“What are you doing?”

Hjuki turns to the direction of the voice, a welcome sound in the piercing silence that fills his head. His eyes lands on a tall and strange woman, with pale, almost blue-white skin framed by long, silvery hair that reaches past her ankles but is braided neatly and delicately. Her regal and elegant clothing of blues and silvers are accompanied by dark feathers that envelop her shoulders. A sleek vest of reptile skin hugging her lean figure glitters in the moonlight, changing colours from green to purple with every movement. Her entire being appears to almost glow in the darkness of the night.

She is beautiful.

Hjuki is mesmerized by the woman’s otherworldly bearing, but somehow manages to pull his eyes away to turn back to the well he was staring into. He doesn’t answer.

“We’re waiting for Father to come back,” Bil answers for him from his right, but her voice is small and weak. Hjuki doesn't need to look at his younger twin to know how tired she is. How long have the both of them sat here by this well, waiting for their father to return?

Their father had been the one to drag them here across the land, over the mountains, through thickets and forests and past numerous monsters, muttering constantly about knowledge and eternal life. He was the one who told them to wait for his return, kissing them goodbye with a distant look in his gaze, before jumping into the well.

They did not hear anything then - no splash, no thud - as if their father had jumped into an abyss and vanished.

But they are good children, as their father sometimes calls them, petting their head and giving kisses. Memories of his smile and gentle touches are what they often cling to, especially when most of the time he is the opposite, screaming obscenities at them and yelling vulgar, crazed imaginations they do not understand. All they could do was be with their father and endure his moods. They had nowhere else to go. They still don’t.

The woman does not move from where she stands. Instead she watches them quietly with a curious eye. Eventually, she takes a single step forward and says in a tone too tactless despite her regal appearance, “Your father is dead, you know? He’s not going to come back out of the well.”

Bil makes a sound that Hjuki is sure to be a whimper, but neither of them responds to her. They both know that, but there is nothing they can do, no other place to be. Might as well they stay here and wait for the impossible.

Hjuki remains stationary, his eyes fixed on the stone well that is covered in moss and dead wood. He hears the woman take a couple more steps behind him before she stops and lowers herself to one knee before the well between them. She does not speak this time, and Hjuki keeps still while he hears Bil shifts in her spot restlessly; the rustle of her ragged clothes is the only sound made by them amongst the quiet songs of the crickets and the soft whistle of the wind.

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“Rather than wait here… Would you like to join me, then?” the woman asks after a long moment of silence.

This question startles them. Hjuki clenches his fist and dares himself to look up. The beautiful woman is smiling. But it isn’t a kind smile. She looks amused, rather, in a sort of cruel cold way that Hjuki has seen before on other kids toying with insects. “Instead of staying here, you can follow me. It is a much better place than just grass and a decrepit well.”

Hjuki looks to Bil finally, who is staring at him with a blank expression that mirrors his. She blinks and furrows her brows slightly in question, asking silently for his opinion. Hjuki stares into the well once again as if looking to it would produce answers.

He does not see anything in it, never did see anything in it even in the light of the sun despite the many days and nights they’ve been here. It is filled with only pitch black, with darkness so dense it feels like it would pull him in. Their father is dead, and they both know it. Are they even waiting for him, or are they waiting for Death? Neither of them knows nor do they care. It feels pointless. Nothing matters.

But now, someone is offering them another chance, yet Hjuki isn’t sure what to do. Do they deserve it? Is there a point to it? He glances at Bil, who shivers slightly as the cold wind blows past them. The slight chatter of her teeth breaks Hjuki out of his stupor.

He remembers now. How can he forget? He still has someone to look after. They always had each other, even if they could not count on their father. Even if this woman has plans for them, be it good or bad, there is at least a chance for something new. Something different to look forward to other than for the void in the well to suck them in and join the fate of their missing father.

The young boy takes a deep breath and exhales slowly as he relaxes his clenched fist, the sudden chill fogging his breath.

“Okay,” Hjuki says, his voice hoarse from lack of use. It is the first word he’s said to anyone other than Bil in a very long time. The woman’s smile widens, appearing pleased as she meets his gaze. He stares into her eyes that are of glistening silver, a shade that is cold and steely and almost inhuman, and yet, there is something... pure in them. Hjuki does not know how to describe it. Her gaze beckons him.

The strange woman then holds out her hand to him and after a momentary pause, Hjuki takes it, reaching out to her marble-like fingers and gasping when he feels how cold and smooth her skin is.

She offers her other hand to Bil who follows her brother’s actions. His sister grips the woman’s hand shakily as she brings both of them to their feet while holding their hands firmly. This is the first time they feel grounded and secure. The twins share an understanding look between them.

“My name is….” the woman begins to say as she leads them away from the well.

The twins familiarise themselves with her name as they walk further and further away, their little feet catching up with her languid pace easily. They continue to walk until they can no longer see the cursed well behind them. When they face forward once again, all they can see are the stars and clouds of the night sky.