Scene- Where am I ?
The elder sister dropped beside him.
"Traveler."
No response.
She touched his shoulder.
Nothing.
His breathing was faint, but steady.
She looked toward the Blood Moon.
Then back at him.
She didn't understand what had happened.
She only knew he was alive.
"Please..."
Her voice broke.
"Wake up."
The Traveler didn't hear her.
He was somewhere else.
There was no ground.
No sky.
No wind.
No body.
Only darkness.
The Traveler stood within it.
He couldn't see.
He couldn't feel his hands.
He couldn't even tell whether he was breathing.
Then—
footsteps.
One.
Two.
Three.
They stopped directly ahead.
A figure emerged from the darkness.
White hair.
Pale face.
Cold purple eyes.
Arafial.
He stood perfectly still.
The Traveler turned toward him.
"Where am I?"
Arafial stared at him.
Then laughed once.
A quiet, merciless sound.
"Still asking questions."
The Traveler clenched his fists.
"I can't see."
"I know."
Arafial stepped closer.
The Traveler heard his footsteps.
"You lost your eyes."
A pause.
"And now you finally understand what weakness feels like."
The Traveler's expression hardened.
"I fought."
Arafial's eyes narrowed.
"You lost."
"I survived."
"You survived because something else carried you."
The words struck harder than the Traveler expected.
Arafial continued walking around him.
"You call yourself strong because you killed beasts."
"You call yourself fearless because you keep standing."
His voice became colder.
"But when the world took your eyes..."
Arafial stopped behind him.
"You fell."
The Traveler turned.
"Then teach me."
Silence.
Arafial appeared directly in front of him.
His face was inches away.
"Teach you?"
He smiled.
"You still don't understand."
The Traveler remained silent.
Arafial leaned closer.
"You aren't being punished."
"You are being exposed."
The darkness seemed to deepen.
Arafial's eyes glowed faintly.
"Every wound."
"Every failure."
"Every person you couldn't save."
His voice became almost emotionless.
"They are stripping away the illusion."
The Traveler's jaw tightened.
Arafial looked directly into him.
"You are not a hero."
"You are not a god."
"You are not even complete."
The Traveler stepped forward.
Arafial didn't move.
"You are a broken remainder."
Silence.
The Traveler's hands trembled.
Arafial noticed.
"Angry?"
The Traveler said nothing.
"Good."
Arafial's expression remained merciless.
"Anger is useful."
He stepped closer.
"But weakness is not."
The Traveler suddenly reached for him.
Arafial caught his wrist.
Again.
Effortlessly.
The Traveler tried to pull away.
Arafial tightened his grip.
"Look at you."
"You can't even find me."
The Traveler froze.
Arafial released him.
"You have no eyes."
"No direction."
"No strength."
He turned away.
"Yet you still think you can walk out of here."
The Traveler stood silently.
Then—
he raised his head.
"I will."
Arafial stopped.
For the first time—
his expression changed.
Only slightly.
Then the cold returned.
"Then prove it."
The darkness around them began moving.
Not disappearing.
Opening.
Arafial's voice followed him.
"Because next time..."
A pause.
"...I won't be merciful."
The Traveler's body began falling into the darkness.
Arafial remained standing.
Watching.
Unmoved.
And outside—
the unconscious Traveler's fingers suddenly curled into the earth.
The elder sister noticed.
"Traveler?"
His body remained still.
But beneath his closed eyelids—
something purple flickered.