That hurt, you idiot!"

The voice wasn't a monster now.

It was a girl.

And when the smoke peeled back—

I froze.

"...Anna?"

My voice cracked.

"What—what the heck are you doing here? I thought—you were dead."

Anna, Arcsaw's daughter, stood there, rubbing her arm. She was seated on the ground where I had landed, concealed by the fog which had prevented me from noticing her. Day had turned to a perpetual, eerie night here; it still resembled the forest we entered, but the atmosphere was profoundly wrong.

"Anna, how… I mean…" I struggled to find the words.

"Use your words properly. It's really not that hard," she corrected.

I coughed, gaining my composure. "How did you get here? Where exactly are we?"

She replied, shrugging, "I was just as confused as you when I got here and met Hana."

Hana? I felt like I had heard that name before.

"Hana… Mrs. Rina's daughter?" she said.

"Mrs. Rina?" I muttered, trying to remember. "Hmmm… I'm not really recalling—"

"You know," Anna cut in, waving her hand dismissively, "the rude, mean lady whose kid went missing before I did? Forget it. Not important."

Then it finally clicked.

"Oh! I remember now. She's the one who threw a fit when Granny Maera tried to place her grandson on the board."

"Yeah, I guess she can be that way sometimes.

Anyway, like I said, Dad usually gives me my herbs—the ones that give me energy because I usually get tired fast.

But something felt different than usual that night. Next thing I knew, I was sleeping in my bed, heard voices, and was unable to stop my body from moving on its own. I started walking to the florist.

She took me to a hidden spot, and swoosh, I'm here."

"I'm guessing Miss Shio has been responsible for the missing people?" she asked rhetorically.

"I never did like her, always visiting my father with new herbs. Tsk. If not for my illness, Father wouldn't have gotten to know that woman."

Anna clenched her arms, visibly pained. "Daddy would be worried sick about me now. First Mom, now me, he's all alone. I'm missing him so much." She sighed. "But I wonder why he didn't know I was out of the house. I guess the herbs must have made him sleep as well."

I doubted I had the courage to tell her the horrible truth that awaited her outside—that her father was dead.

"Nice pet fish," she said, pointing at Morad. "Why were you able to carry that with you here? Did Shio allow you to take along your pet?"

"Yeah, about Shio," I replied. "The whole town knows now she was behind the missing people. She is dead."

"What? Seriously? Great!" Anna smiled faintly, a brief flash of relief. "At least my mother can rest in peace." Her excitement faded quickly. "Well, then why are you here if she's dead?"

"It's a long story, but the whole town was being relocated to a safer spot when we got attacked. Long story short, I found myself here." I looked at her, sitting on the ground. I needed to know everything she could possibly tell. "So, how come you're still alive? I thought you would be instantly dead, to be honest."

"I don't know myself. But I could only say this: When I came, I met Hana, and she said she met another kid as well." Could that mean a replacement had to be made once another was ready to die?

Hmm, I see. Crap, not good. "It looks like Miss Shio only had interest in children. Strange. You sure you haven't seen any adults?"

"Nope."

"Look." She pointed up. "All children are there."

I gazed up, holding a silent Morad tight; I could feel his bowl shaking slightly. What we saw were dozens of grotesque, silk cocoons hanging from the invisible canopy.

Fear gripped my very toes. "Are you telling me all the children are housed in those cocoons?"

"Yep," she said flatly. "And we're next."

A fragment of Father's lore came back to me: about the forbidden technique, a taboo-focused method—"child sacrifice." It definitely fit that description. They were planning to create a Path Animal.

She began stretching and yawning, then curled up, planning to take a nap.

"Umm, why are you so calm about the whole situation? You literally know what's going to happen next, right, and you can just take a nap?"

"Yeah, what else can I do? I'm just a girl, and besides, I have no mana to protect myself. I did all the crying I wanted when Hana was here—we both cried our hearts out—and now I've got no tears left to cry. Just stay quiet and wait your turn now. Leave me be. I was counting stars before you punched me."

The phrase "I'm just a girl" stung me. She was correct, she was a girl, but something about the way she said it implied a total, helpless dismissal of herself, and it got on my nerves.

"Saying things like that, you're really ready to die? I can't believe you! You said you missed your father just a few minutes back! You didn't remember you were 'just a girl' when you were running your mouth at me last time—a non-believer like myself? I was just a boy back then!"

Anna burst into fresh tears, shouting, "What do you want from me? To shout for help? I'm sure someone would definitely hear us, right? I've tried it all! Screaming, running over there—" she pointed one way, "—running over here—" she pointed the other. "They all lead back to this same spot! Tried it; didn't work. In fact, I'm bigger than you, stronger than you, and to top it off, older than you!"

She continued sobbing, her voice raw. "Do I want to go home? YES! Do I wish I could help myself in this situation? YES! Can I do any of those things now? NO! NO! NO! So, what I would do if I was you is enjoy the company of your pet fish while you can. At least you have something to accompany you when you die." She pointed up at the suspended cocoons. "Nothing or no one is saving us from that monster."

As she curled up back into her sleeping position, sobbing hard, her face was covered from my sight.

You kinda pressed her a bit too much there, brother.

Sigh. I should be thinking of a solution to get out. Calm yourself, Astraga. You're right, Morad.

Anna suddenly rose up, half-curled. "Who the heck are you talking to? Geez." Mucus slid from her left nostril as she sucked it in.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said it that way. We both are in this situation. I just…" I sighed. "I have been fighting for my life since birth, and to see you just casually give in like that felt wrong to me."

"Well, you don't know me, and I don't know you. Like I said, I was born with an illness. I've also been fighting for my life, but there comes a time…" She snapped her fingers, looking impatient.

I realized she was trying to know my name. "Umm, Astraga."

"Yeah, Astraga. You gotta know when you can't do anything and just accept it."

The way this girl spoke was soul-crushingly nihilistic. Who would blame her? Being in a place that turned day into night, yet had a moon visible—how was that even possible? That alone was enough to break the will to continue.

She huffed. "I'm sure you're realizing it now. So find a place there and sit. Farrrrrr away from me, got that?"

But I had made a promise to myself. Even in my current, sorry excuse for a self, I wasn't going to continue waiting for help, especially when I could do something for myself. Enough, Astraga. At least find a way out of here and rescue both of us out of this… I don't even know what to call this reality.

"Alright, let's—wait, that reminds me, Anna, did you say monster? Have you—"

Before I could finish, she stood up immediately, her voice trembling. "It's here."

I could hear the earth creaking as the ground shook. The monster?

I turned quickly, and there it was…

From the shadows and under the roots, something emerged from beneath the ground. Eight legs, armored black and gleaming, rose from the dirt. A spider?—no, a monstrosity, the size of a large van. Its fangs dripped like steel daggers, but the most unsettling detail was that it had no eyes, not even a single one.

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