Alice immediately regretted stepping inside the portal as reality warped around her in an instant flash of light, sound, and motion…

  "WHOA!!!"

  The world spun violently before suddenly SLAMMING into focus again, and Alice found herself standing on the edge of an enormous city skyline that stretched endlessly under blood-red skies and jagged spires reaching toward storm-churned clouds above them both…

  And then came the voices.

  Hundreds…no,thousands, whispering from every shadowed alleyway all at once:

  "You don’t belong here."

  "Leave now."

  Or worse yet, the coldest one yet:

  “We’ll make sure you never leave.”

  Alice whipped around in terror, but saw nothing but empty streets ahead while behind them loomed something far darker than buildings or streets could ever be...

  Because even though no one was visible yet, she could feel their eyes watching from unseen places high above like predatory hawks circling prey waiting for weakness to strike first!

  So when Shi’an finally spoke up beside Alice the next second, a calm voice cutting through rising panic perfectly clear despite danger surrounding them?

  She only said two words:

  "Stay close.”

  There was no time to protest, no time to ask questions as the shadows whispered around them. So without thinking, Alice grabbed Shí'àn's hand and held it tight as she stared around.

  She felt very, very small as the city loomed above them. And the whispers…the shadows...

  "What is this place…?" Alice whispered, her voice coming out much smaller than she'd expected as she observed the legendary skyline of Phenomena City.

  Shí'àn glanced at her for only a second. "We're at the city center," she explained, hand gripping Alice's hand. "This is where things are safest. As long as we aren't seen as intruders, we should be okay to conduct our business."

  Alice glanced at her. "And...if we are seen as intruders?"

  Shí'àn's jaw clenched. "Then it would be best if we ran fast.”

  Run?

  The word sent a chill through Alice, remembering what Shí'àn had said only moments before about the Phenomena City residents not being friendly to outsiders.

  "What happens if they see us?" she asked, her grip on Shí'àn's hand tightening unconsciously. "I mean...you said they don't like outsiders. What…exactly...do they do to outsiders?”

  Shí'àn hesitated, just for a second. Then, quietly:

  "They don't let them leave."

  Alice swallowed hard, her stomach twisting into knots. "And...if we do try to leave?" she whispered, already knowing the answer but needing to hear it anyway.

  Shí'àn's voice dropped even lower, barely audible over the wind howling through jagged spires around them:

  "Then they make sure you never do."

  A wave of horror flooded through Alice, making her blood run cold. Never leave…

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  "What...what does that mean?" she asked, forcing the words out. "Exactly what does it mean!?"

  Shí'àn didn't answer right away. She just continued looking around, eyes scanning the spires of the city in the distance. Finally, she spoke again, voice soft but steady.

  "It means they have a way of...disposing of unwelcome visitors.”

  There was another pause. Then, finally, Shí'àn spoke. This time her voice was so low, the wind almost carried her words away:

  "The permanent kind.”

  Alice froze. The permanent kind.

  It sent a chill straight down her spine, echoing in her mind. She knew Phenomena City would be dangerous. But this, this was an entirely different kind of danger.

  And a part of her suddenly wanted nothing more than to go running back through the Portal to the chamber where it was safe. But another part, a stronger part, told her no. They'd come too far to back down now.

  She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. "So... what do we do now?" she asked quietly, still gripping Shí'àn’s hand tightly.

  Shí'àn looked at her for a long moment before answering, her voice firm but not unkind:

  "We find Lust."

  A pause. Then she added with quiet intensity:

  "And we stop her before they notice us."

  "...Can I know who "they" are...at least?”

  Shí'àn's expression darkened slightly. "The Phenomena Witches," she said simply. "The…population of witches who live here in the city. They're nothing like the witches from Pays Magique back on Fairylyl. The witches native to this city are the ones that are supposed to keep out anyone, especially those who don't belong here."

  Alice frowned, recalling the whispers and shadows she'd sensed all around since entering the city. "And they watch everywhere… don't they?" she said quietly.

  Shí'àn nodded grimly. "They're everywhere…and they're always watching. So…we can't attract attention.”

  There was an even longer pause. Then, reluctantly, Shí'àn answered.

  "If they do notice us?" she repeated, voice tight. "Well... they…don't usually take kindly to outsiders, like I already told you. If they see us as threats, which they will since we are non-witches who can use Void Magic..."

  She stopped abruptly, looking down. Alice could practically hear her swallow hard. Finally, after a long, quiet moment, she finished, voice just a whisper over the wind:

  "Then they'll try to kill us.”

  Alice's heart lurched. Kill them?

  "What… what do you mean kill us?" she whispered, gripping Shí'àn's hand even tighter. "They can't just do that!"

  But even as she protested, a part of her knew that, here, in Phenomena City, they absolutely could.

  Shí'àn's expression was grim. "They have done it before," she said quietly, her voice carrying a weight of truth Alice couldn't ignore.

  Alice swallowed hard, the reality sinking in, this wasn’t just some city with unfriendly residents. This was a place where outsiders were erased if they weren’t careful.

  "And...they don't leave any evidence behind?" she asked softly.

  Shí'àn shook her head once, a single sharp motion that spoke volumes:

  "No one ever finds them. So I ask you this: do you fear death?”

  Death.

  The word sent another shiver down Alice's spine, and yet, a strange feeling of determination pushed back against her fear. So she shook her head firmly and answered in a voice much braver than she felt inside:

  "No, not usually, but for some reason...my heart feels heavy thinking about it."

  "Your soul houses that of another," Shí'àn pointed out, "That's why. You're feeling THEIR fear, not yours.”

  Alice's breath hitched at the realization. The fear wasn't hers…it was Kairy's, and that fear acted out through her.

  "That makes sense," she whispered, squeezing Shí'àn’s hand again as if to steady herself. "So... what do we do now?"

  Shí'àn glanced toward a distant tower where eerie violet light pulsed faintly against the blood-red sky.

  "We find Lust before they find us."

  She didn’t wait for Alice to reply before tugging her forward into the shadows of Phenomena City, where whispers coiled like smoke and every step felt like walking on glass over an abyss.

  Tick. Tock.

  Somewhere deep in this cursed city…something waited.

  And it already knew they were coming.

  Alice's breath caught in her throat as the realization crashed over her. The "they" Shí'àn was talking about, the ones who would kill them if they were caught, were these Phenomena Witches.

  The thought made Alice feel sick to her stomach, but she swallowed hard and forced herself to nod. "So…we don't get seen by any of them," she whispered back.

  Shí'àn gave another firm nod before turning slightly toward a narrow alleyway between two towering spires ahead, the only visible path forward through this eerie city skyline that seemed designed for observation rather than travel itself…

  Because somewhere deep inside those shadowed streets lay the Lust Sin, still waiting for their arrival. Meanwhile, thousands more unseen eyes watched the two girls from hidden perches above, ready to pounce the moment either intruder stepped too far beyond the safety line drawn around the heart of the district where outsiders weren’t supposed to go…

  And now here stood Alice and Shi-An standing right at edge of danger without realizing it yet, neither girl prepared for the cold voice echoing out loud behind them both:

  "Well well well…what do we have here?"

  Both girls froze mid-step upon hearing the unfamiliar female speaker approaching fast from behind…