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The doorway closed behind them.
Not with sound, but with pressure.
One moment there was Kai’s boundary, the next—
...Heat?
Dry warmth brushed against their skin immediately, carrying the scent of sunlit stone and old dust.
Diana blinked rapidly.
Diana: “…Woah.”
They weren’t standing in empty white space anymore.
No endless void nor sixteen floating doors.
Instead, A city.
Massive.
Alive.
Built directly into towering rock walls that stretched impossibly high overhead.
The stone wasn’t painted.
It grew like this naturally somehow...layers of warm orange, deep crimson, gold, and pale cream running through the cavern walls like sunlight fossilized into earth.
The entire place glowed.
Not brightly but warmly.
Like late afternoon trapped forever underground.
Multiple floors of cave-structures climbed upward around them, bridges connecting openings carved into the rock, hanging lanterns swaying gently overhead.
The air smelled like heated stone after rain.
Comforting, ancient and crowded.
Damon froze slightly.
Damon: “…There’s people here.”
Not humans though, it was creatures.
Dozens or even hundreds.
Some walked normally through the streets below, others crawled along walls or even floating.
A tall creature with six arms carried glowing jars through a market stall. Another creature floated instead of walking, wrapped in cloth and bells.
None of them matched, but all of them belonged here.
Their voices echoed through the city in strange language. Something that human couldn't even understand.
Yet, the group understood every word.
Maybe the transmitter helped them?
The butterflies specifically.
Diana touched the side of her head lightly.
Diana: “…Okay, that is REALLY weird.”
A nearby creature glanced toward them.
“Neire teiro?" (New arrivals?)
Another murmured:
“Teiro naeru..." (Surface-formed…)
“Inneritsa koei..." (Judgment scent…)
“Tsumeire teiro..." (Boundary travelers…)
Eloise stiffened slightly.
Eloise: “…They know what we are.”
Damon noticed it next.
The staring...it wasn't hostile. It was more of curiosity.
A few creatures slowed while passing, then more.
A hollow with a lantern-shaped head tilted toward them.
Two small birdlike entities whispered rapidly to one another while pointing.
“Yaines mei tu haizer tsumeire." (They came from upper structures.)
“I'nei naikuu?" (No escort?)
“Minnee yaines toeire?" (Why are they alone?)
Diana stepped closer to the others.
Diana: “…I don’t like this.”
More eyes turned.
A towering creature ducked slightly to look at them more closely.
“Yaine emireise." (Human-patterned.)
“Naeru?" (Alive?)
“Suere." (Mostly.)
Damon grimaced.
Damon: “Okay, that one’s rude.”
The crowd slowly thickened around them.
Not attacking, just following.
Interested.
Like they were rare animals that had wandered into the wrong habitat.
Ouro hissed softly from Damon’s shoulder.
The movement immediately drew more attention.
“Heiou moire." (A serpent-memory.)
“Unstable.”
“Kune i meia." (Look at its eyes.)
“Nnaaa, ierue... (Ohhh, dangerous…)
“...Meare." (Cute.)
Ouro looked offended.
Eloise spoke quickly under her breath.
Eloise: “We need somewhere less visible.”
Kai’s transmitter buzzed faintly in their minds.
Directional instinct.
Helpful.
Diana pointed toward a narrow opening between two stacked cave-structures.
Diana: “There!”
They moved quickly.
The crowd reacted immediately, not chasing aggressively—
But following faster now.
Curiosity spreading through the nearby streets.
“Minne mei yaine?" (Where are they going?)
“Yaine oborue?" (Are they hiding?)
“Naikuu ie ruinere?" (Can we ask questions?)
“Yaine ine reise." (Don’t scare them.)
" Imei." (Too late.)
Damon groaned.
Damon: “Why are they acting like we’re celebrities?!”
Eloise muttered:
Eloise: “Maybe because we’re outsiders.”
They slipped into the alley that's narrow and cooler.
Dimly lit by hanging amber lanterns.
The sounds of the city muffled slightly here.
The group pressed against the stone walls, catching their breath while shadows stretched around them.
Outside the alley entrance, shapes lingered.
Watching, whispering.
Not entering.
Diana peeked carefully around the corner.
Diana: “…They’re still there.”
Kai’s transmitter buzzed faintly again.
And then, a voice nearby spoke softly.
Very close.
???: “You are hiding incorrectly.”
The group spun instantly.
The alley fell silent.
The figure leaned casually against the stone wall as though she had been waiting there the entire time.
It was... a girl.
Medium-length black hair framed her face messily, ribbons tied near the sides.
One of her eyes was normal, warm and bright.
The other was a pocket watch.
Not covering the eye.
Replacing it.
