Lethia could feel her strength return, though her legs still trembled. She gasped, realizing she had just woken from the dream.
"Wh–what was that? What the hell did I just witness?" she muttered under her breath, clutching her dizzy head.
Her staggering steps forced her hand to press against the wall for balance.
"Whis–Whisney... was that your mory?"
["I–I’m not sure. That was moria magic. The glass fra I touched earlier was coated with blood, enchanted with moriamagic."] Whisney’s voice quivered.
Lethia’s jaw clenched. "Ma–magic? B–blood?"
["Yeah. If you touch blood marked with moria magic, you can see the mories chosen by the one who cast it."]
"Is—Is there really such a thing?" Lethia asked, still in disbelief, struggling to calm the hamring in her chest that made her ears ring.
["It’s an ancient magic. Many almighty spirits with mortal bodies used it as a ga, just to kill ti in their boring lives. That’s why I could see it when I touched it."]
Lethia drew a long breath, steadying its rhythm. Then her brows furrowed.
"Whisney... how can you rember every detail of your world, yet forget your first or your last love?"
For a few seconds, Whisney gave no answer. Then she laughed.
["You are so sharp, Lethia. This is why I like you. And... to answer your question, it seems soone controlled . They erased certain mories from my mind, turning them into their ga. Ha ha ha... So ignorant of ... How could I miss such a possibility?"]
After calming herself, Lethia stepped back a few paces and studied the photo fra in front of her.
"Like soone put that moria magic here as if it’s a puzzle you need to solve?"
["Exactly."]
Lethia wasn’t entirely convinced by Whisney’s confusing words. She could be lying. But for what?
Her eyes were fixed on the photo of the five people standing with the fox.
"So... the flashes of mories we saw earlier belonged to that woman? And that man... was one of them?"
["Think about it. The mory we saw looked like they were in the middle of a party. And judging from the clothes of the five in this photo, don’t they look like they’d just co from one?"]
From her unsure voice, Lethia could feel Whisney’s genuine confusion. She didn’t sound as confident as usual.
"And in that mory, it felt like the point of view belonged to the one who owned it. And she was wearing a blue dress. While the only woman in this photo is in a red dress."
Then sothing snapped in Lethia’s mind, her eyes widening.
["Yeah... we’re thinking the sa thing. The fox. . That was my mory. I’m the one who wore that blue dress."]
"That ans... soone had your blood, cast the mantra on it, then brought it here, sared it, then erased it? What kind of psychopath are they?" Lethia asked, her voice trembling.
["The problem is... my mortal body is dead, gone. And moria magic should vanish the mont the one who holds the mory dies."]
"What? But for these five humans to still be alive until now is impossible too, Whisney."
Whisney giggled in a creepy way, as if she were sick of the situation.
["That doesn’t matter, and I don’t really care. What matters is, why the fuck are they playing this ga?"]
Lethia could feel Whisney pacing in agitation. And she herself wasn’t sure which part of this newfound truth she should believe. It drowned her judgnt.
"Perhaps... that’s for seeking attention. You said using this moria magic is just to waste their boring ti. If they’re soone who has known you since your first love, that ans they’re a loner like you. Yeah, right, they’re lonely. And what they want is your attention, as simple as wanting you to join their ga?" Lethia burst out with her assumption energetically.
["Hah... not bad deduction. Well, if that’s true, the only way to find out is to play the ga. This ga was created exactly to solve the puzzle through the clues hidden in every fragnt of mory obtained."]
"Hmm... and what’s the next step?"
["To guess the aning of the mory given. If we guess right, then a new mory will appear, and so on, until the last mory leads us to the final duel face to face with the one who started the ga."]
Lethia frowned. "Do you an fighting each other? Why not just directly confront them and fight?" she yelped in frustration.
["Told ya. This is a ga to waste ti. We never know how many mories they planted; we can only keep playing and guessing. That way, when we finally reach the end, we’re deed worthy enough to duel the one who started the ga. It’s a pride ga."
Lethia pouted as she took in Whisney’s explanation. The whole idea of a pride ga made her chuckle, reminding her just how prideful Whisney really was. Almighty spirits must have too much ti and too much pride to waste.
Then, she caught the sound of hurried footsteps stomping into the house from the first floor.
"Lethia!" The voice thundered, it was Zeran’s.
She quickly pulled out Zeran’s phone from her pocket, snapped a picture of the fox and its companions in the fra, then rushed downstairs.
"Zeran... how did you know I was here?" Lethia asked the mont their eyes locked, catching the confusion and worry in his gaze at the entrance.
Without a single word, Zeran stord to her and wrapped her tight in his arms.
"What the fucking hell are you doing here?" His voice roared in her ears as he squeezed her.
"I was just... taking a walk because... because the view in the forest was beautiful."
He released her, his frown cutting sharply, clearly displeased with her excuse.
"You walked this far? And why the hell did you enter this creepy house?"
"That’s exactly it... Isn’t it strange? To find such an ancient house out here?"
Zeran clenched his jaw, then, without another word, gripped Lethia’s hand and pulled her out of the house.
All the way back, Lethia could feel his anger radiating in silence, but sohow the firmness of his grip soothed her, giving her a strange relief.
"You could’ve called your phone that I carried if you were that worried."
"There’s no signal here. The phone was not connected."
Lethia opened her mouth, then shut it again. She sighed heavily.
"Then how did you find ?"
"The pup’s bond. I can sll his scent." Zeran turned his head toward her. "How could you walk this far? Look at you, you’re exhausted."
Earlier, on her way to the old house, Lethia had been possessed by Whisney, so she hadn’t realized how far she’d walked. But now, the rocky path, tangled with tree roots, left her legs aching.
Without giving her a chance to reply, Zeran suddenly scooped her up in his arms and quickened his pace.
Lethia gasped in shock, but she didn’t resist. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his neck, surrendering to his musky, raw scent that made her feel safe, warm, and oddly loved.
And then sothing snapped inside her, making her draw another gasp.
’Whisney... looks like I know the aning of the mory.’
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