The darkness swallowed them.
Leo could no longer tell which way was up or down. The moment he and Kieran had been pulled through the opening beneath the lake, the familiar sensation of water had disappeared. There was no longer any current surrounding his body, yet some unseen force continued dragging them forward through the darkness. He tried to resist, but his body barely responded.
Beside him, Kieran was being carried along as well. Leo could only make out his figure through the darkness, but judging by the way Kieran struggled, he was having just as much trouble fighting against whatever was pulling them. Leo reached out and managed to grab Kieran's arm, and Kieran immediately caught hold of him. Neither of them knew where they were going, but at least they weren't being separated.
Then Leo noticed something ahead.
A faint light.
At first, he thought it might have been his imagination. The glow was so distant and faint that it barely seemed real, but as he continued staring, it gradually became brighter. The light grew larger until Leo could finally make out an opening ahead of them.
It wasn't the same opening they had entered. This one was surrounded by a pale glow, almost as if something beyond it was shining through.
Leo tried to slow himself down, but the force carrying them forward immediately became stronger. Kieran was struggling too. He kicked against the darkness, trying to push himself backward, but his efforts did almost nothing. The closer they came to the opening, the stronger the pull became.
Leo tightened his grip around Kieran's arm.
Kieran looked toward him.
Their eyes met, but neither of them spoke. There was nothing they could say.
The force suddenly intensified, dragging Leo's body forward. Kieran was pulled along with him, and before either could react, the light swallowed them.
For a brief moment, Leo felt as though his entire body had been torn apart.
Then everything disappeared.
The darkness, the pressure, the strange force, even the feeling of his own body. Everything became silent.
And then—
Leo opened his eyes.
The first thing he saw was the sky. He stared upward, confused. There was no water above him, no stone ceiling, and no darkness. Instead, an endless night stretched across the heavens, filled with countless stars. A gentle breeze passed through the grass around him, carrying the scent of earth and something faintly floral.
Leo slowly pushed himself upright and looked around. A quiet body of water stretched across the nearby field, its surface reflecting the stars above. Everything around him was peaceful.
Too peaceful.
His eyes moved across the area, searching for something familiar.
"Kieran?"
His voice carried across the field, but there was no answer. He turned around, searching for any sign of Kieran, yet there was nothing. Only grass, trees, and the quiet water.
Then he noticed someone sitting near the edge of the lake.
A small figure.
Leo's attention immediately shifted toward him. It was a young wolf, sitting alone beside the water with his knees drawn close to his chest as he stared up at the moon.
Leo watched him from a distance. There was something strangely familiar about the boy, something he couldn't quite place. Then his eyes settled on the boy's face, and the memories of the wolf statue, the stories, and the carvings came together.
Leo's expression slowly changed.
"Mobius...?"
The boy didn't react.
He couldn't see Leo.
For a while, the young wolf simply stared at the moon. His eyes were already red, and tear marks ran down his cheeks. He wiped them away with the back of his hand, but another tear immediately replaced them.
"No one believes me."
His voice trembled as he rubbed his eyes.
"They keep saying I'm imagining you."
The boy looked up again, struggling to hold back his tears.
"But I know you're real. I know you follow me. I know you watch over me."
More tears rolled down his face.
"I know you're my friend."
He glanced toward the small home behind him before turning his attention back to the moon.
"But they don't believe me. They won't believe me unless they see you."
His lower lip trembled as his eyes filled with tears again.
"So please..."
He raised his hands toward the moon.
"Come down."
Nothing happened. The moon remained high above him.
The boy waited, but when nothing changed, his expression slowly fell.
"Please."
His voice became quieter.
"Just come to me once."
His eyes filled with tears again.
"I'll take you to them. I'll show them that you're my friend."
He sniffed and wiped his face, but the tears wouldn't stop.
"You're the only one who listens to me."
His voice broke completely.
"So please... come."
The boy lowered his head and began crying harder. Tears ran down his cheeks and dropped into his hands as he instinctively cupped them together. He didn't even seem to notice how much water was gathering there. He simply kept crying, kept asking, and kept hoping.
"Please come..."
His small shoulders trembled.
"Please..."
The tears continued filling his cupped hands until something caught his attention. The boy slowly lifted his head, and his crying stopped. His eyes widened as he noticed something shining in his palms.
The moon.
