Silence settled over the chamber once more.
The torchlight danced across the ancient walls, causing the countless carvings to flicker as though they had come alive. Every line etched into the stone carried the weight of an age long forgotten, worn smooth by thousands of years yet refusing to disappear.
Kieran stepped toward the first carving.
His fingers brushed lightly over the weathered stone.
"It begins here."
Leo followed him.
The carving depicted a lone child standing beneath an enormous sky. There were no grand palaces. No throne. No crown.
Only a small boy.
"So..."
Leo murmured.
"This is Mobius?"
Kieran nodded.
"Long before He became the God we know today."
His eyes lingered on the carving with quiet reverence.
"They say He wasn't born powerful."
Another step.
Another carving.
The child was sitting alone beneath a tree while groups of other children played in the distance.
Some pointed.
Others laughed.
None came near Him.
"He didn't have many friends."
Kieran's voice echoed softly through the chamber.
"Some believed He was strange."
"Why?"
Leo asked.
"They never truly knew."
Kieran gave a faint shrug.
"Sometimes people don't need a reason."
"They simply decide someone is different."
Leo remained silent.
His gaze stayed fixed on the lonely figure carved into the stone.
The next mural stretched nearly the entire length of the wall.
The same child stood beneath a brilliant full moon.
Unlike the other carvings, the moon had been carved with extraordinary care.
Its surface was smooth.
Almost polished.
As though whoever had carved it wanted it to shine forever.
Kieran smiled faintly.
"Despite everything..."
"He never believed he was alone."
Leo raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?"
"He believed the moon was always watching over Him."
Kieran's eyes reflected the pale light pouring through the cracks above.
"No matter where He went..."
"He thought the moon followed Him."
Leo couldn't help letting out a quiet chuckle.
"Like a child believing the moon follows them wherever they go."
Kieran returned the smile.
"Exactly."
"He spoke to it."
"He laughed with it."
"When He was happy..."
"He shared it with the moon."
"When He was sad..."
"He would spend the entire night staring into the sky, believing someone was listening."
The chamber fell quiet again.
Leo found himself looking back at the carved moon.
For some reason...
It no longer felt like an ordinary piece of stone.
They continued walking.
The next carvings grew harsher.
The child stood before others, pointing excitedly toward the sky.
His expression was filled with innocent certainty.
Around Him...
Every face wore the same mocking smile.
"They laughed."
Kieran said quietly.
"They called Him delusional."
"They said no one could be friends with the moon."
"They told Him He was speaking to nothing."
Another carving.
The child tried again.
This time, even more people turned away.
Another.
He stood alone.
The crowd had disappeared.
Only the moon remained above Him.
Kieran stopped before the largest carving yet.
Unlike the others...
This one carried an emotion so vivid it almost seemed alive.
The child had fallen to His knees.
Tears streamed down His face.
Both hands were cupped together and stretched toward the heavens.
Even after thousands of years...
The desperation carved into His expression hadn't faded.
Kieran's voice became almost a whisper.
"That was the night everything changed."
Leo didn't interrupt.
For reasons he couldn't explain...
Even he felt reluctant to break the silence.
The ancient chamber seemed to hold its breath.
Waiting for the story to continue.
For a long while...
Neither of them spoke.
The silence inside the chamber felt sacred.
Kieran stood before the carving of the weeping child, his gaze lingering on the tiny streams carved beneath His eyes.
"They say..."
His voice echoed softly through the ancient hall.
"...that was the loneliest night of His life."
"He had been laughed at."
"Mocked."
"Told over and over that the moon He cherished was nothing more than a child's imagination."
Kieran took a slow step forward.
"But even then..."
"He refused to stop believing."
The next carving showed the child lifting both hands toward the heavens.
His small palms were cupped together.
His eyes were tightly shut.
The tears etched into the stone flowed down His cheeks, disappearing into His waiting hands.
"He called out one last time."
Kieran quietly raised his own hands, mirroring the carving.
"'If you've truly been with me all this time...'"
He paused.
"'Then please... answer me.'"
Leo's eyes never left the mural.
"He waited."
Kieran continued.
"He didn't lower His hands."
"He didn't open His eyes."
"He simply stood there..."
"Trusting that His only friend had heard Him."
