Yui's breathing was shaky, the cold air cutting into her skin like needles. The palace seemed darker now, and the air carried the smell of rot and iron. She followed Ayumi down a warped hall, eyes flickering with every groan of the walls. That's when they heard it—footsteps.
Yui and Ayumi froze. A moment later, two familiar silhouettes emerged from the shadows. Daichi and Kaito.
"Yui? Ayumi?" Daichi called out, stunned. "You're both here too?"
Yui rushed forward. "You're alive!" she gasped, almost choking on her relief.
Kaito looked pale, shaken, but stable. "We've been trying to figure out what happened. After the…quake… we fell through."
Daichi's expression turned grim. "It was worse this time. Way worse. I don't know what happened aboveground, but the boundary between the living world and the Limbo—" he paused, eyes serious, "—it's collapsing. Faster than we thought."
Kaito nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. "Spirits are leaking through. We saw one attack a building. There's no structure left in the city above. It's not just energy bleeding through. The worlds are merging."
Yui felt her stomach twist. "My family—"
Ayumi gently grabbed her wrist. "Yui…"
Yui didn't press further. She knew Ayumi didn't have the answer. No one did.
Daichi glanced around warily. "We need to find the others. Haru, Haruka, and Airi could've fallen through too. If they're in here, they won't last long alone."
Yui straightened. "Then let's go. We're stronger together."
They took off as a group, navigating the broken halls and floating fragments of Limbo's crumbling dimension. The palace twisted into a spire of spiraling floors and shifting rooms. Eventually, after what felt like an eternity of running and dodging spirits, they found the others — huddled in a ruined chamber.
Haruka's hair was disheveled, her cheek bruised, and Airi's once-pristine outfit was stained with blood on the sleeve. Haru stood between them protectively, holding off a spirit that had nearly cornered them before the group arrived.
"Airi!" Ayumi called out, running to her.
Airi looked stunned, "Ayumi?! You're okay?"
"We all are," Yui said, catching her breath. "For now."
Haru turned toward them, his expression unreadable. "Tch. Took you long enough."
Daichi quickly explained everything — the worsening quakes, the merging of dimensions, the rise in spirit activity. Kaito added how Limbo's infection was becoming visible to regular humans. Cities collapsing. Children vanishing. Animals acting strange. Death spreading faster.
"We're running out of time," Kaito finished quietly.
"We need to stick together," Daichi said, "No more splitting up."
The group moved cautiously through the palace's endless halls..a twisting maze of cold stone archways and cracked marble floors, lit only by flickering, unnatural torchlight that cast warped shadows on the walls. The air was heavy, thick with a damp chill that seemed to seep into their bones.
Daichi led with steady steps, eyes scanning the dim corridors. Haru walked close beside him, fists clenched, while Kaito stuck near Yui and Ayumi, who trailed just behind. Haruka held Airi's hand tightly, her small frame tense but determined.
Yui's gaze flicked to the far end of a narrow corridor. Something, or someone, caught her attention. She stopped abruptly, eyes widening as her breath hitched.
From the darkness emerged a spirit. Its face was a grotesque ruin. The jaw was shattered, hanging askew with jagged bone visible beneath ripped flesh. Dark blood poured from the wound in thick, glistening streams, dripping down onto a tattered collarbone and staining the spirit's ragged clothes in crimson. Its eyes were hollow, empty sockets glowing faintly red, while cracked shards of broken teeth gleamed eerily in the dim light. The spirit's neck twisted unnaturally as it moved, a rattling, wet sound accompanying every breath — or something like a breath — it took.
Yui froze, rooted to the spot as if caught in some invisible grasp, her fear overwhelming her.
Ayumi's sharp eyes caught the danger immediately. Her voice was low but urgent as she stepped forward, grabbing Yui's arm. "Yui, snap out of it!"
Yui blinked, shaking her head slightly, breaking the trance. But when she looked around, the corridor ahead had stretched. The rest of the group was nowhere in sight. They'd been separated.
"Where is everyone?" Yui whispered, panic rising.
Ayumi's grip tightened. "We need to find them. Fast."
Back down the hall, Daichi's voice cut through the silence. "Yui? Ayumi? Where are you?"
Haru frowned, tension stiffening his jaw. "T-this doesn't make any sense..."
Haru looked away, the anxiety clear on his face "This is fucking insane…how..how did they just disappear? They were right there, we have to split up..we have to. If not we're only just wasting time."
Daichi shook his head fiercely. "Are you crazy? This palace is a death trap! We're not safe going separate ways."
Haru's irritation flared. "We don't have time to wander as a group."
Kaito, nervously adjusting his glasses, spoke up, voice trembling slightly, "I don't like this… but it might be faster. We just have to be careful."
Airi sighed, crossing her arms. "Fine. Let's do a vote."
Haruka's small voice broke through quietly but firmly. "I don't want to separate."
Haru, Kaito, and Airi quickly agreed on splitting up, while Haruka shook her head, eyes wide with worry.
They settled on a plan: split into pairs, stay close, and call each other's names constantly to ensure their voices carried only a short distance — a way to avoid drifting too far apart in the palace.
Daichi paired with Haru. Kaito stayed with Airi. Haruka, reluctant but brave, followed behind Haru.
At first, their voices echoed clearly through the stone corridors.
"Yui!" Kaito called softly.
"Kaito!" Airi answered.
"Haruka!" Haru's voice rang out.
But as they moved deeper into the palace's labyrinth, the voices started to falter.Haru stopped suddenly, furrowing his brow. "I can't hear Haruka anymore."
Daichi's face paled. "She was right behind me a moment ago. How did she just disappear?"
Haru's breath hitched, panic swelling like a storm inside him. "Haruka… where the hell is Haruka? She was right behind me — she can't just disappear!"
His hands shook as he spun around the cold stone corridor, eyes darting to every shadow, every twisted corner.
Kaito and Airi were missing too, but Haru's worry burned brightest for his little sister.
Daichi sank down to a crouch, his fingers digging into his hair as if trying to claw the chaos from his mind. His breathing grew ragged.
"This isn't just the palace acting weird," Daichi muttered, voice cracking. "It's… something else. Something strong."
He looked up at Haru, eyes wide with alarm. "A spirit. A powerful one. It's controlling this place, twisting it to break us apart."
Haru's hands clenched into fists, his voice rough. "Why? Why would it do that?"
Daichi's gaze was grim. "To weaken us. To isolate us so we're easier to pick off."
He suddenly stood, grabbing Haru's shoulders firmly but with steadying force. "Listen to me. We can't lose it to panic. We have to stick together — right next to each other — no matter what."
Haru swallowed, his racing heart slowing just a fraction under Daichi's grip.
"We keep moving," Daichi said. "Slow, careful. And no more splitting up. Seriously."