“... Isabel… I can’t get up…” Mila’s chapped lips managed to push out almost a sentence. Her legs, still dangling outside from the hole she was in, were freezing.

Perhaps Mila should figure out a cuter way to refer to her girl. Calling Isabel by her name wasn’t as endearing as Mila wished.

A thought for another time. For now, Mila had to figure out why her legs were freezing and why was a cold wind blowing on her backside.

But it was warmer inside the hole. A barely noticeable gust of snugness tickled Mila’s tip of the nose. It felt like sunlight had been trapped here and barely peeked out from behind the cold, steel and stone walls.

Maybe it was so. The warmth had to go somewhere. It had vanished too suddenly and… Even the city had felt cold. Maybe the stray rays of the sun had been captured and brought down here.

A silly thought. “...Right, Isabel. It’s… a joke… Good one…” Mila forced a chuckle. It hurt her ribs and spleen and everything else. “...Don’t make many… Of those…” She tried to roll on her side but was stopped by the narrow passage’s walls. “...Do I…”

A terrible cacophony of noises suddenly deafened Mila. The distorted, ear-hurting blare continued for several moments before smothering out. Parts of the terrible noise reappeared from time to time, never failing to make her heart jump from the suddenness.

“...Tell them to stop…” Mila shivered. Her legs were freezing. “...Pull up the,” She was forgetting something. “-blanket…”

When nothing changed, and there was no answer, Mila was overcome by a sudden sense of loneliness. She licked her chattering teeth and focused her eyes.

The haunting howls of wind interweaved with choirs of angels singing. A cracking sound reminded Mila of the thin eggshell around the hall. It was continuing to disintegrate.

But at least… At least Mila didn’t have to avoid looking at the sky. The little hole she was in covered her sight and shielded her from seeing too much.

“...Lukcy… us…” Mila’s words ended up being a half-question. With some clarity returning, a sense of crushing sadness and emptiness threw her mind into disarray.

“Ah…”

Mila’s fingers twitched. She blinked away tears. A sad sob still broke out of her chest. She felt so empty. Everything hurt. She was alone. Her stomach was churning and turning. She was sick. Isabel wasn’t here… She wasn’t here. Mila was alone.

The memories of Mila’s time on Earth flooded back.

The cold, sterile rooms - smelling of medicine and sickness. The polite smiles of doctors and nurses as they encouraged her to eat, but they never lingered. They left as soon as they judged their obligation to be fulfilled.

The struggle to remember anyone's face after a longer dream. The times when Mila had looked at her parents' faces, trying to etch their likeness in her memory and failing.

The long hours watching the dark ceiling as the night slowly ticked away. The pain Mila went through from her body failing to operate properly. The bruises and hurt from falling and flailing.

The jeers of her once friends as they distanced themselves from the strange, sickly girl. Mila didn’t remember any of them now - just their cruel remarks when they thought she couldn’t hear and insincere words wishing for her recovery.

And Mila’s room… It had felt just as barren as this hole. Not that it was, but nothing in that room meant anything to her.

While looking at the hole's upper side, Mila tried to recall what was in her room. There was… A television. She recalled there being a few posters from before she started dreaming. Mila was sure there were also pictures of her family and younger self. Some books, too.

Nothing that brought Mila happiness. She had felt like a stranger in her room, more familiar with the spotless hospital rooms.

Then, Mila tried to recall the last words she had exchanged with her parents. What had they told her? What had she answered? It hadn’t been that long since then.

Mila hadn’t thought about them for a long time. A few times in the beginning, right after she had been summoned. Then, a couple more times when Isabel had tried asking.

It had been just a few months, but… Mila couldn’t recall. She had lost the bond with her family years ago. It was… Regretful. She would have liked to introduce Isabel to them. To show that she was happy now.

Despite everything, Mila knew her parents had tried. Tried for years, and it was mostly her fault that they had stopped.

No…

Not mostly. It was Mila’s fault.

“I know…” A broken voice, so similar to Mila’s, but feeble and with no drive. “... I know…” Mila repeated. “...Thank you…” She forced herself to roll back on her stomach and turn her eyes towards the fortress's interior.

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The damnable ghost was right. Mila had to move. At least the moment of unplanned and uncalled rest had sobered up her somewhat. Or maybe it had been the melancholy that had done that. Perhaps the sadness and yearning for Isabel’s touch…

Or maybe…

“... I… am going…”

Or maybe it was the incessant droning of the soul parasite who kept throwing his emotions at Mila. She was thankful, but it tired her out.

And then, Mila crawled. Tried to, anyway. What she did was more similar to wiggling forward. But it worked. And no one was here to see the pathetic display.

It didn’t take long for Mila to get through the hole. She stuck her head out of the tight passage and looked around.

The warm air tickled her nose again, making Mila want to sneeze. She licked her dry lips and stretched her frozen fingers, seemingly trying to grab the comfort the shelter brought.

