Renea stared at the staircase.

God help her, she did not want to go in there. It would be an indefensibly reckless thing to do, if she were being perfectly rational. Not that it mattered. Her irrational sense of terror was in total agreement with her higher reasoning anyway.

Only her nightmares pulled her forward.

One foot in front of the other, at a steady pace. If she just kept moving her feet, she wouldn’t have to consider what she was doing. She could disassociate, even as the stairs kept going down, and suddenly transitioned into a tunnel.

She prayed—out loud, even though staying as silent as possible would’ve been most prudent. And when her teeth started chattering uncontrollably, she let the clatter drive her prayers, whispering them with desperate speed to sublimate the intensity of her fright.

Renea squeezed Ailn’s sword close, crouching down just a bit when the tunnel’s ceiling drooped.

At least this time there was light. It wasn’t long ago she was in another dark tunnel, terribly afraid and trying to save her brother. She even started having nightmares—running through that hidden passage again, trying to get through the narrow squeeze, crashing her lantern upon the wall—then lamely, huddling up in the dark while she realized her brother was slowly dying.

Renea didn’t realize it, but the experience had made her intensely claustrophobic. Moving through a tunnel into the unknown was a terrifying enough experience by itself, and bizarrely kept her from discerning her own phobia.

Steadily as she was going, the trek through the dark seemed to go on forever. When the silliest part of her brain was starting to wonder if she’d entered some kind of eldritch, liminal dimension—perhaps she was stuck in an ironic hell, creatively manifested by her sins, she thought—Renea came upon a fork.

She stared at the branching path in shock.

“Are you kidding me?!” Renea whispered furiously. She stamped a foot down over and over in a rage, having no idea what else to do with her nervous energy. The anxiety was crawling all over her body right now, and the sensation was the worst in her feet.

Then, she felt something like a cool breeze across the back of her neck—and she heard a voice coming from the right path of the fork.

It sounded like Ailn…

The real Ailn.

----------------------------------------

Ailn thought he was going to have a heart attack. He hadn’t been mentally prepared for that kind of jumpscare. The girl’s scream had come in strong, echoing off the wall, and…

It looked like he wasn’t the only one who’d heard it. The sounds of digging had stopped, and everyone in the staging chamber looked terrified for a moment.

Making a quick calculation, Ailn started sprinting back the way he came.

“Who’s there?!” the woman screamed after him, having heard him run away.

Given how cautious the girl’s scream had made them, Ailn probably could’ve quietly retreated without them ever approaching. But he had to check out what the scream was, anyway. Taking advantage of the criminals’ shock and hesitance to outpace them was a relatively safe option that let him get to the girl as fast as possible, too.

Hopefully she was alright.

No, more importantly, hopefully he hadn’t been pincered by the criminals. Before he could do anything for her, he had to guarantee his own safety first. Already at what he thought was a sprint, he somehow managed to quicken his pace.

This was a strong body. Were people in this world just stronger in general? He had the vague sense he was fit in his last life—it hadn’t been anything like this. Ailn had noticed it before, but he never had a moment where he actually had to rely on his higher physical prowess.

At any rate, now that he needed it, he greatly appreciated it.

Even with the low ceiling, he was getting through the tunnel fast. He could probably make it back to the entrance in a fifth of the time he’d spent making his initial cautious descent.

The fork was up ahead. And right as Ailn was about to turn back onto the path to head home, he heard a shouting voice coming from the rightward path he hadn’t taken.

That wasn’t so strange. But he thought he must be going crazy, because he definitely recognized the voice he was hearing.

Yet it made so little sense that she’d be here, that Ailn genuinely believed a supernatural explanation was more likely. After all, there was plenty that was fantastical about this world, so a creature that mimicked a loved one’s voice didn’t seem so absurd.

Completely perplexed as to what was actually going on, the logical part of Ailn’s brain said to just take the path back and get out of here. He had no idea what was down the rightward path, and he could easily get boxed in here by the criminals—say nothing of a shadowy monster screaming in Renea’s voice to lure him in.

There was no way she’d be here, right? She wasn’t even getting out of bed.

Ailn sprinted in the direction of the voice.

“Argh! Why am I such a moron?” he asked himself.

Sorry, young god. He was probably about to run headfirst into a mimic’s mouth. Next time, find someone who isn’t a complete sucker.

