The city was still cloaked in mist when Noona followed Raphael through winding streets. The dawn light barely touched the rooftops, and the silence felt heavy—as though the old quarter itself was watching them.
Raphael stopped at the mouth of a narrow alley, almost hidden between two crumbling buildings. The air inside seemed different, colder, laced with something unseen.
"This is it," Raphael said quietly. "The symbols in your visions… they lead here."
Noona stepped closer. On the weathered bricks, faint carvings glowed softly in the dim light. Her fingertips tingled as if drawn by invisible threads. She reached out, brushing the surface, and the carvings pulsed with silver light, awakening at her touch.
Suddenly, the ground beneath her shimmered. An outline of a doorway appeared, glowing with runes that twisted and shifted like living flames.
Her breath caught. "A… gate?"
Raphael nodded, his eyes fixed on the shimmering doorway. "Not just any gate. This is a threshold between memories and the present. It only opens to those who carry the Mintra bloodline… and now, to you."
The silver glow spread up Noona's arm, and whispers filled her head once more—echoes of voices long gone.
"Beyond this gate lies the truth… but beware, for not all shadows rest."
Noona hesitated. Fear pressed against her chest, yet curiosity burned brighter. She turned to Raphael. "If I step through… what will I see?"
"Fragments of the past," he answered. "And maybe, Irin herself."
The runes on the gate shimmered again, waiting. Noona took a deep breath. The choice was hers alone—but every instinct told her the answers she sought lay beyond.
With trembling hands, she touched the center of the glowing doorway. The alley around her dissolved into silver light, pulling her into the unknown.