No one was here. Mila glanced around again. She was looking at an empty corridor stretching to both sides.

Furthermore - Mila’s senses were pointless inside. Outside, she still could find the more terrifying mana signatures, but here? Nothing.

For Mila’s spiritual senses, the air around her was a thick soup of mana. She would have to rely on her eyes and ears from now on. She had expected it but was very unhappy about it.

In a hurry, or as much of a hurry as her broken and battered body allowed, Mila dragged her body into the corridor. She failed to cushion the fall to the ground and landed painfully on her shoulder.

The thud seemed to travel far into the corridor, but in reality, it was eaten up by the smothering silence that held all sound under its heavy grasp.

Mila doubted this place would stay empty for long. It was almost guaranteed there would be patrols coming. At least she didn’t have to worry about alarm spells.

Those wouldn’t work in these conditions. Too much interference to establish anything permanent. The ritual was too oppressive, not allowing much of anything magical to exist so close to its heart. Or, the second heart, Mila noted to herself.

The shining ball of energy was still above their heads. Mila could feel it resonate with what was down here. Which, hopefully, was a way to alter the mad grand spell these people had cobbled together.

More importantly… Still on the ground, Mila looked at her palms. Red lines now covered them, some of them even bleeding. She had not managed to climb up here without injuries. But her fingers moved. She fished out her dagger from beneath her bloody cloak and tried to get up.

Most importantly... Mila felt her hiding spell flounder and vane. It didn’t fail completely. But just like a candle flame in the wind, it flickered.

The building trembled, and Mila’s tenuous balance was disturbed, making her fall again. She gritted her teeth and slowly got up again.

Voices were closing in on her. Barely discernible trembles in the air. They would have been completely unnoticeable to Mila if not for the old ghost’s help.

But… There was nowhere to hide, so Mila could only stumble away from those voices, hoping they would find something else interesting before reaching her.

Mila paused. After taking just a couple steps, she found another person sneaking ahead of her. Another infiltrator. She hesitated before decisively and without sound, sliding closer to the person. She entertained the idea of trying to talk to him. Perhaps they could team up, but…

There were too many doubts in Mila’s mind. She was too weakened and didn’t trust this person. It was better for him to serve as an obstacle for the voices quickly gaining on them both from behind.

It was understandable that this person hadn’t noticed the danger. The few glances back the man had taken had failed to notice Mila, who was sticking close to the wall and running her presence hiding spell at full throttle.

And with just those glances, the man couldn’t pierce the sound-dampening spell. He was… doomed.

Mila reached the man shortly before the voices arrived. She stuck close to the man’s back and finally got a reading of how formidable he was.

The conclusion - not enough for her to worry. Mila waited until the very last moment, and right before the guardians of this place found them, she tripped the man, making him fall and dugg her dagger into his tight.

To his credit, the other infiltrator didn’t and almost made Mila crash into the ground herself. He landed against the wall and raised his two daggers in the air, prepared to fight.

But Mila didn’t engage him. She knew the man had been spotted by the guards. Mila had no interest in staying. She had done enough to make sure he couldn’t run. Mila only hoped he would buy her enough time to hide.

Struggling to breathe and move her limbs, Mila shuffled forward. She spared a moment to look back. The man had started to fight, and then, she had reached a corner.

Mila sent one last look at the soon-to-be-dead man and left. She let her hand brush against the wall as she walked. For support and to make sure Mila didn’t miss gaps. Her dry skin burnt against the coarse stone surface, but she didn’t stop.

There were more holes in the walls, cracks too. Mila made sure to not look through them, fearing the dust clouds could have cleared up, leaving the view towards the spreading nothingness around the hall unobstructed.

Mila didn’t want to know what could be lurking there. If her suspicions were correct… She stopped herself. It wasn’t wise to think about ‘It’. Not when the boundaries around the area were falling apart.

Even this stray thought was too dangerous. Mila needed a new train of thought as fast as possible, and she had just the topic in mind.

While distracting herself with thoughts of Isabel’s scent, Mila reached a ladder leading up and down. There was a warning from her unwanted partner.

Unfortunately, climbing up was out of the question. Mila could not muster enough strength. Her fingers couldn’t properly grasp the ladder, and her legs were too unsteady. So, instead, with the grace of a falling rock, she tumbled a level lower.

Luckily, this level was empty, too. Mila held her breath, weathering the painful fall without a sound coming out of her mouth. She watched two shadows step over the hole leading down and head somewhere else.

Mila allowed a small sigh of relief. She had survived. And nothing was broken. Just… More bruised. She winced and swallowed a groan while using the ladder to prop herself up.

There was another nudge from her inner companion. Mila looked down. It appeared there were several deeper levels hidden beneath this fortress. She would have to climb down. Hopefully, without falling, this time.