2. The House without Time (1?)

Adela found herself in an odd place, a place filled with nothing but dune darkness. There wasn't anything noticeable about the place where she was in, emptiness and loneliness engulfed the surrounding as she rolled up, hiding her face behind her knees.

Perhaps she was already dead.

She thought that it may be better to be this way as she didn't feel any motivation to do anything else. Her incompetence failed her, and now she was dead. As no one knew what would happen when they died after all.

'So this is where people reside after death.'

The eerie silence enveloped the surrounding enough to make one gone mad. But she thought she deserved it for the sin she had committed. She failed herself and as if that was not enough, she even failed their last effort to save her. Adela clutched her chest as if she felt suffocating, lamenting over the tragedy she experienced.

The sense of time had been eradicated and she didn't know how much time had passed. Yet, she felt that it was okay to cry in this place as there wasn't anyone here anyway.

Tears began running down her cheek as she was still in torment for her loss.

While she was slowly being consumed by grief, a flickering light could be seen from afar and followed by a silhouette holding a lantern that emitted that faint light. The delicate light was so similar to her as if it was mocking her effort to cling into the thin thread of life while everyone around her ended up dead instead.

Adela stared at that light, feeling more guilty than ever. She didn't know what to do at that point anymore.

The figure slowly but surely approached her and before she could realize, he was standing still in front of her. Adela looked at him with her eyes that had been swelling due to her whimper. Yet, despite being up so close, she couldn't clearly see his profile. As if some fog had covered up his face but that fact didn't matter anymore, she just wanted some rest.

"Destined One…" He said, clearly exhausted and tired.

"Leave me alone." Adela uttered faintly, having no intention to continue this unnecessary conversation.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Destined One." He put down his lantern and sat next to her, who had buried her face behind her knees. Both of them sat silently without talking, albeit the atmosphere wasn't awkward at all. As if they are both tiring from existing.

After a while, Adela stopped sobbing and took a look at the man, scrutinizing him more carefully. She couldn't see his face still but she could recognize the exhaustion and fatigue from his ragged cloak that wrapped up his silhouette.

She could tell that behind that man was a not so good of a story and felt somewhat… sympathy with him.

As if noticing the glance from Adela, the man spoke,

"I saw it, the way your village was being slaughtered."

Her expression became stiff immediately after he uttered those words, it was sharp like a stab to her heart.

"If I may ask, allow me to hold you for a brief moment…"

Adela wasn't dense, she could genuinely tell that he was trying to calm her down while pitying her.

She was enraged and immediately grabbed the ragged clothes around his neck. But after a while, her grief took over and thus her grip lessened.

She was already at her lowest, how worse could it get?

He signed and patiently patted her head as though he sympathized with her.

Just like that, the two worn out souls rested side by side as he caressed her untidy white hair, soothing her emotions.

She felt warm, the warmth that she felt like she could shed off these emotions that were piling up inside her heart. She grabbed his torn clothes and unknowingly to her, the tears that she thought had been stopped once again coming out of her eyes. Adela bit her lower lip so that no sound would come out but her trembling figure failed to do so.

He sighed briefly and stroked her trembling back to calm her down but that kind of action ended up making her suppressed emotions blow up.

"Why would I be the only one that survives?! They didn't do anything to anyone and yet, this is the end that they face!" She cried out, venting out her anger and frustration.

"Sometimes, good guys tend to die faster than the rest. Not all of them get a happy ending." He said, still holding her in his embrace.

"Reality sometimes is disappointing." His voice remained calm and indifferent in the whole conversation. Perhaps the man felt sorry for Adela, whose world had suddenly crumbled and shattered into pieces. He deliberately waited for her to calm down.

——

Adela's POV

—---

I prayed to the gods that appeared in many tales my mother used to tell me when I was younger but at last,… nothing happened. Albeit, I kept repeating that nonsense act, time and time again.

"What would change? After all, there is no god…" I sighed and let myself drown in the darkness. I looked at the man who had listened to my ranting now that I had regained my composure.

Somehow, I felt sorry for him because he had to put up with my nonsense. Clearly he didn't need to feel pity for me but he still ended up listening to my ranting. But on the other hand, I felt at ease. Perhaps it was because he had lent his shoulders for me? I wasn't very sure but I appreciate his companion.

Thus, I thought to myself that I don't need to be wary around him.

"But what is this place?" I asked, starting to look around but aside from the surroundings where the light from the lantern could stretch to, only darkness remained. There were too many things I couldn't comprehend, such as the horde of those terrified beasts that had appeared or why they existed in the first place but no one knew about them. Hence, I felt uneasy while looking at the darkness that covered this place.

Suddenly, a deep voice reached me, a very deep and calm voice… that showed no emotion in it. It was of the same man.

"This place is called 'The house without time'… and this is where I was exiled."