Muffled footsteps broke the silence of the forest, sinking softly into the untouched, fluffy snow. The rhythmic sound of footsteps repeated, echoing through the trees covered in white. Five figures moved slowly across the frozen landscape, their bodies wrapped in thick layers of clothing to withstand the biting cold.
Among them, one stood out almost unnaturally. Her skin was as pale as the snow itself — so white she seed translucent under the soft light of the overcast sky. From afar, soone might have thought she was part of the scenery, an illusion shaped by winter. That strangely white thing... was .
My eyes slowly scanned the group around , studying each face with silent curiosity. Honestly, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was a strange mix of people... But what really bothered was that one guy in particular.
Why the hell was he staring at so intensely? I an, I know I’m an anomaly — it’s written all over — but that alone didn’t justify that fixed stare. He must have seen others like before. It couldn’t be new to him. And yet, there he was, watching like I was so creature out of a nightmare or a rare museum piece. The most annoying part? He used to at least pretend to hide it.
Now, not even that. His gaze was blatantly direct, like I was a puzzle he was silently trying to solve right then and there. Of course, personally, I didn’t care that much. I’d gotten used to sideways glances, curious or scared ones. But there was sothing about this particular look — maybe how he didn’t even blink — that gave a weird feeling.
I thought about it for a few seconds, trying to find a logical or plausible reason, but nothing ca to mind. Before I could even form a theory, though, his next words made look at him with a mix of surprise and confusion. Of course, my face stayed expressionless, as usual: “Though I’ve seen you before, I didn’t really pay much attention, but...” he started, casting a look that traveled up and down my body: “Honestly, I thought you were taller”
Hearing that, my eyes automatically locked on him. Our gazes t, and we stared silently for a few seconds. I blinked slowly, feeling a slight sting of irritation that I couldn’t imdiately explain. It was strange — his words bothered , though only a little. Just a little, really.
See... I wasn’t short because I wanted to be, right? And, to be fair, I wasn’t that short. Considering my appearance, I might even seem taller than I am, maybe because I look more mature than most ten-year-olds. It’s not like that’s a problem... but still, sothing about how he said it made furrow my brow just a bit.
While I was still staring at the man, I felt a sudden presence beside . The woman appeared almost silently, as if stepping out of the shadows. Her voice cut through the air right after, firm and a bit cold: “You don’t need to worry about that idiot, master. Just ignore him”
As soon as I heard that, I blinked, confused, before turning to face her. For a mont, I thought I’d misheard — maybe my mind was playing tricks. But her face stayed calm, without hesitation or doubt. That could only an she really said it on her own will.
But... why would I be her master? Honestly, that made no sense. I barely understood what was going on, and they acted like everything was perfectly normal. Were these people crazy or sothing? Plus, there was sothing even stranger — they seed to know , like they already knew who I was before I even spoke.
I turned my gaze to Arthur, who had been walking silently beside since the start. He hadn’t said a word the whole way, just kept his eyes forward, alert but reserved. When my eyes finally landed on him, Arthur returned the look briefly.
Then he shrugged lightly, almost indifferent. It wasn’t that he lacked an opinion about everything happening — I knew that. It seed more like he was thinking, analyzing silently, waiting to see where this would take us.
I thought about it for a long ti, my thoughts swirling and making partially unaware of the surroundings. The landscape around us went unnoticed, as if shrouded by a fog of distraction. I stayed that way until the voice of the man I’d t before the other two broke the silence, firm and to the point: “We’ve reached the site”
The word “site” snapped out of my thoughts. My eyes scanned the area for a few seconds, trying to recognize sothing familiar, until they stopped on sothing ahead: a lake with an unusual appearance.
Its surface was completely dark, dense, like thick mud. No matter the angle, the water had no shine, and the reflection was swallowed by that muddy darkness. I knew exactly where we were.
(So... this is really Base 17) Though I still had my doubts before, they all vanished the mont my eyes t the black lake — still, deep, and wrapped in a strangely silent mist.
Honestly, it had been a long ti since I last ca back to this place. I have to admit, after everything, I never really thought I’d return to Base 17 soday. From what I heard since my last battle against that gigantic shadowy octopus, the lake has been quieter than ever — almost like it had slipped into so kind of deep hibernation.
Then, the man who guided us to the lake, along with his companions, slowly started to walk away. Despite the growing distance, his eyes remained fixed on , carrying a silent intensity that seed to say more than words ever could.
However, it didn’t look like they were going to do anything else — neither help us nor follow us further. In a way, it was as if the only purpose of that encounter was simply to lead to that exact spot. Ignoring them, I turned my attention back to the calm surface of the lake before . A deep, inexplicable feeling of nostalgia radiated from it.
