Mysterious World, Mysterious Woman

Ren opened his eyes even though only moments ago the sun had still been shining brightly. Suddenly a shadow seemed to swallow the sunlight whole. He turned left and right but found nothing except absolute darkness surrounding him.

"What is happening? Why did the sky suddenly turn dark? Did we faint until nightfall?"

Silence lingered before his ears caught the faint sound of someone crying. Ren tried to follow the source of the voice, pushing through the bushes with whatever vision he had. Soon, his brown eyes caught the silhouette of a woman kneeling on the ground while weeping.

Ren formed a small smile. It must be Lia. That girl could cry simply because of nighttime darkness. If she fainted for an entire day then woke up to a sky that was suddenly dark and silent, it was only natural for someone like her to cry out of fear and confusion.

Ren was about to move forward, but before he could even lift a foot, his instincts screamed a warning. His body froze. Goosebumps rose. His nape tightened as if realizing something was terribly wrong.

How did they end up separated? Why did they faint for an entire day? How did they suddenly appear in a forest when they were standing on top of the pyramid earlier? Why had no one woken them up, and why was the place, which should have been crowded, now empty? What exactly had happened? These questions echoed loudly in his mind.

In the dark, he glanced at the woman. Her hair... it did not resemble his sister’s at all. Lia would never let her hair loose for any reason. Worse, that hair kept extending downward until it touched the ground.

That was certainly not Lia.

Instinct urged him to step back very slowly. He retreated on tiptoe so as not to make a sound.

He had only taken a few steps when the sound of weeping reached him again, sending another shiver of fear down his spine.

"Is it possible that the gho... I mean that woman is following me?" he whispered, trembling.

Ren inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. It was useless. He could not calm himself. For the first time in his life he could not think positively.

His body even stopped moving, uncertain whether he should run or hide. But if he did either, where could he hide and where could he run?

"Br... brother... hiks... hiks..."

His thoughts shattered when he heard the weak whimper of his sister, soft like a frightened kitten. Blood rushed to his head. His mind cleared instantly. He moved without hesitation toward the source of the cry.

Under the faint light, hidden among the bushes, he found his sister curled up. He tapped her shoulder gently but Lia, terrified, flinched sharply. Before she could scream, Ren covered her mouth with his hand.

"Do not shout. It is me..." he whispered. "There is someone or maybe something strange behind me. Do not draw its attention, okay?"

Lia nodded stiffly. Ren could feel her whole body trembling uncontrollably. In such a state, she would be vulnerable. That was why he let her breathe for a while, hoping her fear would lessen even a little.

After several long breaths, she finally stopped shaking.

"Where... where are we, brother?"

Before answering, Ren scanned their surroundings. "I do not know. This does not look like Earth. Too dark and... strange."

"Can you stand?"

Lia nodded and rose on her own feet. Ren stood as well, but just as they were about to leave, the girl pointed behind him with her mouth half open. Her legs trembled as if the ground shook beneath her.

Her wide eyes told him everything. He did not need to turn around to know what stood behind him. His fists clenched. Cold sweat trailed down his temples.

Calm down. Make an unexpected move then run.

He inhaled deeply. One leg bent. He lifted it high. Then...

"Hyah!"

A spinning sidekick struck the silhouette behind him, whatever it was, with full force until the creature was hurled backward.

Lia gaped as if her jaw would fall, but Ren reacted quickly, grabbed her hand, and pulled her into a desperate sprint.

Srek. Srek.

Ren crashed through the bushes with sharp precision. While running, his eyes darted everywhere, observing the long branching limbs of the trees whose pointed ends looked like grasping fingers.

Ren clicked his tongue.

He had visited many ancient sites. Some were famously haunted, but this was the first time he had been trapped in something truly supernatural.

Suddenly, laughter echoed behind them. It was followed by a terrifying roar that shook the air.

What is this place? Why are we here? How did we fall into this? The questions hammered his mind, but then something unexpected happened.

Srek.

"WTF!"

"T-the trees are moving on their own!"

Lia shrieked when she saw the branches in front of them twist toward them as if trying to grab them.

Just like in countless horror films, hideous human faces formed on the tree trunks, smiling grotesquely.

Lia fell backward in shock. Ren, though just as terrified, lifted her in his arms and ran with every ounce of strength he had. His adrenal glands pumped fiercely, forcing every muscle to act beyond its limits.

Oxygen surged through his blood, breaking past the fragile limits of his human body.

He could see everything almost as clearly as in daylight. The roots beneath his feet, the flashes of strange figures perched in the trees, even the sweeping branches reaching for them that he dodged with uncanny precision.

"B brother! A woman... a woman is flying behind us!" Lia cried and buried her face deeper in his chest.

Ren clicked his tongue softly. He did not need to turn around to know what followed. Yet he noticed something. The endless forest of twisted trees grew thinner. Squinting, he saw an open field ahead without any trees.

"An exit." A sharp grin curved across his usually calm and friendly face.

But when only a few steps remained before the open space, his instincts screamed again. He halted. A suffocating dark aura surged from the clearing.

He clenched his jaw and turned around, forgetting the flying woman chasing them. Now she stood directly before him.

"Woah!"

He stumbled backward and fell. When he looked up, her figure was clear. The woman was taller, almost twice his height. Her long black hair draped forward, covering her face all the way to her toes.

"Dammit..."

The woman extended her hand. Her long thin fingers nearly wrapped around Ren’s neck when a lullaby suddenly drifted through the air in a language he did not understand.

A beautiful melody, soft like a night breeze at the edge of a forest. The trees stopped moving. Their monstrous faces faded. The creature before him went limp and vanished as though it had never existed.

"What is happening? This song... where is it coming from?"

Ren patted Lia who was still buried against him. "Lia, it is all right now. You can open your eyes."

The girl opened her trembling eyes and inspected her surroundings before slowly pulling herself free from Ren’s embrace.

"Brother... what happened? Where did the woman go? And... who is singing?"

Ren shrugged. "I do not know, but that song saved us. The trees returned to normal and that woman disappeared."

"Hey, I think we should look for the one singing that lullaby. Maybe they know something about this insane place."

"Should we?"

"At least if we get trapped again, they can sing that lullaby and drive away those astral creatures."

After that, they followed the lingering melody. As long as the lullaby floated through the air, the forest felt calmer even though the sky stayed dark. It felt as if nothing would suddenly attack them.

The voice guided them to a clearing. A girl sat on a stone while humming the lullaby they had been searching for. A long plain white cloth wrapped her body, matching the pale tone of her skin. Her black hair flowed down her back, adorned with shimmering jade beads typical of the Aztec people.

The girl sensed their presence. She stopped singing and turned her head toward them.

Ren froze in awe at her delicate beauty. Her sky blue eyes met his dark gaze. A soft smile bloomed on her lips, warm like morning sunlight. Ren could not utter a single word as they stared at one another.

Yet in this mysterious forest, that awe lasted only a moment before a question rose in his heart.

Who is she?