We had been moving for hours, the weight of the unknown pressing heavily on our shoulders. Elar was still recovering, though his fever had mostly broken.
His eyes were clearer now, though there was still a hint of exhaustion in his gaze. He walked alongside us, each step slower than the last, but he seemed determined to keep up.
"I suppose I should properly introduce myself,"
Elar said, breaking the silence. His voice was hoarse but steady now, his usual playful tone making a return.
He rubbed the back of his neck, as if nervous, though he seemed to try hiding it behind his usual facade.
I glanced at him, half-interested but still cautious. He'd been a mystery for so long, a stranger caught between obsession and despair.
"Go ahead," I said, my voice flat, though I was watching him closely.
He smiled lightly, his green eyes glinting under the light. His hair—also a vibrant green—was slightly messy, falling just past his forehead. He brushed a few strands back, though they didn't stay put for long. There was something about his appearance that seemed... mismatched.
His face was youthful, almost cute in an unassuming way, yet his body betrayed a strange bulkiness that didn't quite fit his demeanor. He looked a bit weak, like he hadn't spent much time in physical labor, yet his arms held a strange strength, as though built for something other than brute force.
"I'm Elar," he continued, his voice steady despite the obvious tiredness. "I've spent my life chasing... well, something."
He looked over at Seonwoo briefly, then back at me.
"The key, of course. But before that, I was just another ordinary guy."
His words didn't quite match the aura around him. There was something more to him, something hidden behind that awkward charm of his. The way his eyes softened as he spoke, the almost shy smile that came across his face every so often—he seemed like the type to laugh off the heavy stuff, but it was clear that underneath it, he carried a weight.
I studied him more closely now.
"You don't look like an ordinary guy," I said before I could stop myself. His expression flickered, as though surprised, then he chuckled softly.
"Maybe not. But I don't think I ever was."
He adjusted the strap of his pack, trying to ignore the growing exhaustion creeping over him.
"I've always been... obsessed. Fixing things, making them work, understanding how they tick. It's always been my thing."
I watched him closely. His build was unique—bulky, yet not in the way someone who worked the fields or lifted heavy things would be.
His body was more like that of a craftsman, someone who spent hours hunched over something delicate. His muscles weren't overly defined, but there was a softness to them, like they were hidden beneath something deeper.
"Obsessed?"
I repeated, raising an eyebrow. I could see it in his eyes now—the same intensity that had driven him to seek the key, to pursue something beyond the ordinary.
But there was a childlike quality to him, too, like someone who still had a lot to learn.
"With what exactly?"
He looked at me, his green eyes flickering with something I couldn't quite place.
"With fixing things... and with finding things that were lost. I thought I could fix the key. But it turns out it was never meant to be fixed."
I nodded, still analyzing him. There was more to him than he let on. That weird mix of seeming weak but being oddly strong, cute but strangely intense.
I couldn't figure him out completely, but I wasn't ready to trust him fully. Not yet.
"That's a lot to take on," I said, breaking the silence. "But I guess it makes sense. You've been chasing something your whole life."
He smiled faintly, his green hair catching the light as he brushed it back again. "Maybe. Or maybe I've just been running from myself."
I didn't respond to that. There was something in his voice, a crack beneath the humor, that made me pause. For a moment, I wondered if we were all just running from something. I didn't want to ask.
"And what do you plan to do now?" I asked instead, trying to focus on the present.
He looked at me, his smile softening.
"Whatever happens next. I'll keep going, I guess. The key didn't choose me, but it doesn't mean I can't help."
I watched him for a moment longer, before turning my attention back to the path ahead.
"We'll see if your help's any good," I muttered, but the faintest hint of a smile tugged at the corners of my mouth.
We walked through the eerie, empty city, the silence weighing heavy between us. The ground beneath our feet felt unnatural, like it had once held a life that had now been drained away.
It wasn't until we stopped near an old, broken-down structure, the remains of what might have once been a grand monument, that Elar spoke again.
His voice was quieter this time, almost as if he were speaking more to himself than to us.
"I wasn't always like this," he began, his tone reflective. "I didn't start out obsessed with the key. I had a life before all of this. A purpose. But then…"
He trailed off, his green eyes distant, as if lost in the memories. Seonwoo, ever the silent protector, looked at him but said nothing, as if waiting for Elar to continue in his own time.
Kaelen's gaze softened, though his usual calm demeanor remained unchanged, as though trying to offer some silent reassurance.
I wasn't sure why I found myself listening so intently. I had never been good at trusting people, let alone people I barely knew. But something about Elar's story, the weight of his words, caught my attention.
