Light filtered through the hole in the wall. A vertical hole, running from the floor, exposing wooden structure behind the piled up stone and mud, ran above, towards the ceiling, where it revealed rays of silver moonlight. Gleaming from it, is an undead knight. There is something sobering about being held on a knifepoint by a corpse. It felt as if waking up from a long sleep underneath a frozen tub.

The Undead Knight strode towards Karla, filtering through dusts and sands that floated up the air. In a suspended animation, the dusts moved as the Undead Knight brushed against it. Then it fell down unto his shoulder as Karla slowly digested her situation.

She gazed at the wall and the blade he held, then at the corpse at her feet. She would say her condolences has it not been for the fact that she’s caught in it. The heavy footsteps of a walking corpse stopped shortly near her. She stared at the slit among its helmet, it was dark. Not even a glint of life is seen, does it even have a body? That shouldn’t be a question however as the tear of armor along its body is many, and it revealed a dry wrinkled skin.

A semi Refuse? Contrary to the peaceful (personal interpetation) behaviour of the Refuse, this semi Refuse seemed (considering the newly minted corpse at her feet) hostile.

The blade caressed her cheeks and a streak of blood fell from a shallow slit. Then the Undead Knight realign his blade towards her neck. Karla’s deep blue hair softly covered the blade. Her golden eyes stared in a fearful gaze at the slit of the helmet, looking for something. As if the knowing appearance of the Undead Knight would have an effect for her current situation.

Karla’s feet shook with undetermined terror, the pain prevented her to run in fear of reopening the would. She felt that her legs would give out, yet feared that if any of her movement was perceived as an act of rebellion she would be done. This being in front of her, emitted the strength of something alien, something that shouldn't exist.

Time stopped here, there is no telling of how much time has passed until she calmed down. The two stared at each other, Karla’s breath slowed as the resulting smoke cleared. The moonlight no longer shines.

“U-um.. Where did you come…” Thinking that a simple death would be more eventful and preferable to this current state of quo. Of awkwardness, and of not-doing-anything-other-than-staring-at-each-other. Karla gambled her luck on a greeting. Such was the word she chose.

Karla, noticing that the Undead Knight hadn’t moved. Her mind cycled to the memories of her encounter with strangers. She try to find words that fit to the current situation, of meeting an undocumented creatures, that seemed to be hostile. She settled for a simple greeting in the Old Common Language.

“My name is…” She noticed the Undead did not move as much, it was as if the Undead was waiting for her to speak a word that would conclude whatever is the question floating inside its head. Depending on the answer it arrives at, Karla might survive.

“Um, It is hard to speak like this.” Karla gazed at the Undead Knight, her hand pressing against the cold metal plate “I’ll need to make room for myself. Sorry, okay? This is not a hostile action”

Karla pushed the Undead Knight away, and it gave in fairly easily. Retracting his blade as if determining that Karla is no threat. Having finally a room to breathe, Karla let herself a loud intake. She closed her eyes and prepared herself to introduce herself.

“My name is Karla of Karenin…” Karla opened her eyes, and realised that the Undead Knight had walked away, and is now inspecting the room. The beating of her heart dulled her hearing so much so that she did not hear its heavy footsteps.

Having been brushed away twice, the first being considered that she is harmless, and now it has considered her name unworthy to listen to. Somehow this way of being ignored put a strain on her mental state, having not met anyone to talk to. Maybe she has unconsciously considered The Undead Knight as a conversational partner having a long heart to heart stare during the beginning.

Karla strode up to the Undead Knight, ignoring her broken leg, it seemed to have swollen up a little, and tapped it at its shoulder. The Undead Knight crouching to look underneath the bed, turned towards her.

“Listen to me,” Karla spoke, smiling. The Undead Knight stayed very still. “My name is Karla of Karenin” she assumed a pose, hindered by her broken leg she winced and propped herself using the wall. “The second daughter of Victor Karenin, third of five siblings.” She relied on her arms and hand to make theatrical movements as she introduced herself. “I hail from Helios, a land once hovered under the oppressive rule of Abilene, now basking under the fire of thousands of battlefields.” She smiled as she recited the grand line she had prepared for the native “Dear people of this land, I have been sent here by my grandfather to learn of the former Yuthresian kingdom. To widen my perspective of the world, and understand a completely different culture.” She stopped and gazed at the knight. It still seemed to be listening. Then she continued, wondering whether the creature even understood her words. Or even talked.

