"Hope it's not raining when I'm out of here..." Layla said as she walked through the deeply dark corridors beneath the cobblestone streets of London. The constant darkness and the sound of endless drops of water against abandoned grounds was nothing new for Layla, with her only guidance being her memory and her lantern. It was just going to be another trip in the catacombs with nothing out of the ordinary.

Or so she thought.

"Who's there?" Layla gulped as she moved around with her lantern in a nervous manner. In her years of taking trips to the catacombs, being alone during her travels through London's darkest corners was nothing new for her. Alone in her quest for food to eat and potential artifacts to sell for a little bit of loose change. However, the sounds of a weeping girl was enough to send shivers down Layla's spine. "Show yourself..." Layla said in her usually scratchy voice. Trepidated, she pulled out her large sheath knife from the belt that clasped the mildly tattered and dirty light-grey dress that she's been wearing for longer than she could remember. With her blade out, she took careful steps as she went after the seemingly human sound, the occasional drop of ceiling water dripping on her scalp.

"Help..."

"I said: show yourself." Layla held her breath, feeling a form of tension as she approached the source of the noise. Raising her right arm, she shined her lantern against the source of the weeps.

"Help me..."

"What!" Layla's eyes widened upon seeing where the sound came from. The streetwise girl looked up and down.

"Help..."

"What are you...?" Layla stared at the crying statue in horror. At the girl's stone form with small cracks and scratches all over her body, although she did not appear to be falling apart at all.

"Who... who are you?" The girl responded. Although her anguished voice was still working, her immovable mouth and locked jaw rendered her speech muffled.

"How... how did you end up like this?" Feeling a sudden sense of pity, Layla went against her feelings of trepidation as she came a little closer. Layla felt an unexpected force tugging her heartstrings as she examined the solid, dark-grey matter that trapped the crying girl in a state of sleep paralysis and agony.

"I don't know..." The petrified youth peeped in response.

"You..." Layla said softly as she examined the tattered dress that the crying girl was still wearing over her petrified flesh. The aged dress was still covering her body from the chest all the way to her knees, although the sleeves and parts of the skirt had wasted away while most of the remaining fabric was covered in mold and filth. The garments also had clear signs of being gnawed at. "Are those... wings?" Layla gasped as she shined her lantern against the two bat-like wings that were lodged into the girl's back, appearing majestic and like a burden.

"May... maybe... who are you?" The petrified girl replied.

"My name is Layla. What happened to you?" Layla asked, softening her voice.

"I don't remember..." The stone youth whimpered. Layla could feel that this girl was wronged by others, judging from the girl's overall state as well as her mostly expressionless face tinged with traces of fear.

"You do not?" Layla replied as her sympathy for the poor girl only became more intense, sensing that the petrified youth might have been wronged by others. She looked in pity at the girl's expressionless face, frozen in stone and with traces of fear and sadness.

"I... I do not. I don't know who I am... or what has been done to me. I'm... I'm hurting... so much. So much pain. I... I'm afraid of this petrified body. So afraid. These wings on my back, I... I don't know what to do with them... I don't think I ever used them. I don't know how long I've been here..." The girl wept again.

"I'm calling you Wren. I think it fits you. I hope you can accept this name..." Layla said, feeling that giving a name to the lost youth would be the least she could do.

"It's... it's beautiful. Thank you. But... I, I'm still so scared... so afraid of this shell..." Wren wept again.

"I can get you out of here." Layla replied.

"You can?" Wren asked, a small spark of hope emerging from her damaged voice.

"Yes, I can bring you to safety. I know a place. Mind if I carry you?" Layla asked.

"Please... whatever you can do to help..." Wren accepted Layla's offer, followed by the human girl grabbing Wren by her stone shoulders.

"Hold on..." Layla said as she tried her best to lift the petrified girl off her feet. In spite of the wronged girl's slim figure, Wren's flesh and all of her hair being made of pure stone added quite a bit of difficulty.

"Wait..." The statue girl replied.

"What is it?" Layla asked as she put Wren back on her feet, huffing and puffing.

"I... I think I can move my wings a bit... I think I know what to do. It... it just came over me. Please... carry me. Again..." Wren's muffled voice took on a pleading tone.

"Wow..." Layla gulped yet again as she noticed Wren gently fluttering her wings, the stone appendages going back and forth as if trying to create lift-off.

"Please..." Wren said.

"Yes." The orphan proceeded to turn around, after which she grabbed Wren by the thighs, the girl's stiffened stone body gently resting against Layla's back. As a result of Wren's arm being locked in place as it was placed against her chest, Layla tried her best not to feel bothered by the awkwardly placed stone arm against the back of her neck. Fortunately, most of Wren's mass appeared to be non-existent as a result of the girl's stone wings.

"I'll get you to safety. I hope no one sees us..." Layla said as she made her way back to the entrance of the catacombs with the petrified girl on her back.