It wasn’t as if I had never been here before, nor as if I ignored what lay at the bottom of the lake — after all, basically, nothing but a silent void. Yet back then, I didn’t feel anything different coming from that dark vastness. So why now, staring at that still surface, did a strange weight of nostalgia flood over ? Maybe it was the reflection of mories, or the echo of sothing the lake kept with , hidden in its depths. Either way, I didn’t expect all my questions to be mysteriously answered.
With that unsettling thought, I took slow, asured steps toward the frozen lake. Behind , small delicate footprints left marks in the fresh snow, like a silent trail revealing my passage. The air was cold and heavy, and a soft whisper of wind rustled the dry branches of the surrounding trees.
No one tried to stop ; Arthur stood still, a little apart, like a silent shadow just watching the situation unfold. His eyes reflected a quiet curiosity, and I imagined that, like , he was eager to see what would happen next.
Monts later, I stopped completely. My eyes locked carefully on the black, icy surface of the lake before . It was exactly as I rembered it — imposing and silent, reflecting the gray sky with an almost supernatural stillness. Yet, for so strange reason, that water seed... frozen in ti, as if ti itself had stopped there.
Slowly, I crouched down, eyes fixed on the endless darkness stretching across the lake. A light mist hovered over the still water, making the atmosphere even quieter and more oppressive. With a cautious movent, I extended my hand — just one finger, hesitant — and touched the muddy surface of the lake.
I didn’t know what to expect, or rather, I expected nothing; still, sothing inexplicable inside urged to act, to feel that cold and mysterious touch. My fingers caressed the thick water, gently rippling beneath my skin, but nothing happened. At least, not at first.
At so point, I felt a subtle beat. I blinked, convinced I might have imagined it. My eyes scanned the surroundings, but no one — except — seed to have noticed that strange sound. I looked back at the lake, and then ca another beat, stronger, coming from the bottom of the waters and passing through , as if resonating inside my own chest.
Sohow, I could vaguely sense where it was coming from, although I couldn’t asure the exact depth. It was as if those beats ca from nowhere, from the darkest bottom of the lake, and ca straight to . Ironically, even I didn’t know how deep they really ca from — a pulsing mystery hidden beneath the calm surface.
I watched the lake carefully, feeling the cold water brush my fingers as I slowly dipped them into the surface. Gradually, the beats beca more regular, as if sothing alive was pulsing in the depths, rhythmically echoing against the silent bottom. The water, which had been still and clear until then, began to stir gently, forming small ripples that spread softly outward.
The light’s reflection distorted slightly, signaling that sothing beyond my perception was awakening there. It was that subtle, almost imperceptible movent that finally caught the attention of those around ; their curious gazes shifted from to the lake.
I just kept my finger resting on the calm surface of the lake, feeling the cold water wrap around my skin. Slowly, my eyes began to close, as if drawn by a deep, strange sleep. Suddenly, without realizing exactly when, I found myself floating above the lake.
Around , a thick, opaque fog stretched in all directions, so dense it was impossible to see anything beyond that whitish veil. My eyes cautiously scanned the environnt, looking for any clue or sign, while an unsettling question ford in my mind: exactly where was I?.
But then, a silent ripple appeared on the calm surface of the lake. I didn’t think much about it, as if sothing invisible guided my steps — my feet moved by themselves, almost hypnotized, toward the edge of that trembling water. With the light touch of my fingers, I touched the rippling part of the lake, feeling the cold temperature and the smooth texture of the stirred water.
In the next mont, sothing slowly erged from the depths: a sphere. It was black, dense, as if swallowing all the light around it, making it impossible to tell what was inside.
However, inexplicably, I could feel a rhythmic pulse coming from that dark core — a vibration that seed to resonate inside , as if that thing and I were linked by an invisible thread, sharing the sa silently beating heart.
The next mont, I was again facing the lake. My fingers still held the cold, muddy sensation of the surface, as if the dark water had left a cold, sticky touch that was reluctant to disappear. I briefly glanced around; the thin mist was starting to dissipate, revealing the faint outlines of trees and the gentle ripple of the water.
However, everyone’s gaze around remained fixed, piercing and silent, focused solely on the lake. Following their focus, I lifted my eyes and there it was again — the sa floating sphere I had seen before, hovering silently over the water, emanating a pale, almost hypnotic glow.
My eyes stayed fixed on the sphere in front of . A single thought invaded my mind the mont I stared at it: it was sothing deeply nostalgic. A strange feeling, as if sothing inside recognized that object, whispering that this was not the first ti I had seen it.
Although countless thoughts swirled through my mind as I fixed my gaze on the black sphere gently floating above the murky, dark surface of the lake, at first glance it seed like just a simple distortion caused by the light or the water.
However, beneath that deceptive appearance, I felt sothing deep and inexplicable — a subtle pulse, a sign of latent life amid the chaos of the distortion, sothing that completely defied the natural patterns I knew.
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