Tiny clock hands ticked slowly behind cracked glass embedded into the socket.
Her outfit blended naturally with the city around them. Layered cave fabrics, warm-toned cloth, belts, metallic ornaments.
But around her neck, was a ribbon marked with tiny clock numerals wrapped tightly like a living collar.
The moment she spoke, her voicebox glitched softly.
Words overlapping with faint static.
???: “Hi-ii-hello.”
Then she smiled brightly like nothing was wrong.
“You’re te-te-terrible at hiiiii-ding!”
Diana blinked.
Diana: “…You found us immediately.”
She nodded enthusiastically.
???: “Yep!”
Bzzt.
“Alsooo the whole street is-is-is talking about you.”
Damon groaned quietly.
Damon: “...Fantastic.”
The girl stepped closer.
Despite the strange eye and glitching voice, her energy felt… harmless.
Warm.
Lively.
???“You sme-smell like upper-boundary panic,” she said cheerfully. “Very...suspicious~”
Eloise narrowed her eyes.
Eloise: “…Who are you?”
She placed a hand dramatically over her chest.
???: “Scar!”
Static crackled faintly from her throat.
Scar: “Class 3 creature! Traveler helper! Sometimes guide or sometimes problem!”
A pause.
“…Mostly helper, blep.”
Diana relaxed slightly first.
Because....of course she did.
Diana: “Well…hi, Scar.”
Scar’s normal eye brightened.
Scar: “Aww, you’re nice.”
Then her clock-eye ticked once, and she suddenly looked serious.
“But you can’t stay looking like that.”
She pointed at them all vaguely.
“Humans stand out.”
Damon looked down at himself.
Damon: “…Yeah, we noticed.”
Scar reached into a satchel hanging from her side.
Carefully, she pulled out several crystalline flowers.
Beautiful, fragile-looking.
Each one shimmered faintly like frozen light trapped inside petals.
Two thin metallic strings hung from each bloom, ending in sharp needle-like tips.
Scar held them out.
Scar: “Freine. Disguise flower! Flower of Neverland!”
Diana carefully took one.
Diana; “It’s pretty…”
Scar nodded proudly.
Scar: “Very pain-painful first time!”
Diana immediately looked horrified.
Diana: “…Excuse me?”
Scar pointed at her own neck ribbons casually.
Scar: “Tips go into neck veins.”
Silence.
Damon stared.
Damon: “…I’m sorry...WHAT?!”
Scar blinked innocently.
“It fixes the damage after!”
Eloise pinched the bridge of her nose.
“That is not reassuring.”
Scar giggled.
The glitch in her voicebox made the sound skip oddly.
Scar: “Don’t worryyy. You survive.”
The alley somehow became quieter after that sentence.
Scar demonstrated by holding her own Freine gently.
Scar: “The strings penetrate here.”
She tapped both sides of her neck.
“Then the flower syncs with blood and mana.”
Tick.
Her clock-eye rotated slightly.
“When activated…”
She spun the flower once between her fingers.
Immediately-
The crystalline bloom dissolved into light.
It moved upward-
Settling over her clock-eye like a delicate mask while pale bone-like structures formed elegantly around the other side of her face.
At the same time, her outfit shifted slightly, cloak layers extending, colors deepening.
Even her presence changed.
Lower and harder to notice.
Damon blinked slowly.
Damon: “…Okay that’s actually kind of cool.”
Scar grinned.
Scar: “It lowers mana signature! Makes you blend in!”
Eloise examined the flower carefully.
Eloise: “…And this is safe?”
Scar paused.
Then gave a thumbs up.
Scar: “…Mostly!”
Diana looked very concerned now.
Diana: “Why does everyone here say things like that?!”
Ouro hissed suspiciously at one of the flowers.
Scar immediately gasped.
Scar: “The snake gets one too?!”
Ouro looked offended again.
Kai’s butterfly-transmitter buzzed faintly inside their minds.
As if recognizing the artifact.
Scar lowered her voice slightly.
Scar: “You really need disguises.”
Her clock-eye ticked once more.
“There’s movement in the city.”
Damon frowned.
Damon: “…What kind of movement?”
Scar’s cheerful expression dimmed slightly.
Scar: “People asking questions.”
A pause.
“About travelers.”
Another tick.
“And about a man with white wings and porcelain head.”
The alley suddenly felt colder.
That description sounds like...Wolfgang. But...porcelain head?
Diana tightened her grip on the Freine flower.
Diana: “…We should hurry.”
Scar nodded quickly.
Scar: “Yup!”
Then she smiled brightly again.
“Okay! Neck stabbing time!”
Damon sighed deeply.
Damon: “…I hate this place already.”