The night carried the gentle warmth of midsummer.
Three figures made their way along the narrow park path, their footsteps slow and unhurried. Plastic bags swung lightly from their hands, the contents inside shifting with a soft rustle. Glass bottles clinked together every now and then, a faint chime that blended into the quiet sounds of the evening.
The convenience store down the street had been bright and cool when they stepped inside. Now the air outside wrapped around them again, warm and soft against their skin.
Inside the bags were bottles of ramune, a few cans of diet cola, and a handful of snacks grabbed without much thought. The sort of things one buys when the night stretches ahead with no plans and nowhere particular to be.
They followed the familiar route through the small park.
The path curved gently between trees whose leaves whispered quietly overhead. Streetlights glowed dimly through the branches, casting scattered patches of amber light across the ground.
Somewhere in the distance, cicadas droned in their endless chorus. The sound filled the air like a steady current, rising and falling but never truly stopping.
At the end of the path stood the gazebo.
It had been there for as long as any of them could remember. A simple wooden structure with white railings and a slanted roof that creaked softly when the wind passed through. The paint had faded over the years, worn down by rain and summer heat, but the shape of it remained unchanged.
They stepped up onto the wooden floor one by one.
The boards greeted them with the familiar hollow creak that always came with the first step.
The bags were set down with quiet thuds against the bench.
One of the girls reached into the convenience store bag and pulled out a bottle of ramune. Her blonde twin tails bounced slightly as she tilted the bottle and pressed the marble down with a practiced pop. The glass made a cheerful clink as the marble dropped into the neck.
"Finally," she said with satisfaction.
Across from her, the red haired girl immediately frowned.
"You just opened that. You know that stuff is basically liquid sugar, right? Too much of it is bad for you, Mimi."
Mimi lifted the bottle to her lips anyway and took a long drink before answering.
"At least it tastes like something," she said, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "Unlike that tragic black iced tea you ordered."
"It's not tragic," Ragna shot back. "It's called having taste."
"It tastes like regret."
"You're just addicted to sugar."
"And you're addicted to pretending bitterness equals sophistication."
Ragna crossed her arms. "You finished half a bag of candy in the store."
"That was strategic snacking."
"That was not strategic."
Their voices bounced around the small gazebo as the argument continued, light and familiar in the warm night air.
A few steps away from them, the third girl sat quietly on one of the benches.
Her black hair had been pulled up into a loose bun. In front of her, resting on one of the wooden stools of the gazebo, was a simple can of diet cola she had taken out earlier.
She watched it silently.
Tiny beads of condensation had begun to form on the aluminum surface. They gathered slowly, merging together until gravity pulled them down the side of the can. One droplet slid onto the stone stool beneath it, leaving a dark spot.
Another droplet followed.
Her eyes tracked each one as it formed.
The argument nearby eventually paused.
"…Hey. Neera."
She blinked.
Mimi had leaned sideways across the bench, peering at her.
"Are you trying to bend that thing with your mind or something?"
Ragna glanced over as well. "Or calculating the caffeine content down to the milligram."
The girl looked up at them, pulled from her quiet observation.
"I was just watching the water gather on the stool," Neera said.
Mimi leaned back dramatically.
"Wow."
She spread her arms wide.
"No thoughts. Head empty."
Ragna rolled her eyes.
"Right. Because you are full of meaningful thoughts," she said dryly.
"I am," Mimi replied immediately, placing a hand over her chest. "I'm thinking about how much better this ramune is than your tea."
"That's not a thought. That's a sugar addiction speaking."
"It's called having joy."
"Your definition of joy is concerning."
Neera let their voices fade back into the background.
Another droplet slid down the side of the can.
This one moved slower than the last. It clung to the surface for a moment, trembling slightly before finally giving in and falling. It struck the stool with a soft tap, merging with the dark patch that had already formed.
Her gaze lingered there.
The stone of the stool was cooler than the air. It always had been. Even in summer.
She shifted slightly, leaning forward just enough to rest her elbows on her knees.
There were several stools arranged inside the gazebo. Circular. Waist-high. Made of the same pale stone.
They had been there as long as the gazebo itself.