“Well, it seemed to be listening,” she whispered to herself. And continued “I’d like to ask many things. But first let me begin with a question of a normal kind. What is your name?” She asked.

The Knight nodded and pointed at its own mouth and shook its head. “Ah, can’t speak, huh.” That limited her question to a few facets. Karla awkwardly looked around. Her eyes locked at the Refuse’s corpse.

“Hey umm..” She began, “Was it truly necessary?” she asked the Knight. “They seemed pretty harmless.” The Knight stared at her, then gazed at her broken leg.

“No this was… an indirect consequences of my own flaw”

Then she thought back at the scene that flowed into her head. Was it the owner of this room? Or was the Refuse itself just something that retained the former self’s essence. Trying to regain and claw its former life back? Then Karla gazed at the Refuse’s corpse and her inaction “Maybe this one is also consequence”

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Karla then stared at the Undead Knight, now loitering around the room as if collecting something. Then it walked out towards the stair.

Karla stared at the Knight as it left. An enigmatic creature, she thought, she had many to write. Many new entries to the history of Yuthresia. Her mind is tired from all the events that has happened. She’s ready to sleep.

Yet nothing could distract her further than the Undead Knight. It nudged at her. If only it could speak, what kind of words would it say. Karla is determined to find out more about it.

So Karla pushed herself forward, leaning on the wall, dragged herself down the stairs. The Undead Knight sat beside her makeshift camp, gazing down every single item as if reading a wall of text, his hand made peculiar motions. Karla trudged forward, and arrived beside the undead knight. She sat, near it, and it turned to gaze at her before continuing his search.

“What are you looking for?” Karla spoke, not expecting any reply.

A sudden high-pitched voice pierced this ethereal atmosphere

“Finally found you!” a fairy flew from an open widow where layers of cloth flapped with the wind.

The little being stopped beside the Undead Knight “Goodness...” it breathed out with a small amount of relief. Then it went on a tirade “When your corpse burns alight my heart dropped. No matter how many times I went through it, I couldn’t help but feel panic. Could you be more considerate of the people you left?”

Karla sat still, a little bit shocked at the sudden appearance. Fiery red hair gradually turns greed near the end, it flowed down her shoulder before abruptly stopping at her hips. The Fairy is the size of a pinky finger. There is something amiss with her statement. Burn alight? As thought about it, something seemed to click. The Fairy continued her lecture for a while before she noticed Karla.

“Oh, and who are you supposed to be?” Her finger pointed at Karla, and her face beet red as if she was caught doing something private.

Karla stood at this, finally understanding the situation. She recalled her introduction toward the Undead Knight and the Fairy listens in deep thought.

“Ah, so that’s how it is outside.” She nodded “My name is Gretchen, one of the youngest fairy on this island, I manifested shortly after the fog appeared so I don’t know anything that could help you regarding the old culture of this land” Gretchen then shifted her view towards the Undead Knight and then turned back toward Karla “This here is Dantes, I found him during one of my excursion towards the inner layer” She smiled proudly “He was starving under the kingdom’s dungeon. I don’t know what he did before the fog happens that lend him credence to be imprisoned, but I was in a bind back then, I need something to prove to the elders that I am an able fairy and could be trusted with the explorer’s badge” Gretchen then flew close towards Karla and show her left hand, there is a crest there. “So I freed him and long story short, skipping how he rampaged and killed many fairies during my interview, he became mine”

Karla smiled in response “Ah so that’s how it is!” She pumped her fist, excited after finally having a conversation partner “I don’t know how grave the death of many fairy is but considering how you speak so cheerfully, I could only congratulate you for receiving the explorer’s badge!” Gretchen laughed merrily at this statement, her pose screaming ‘praise me more!’.

