In an underground shelter, three young men and two girls had gathered.
(Rozen) looking at them with deep annoyance: "Will one of you speak?"
(Jorvir): "I am Jorvir."
(Rozen): "Congratulations."
(Kirv) smiling: "Perhaps you remember my voice. My name is Kirv."
(Rozen) looked closely at him. The young man was blond, calm in feature, with a long nose and tired eyes, much like his smiling lips.
(Rozen): "You are the whisperer."
(Kirv) smiling: "I am the whisperer indeed… and these two girls are Rilaf and Hovar."
(Rozen) looked closely at (Rilaf), with her long blond hair and blue eyes. Her face was marked by a shallow scar running from ear to ear. She did not smile at him at all. She did not even look at him.
Then he studied (Hovar), with her long black hair, her short slender body, and her soft olive skin, which matched the hazel of her eyes.
(Hovar) smiling at him, her eyes even more tired than (Kirv)'s, as if they were on the verge of tears: "Rozen, I am happy you survived, and happy you joined us."
(Rozen) looked at her quietly, for he felt something immense and grave.
Without understanding why, his eyes filled with tears at the sight of her, and his chest trembled. Her smile vanished, and she stepped closer to calm him, but he raised his hand before her face.
(Rozen): "My body is only tired."
After that, the four of them kept talking among themselves. (Kirv) and (Jorvir) tried again and again to draw (Rozen) into the conversation, but he refused, and they excused him. Then everyone rose without him. He remained seated in his place without moving for a full hour, until part of his awareness returned.
(Rozen) rose and began wandering through the strange shelter. He felt somewhat lost in its vastness, and stunned by its design. As he turned through one of the corridors, he came upon (Hovar), who hid her unease behind a faint smile. The two of them kept looking at each other. It was not hard to notice the discomfort in both of them at the sight of one another, but Hovar's gentleness surfaced when she said:
(Hovar): "Would you like a tour of the place?"
(Rozen) gave no answer, which only made the air between them more complicated, especially when he stepped forward in silence until he reached her, held her chin between the tip of his thumb and the side of his forefinger, and slowly turned her face while she nearly choked on tension and fear.
(Rozen): "Why does my chest hurt when I look at you? Your face feels familiar."
(Hovar) closing her eyes while sweat gathered on her brow, smiling with a trembling smile, and raising her hand to push his fingers away from her chin: "…"
Her shyness and fear were stronger than her discomfort. (Rozen) noticed this, and his eyes trembled. He pulled his hand away.
(Rozen): "I sincerely apologize. I do not know what came over me."
(Hovar) startled and waving quickly: "No, no… it is nothing…"
(Rozen) moved past her in stumbling steps and kept walking until he entered a strange room. It held three flames, and the temperature inside was moderate, unlike the cold outside it. Two stone benches faced one another. He sat on the left bench, lifted his head, and kept wiping at his eyes and face until (Rilaf), who had seen his contact with her companion, entered and sat on the right bench opposite him.
(Rilaf): "Do you want to know what I truly believe?"
(Rozen) looked at her with quiet attention.
(Rilaf): "I believe you are a mistake. You have nothing to do with us. You were brought here alone. You did not live what we lived. Your hell with her seems special, and I do not want anyone to die because of you."
(Rozen) kept staring at her with dead eyes full of absurd stillness. (Rilaf) felt a strange discomfort. For all her harshness and the blackness of her misery, she sensed something deeply complicated in the young man's gaze, until her own gaze broke completely before his, and she could no longer keep looking at him.
(Rozen): "You are right. I am a mistake in this place. Most of you know much about the Lady, and your journey seems more foundational than mine. That is why I am more eager than anyone to leave this entity and all its inhabitants."
(Rilaf) looking at him with a guarded, suspicious gaze: "Then kill yourself. That is the only final way out."
At that, anger rose in (Rozen), clear on his face like a sun in a dark sunrise, and he spoke in a voice rough with fury:
(Rozen): "I will kill the Lady and wash my hands in her blood. I will burn all of you with unbearable slowness. I will kill the two rabbits and eat their flesh. The ghouls, the ghosts, and the monsters will become legends again. And even if I die forever in endless loops of horror and strangeness, I will keep returning to unleash hell on anyone who suggests suicide to me. And you in particular, worthless thing, I will kill you with a death that will make you long for sleep forever, out of fear of waking and thinking of it."
(Kirv) entering and seeing (Rilaf) staring at the one speaking to her with horrified eyes and an open mouth, while (Rozen) looked at him with deep calm.
(Kirv) smiling with a tense smile: "Is everything alright?"
(Rozen) rose and moved past him. The difference in height between them made (Kirv) lift his arm just to pat his shoulder, stop him, and lean close.
(Kirv) whispering: "Your room is ready. Get some rest, and know that you are welcome here."
(Rozen) looked at him with a nihilistic gaze, yet comfort passed through it until his eyes became almost friendly. He nodded to him in thanks and went to his room.
(Kirv) turning to (Rilaf): "I heard everything. It is alright. He is under the pressure of the months he spent in Snow Nexus. Try not to become another Lady, because unlike her, he can see you and hurt you."
(Rilaf) still under the weight of shock, her voice trembling: "That damned one… that damned one is deeply evil, Kirv. It is not about what he said. Something… something came out of him. My instinct does not fail. His being among us is a great danger."
(Kirv) letting out a breath, moving closer, and stroking her back for several minutes until she calmed down: "…"
Meanwhile, the one who had left found his room. It was very simple: a bed, a sheet, a light blanket, a table, and a chair.
He closed the door, then lay down and slept for the first time…
Among people and humans alone.