“Get away from me!” Renea’s voice shouted. “I-I-I’ve got a s-sword!”

Why would she? It was so strange, Ailn started to think it must really be her. And before long, the tunnel opened up into a wide open space.

An extremely open space—filled with skulls.

As wide as a football field, extending as far into the darkness as he could see—with the pseudo-LEDs placed at regular intervals—and with paths branching out from it all the way down, Ailn realized that he was in Varant’s catacombs.

So was Renea, apparently. If it wasn’t her, then not only was it mimicking her voice, it also imitated her appearance and favorite fur cloak.

Also, his sword.

“I-I said I have a sword!” she shouted again. The sword was still sheathed. And the way she hugged it against herself with shaking hands, it didn’t seem like she’d be all too fast in pulling it out.

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Ailn hovered behind her for a moment wondering if there was any way he could possibly not terrify her. But, if there was such an option, he was a moment too late—because she sensed his eyes on her back, and cricked her head around with torturous expectation.

“...Don’t pani—” Ailn started, with a very gentle tone.

Renea screamed, and Ailn sighed, because he could hear shouts coming from pursuers.

“They went into the catacombs!” a man’s voice yelled out.

“Hic!” Renea hiccuped realizing what she’d just done. Apparently she’d gotten her bearings fast enough to realize who Ailn was.

Ailn didn’t bother wasting any time explaining. Grabbing the sword from her and looping it onto his belt in a second flat, he grabbed her now free hand and started dragging her along with a simple ‘we need to go.’

But Renea tried to resist.

“N-no! Stop!”

“...Renea! It’s me!”

“I know it’s you! We can’t g-go there!”

“What?” Ailn looked into the dark. She had been screaming at something before he came. “Renea, it’s just catacombs!”

“I know what catacombs are!” Renea shrieked. “T-there’s some kind of monst—”

The moment Ailn realized she was going to say ‘monster,’ he just grabbed her in a scoop carry and started running. He really was grateful at how strong this body was. She was slowing him down with her flailing, but he was keeping a good pace.

“Renea, we are going to get killed by people if you don’t stop,” Ailn hissed.

“T-t-then turn the corner here! Don’t go into the deep part!” Renea wailed, hanging limp and tacitly acceding.

“Then run!” Ailn unceremoniously dropped her, out of frustration. She fell face first, squealing when her nose smacked right into a femur that was sticking slightly out of the floor.

Oops.

“You…!” Renea, both hands grasping her nose, gaped at him for a moment, before training in on him with a teary glare. “You’re such a jerk!”

“We don’t—” Ailn started hacking. He’d taken a big, wheezing gulp of air once his exertion caught up to him, and he realized that, fit as this body was, he’d still be hampered by the fact he always filled his lungs with smoke.

“We don’t have time for this,” Ailn said. This time he said it nicely, while he helped her up. “Yell at me later, okay?”

“Hey! I see them! They turned down the cathedral path!” One of their pursuers shouted after them. It was the tall guy. A second later, six or seven others showed up behind him—all the lackeys that had been at Ceric’s place, the woman, and Geoff plus the stone mason—all of them armed with clubs.

“Move!” Ailn once again grabbed Renea by the wrist, trying to will the girl into a personal record sprint.

“I am!”

For what it was worth, Renea was not out of shape. But Ailn was particularly in shape, and had vastly longer legs.

They were going at a good pace, but not one that could evade their pursuers by speed alone.

The two of them ducked into the tunnel which, unfortunately, only went on a straight path, which meant there was no way to lose their pursuers by hiding in an obscure path, either.

But actually, Ailn realized, the lack of options was possibly their saving grace. He remembered what the tall guy had been yelling earlier.

‘They turned down the cathedral path!’

He thought back to the now deciphered message that had been left as a dead drop in the alley.

‘Noon, church,’

“We’re gonna die here!” Renea moaned. “Why were you trying to fight crime?!”

“What?! What the hell ar—forget it. Just run! We’re close to an exit!” Ailn cried.

Too exhausted to bother prodding Ailn for how he knew, Renea just nodded and trusted her brother. Breathlessly the two of them kept down the tunnel, noticing it was starting to ascend. With hammering hearts suddenly filled with hope, they got a second wind, their pace increasing, their certainty in their own survival rising with the slope.

Except the tunnel walls suddenly lost their lighting.

