While Celestia slowly recovered from their misadventure, Ice, still wary, kept a close eye on Ray, who now stood only a few steps away.
"I think you're close enough," Ice declared, his eyes burning with suspicion.
Ray raised both hands in a gesture of surrender and stopped before replying.
"I won't point out that if I'd wanted to harm you, I wouldn't have helped you in the first place. We don't have time for that. We must not remain motionless."
"Why is that? Because of the thing that went after us.'' Ice confirmed.
Ray shook his head
"Not only, as I told you, this prison is reserved for people who are too troublesome to kill outright, or too elusive to catch.'' he explained ''Which means it makes no sense for children like you to be here, at least I, though almost as vulnerable as you, have my reasons to be here."
Ice slowly lowered his guard, his eyes losing some of their suspicion.
"And can we know these famous reasons?" he asked.
Ray hesitated for a moment before saying,
"Let's just say my family was too loyal, and I was too brave..."
"Well, that's not so important. Tell us instead if there's a way out of this," Ice added in a resigned tone.
"All right, but first tell me where you were heading," Ray asked, dropping his hand from his chin.
"Toward the tower. We thought we might find other people there. Besides, we wouldn't even know where to go if we walked in total darkness."
Ray shook his head.
"There were plenty of bad choices to make, but you went straight for the worst possible one."
Ice gave him an intrigued look.
"What do you mean?"
"I'll explain everything from the start, but first, give her this."
He sat down and rummaged through his backpack before pulling out a piece of bread and a flask of water, which he handed over.
Celestia, who had been watching their discussion silently, brightened at the sight of the bread.
Ray turned to Ice and added, "I don't have much food. You and I will only eat when we're about to starve."
"Thanks," Ice said, his former hostility nearly gone.
"You're welcome," Ray replied, his tone growing serious.
"As I said, we don't have much time, so I'll explain what I know as simply as I can." He paused briefly to gather his thoughts, then went on:
"To sum up, there are three parts. Right now, we're in the 'Paradoxical Double Moons.' Then there's the 'Repentant'; that's our goal, outside of here. The third part is the tower itself. I have no real information about it… in fact, no one does. But it's dangerous. The closer you get, the more you lose yourself. Didn't you notice your vision improving as you got closer?"
Ice interjected, "Yeah, but I thought better vision was a good thing."
Ray frowned. "Normally, yes. But not here. Let's just say the closer you get to the light, the darker your mind becomes. In the end, you stop being you if you can still be called 'someone.'"
"I see," Ice muttered.
Ray was about to continue when the sound of a bell cut through the silence. Ringing once.
"I think I heard that bell earlier too," Ice noted.
Ray chuckled. "What you just heard is the Bell of Judgment. The Paradoxical Double Moons are divided into five zones based on how close you are to the tower. Zone Five is closest; you'd probably see as if it were broad daylight there. But at the border between Zone One and the Repentant, you won't see a thing."
He tapped the torch he carried.
"And even a hundred torches like this won't help.I even think there are things hidden there in the dark."
Ice was about to ask something, but Ray silenced him with a wave of his hand.
"Don't ask. I don't know, and it's better that way."
Ice shrugged. "Fine. So what was that thing that attacked us?"
Ray put his hand back on his chin. "A rather stupid monster. All monsters are drawn to the tower, but only the weak ones; those who've just entered the 'House of Madness' and barely have any self-awareness left can roam freely without fading out of existence. Even they get lost if they get too close."
He pointed in the direction the bell had sounded.
"That bell's ring pulls them away from the tower for a while, but they always drift back. The cycle repeats endlessly, making them wander between the five zones. I don't know if that's intentional or just a cruel joke."
Ice resisted the urge to ask what the 'House of Madness' was and turned to Celestia, who had finished eating.
"Are you ready to go?"
"Yes. And from now on, I'll only eat if you do."
He was about to argue, but stopped when he saw the cold resolve in her eyes. There was no fear or doubt left, only quiet determination.
They watched her brush the dirt from her clothes and tie back her hair so it wouldn't get in the way while running. The contrast with the girl who had been crying in his arms moments ago was striking.
"So what's the plan?"
"She's really strong," Ray muttered under his breath.
They stood there, slightly stunned, until Ray spoke again.
"Our goal is to reach the border with the Repentant and cross it. But we have three big problems." he annonced.
Ice offered his hand to Celestia to help her up and introduced himself.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Ice, and this is my sister Celestia." He added with a faint smile, "If there are only three problems, then we're in better shape than I'd hoped."
Ray shook her hand, got up, and remarked,
"You really aren't normal kids." remarked Ray
He rummaged through his bag, pulled out a sword, and tossed it to Ice, who caught it cleanly.
"First problem: the border. Once we reach it, we won't be able to see a thing. The monsters rely almost entirely on hearing. So if one hears us, it's over. And beyond that, I don't know what's out there. Once we're out, we're on our own."
Ice frowned.
"I see. That explains why you're still here."
"Yes."
His eyes flicked to Celestia.
"So, how good are your ears?"
Celestia shot him a suspicious look.
"What do you mean?"
"Don't you remember? You heard that monster long before we saw it, didn't you?"
Ray's eyes widened.
"Wait, are you serious?''
"I don't know. I didn't really have time to focus on that," Celestia replied.
"Then let's go. We'll test your hearing along the way," Ice declared, already moving.
Ray stared at him in surprise.
"I didn't even say where to go."
"Away from the tower, toward the bell. I'd be a fool if I hadn't figured that out after everything you just explained."
"Fair enough."
"But you still haven't told us the third problem," Celestia asked.
Ray smirked.
"That tower... no one has ever escaped it in 5,600 years."