Neera's eyes moved from the damp spot beneath the can… to the surface of the stool.
Then to the next one.
And the next.
For a moment, nothing seemed out of place.
Just stone. Smooth. Worn slightly around the edges.
But then-
Her gaze stilled.
"…Wait."
Mimi and Ragna paused mid-bickering.
"What?" Mimi asked, already turning toward her.
Neera didn't answer immediately.
She leaned forward instead, her gaze fixed on the darkened patch beneath the can.
The water had spread slightly now, soaking unevenly into the stone. The pale surface deepened in color where it was wet.
And something else began to show.
Faint lines.
Neera's eyes narrowed.
"Come here," she said quietly.
There was something in her tone that made Mimi stop joking.
Both of them stepped closer.
"What is it…" Ragna began, but her voice trailed off as she followed Neera's gaze.
The markings were not random.
Thin lines curved into a circle.
A cross extended downward.
A small crescent rested at the top.
Mimi leaned in, squinting for a moment.
Then her expression changed.
"Wait… that's Mercury."
Silence.
Neera blinked.
Ragna turned to look at her slowly.
"What?"
Mimi pointed at the symbol again, more certain now.
"The alchemical symbol for Mercury. Circle, cross, crescent on top. That's literally it."
Ragna and Neera stared at her.
"Since when do you know that?" Ragna asked.
Mimi blinked, then shrugged.
"I had to learn them for a puzzle in a game. It wouldn't let me progress unless I matched the symbols correctly. It was annoying."
"You memorized alchemical symbols," Ragna said flatly.
"It was either that or stay stuck for three hours."
"…Fair," Neera said softly, though her attention had already shifted back to the stone.
Ragna crouched slightly, studying the marking more closely.
"It does match," she admitted after a moment. "But why would something like that be here?"
Mimi tilted her head. "Only one way to find out."
Before Neera could ask what she meant, Ragna had already picked up the can and moved it aside. She grabbed the can resting nearby.
"Hey," Neera said.
Ragna ignored her, shaking the can slightly.
"What are you doing?" Neera asked, a little sharper this time.
"If water makes it clearer," Ragna said, tilting it, "then we use more water."
Mimi lit up immediately. "Yes. Exactly. Science."
"That's not science," Neera said. "That's pouring drinks on public property."
"No one's here," Mimi said, glancing around the empty park.
"And even if they were," Ragna added, "we're not damaging anything."
Neera crossed her arms. "We're definitely going to get scolded if someone sees us."
"By who?" Mimi asked. "The gazebo police?"
Neera didn't reply.
Because that wasn't really the point.
Her eyes drifted back to the symbol.
To the lines that had only appeared when the stone grew wet.
"…Just a little," Ragna said.
A thin stream of liquid spread across the surface of the stool.
The pale stone darkened further.
And slowly, more lines began to appear.
Mimi leaned in at once. "Wait, there's another one…"
Neera stepped closer without realizing it.
"I knew it," Ragna murmured.
The three of them fell quiet again.
More lines revealed themselves as the liquid spread.
At first they looked like extensions of the same marking.
But then another shape formed.
And another.
Mimi leaned closer, her earlier excitement returning twice as strong.
"Oh wait, that's Venus," she said, pointing at a different symbol as it became visible. "And that one… Mars. And… yeah, Saturn too."
Ragna frowned, shifting slightly to get a better look.
"You're just saying names now."
"I'm not," Mimi said, offended. "These are actual symbols. They used them in old alchemy stuff. And in that game."
Neera didn't interrupt.
Her attention had shifted again.
Not to the symbols themselves.
But to the edges of the stool.
Faint markings ran along the circular boundary. Short lines, spaced evenly, like tiny cuts pressed into the stone.
Her fingers traced over them.
"…These look like scale markings," she said.
Ragna leaned in. "Scale?"
Neera tilted her head slightly, studying the spacing.
"Like a measuring instrument," she said slowly. "Almost like… a protractor."
Mimi blinked. "A what?"
"An angle measuring tool."
"…Right," Mimi said, though she clearly did not care.
She straightened instead, her attention drifting elsewhere.
