No. No, no, no. This wasn't happening.
"Just, hold on, okay?! W-We can fix this! Just stay with me, dammit!"
Malik only kept that broken smile, head lolling to the side like he barely had control over it anymore.
Layla squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head harder.
"No! No, I'm not—No! We're not doing this! We can find a way! There has to be a way!"
Ali Baba just kept muttering under his breath.
"I knew it, I knew it, I knew it, I should've—I should've stopped you. I should've told you—"
"TOLD ME WHAT?! DON'T REPEAT YOURSELF! SAY IT!"
Layla screamed at him and Ali Baba finally looked at her, his face streaked with tears, with grief.
"Drowned Lotuses… they don't just die, little night. They consume. The moment he touched them… he was already lost."
Layla's breath caught.
She'd heard the name before, in passing. In rumors. In stories merchants told around the fire, voices hushed like saying it too loud might summon something they weren't ready to face.
