The figure stepped into the red glow.
Ren's hand tightened around the lantern.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
The stranger wore a long, dark coat covered in dust. His face was older than Ren expected, but there was something strangely familiar about him.
Ren lowered the lantern slightly.
"I know you."
The man's expression didn't change.
"No," he said. "You remember me."
Ren frowned.
"That doesn't make sense."
"It will."
Kazuki moved between them.
"Stay away from him."
The stranger looked at Kazuki.
"You still protect him."
Kazuki's eyes narrowed.
"You know who I am?"
"I know exactly who you are."
The stranger's gaze returned to Ren.
"You were never supposed to find this place."
Ren glanced at the glowing rose beneath the glass dome.
"Then why leave the key for me?"
The man smiled faintly.
"Because some doors can only be opened by the person they were built for."
Ren looked down at his palm.
The rose-shaped mark had returned.
"What is this?"
The stranger didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he walked toward the pedestal.
Kazuki blocked his path.
"Don't."
The stranger stopped.
"You should ask him what your family did."
Ren looked at Kazuki.
"What does he mean?"
Kazuki remained silent.
The stranger continued.
"Your family didn't simply hide the underground chambers. They sealed them."
Ren's eyes narrowed.
"Why?"
"Because they were afraid of what was beneath them."
He pointed toward the rose.
"And what was beneath them was afraid of you."
The room fell silent.
Ren looked at the rose.
The red glow had disappeared.
"That's impossible."
"Is it?"
The stranger reached into his coat and removed a small piece of black paper.
He held it toward Ren.
Ren hesitated before taking it.
There was a name written across it.
His father's.
Below it was another name.
Ren's.
And beneath both names was a date.
Ren's expression changed.
"That date…"
Kazuki stepped closer.
"What is it?"
Ren stared at the paper.
"It was the night my father disappeared."
The stranger nodded.
"He didn't disappear."
Ren looked up sharply.
"Then where is he?"
The stranger pointed toward the darkness behind the pedestal.
"He went through the second door."
Ren's heartbeat quickened.
"There are two doors?"
"There are many."
The stranger turned toward the far wall.
A hidden section of stone slowly began to open.
Beyond it was another passage.
But unlike the others, this one was covered in red roses.
Ren took a step forward.
Kazuki caught his arm.
"Think carefully."
Ren looked at him.
"I've spent years thinking about what happened to my father."
He looked toward the passage.
"Now I finally have an answer."
The stranger stepped aside.
"Then follow the roses."
Ren entered the passage.
Kazuki followed.
Behind them, the stranger remained in the chamber.
Just before the hidden door closed, Ren heard him speak.
"Be careful, Ren."
Ren turned.
The stranger was standing beneath the fading red light.
"The second door doesn't show you the past."
The door began to close.
"It shows you what is coming."
The stone sealed shut.
Ren and Kazuki stood alone in the rose-covered passage.
Then, somewhere ahead, a door slowly opened.
And from the darkness beyond it came the sound of footsteps.