Lotte found herself back in the ashen lands of the cavern, wandering closely behind the giant deity and her attendant.

Days or weeks passed by her in mere moments with no clear destination. Lotte’s eyes wandered, taking in every minor change in the scenery. 

Dunes rose and fell. Cracks opened up to form massive rifts. Souls dressed in rags came together to form crowds and hordes as they walked together in this seemingly endless cavern.

Lotte knew she differed from them; she felt different. 

Blue lights flickered inside their bodies like wisps of fire, but not for Lotte. Examining her own chest, there wasn’t any light at all. 

She thought she couldn’t see it herself, but that wasn’t it. 

Lotte witnessed how others cupped their hands around those flames, caressing them for some sort of depressing comfort. 

She was indeed different from them—but how she didn’t know.

Whatever it was, Lotte continued to walk among the train of souls that expanded with each step they took. 

She gazed back at the giantess leading the train. Like a guide, she was drawing in lost souls by simply existing. As if she was a giant flame attracting the moths to her gloomy light, but why did she approach only Lotte? 

And why did Lotte feel the same attraction to her as the other souls?

There wasn’t an answer to any of her questions, and the more time passed, the closer they got to their destination. 

They reached a temple, a massive stone-like palace structure with successively receding levels. Lotte stood speechless before it, processing the sight before her and the surrounding landscape. 

A city unfolded on the ashes of the desert, built inside the great cavern they wandered in. Crevices and dunes stretched further than the human eye could see. 

Houses of simple clay popped out left and right wherever Lotte looked. Inhabited by people of different ages, gender and body stature, dressed in the same rags and a burning blue light inside of them. 

She somehow knew what this place was. “A city built for the dead.” 

—✮—

“A city built for the dead?” asked Liara, shaking her friend awake from her half-slumber. “Is this a subject for a history assignment?”

Lotte was spooked to see Liara suddenly before her. “Wha- no, sorry, I-I got distracted and found this book.” Lotte shut the tome-like book but underestimated the loud bang it created when closing. 

Startled by the loud bang, she glanced around the library, hoping to not have alarmed anyone. 

“Relax, no one’s here. Otherwise, a guy would have already come to stare at your drooling but charmingly sleepy face,” Liara gave a cheeky remark, colouring Lotte’s cheeks red. “Sorry that I came late today. A cupcake as an apology?” 

Ignoring the clear rule of not eating anything in the library, Liara pulled out a bag of freshly baked cupcakes. They were definitely from a bakery. Liara couldn’t bake anything even if her life depended on it. 

“Liara, we planned to meet at,” holding her muffin with her mouth in a half bite, Lotte checked the time on her watch, “it’s 12:30. You’ve made me wait for four hours.” 

“I know, and I’m sorry.” The smile on her face dropped, her usual cheerful expression disappearing, but worst of all, she had yet to try one of them. 

In any other case, she would have started with her third one while Liara was at her first.

That was one of the first warning signs that something was up.

“Did something happen?” Came out of Lotte’s lips in concern for her friend. 

Liara hasn’t been the same for the past few weeks. Skipping class, not attending club meetings—Lotte wished she could ditch them too—and Liara procrastinated on all her assignments. 

Strangely, despite their expected strictness, they were lax with Liara, giving her free rein. Something was not right.

“You know, yes, there’s something!” Liara slammed her hands on the table, the echo louder than before. She leaned forward towards Lotte and her stern hazel eyes reflected from the rims of her glasses. “We are putting too much effort into these useless assignments!” 

She hammered her hands several times on the table, throwing a tantrum and throwing the books and papers on the ground.

“W-what do you mean?” Lotte stuttered, taken aback by the sudden brashness of her outburst. “This is for history class. We can’t just not do it-” 

“We can and we will!” Liara grabbed Lotte by the hand, who was still holding a ballpen and now drew a thick line across her remaining notes. Liara practically dragged Lotte out of the library without letting her gather her belongings. “We’ll watch a movie today, whatever they stream. Then we’ll go to the, I don’t know, park? No, what could we visit? Oh, we could-” 

“Wait, stop!” Planting her feet firmly on the ground and attempting to yank her hand free, Liara grasped Lotte harder than she expected.