Upward.
The sky above the gazebo stretched clear and dark, dotted with faint stars.
Mimi squinted slightly.
Then she pointed.
"Hey," she said. "That one… the red one."
Neera followed her finger.
A small reddish point flickered faintly against the darkness.
"…Mars?" Mimi said. "I wonder what position it's in right now."
Neera didn't respond immediately.
Instead, she turned and reached for her bag.
Ragna raised an eyebrow as Neera began rummaging through it.
"What are you doing now?"
Neera pulled something out and held it up.
A compact telescope.
"…Why do you have that?" Mimi asked.
Neera paused, then answered like it was obvious.
"I like stargazing."
There was a brief silence.
"And," she added, adjusting the lens, "my family has a history of astronomy. And astrology."
"That explains… nothing," Mimi said.
Neera ignored her.
She stepped out slightly from under the gazebo roof, angling the telescope toward the sky.
For a few moments, she said nothing.
Only small adjustments.
A shift of the wrist.
A narrowing of her gaze.
Then she lowered it.
"…There," she said.
She stepped back toward the stool and crouched slightly, her finger hovering above the markings.
"If this is acting like a protractor," she said, "then that would be its current position."
She pointed at a specific angle along the edge.
The symbol for Mars, etched near the center, sat nowhere close to that point.
Ragna frowned.
"That doesn't line up at all."
Neera didn't respond.
She was still looking at the markings, her expression focused.
Ragna straightened slightly, then let out a small huff.
"Well," she said lightly, "if it's supposed to line up…"
She placed her hand on the center plate.
"…then I should be able to just move it."
Both Neera and Mimi gave her the same look.
"What?" Ragna said. "I'm joking."
She applied a bit of pressure anyway.
Just enough to prove a point.
The stone shifted.
All three of them froze.
"…Did that just—" Mimi started.
Ragna didn't answer.
Her hand was still on the surface.
Slowly, carefully this time, she pushed again.
The central piece rotated.
A low, grinding sound echoed softly from within the structure.
Neera's eyes widened slightly.
"Keep going," she said.
Ragna swallowed, then continued.
The plate moved with surprising smoothness now, as if something inside had loosened.
The symbol for Mars slid across the surface.
Closer.
Closer.
Until—
Click.
The sound was sharp and precise.
The piece locked into place.
Exactly where Neera's finger still hovered over the marked angle.
"Interesting," Ragna said quietly.
Her eyes lingered on the now-aligned marking for a moment longer.
Then she reached for the can again.
Neera immediately leaned forward.
"Wait," she said, a little too quickly.
Ragna paused mid-motion. "What?"
"Don't empty my whole can," Neera said, her voice slipping into something dangerously close to a whine. "I haven't even had it yet."
Mimi gasped softly, placing a hand over her chest.
"A tragedy."
Then, with sudden enthusiasm, she lifted her own bottle.
"I volunteer this as a sacrifice."
Neera gave her a look. "You just opened that."
"Great discoveries require great losses," Mimi declared.
Ragna snorted.
"Fine," she said, taking the bottle from Mimi's hand. "Your loss."
"It's a worthy cause," Mimi said, though she leaned in anyway, clearly unwilling to miss what came next.
Ragna tilted the bottle, letting the liquid spill across the surface of the second stool.
The stone darkened.
Slowly, the markings began to emerge again.
Mimi crouched immediately.
"Okay… there's Mars again. Saturn… Venus…" she paused, squinting. "And that one's the Moon."
Neera leaned closer.
Her gaze moved across the symbols, more carefully this time.
Then she stilled.
"…That one looks different," she said.
Mimi followed her line of sight.
The symbol for Venus shimmered faintly against the damp stone.
Not bright, but enough to stand out.
A faded gold.
"…Oh," Mimi said, her tone shifting. "Okay. That's new."
Ragna crouched beside them. "What?"
"Gold marking," Mimi said. "If this was a game, that would be the one we focus on."
Neera nodded slightly. "That makes sense."
Then she hesitated.
"…But the last one didn't have that," she added. "Mars didn't look any different."
Ragna tilted her head.
"No," she said slowly. "It did."
