The footsteps stopped.
Ren stood in the narrow passage, staring at the open doorway ahead. Roses covered the walls on both sides, their dark petals brushing against the stone.
Kazuki moved closer.
"Don't go in yet."
Ren looked at him. "Why?"
"Because everything we've found tonight has been a trap."
Ren glanced at the key in his hand.
"Maybe. But this is the first real lead we've had about my father."
Kazuki didn't answer.
Ren stepped forward.
The moment he crossed the doorway, the temperature dropped.
The passage behind them disappeared.
Ren spun around.
The stone wall was completely solid.
"Kazuki."
"I know."
He placed his hand against the wall and searched for an opening.
Nothing.
Ren looked ahead.
A long corridor stretched into darkness.
At the far end stood a single chair.
Someone was sitting in it.
Ren's breath caught.
"Father?"
The figure slowly lifted its head.
Ren took a step forward.
But Kazuki grabbed his shoulder.
"Wait."
The figure stood.
It was a man.
Tall.
Dark-haired.
His face was hidden by the shadows.
Ren stared at him, desperately trying to recognize him.
"Who are you?"
The man didn't answer.
Instead, he pointed toward the wall beside Ren.
Ren turned.
Words were appearing across the stone.
YOU WERE NEVER THE ONE THEY WERE HIDING.
Ren's expression changed.
"What does that mean?"
Another sentence appeared beneath it.
YOU WERE THE ONE THEY WERE WAITING FOR.
The man at the end of the corridor suddenly disappeared.
Ren ran toward the chair.
There was no one there.
Only an old photograph.
He picked it up.
His hands began to tremble.
The photograph showed three people standing in front of the same rose-covered doorway.
One was his father.
The second was the stranger from the chamber.
And the third—
Ren froze.
It was Kazuki.
But Kazuki looked much younger.
Ren slowly turned around.
"Kazuki."
Kazuki had gone completely still.
"You were here."
Kazuki looked at the photograph.
His face revealed everything.
"You knew about this place."
"I knew part of it."
"You lied to me."
"I was trying to protect you."
"From what?"
Kazuki looked toward the corridor.
"From the truth."
Ren held the photograph tightly.
"What truth?"
Before Kazuki could answer, a loud crack echoed through the passage.
The rose-covered walls began to split.
A cold wind rushed through the corridor.
Then the same voice they had heard before whispered from somewhere behind them.
"Ren…"
Ren turned.
Nothing was there.
The voice came again.
"Your father is waiting."
Ren's eyes widened.
Kazuki stepped forward.
"Don't listen."
But Ren was already looking toward the darkness ahead.
For the first time, he wasn't afraid of what he might find.
He was afraid that his father might actually be there.
Ren started walking.
Kazuki followed silently.
Behind them, the photograph slipped from Ren's hand.
It landed face-up on the stone floor.
And beneath the three figures in the photograph, another person slowly appeared.
A figure who hadn't been there before.