Where... is this place?
And who is this girl?
Why is she here?
And more importantly... she can actually see me?
"H-hello..."
The girl gave a slight start, then lowered her head as if afraid to meet his gaze. She only occasionally lifted her eyes, casting him glances that were incredibly light and fleeting.
Those glances skimmed over him like a dragonfly touching water before hastily darting away, as if merely passing by accidentally, and then she didn't dare look again.
Her cheeks were faintly flushed, her fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her dress, looking as if she had something to say but couldn't bring herself to say it.
'Who is he?
How did he get here?'
These questions quietly circled in her mind, yet ultimately remained unspoken. In truth, even Ray himself had no answers to give.
He pressed his lips together, quietly watching her.
His gaze held no pressure, yet it still made her somewhat uncomfortable. Her fingertips tightened slightly, her breath even softening a little. Sensing this, he tactfully withdrew his gaze and broke the silence between them with a very calm tone.
"May I ask, what is this place?"
"Huh? You... don't know?"
The girl's eyes widened slightly. She instinctively raised a hand to lightly cover her lips, revealing a trace of surprise.
She scrutinized Ray carefully, as if searching for some answer on his person.
"Then how did you get here?" she asked softly, her tone carrying confusion.
He doesn't know where this is, yet he could bypass the Sonoro Sphere's barriers through a frequency and arrive at this place.
Could it be...
Does he have some connection with the Sentinel?
Ray shook his head, trying to recall fragmented images from his memory, and explained to her in a low voice. "I can't really explain it either. I only remember... that stone slab suddenly emitted a bright flash of light. When the light faded, I was already standing here. And then... I met you."
"Stone slab? What kind of stone slab?"
"It's a slab carved with a pattern of a heavenly horse." Ray looked at her, his tone serious. "Have you heard of it? Or... do you know its origin?"
"A slab... of a heavenly horse?"
The girl gently furrowed her brow, as if searching for clues within fragmented thoughts.
A moment later, she looked up, a faint yet bitter smile touching her lips, and shook her head.
"I'm sorry, I... I can't remember. I've lost many, many memories... I don't even know exactly who I am."
"As for this place, it's called Sonoro." The girl's voice trailed off, tinged with apology. "But its specific name... I'm sorry, I... I don't remember."
She's lost her memory?
A faint ripple of disappointment stirred in Ray's heart.
He had originally hoped to get some clues here.
Ray let out a soft sigh and continued asking, "Do you at least remember your own name?"
"Name...?" The girl's eyes grew distant for a moment, as if grasping at some distant fragment. Subconsciously, she answered in a soft voice: "Fleu—" But before the word could fully form, she suddenly shook her head and corrected herself, "Cartethyia."
"...Cartethyia." Ray repeated the name softly, then offered her a friendly smile and extended his hand. "My name is Ray."
The girl looked at his outstretched hand, hesitated for a moment, then finally gathered her courage, smiling as she gently grasped it.
Her hand was ice-cold, her skin as fine and smooth as freshly fallen snow.
But, the moment their fingertips touched, Ray suddenly felt his breath catch.
The surrounding air seemed to grow thick and heavy, pressing down silently.
It was as if he'd been suddenly pushed into the deep sea. All sound receded, leaving only a sense of silent pressure surging from all sides, wrapping around him with a gentle yet suffocating embrace.
"Wh-what's wrong with you?"
Cartethyia's voice abruptly pulled him back from that silent suffocation.
Ray took a deep breath, like a drowning person finally surfacing, greedily inhaling the air around him, barely managing to calm down. "...It's nothing."
"Really?" She tilted her head slightly, her eyes swirling with doubt and concern. "It's been... a very long time since anyone else came here."
"A long time? How long?"
"I can't quite remember... At least, over a decade."
"Over a decade?!" Ray's pupils contracted, his voice unconsciously rising. "You've been living here... alone for over a decade?"
"Mmm," she nodded gently, then turned around, her tone as ephemeral as a wisp of mist. "The me now... is less like a person, and more like... a fragment of frequency. So, I don't feel hunger, nor thirst."
"Then... don't you feel lonely?"
If it were him, spending over ten years alone in this desolate place, Ray thought he probably would have gone mad long ago.
Moreover, to not even have the desire to eat...
After all, appetite is one of humanity's most primitive, most fundamental desires.
Not eating for over a decade... who's going to compensate for the void of my missing big appetite?
The girl fell silent for a moment, then turned to face him again, offering a heart-wrenching smile. "I've grown used to it."
In Ray's eyes, he saw the reflection of her desperately raised lips, a smile built upon countless silent breakdowns, a protective shell grown after enduring the passage of time alone.
It was a disguise, but also a gentle compromise with fate, born from the sedimentation of despair.
"Oh, right." She took a light step closer, a hint of cautious expectation in her voice. "Can you... tell me what Ragunna is like now?"
Ray nodded.
He was, of course, willing, no matter who she was, or what she was.
But the moment he was about to speak, he suddenly felt his body rapidly growing thin and transparent.
'Ah, that's right... right now, I, too, am just a fragment of frequency.'
He remembered abruptly.
Cartethyia watched his gradually blurring figure, unconsciously raising her hand as if to touch the fading outline. But in the end, she slowly lowered her hand again, her eyes silently welling with a dim ripple.
Yet she still lifted her head and offered him a very faint, yet very gentle smile.
"It seems... you're about to go back. Although it was brief, I was truly happy to meet you. If... if there's a next time..."
She lowered her head, her voice as light as a falling feather.
A cool wind blew through the ruined tower, carrying glimmering starlight that adorned the girl's fingertips, shaking loose a void of solitude.
"I'm sure there will be."
That was the sound he left for her before his frequency dissipated completely.
...
...
Ragunna.
Ray's eyes snapped open.
What met his gaze was an unfamiliar ceiling.
"Tsk, my head feels so dizzy..."
He pressed a hand to his temple, struggling to sit up, looking around in bewilderment.
"Where am I?"
Just then, from the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse,
A silver-haired young lady was quietly curled up beside the bed, seemingly deep in sleep.
"Huh? Second Young Miss?"
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