They were scrambling through the dark, barely able to see just ahead of themselves. And their pace slowed down to the point they could hear the criminals getting closer.

Startlingly, the tunnel opened up into a wider room—still completely unlit. Ailn fumbled around, desperately hoping they hadn’t reached a dead end.

“Where the hell is this…?” Ailn whispered to himself. The cathedral basement maybe?

“T-they’re almost here, Ani,” Renea said helplessly, tugging at Ailn’s sleeve. She knocked over some kind of ceramic or glassware that noisily broke into pieces. “Eep!”

This wasn’t helping him. And Ani? Nevermind, that wasn’t important. Ailn’s eyes finally adjusted to the dark, and he saw a narrow staircase at the very corner of the room.

“We’re out of here!” Ailn yelled. They rushed up the stairs and while Ailn couldn’t see any light he could hear voices. Relief started to wash over his body, as he pressed against the door.

But he relaxed too soon.

“What the hell… it’s locked? Hey! I heard voices! Open the door!” Ailn started knocking as loud as he could against the stone.

“Please open the door!” Renea pleaded.

----------------------------------------

Ciecout turned completely pale. So frightened by the voices coming from the sarcophagus was he, that he started to look like a corpse himself. He started sputtering.

“W-what in God’s name?!” Ciecout cried out.

Kylian wasn’t doing much better. His mind completely halted at how nonsensical it was. Even though he’d recently experienced something so unbelievable as Ailn’s seeming resurrection, nothing prepared him for hearing voices from a sarcophagus.

Two voices, actually.

Without realizing it, he’d instinctively drawn his sword.

“You’re not thinking of opening the sarcophagus are you?!” Ciecout gasped, horrified. “These are demons that mimic human voice! Are you daft or insane?!”

Kylian actually wasn’t sure whether he’d drawn his sword in defense, or out of a desire to save two individuals he greatly cherished.

The girl’s voice on the other side which had been pleading for safe harbor suddenly stopped, before coming back in a rage.

“Demon? Who just called me a demon?!”

“Renea, not now! Just open up the door, someone’s trying to kill us!”

“In a sarcophagus?” Kylian muttered to himself incredulously.

“Sir Kylian! Do not! Do not open the sarcophagus!” Ciecout begged him.

“Kylian?” Ailn’s muffled voice came out. “What the hell are you doing here?”

That was such an absurd question to hear from a sarcophagus.

“Those are certainly the voices of Ailn and Lady Renea,” Kylian said in frustration, and indecision. “If it’s truly them—”

“How? How, Sir Kylian? How would they be in there?!” Ciecout’s hands slid miserably down his face, his voice cracking in vexation and disbelief. “Why would both His Grace Ailn, and Her Grace the Saintess be here, in that sarcophagus, at this time of night?!”

“Sir Kylian, please open the—!” Renea’s voice started to plead.

Ciecout smacked his hand against the sarcophagus in frustration. It likely hurt, but he didn’t seem to care.

“If it were the Saintess she’d smash it open herself with holy aura, you simpleton!” Ciecout yelled.

Renea’s voice in the sarcophagus once again went silent. This time, however, she stayed silent.

“Renea, do you really need to take it so personally?” Ailn consoled his sister.

“You see?!” Ciecout cried.

It was, in fact, enough to convince Kylian. And summoning up his holy aura, he yelled at Ailn and Renea to ‘stand back!’ as he slashed at the sarcophagus with repeated blows.

“You fool! My God, you utter fool!” Ciecout held his head in his hands. “After an entire afternoon of being an insufferable skeptic!”

Ciecout was bemoaning his upcoming supernatural demise. All the while, Ailn and Renea were begging Kylian to save them from a very human demise.

“Kylian, I’m not trying to rush you but I can hear them about twenty feet away!” Ailn yelled.

Mustering one more powerful blow, Kylian finally slashed completely across the front of the sarcophagus, the top half of its cover sliding off and crumbling upon the ground. A second slash destroyed what remained of it, and momentarily Ailn and Renea came clamoring out.

But Kylian couldn’t help but draw his sword on them nervously.

“You two… are not demons, are you?” Kylian asked cautiously.

Both of them gaped at him, though with very different inflections.

“Why would you let us in if you thought we were?” Ailn asked, flabbergasted.

“Why would you ask something like that…?” Renea muttered, sadly and angrily, tears welling up in her eyes.

Kylian let his sword drop. This was definitely them.