"Are melancholy and stagnation two sides of the same coin?"

The heavy stream of rain roared across town, creating a large thumping sound with each drop, accompanied by the heavy thunder crashing anxiously around you. In the middle of this cold night, you suddenly wake up, attribute it to the heavy rain, and ask yourself one simple question.

"Why is she dead?"

Your eyes darted away from the scene. Your heart neglected the play. Your lips only moved as your script guided you to do so. Were you supposed to react differently? That's what you wondered. Your identity faded away from the memories that once lay within you. The interests that made you who you were, the feelings that changed what you felt for others, and everything else that made the real you are all but crystals shattered and lost in the deep sea of your mind.

Devastation, disappointment, disbelief.

That's what you should've felt.

Liora's corpse lay in front of you; her face left unrecognizable, her body flattened by each punch she suffered, and the other half of her body missing. All color on the bed sheets washed aside by the dark red sea of blood left from her body. Who could've done such a despicable thing?

Your lips remained shut, your face remained unchanged, but you still moved from the cozy bed and wandered into the cold outside. Not only were you barefoot, but you also lacked enough clothing to go out into the heavy rain; you didn't really care about that, though.

However, when your body touched the outside, there wasn't any rain or other houses. It was suddenly, extremely quiet, as if a switch flipped. As your eyes adjust to this new environment, the view before you is, beyond reality.

A massive structure made of concrete, thousands of seats crafted from precious marble and stone, and a centerpiece filled with sand. You were today's act in this colosseum, you didn't know why, or how.

Maybe you believed this was all for nothing, but there was a single person acting as the audience for today. A man standing far away at the top of the colosseum, seemingly coming from nowhere, he was so far away that you couldn't even hear him.

"Who are you?"

You believed that it was a simple question, but that's when you noticed the man breaking down in tears and horror. You looked behind to try and return to the house, but it was gone. You were the only one putting an audience on this disheveled man; you didn't understand his emotions, but neither did you understand your own.

"Wake up!"

It was that feeling again; a switch had been flipped from within you, and everything changed. This time, however, you were woken up by Liora, who was in healthy shape. It was also a few hours into the day; it was a sunny day, and everything seemed fine.

"You had quite the long sleep, Camilla."

Still half awake, Liora takes a napkin and cleans your drool-covered mouth. Embarrassing! You suddenly jump from the bed and realize what's going on.

                                                                                                  "Liora... You didn't do anything to me while I slept, right?"

"Of course not. I simply prepared breakfast for the both of us; today will be a long day."

"What do you mean a long day..."

Liora's right hand moved with caution as she grabbed a small notebook from a pocket attached to her top and displayed it to you. "On your first day, I had explained that there was a hard-working ethic applied to living in White Campanella. There was something I didn't tell you, which you definitely caught on to, and I wanted to expand on it now."

"How could I live such a lavish lifestyle in Campanella? I own this home. I appear as if I have nothing going on during the day, but that's all part of my work. My role in Campanella is that of an analyst. I am required to put together puzzles and report the solutions to those puzzles to those who need them."

You were rightfully confused at the revelation.

"The magnificent play you and I followed yesterday was something inspired by my work. As an analyst, I determined the woman had paid off a hitman to kill her husband. Her husband had a lot of money saved, and she wanted to take authority of the money."

"When we watched the play, they mentioned royal soldiers had done the job. If it was really you who solved this crime, wouldn't they say it was you?"

"Perfect response, Camilla. Analysts simply rely on information and receive their payment; in this play, I serve as the backdrop to the bigger picture—that's how I live."

"You solve crimes and all that. I actually think that's cool."

"Solve? Hmm. Anyway, there's more to why I'm showing you this notebook. Yesterday, when we were outside doing all those things, there was someone following us. They kept staring right at you, and I wondered why, but I wasn't able to grasp that. I drew this sketch over time to attempt to match the features of their face and body."

The sketch portrayed a young lady with white hair and light skin, a weirdly detailed dress with crosses all around it, a seemingly medium height, and a slim build. You scratched your head while looking at how detailed the sketch was; you didn't even realize that fact yourself. You could've been killed for all you knew!

"Why would they? What's so interesting about me? I haven't even showered yet..."

"I also haven't showered today; what a shame! At any rate, they could've seen us at the edge of Campanella. A perfectly reasonable action whilst two women walk out of a highly guarded ghost town for a seemingly unknown reason."

Without a word, Liora's hand grasps the next page of the notebook, which exhibits a complete plan on luring the woman toward you. You wondered why she'd want her to come to you instead of leading her away as a potential threat, but you didn't question it, out loud at least.