Then Dantes swatted his hand making Gretchen yelp. “What’s that for!?” Gretchen flew behind Karla for protection “Alright, fine! He didn’t became mine, they just forced his responsibilities towards me and begrudgingly gave me this crest so that I could wander carefreely and before I realize it somehow always giving me dangerous task that somehow located far from the village!” Gretchen glared “Happy now?” But before Gretchen could satisfy her anger, Dantes was already on his feet. Loitering around the room, as if he was looking for something.

Karla then redirected her face toward Gretchen “Is he always like this?” Gretchen then simmered down and replied Karla “Ah that, Dantes has some, I guess you could call it, weird abilities that allowed him to assess the situation clearly. I don’t know how it work, but this is what he always do upon seeing something new”

Abruptly, Dantes stopped. Curiously Karla dragged herself toward him. Dantes is crouched down as he looked inside Karla’s bag, there, in his hand is a picture of Karla’s father. Karla stopped shortly near him “Ah that…” Dantes then put the picture back and stood. Seemingly having enough look around, Gretchen then flew beside Dantes. “What did you find?” she talked to him, then nodded. “I see, she’s harmless then.” Gretchen then calmed down, and flew toward Karla.

“Karla, was it?” Karla nodded “You shouldn’t be here, I don’t know what your grandfather told you about this island but there is nothing here. Once in a while there is someone like you” Gretchen then sat on Dantes’s shoulder as he approached. “Some got lost in the fog, but many died. There is no happy ending here, this land is marinated by fog, I was born in it, and many would be.” Dantes stopped near her, his figure intimidating, looking down at Karla “This fog saps your soul until there is nothing left, there is no mystery here, just mindless ambitions. Even heroes who vanquished dragons and mighty beasts came here to squander their life. Ending an empty husk drained of dreams and romance” She smiled, her eyes far “Parties disbanded, saintess buried underground, all for the promise of some hidden meaning.” They towered upon Karla, her face buried in shadow.

She stayed very still, her hand calmly caressed her broken bones, then she pressed her finger against the open wound at her cheek. “So what?” she spoke, her voice quiet and calm. “I am not here for something like that. People lived here once, even in this house there are traces of dreams, the pictures on the wall, the grocery list, and even the unmade beds.” Karla smiled fearlessly “So what if there is no some grand mystery? So what if there are no hidden meaning? Understanding the people who once lived, is enough for me.” She spoke completely sure of her words. “Even if the culture here differed not much from us, that would be enough.”

Gretchen then nodded “So be it” Then she laughed “It is fine then, if you tag along with us. This culture you seemed not that interested in would be uncovered pretty easily when we reached my village, the elders there knows a whole lot about this land. Especially Flore” then she tapped Dantes’s helmet twice “And it would be safer this way”. Dantes walked away towards the fireplace, Karla quietly watched.

“Let’s just rest for tonight, we’ll embark tomorrow morning.”

Karla then relaxed her body that unconsciously tighten as Gretchen welcomed her. “Thank you” she muttered “Coincidentally” Karla spoke, slowly crawling towards the fireplace to speak with them both. “How did you both communicate?” her eyes sparkled with questions. “And where did he come from? I’m pretty sure the village is empty before I set this camp.”

Dantes stared at the fire, and Gretchen replied “Well, once you get to know him, he is easy to understand.” Gretchen laughed “And for the second question… I guess that could wait until next morning? But eh, I’m pretty sure you’ve seen his… I don’t know, he called it ‘sef’ point” She scratched her hair and looked around the house, and then pointed at one of the open door at the back of the house “It is in there”

Then it clicked, “Ah” Karla then realized that sometimes there is just something that she missed. A blind spot to her judgement. If she wasn’t engrossed with the encyclopedia she found she might have realized it. “The circular corpse…”

“That’s right” Gretchen smiled. Then pointed at one of the corners of the room “And that, is the refill. My Dantes is an immortal as long as there are corpses left, and in this land. There are many of them” Then Gretchen’s smile took a little twisted turn as she narrowed her eyes at Karla “And there is one in front of me”