arms, the stains on my clothes, then over kael's robe and Xeno's body.
Lira sighed then lifted her hand and pointed down the canyon
The canyon narrowed until it felt like the world was squeezing inward, forcing us toward the distant sound of dripping water. The air grew colder, heavier. My fingers curled into my sleeves as we walked, trying to ignore the uncomfortable cling of dried xenophore residue on my clothes.
Lira didn't slow, didn't look back. She seemed immune to the filth, to the exhaustion, to everything.
Perfect. Controlled. Clean.
Which made the rest of us look like we'd crawled out of a monster's stomach.
Finally, she stopped.
A cavern opened before us,dim, glowing faintly with the light of an underground pond. At first glance, it looked like normal water, dark and still. But then I saw the shapes.
The stones in the pond pulsed.
Not light,movement.
Something inside them shifted, slowly drifting like sleeping creatures waiting to wake.
The water lay serene and untouched, a vast expanse of crystal clarity that reflected the surrounding canyon walls like a mirror. The surface was adorned with a multitude of rocks, their rugged edges softened by the gentle lripples that lapped against them. The water itself seemed to be alive, its surface tension creating an otherworldly sheen that shimmered and shifted in the dark.
There was no sun but the water had a mesmerizing display of sparkles erupted, like a thousand tiny diamonds scattered across the surface. The rocks, worn smooth by the relentless passage of time, stood sentinel in the water's depths, their weathered surfaces reflecting the shifting patterns of light and shadow.
The air above the water seemed to vibrate with an almost palpable energy, as if the very essence of the canyon had been distilled into this one, perfect moment. The water's beauty was hypnotic, drawing the eye inexorably into its depths, where secrets and mysteries lay hidden beneath the sparkling surface.
My mouth went dry.
"What… is this?" I whispered.
Lira motioned toward the water. "A cleansing pond. The unborn xenophores are in the rocks and they feed on residue,memories of residue, instinctually. If you enter carefully, they will strip you clean without waking."
Kael blinked weakly. "You're saying… we have to bathe in there?"
"Yes," Lira replied. "Or the residue on you will attract fully-formed hunters within an hour."
A heavy silence.
Xeno lifted his head sharply. "No."
Lira didn't flinch. "No?"
"I'm not getting in that water," he said. His voice was flat, but tense — the closest he ever sounded to emotional.
Kael frowned. "Xeno, if we don't clean off—"
"I'm not removing my clothes," Xeno snapped, one hand tightening on his shovel. "Not here. Not anywhere."
The air shifted.
A subtle warning passed through the cavern as the unborn stones briefly pulsed brighter.
Lira exhaled through her nose, clearly irritated but not surprised.
"Fine," she said. "You can wipe yourself clean from the edge. Slowly. No fast pressure changes. No splashing."
She tossed him a cloth from her pack.
Xeno caught it immediately and crouched at the pond's rim, dipping only the fabric into the water. Even that tiny motion made the glowing stones tremble faintly beneath the surface. He froze until they settled, then carefully began wiping his arms and face.
Lira pointed at Kael and me.
"You two. In."
Kael groaned as he peeled off his stiff robe. He muttered something about hating the world but stepped into the water slowly, inch by inch. Ripples spread outward,tiny, delicate ones,but the stones didn't react.
When I hovered at the edge, nervous, Lira spoke quietly.
"Slow. Even your heartbeat matters."
My breath trembled.
But I stepped in.
The water was warm,almost unnaturally warm,and it hummed faintly, like something ancient was touching my skin. The residue on my legs dissolved instantly, turning into thin trails of dark mist pulled down into the stones.
The unborn xenophores drank it.
Kael sank deeper beside me, shuddering. "Feels like,like the water is reading my memories."
"It is," Lira said simply.
I froze. "W-what?"
"It won't take anything important. Only what's tied to xenophore contact. The rest of you stays yours."
That didn't make me feel better.
Behind us, Xeno continued wiping himself with small, controlled movements. He didn't speak. He didn't look at the water.
He didn't even breathe deeply.
He hated this.
And Lira noticed.
"You're still contaminated around the collar," she said, voice crisp. "You need to wipe higher."
"I said I'm fine."
"You aren't. You'll glow like a beacon if we run into hunters."
Xeno's jaw clenched.
For a moment, I thought he'd snap at her again.
But he didn't.
He wiped higher.
Lira watched him with an unreadable look,not sympathy, but understanding. She didn't push harder. She didn't ask why. She just let him clean himself however he chose.
Kael leaned back into the water, eyes fluttering shut. "This… is actually helping. My body doesn't feel like it's tearing itself apart anymore."
"It'll stabilize your mind-state too," Lira replied. "At least enough to keep the next Mimesis entity from breaking you."
I shuddered.
I didn't want another loop.
As I sank deeper, the water pulled the residue from my sleeves, my hair, every surface it touched. When the last traces dissolved, the unborn stones dimmed slightly, like their hunger had been fed.
"Step out," Lira instructed. "Slowly."
Kael went first, dripping.
Then me, legs trembling.
Xeno stayed crouched, still avoiding the water.
When Kael reached the rocks, he whispered, "Lira… how did you know this pond was here? How many like this exist?"
Lira didn't answer.
She just turned and began walking toward the exit of the cavern.
"We leave," she said. "Before the stones wake."
A chill ran through me.
Kael followed immediately.
Xeno rose last, silent and stiff.
But as I stepped behind them, I caught a glimpse of the water.
One of the stones pulsed brighter.
Then stopped.
Almost as if…it had tasted us and wanted more.