The silence in the room deepened.
Luka gently tapped Lane's hand with his fingers.
"Lane... how long were you in that church?"
Lane's eyelashes fluttered.
He began trying to gather the scattered pieces of his memories.
"Time? I don't know, Luka."
"I just remember that when my eyes first opened, I was there."
"High walls and candle smoke all around."
"I was just looking here and there, but no one was in sight."
Lane paused for a moment, as if feeling the chill of that day.
"Then that girl came."
"She saw me sitting there alone and quietly took my hand."
"She never asked anything; she just kept me with her."
"Since then, I started living with her."
Luka asked in surprise, "Did you never ask her name?"
"What did she call you?"
Lane slowly shook his head.
"She never told me her name. And I... I never felt the need to ask."
"She was just there with me; that was enough."
Luka shifted a bit closer.
"So, were you there since you were a baby?"
"I mean, since you were very little?"
"No," there was a strange certainty in Lane's voice.
"I don't think I had been there for very long."
"It feels like I came there from somewhere else, but from where... I can't remember."
"It feels as if my life just began at that church."
Luka fell silent.
Lane's words were like a riddle.
A child whose memories start at a church and a girl with no name.
The shadows in the room seemed to be drinking in these words.
And Yuki, sitting in the corner, had become even more alert.
Lane tightened his small fingers around Luka's hand.
A strange curiosity sparkled in his eyes.
"Luka... now tell me about yourself."
"Where were you before this place?"
Luka's gaze got lost in the cracks of the floor.
A cold, lifeless memory flickered in his mind.
"I lived in an orphanage."
"There were many children, so much noise... but I never went near anyone."
"I had no name, nor any memory I could call my own."
"I never liked talking to anyone."
Luka's voice softened, as if he were talking to himself.
"To be honest, before coming here, I never spoke to anyone like this."
"In that orphanage, I was just like a shadow—lonely and silent."
"After coming here, you were the first 'friend' I opened my mouth to speak to."
"And you were the one who gave me this name."
Lane's face lit up with joy.
His eyes began to shine.
"What? If I gave you a name, then by that logic, we are 'family,' aren't we?"
Sitting on the wooden plank in the dark corner, Yuki froze upon hearing this.
He cast a sideways, confused look at Lane.
'Family?'
A strange conflict arose in Yuki's mind.
Is this boy really that foolish?
Or is there a deeper terror hidden behind this innocence?
Sometimes his words make the soul shiver.
And at other times, he seems like a naive child.
Yuki remained silent, just listening to their conversation in that heavy stillness.
Luka was taken aback for a moment.
The word 'family' echoed in his ears like unfamiliar music.
He looked at Lane's innocent and hopeful face.
Suddenly, a suppressed laugh erupted from within Luka.
He began to laugh out loud—
A laugh that the walls of this dungeon had perhaps heard for the first time.
"Yes, Lane," Luka said, laughing and stroking Lane's head.
"Really... we are a family."
*L
Lane's naivety had momentarily lightened all the burdens in Luka's mind.
In that terrifying environment, the two of them, holding hands, had built a small world of their own.
Luka's laughter gradually subsided.
But a faint smile still lingered on his face.
He held Lane's small hand within his own palms.
Deep down, Luka's mind knew that Lane was not ordinary.
His words, his past, and that 'black door'...
Everything testified to a great danger.
He was dangerous, perhaps even more terrifying than necessary.
But looking at Lane's innocent face, a strange conviction took root within Luka.
An intuition that was difficult to weave into words.
Luka felt that no matter how frightening Lane might become.
No matter how destructive his powers might turn.
He would never hurt Luka.
Even in that terrifying innocence.
There was a thread that had transformed Luka's fear into trust.
Lane stretched his legs tiredly and let out a long sigh.
"Luka... I'm tired of sitting here."
"Can we go outside for a while?"
Luka's eyes immediately fixed on Lane's blue-bruised wound.
He shook his head firmly.
"You aren't going anywhere until this heals."
Heaviness began to cloud Luka's eyes.
He leaned his back against the wall.
"I need to sleep for a bit."
"Do you promise to sit here quietly and not insist on going out?"
Lane looked at Luka with innocence and smiled faintly.
"Fine... but promise that when you wake up, we'll go together."
"The field outside is so vast; I don't think there's much danger there."
Without a word, Luka closed his eyes.
Soon, his heavy breathing mingled with the silence of the room.
As he drifted into a deep sleep.
For a long time, Lane stared at Luka's calm face.
But the call of the outside world was echoing in his ears.
Lane slowly slid off the wooden plank.
His steps moved soundlessly toward the open gap where the door should have been.
There was no physical door.
Just an open entrance from where the normal light of the empty field outside peeked in.
Lane was just about to reach that light.
And glimpse the desolation of the field.
When a strong hand suddenly gripped his shoulder.
With a jolt, Lane was pulled back.
Yuki's face emerged from the dark corner.
His eyes filled with anger and warning.
"He just told you no, and you're doing the exact same thing?"
Yuki whispered in a suppressed voice.
He held Lane's hand firmly to prevent him from slipping out through that empty entrance.
"Sit inside, before he wakes up."
📖
Trust sleeps deep, but innocence hides a daring intent,
To join this journey, let your 'Library' be the vent.
Offer a 'Power Stone' to let this tale grow and soar,
This saga of shadows is about to reveal much more.👋