"It started with stories," Elar said, breaking the silence. "Legends, whispers, fragments of truth buried in the dust. They spoke of a key. A key to something ancient, something powerful. It seemed absurd at first—just another myth. But…" He paused, his fingers fiddling with the strap of his pack, as if grounding himself. "But the more I heard, the more it felt like it was calling to me. I couldn't ignore it. I had to know. And so, I set out to find it."
I studied him, the way his green eyes glinted in the dim light, like they were both haunted and hopeful. I hadn't noticed before, but the way he spoke of the key was almost reverent—like it was more than just a goal, more than an object to be found.
"So, you've been searching for the key all this time?"
Seonwoo asked, his voice steady as always, but a hint of curiosity lacing his words.
Elar nodded
. "For years. I was just a boy when I first heard about it. I didn't have much then—just some old maps, a few vague directions from strangers, and a desire that burned in me. But every place I went…" His voice faltered, and he shook his head. "Every place I went, I found nothing. Ruins, cities lost to time. I even found machines, broken pieces of things that didn't belong. But no key. No answers."
Kaelen shifted beside me, looking at Elar with quiet understanding.
"So, you came here, knowing the key was close?" His voice was gentle, almost a whisper, as if trying to piece together the enigma that was Elar.
Elar's smile was wry, but there was a certain sadness behind it.
"Yes. And now here I am. I thought I could control it—this machine, this key, whatever it is. I thought it would give me power, give me answers. But I didn't expect…"
His words trailed off again, as if the weight of it all had become too much for him to articulate.
I stared at him, seeing him in a new light—not just as the strange, obsessed individual who had joined our group, but as someone who had carried the burden of this quest for so long. His green eyes were tired, though there was still a fire in them, something that told me he wouldn't stop until he had found what he was looking for.
"And what now?" I asked, my voice softer than I intended, but I couldn't hold it back. "Now that we're here, what happens?"
Elar's gaze shifted to me, and for a moment, the weight of his focus felt almost like a silent plea, asking me to understand.
"Now we keep moving forward. Whatever happens next, we face it together," he said, his voice firm once more, the old resolve returning to his tone.
Seonwoo nodded, his expression unreadable as ever.
"Together," he repeated, his eyes briefly meeting mine.
There was something reassuring in his steady presence, something I had begun to rely on, even if I didn't always want to admit it.
Kaelen gave a small nod, his calm demeanor providing a sense of peace amidst the chaos.
"We'll find what we're looking for."
But as I stood there, I couldn't help but feel a lingering question in my mind. Was this really the place? Was this what we had been searching for, or was there something deeper at play here?
I glanced at Elar again. His green eyes met mine, and for just a moment, it felt like he was searching me, trying to figure out if I truly understood. But I didn't. Not yet.
Not entirely.
I glanced over at Seonwoo. He was quiet, as usual, his expression unreadable. Was he content in his journey, or was he, too, wondering why he was here? Maybe we all were, in our own way.
Kaelen's calm presence was no help either. He seemed like he had already accepted whatever this was, whatever this strange, fate-driven path we were on. And Elar, obsessed with the key, seemed to think that it held all the answers, as though finding it would solve everything.
But I wasn't sure anymore. What if there were no answers? What if this was just some random twist of fate, and we were all being led on a pointless chase?
"Why did I even come here?" I whispered under my breath, my voice barely audible in the stillness of the empty city.
I looked at Elar again, and for the first time, I saw him differently. He wasn't just some obsessed stranger. He was searching for meaning, too.
Maybe his search for the key wasn't so different from my own quest to understand why I was brought into this world. Perhaps we were all looking for something that could make sense of the chaos we'd been thrown into.
But the question still lingered in the back of my mind—what was my purpose here? Was I supposed to help Seonwoo? Was I supposed to guide this group? Or was I just another lost soul caught in a strange, unexplainable twist of fate?
I looked up at the sky, my thoughts spinning. The silence around us felt too heavy, and I suddenly longed for answers that felt just out of reach.
"What am I supposed to do?" I wondered aloud.
The others had noticed the change in me. I could feel their eyes on me, but it wasn't just Elar's or Seonwoo's gaze that I felt. It was the weight of their expectations, their own silent questions.
Elar, his eyes intense but understanding, spoke first.
"You okay?" His voice was gentler than I'd expected, a softness I hadn't realized he was capable of.
I nodded quickly, trying to shake off the unease that had settled deep within me. "Yeah. Just thinking."
I wasn't sure if I was lying to him—or to myself.