Another carving.
The child remained frozen beneath the moonlight.
The streams of tears had grown longer.
Running down His face...
Into His cupped palms.
The sculptor had carved every detail with astonishing care.
As though that single moment mattered more than anything else.
"They say He cried until there were no tears left."
Kieran whispered.
"And only then..."
"...did He finally open His eyes."
They stopped before the final carving.
The child stared silently into His cupped hands.
Resting within them...
Was the moon.
Small enough to fit between His palms.
Its surface had been polished smoother than every other carving in the chamber, catching the torchlight with a pale silver glow.
Leo couldn't hide the faint wonder in his eyes.
"So..."
"The moon answered Him."
Kieran smiled.
"That's what the story tells us."
He looked up at the great moon carved above the mural.
"And ever since that day..."
"Our ancestors believed the moon became His eternal companion."
"They called it our second home..."
"...because they believed the first place Mobius was truly accepted was beneath its light."
Leo stood quietly before the ancient wall.
Whether it was history...
Or merely a legend passed down through countless generations...
He couldn't tell.
But for some reason...
The image of a lonely child, standing beneath the moon with tears filling His waiting hands...
Stayed with him long after they walked away.
The ancient chamber remained silent long after Kieran finished speaking.
Leo's eyes lingered on the final carving—the lonely child standing beneath the moon, his cupped hands cradling its pale light.
The story had ended...
Yet somehow, it felt as though the walls still had more to say.
Kieran finally turned away from the murals.
"We've seen everything there is to see."
His calm voice echoed through the chamber.
"Let's head back."
Without another word, the group made their way out of the underground shrine.
As they stepped into the open, the familiar roar of rushing water filled the air.
Far above, an endless stream poured down from the mountain, crashing onto the head of the colossal wolf statue.
The water split into countless streams, racing along grooves carved into the statue before cascading into the crystal-clear pond below.
The sight was magnificent.
Ancient.
Almost unreal.
Several wolves who had remained outside quickly approached Kieran.
One of them lowered his head.
"Leader."
Kieran nodded.
"What did you find?"
The wolf's expression stiffened.
"...Nothing."
"We searched every part of the pond."
"The walls."
"The bottom."
"The surrounding rock."
"There isn't a single crack."
"Not even the smallest gap."
Another wolf stepped forward.
"We checked it again to be certain."
"The entire pond is sealed."
"There are no openings anywhere."
Silence followed.
Leo slowly walked toward the edge of the pond.
The waterfall continued pouring endlessly onto the wolf statue before flowing into the pond below.
He crouched beside the water, letting his fingertips skim across its icy surface.
Small ripples spread in every direction.
His eyes remained fixed on the flowing water.
"So..."
He murmured.
"If there aren't any cracks..."
"...and there aren't any gaps..."
"Then where is all this water going?"
Everyone instinctively looked toward the waterfall.
The water never stopped.
Every second, more and more poured into the pond.
Yet...
The water level never rose.
It never overflowed.
It remained perfectly clear.
Leo slowly stood.
"If the water keeps flowing in..."
"...then doesn't that mean it's also flowing out?"
For a brief moment...
No one spoke.
Then Sasha's eyes widened ever so slightly.
"...The water is leaving."
She turned back toward the pond.
"It has to be."
"If it keeps entering..."
"There must be another path."
"We just haven't found it yet."
Kieran looked at the endless stream falling from above.
His expression hardened.
"Expand the search."
His voice carried across the clearing.
"Search everything."
"The pond."
"The statue."
"The cavern."
"The surrounding cliffs."
"Leave no stone unchecked."
"If the water is escaping..."
"We'll find where."
The wolves immediately dispersed.
The search began once again.
...
Hours passed.
Nothing.
Every inch of the cavern was inspected.
Every stone was struck.
Every carving examined.
The pond was searched over and over again.
Nothing.
Hours became days.
Days became a week.
The mystery remained exactly the same.
The only constant was the endless sound of water cascading from above.
Then...
One quiet morning...
Hurried footsteps broke the silence.
A young wolf rushed through the camp, breathing heavily.
"Leader!"
Kieran turned immediately.
The wolf dropped to one knee.
His face was pale.
"Leader..."
He struggled to catch his breath.
"...Adrian has run away."