Both of them looked at her.
"The gold marking was on Mercury," she said. "Not Mars."
Neera blinked.
Mimi straightened slightly. "Wait… what?"
Ragna pointed toward the first stool.
"When we aligned Mars, Mercury moved into place too," she said. "We just didn't notice because we weren't looking for it."
A brief silence followed.
Then Mimi let out a small, impressed laugh.
"Okay," she said. "That's actually kind of smart."
Neera was already reaching for her telescope again.
"Then we do the same thing," she said.
She stepped out slightly, angling it toward the sky once more.
A few adjustments.
A quiet pause.
Then she lowered it.
"Venus is there," she said, pointing to a different angle along the edge.
Ragna didn't hesitate this time.
She placed her hand on the central piece and began to turn it.
The stone moved more easily now.
As if it had been waiting.
The symbols shifted.
Venus drifted across the surface.
Click.
The sound echoed, just as sharp as before.
They froze again. But only for a second.
Because now they understood.
Ragna stood up.
"My turn," she said.
She picked up her own bottle of iced tea.
"Fair's fair."
Mimi grinned. "Finally, some sacrifice from your side."
"Don't get used to it," Ragna replied.
She poured the liquid onto the third stool.
The surface darkened.
And once again, the markings appeared.
Mimi leaned in immediately.
"…Mars, Saturn, Venus…" she murmured.
Neera crouched beside her.
Her eyes scanned the symbols.
Then stopped.
"…Saturn," she said.
The marking shimmered faintly.
The same faded gold.
Ragna exhaled slowly. "Alright."
They didn't need to say anything else.
Neera checked the sky again.
Mimi double-checked the symbols.
Ragna adjusted the plate.
This time, the movement felt almost… expected.
Saturn slid into position. Click.
Silence followed.
Not the same as before. Heavier.
The cicadas, which had been droning endlessly until now stopped.
All at once.
The sudden absence of sound pressed against their ears.
Mimi straightened slowly.
"…Did you guys hear that?"
Before anyone could answer, a rush of movement filled the air.
The cicadas lifted together from the trees. A single, coordinated burst.
Their wings cut through the silence as they scattered into the night, leaving the park behind.
The three of them remained where they were, the last click still echoing faintly in their minds.
Then the ground trembled.
It was subtle at first. A faint vibration beneath their feet, like something shifting far below the surface.
Neera stiffened.
"Did you feel—"
A low mechanical whirring cut through the silence.
Mimi froze.
"…Okay, that's not normal."
The sound grew louder.
Not abrupt. Not violent. Deliberate.
Something inside the gazebo was moving.
The circular platform at the center began to shift.
Stone scraped against stone with a deep, grinding sound.
Mimi let out a sharp yelp.
"Wait—"
The floor beneath her feet tilted slightly as the central section gave way.
She stumbled forward.
Then dropped.
"Ragna!"
Ragna reacted instantly.
She lunged forward and caught Mimi by the arm just before she could slip further, pulling her back with a sharp tug. Mimi collided into her, half-falling, half-clinging.
Ragna held her at arm's length, steadying her.
"Watch it," she snapped, though her grip didn't loosen.
Mimi blinked rapidly, her breath uneven.
"I was watching," she said. "The ground just decided to disappear."
Neera had already stepped back.
The whirring slowed and then stopped.
Silence returned.
Where the center of the gazebo had been moments ago there was now nothing.
Just an opening.
A perfect circle carved into the floor.
The three of them stood there, unmoving.
Then, slowly, they stepped closer.
The edge revealed darkness.
Not empty.
Just… deep.
Neera leaned forward slightly, peering down.
Shapes emerged as her eyes adjusted: stone steps.
A staircase began at one side of the opening, pressed against the inner wall. It spiraled downward, disappearing into the darkness below.
Old stone, the same pale material as the stools.
No one spoke.
The warm night air still lingered behind them.
But the space before them felt entirely different.
Like something that had been sealed away and had just now decided to open.
Ragna frowned.
"…We're not going down there, right?"
Mimi grinned widely.
Neera didn't look away.
The darkness seemed to pull at their gaze.