They ended up bumping together against a wall.

“Oww, I’m sorry, Lotte,” Liara apologised and rubbed her head. “I didn’t notice I was holding your hand so… firmly?” An uneasy smile formed on her face, brushing Lotte’s and her clothes from the loose grout of the library wall. “Are you hurt?” 

“I’m alright,” Lotte shook her head in response, taking a sidestep away from her. Liara was too close again. “You don’t seem like yourself. You’re hectic, more so than usual, and you have been absent a lot lately.” 

“And we haven’t seen each other for weeks,” mumbled Lotte. “Is everything alright?”

“I-” Liara wrung her hands and fidgeted in place. “Can we talk about it later? After a movie… and maybe a milkshake?” Her eyes neither sparked nor shone as Lotte was used to seeing. They were just sad. Not even a little smile on Liara’s face. “Please?” begged Liara.

Lotte gave a faint smile and simply nodded, which was more than enough to bring Liara’s usual self back. 

“Before that, can we pick up my stuff and-” 

“No time for that!” she grabbed Lotte by the hand again and yanked her with her to the streets, practically running with her in tow. “We can get them later. Let’s have some fun!”

—✮—

Finding a cinema which wasn’t bursting with visitors was impossible. The two of them ended up at a small theatre, watching a play by hobby actors with barely an audience.

Only some elderly couples were here, and it didn’t help that no one could bring snacks.

“Muffin?” Leave it to Liara for having you covered with more than enough to last for a week or five hours of the play—don’t ask where she was keeping it all.

The girls sat down on a narrow staircase of the theatre building. 

“Can we talk now?” A random old couple shushed at Lotte despite the break. “I don’t think I can take any more of that show. A movie would have been fine, but this is exhausting.” 

“Yeah, tell me about it.” Liara finished the last cupcake from before and licked her fingers. “Watching the second half will be torture.”

“There’s a second half!?” Lotte exclaimed, gaining another round of shushes from a nearby elderly couple. “I feel like the mob will turn on us with torches and pitchforks if we talk any further.” 

Liara chuckled at this. “You’re right. We better bail now.”

Giving up on the play, they wandered the city, passing shops and boutiques but never going inside any of them. Lotte was wondering where Liara was leading her. She had said something about getting milkshakes after the movie, but they had passed several already.

It’s as if she didn’t know what she was looking for either.

“Liara, I am worried-” 

“Let’s go on a trip,” she blurted out. “The two of us. Just for five days, nothing too big or fancy. We could visit the neighbouring cities and the countryside and-”

“Wait, this is all too sudden-”

Liara was going around the subject, unable to tell her what she truly tried to say. Lotte’s worries only grew.

“Liara, you know we can’t. We have school, four assignments due next week, with at least two club matches coming up, which is frankly quite a lot when I say it out loud. The school needs to slow down on everything they are throwing at us.” 

“I know, but,” Liara’s fingers rubbed the tanned skin of Lotte’s hand nervously, “I won’t ask the impossible of you. Please, it’s just for five days. And at the end of the trip I… I’ll tell you everything. Can you promise me you’ll think about it, please?” 

Everything in Lotte’s body yelled to trust her and just go with it. But on the other side, there was a tiny little voice in her brain saying, “No, don’t do it.” 

Liara had been her best friend for years, and frankly, the only real friend she could count on. 

She was always sweet, cheery, sarcastic, and had an obvious sweet tooth, and was always by Lotte’s side. 

Whenever she had troubles with her parents, school, or anything else, Liara was there.

Lotte always relied on her. She couldn’t bring herself to say no, no matter what the tiny little voice said. “I’ll think about it. I can promise you that much-.”

“Great!” It came out of Liara’s mouth like a bullet, drawing in the eyes of the crowd. “I’ll wait for your answer for the next three days. No text or call. Come at 5 am to the channel near the school, the one where the club docks their boats. Thank you, Lotte. Don’t forget to pack light!”

With a final firm hug, Liara bolted away, leaving Lotte gobsmacked by the amount of information. “5 am? Don’t you mean 5 pm? Liara? Liara!”