Its reflection was perfectly visible in the tears that had gathered in his hands.
The boy stared at it in complete disbelief. For a moment, he didn't move. Then his tear-filled eyes widened with wonder, and a small smile appeared on his face.
"You came..."
He laughed through his tears.
"You really came."
He carefully held his hands closer to himself, terrified that the little moon might disappear.
Leo stood several steps away, staring at the scene. He could see what had actually happened. The moon hadn't come down. It was only a reflection.
But the child didn't know that.
To him, after all those tears, all those pleas, and all that desperate begging, the moon had finally answered. His friend had come to him.
The boy suddenly jumped to his feet and ran toward the small home nearby. Leo followed after him, though the boy never seemed to notice his presence.
The wolf child rushed inside.
"Mother!"
His voice was filled with excitement.
Leo stepped closer to the doorway. Inside, a wolf woman lay weakly on a bed. Her body looked frail, and even lifting her head seemed to take effort. She turned toward the boy when she heard him enter.
The child hurried toward her and excitedly opened his cupped hands.
But there was nothing there.
The tears had already disappeared.
The boy didn't seem bothered by it. He simply looked at his mother with excitement.
"Moon came to me."
His mother stared at him for a moment before a weak, sad smile appeared on her face.
"Those gods will never answer to us, little wolf."
The boy stared at her, clearly unable to understand. Leo watched him closely as the child looked down at his empty hands before turning his gaze toward the window.
The moon was still visible outside.
From the way the boy looked at it, Leo could tell that his mother's words hadn't changed his mind. Whatever he had seen in his palm had been enough for him.
He continued believing.
The moon was watching him.
The scene suddenly changed.
Leo blinked, and the small home disappeared. The peaceful night vanished along with it. The young wolf was gone, replaced by a grown Mobius.
Leo's expression changed as he looked around.
A battlefield stretched before him. Bodies covered the ground, and blood stained the earth. Smoke drifted through the air while distant cries echoed across the ruined battlefield.
Mobius stood among the dead.
Then his legs gave out, and he dropped to his knees. Leo watched as Mobius looked toward the sky, his face filled with exhaustion and desperation.
"I prayed. I called for you every day."
Leo remained silent.
Mobius clenched his fists against the bloodstained ground.
"But why? Why don't you ever answer?"
He looked around at the bodies scattered across the battlefield.
"My people are dying."
His voice trembled.
"Please show them mercy. Please save my people."
Leo stared at him. The child he had seen moments earlier had become this man. The same person who had once looked at the moon with wonder was now on his knees, begging the sky for an answer.
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then the night above the battlefield began to shine.
Leo slowly raised his head as a strange light appeared in the sky. It grew brighter and brighter until he could finally see what was floating above them.
His entire body froze.
A gigantic eyeball hung in the air, with strange, tentacle-like appendages extending around it. They moved slowly through the darkness as the enormous eye seemed to fill the sky itself.
Leo stared upward.
He couldn't move. He had never seen anything like it.
Mobius slowly raised his head, and his expression changed.
"You finally came."
The moment those words left his mouth, something struck Leo.
A sound.
No—
Not a sound.
A vibration.
It tore through the battlefield.
Leo's knees immediately buckled, and he dropped to the ground, clutching both sides of his head as pain exploded through his skull. His vision blurred. The vibration seemed to pass through his entire body, shaking his bones from within.
Leo opened his mouth and screamed.
"Ahhh!"
He pressed his hands harder against his ears, but it did nothing. The vibration continued, making his eyes burn as blood began flowing from his ears. He tried to move away, but his body wouldn't respond properly. The pressure became unbearable.
Then, suddenly, it stopped.
Leo collapsed forward, gasping for breath. For several seconds, he couldn't move. His entire body trembled as he struggled to recover.
Slowly, he lifted his head.
His eyes widened.
The enormous eye was looking directly at him.
Leo's breath caught.
It wasn't looking at Mobius.
It was looking at him.
His body froze. He couldn't move or breathe. The eye remained fixed on him as blood slowly trickled from his ears.
Then something warm ran down his face.
His vision blurred.
His eyes were bleeding.
Leo desperately tried to look away, but he couldn't. The pressure inside his head became unbearable, and his skull felt as though it were being crushed from the inside.
His vision turned completely red.
And then—
Everything went black.
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