I didn't waste time.

Climbing up onto the woman's shoulder, I positioned myself near the shackles around her wrists. The iron was old, with rust in places, but the locks appeared intact.

"Hold still," I muttered, though I wasn't sure if she could even hear me through her coughing fit.

I extended one of my claws—sharp and thin—and slipped it into the keyhole of the first shackle. The mechanism was crude, simple. I felt around inside, searching for the pins.

Click.

Nothing.

I adjusted my angle, trying again. The woman wheezed below me, her breathing still labored and wet.

I worked faster this time, my claw slipping into the first ankle lock with practiced precision. Click, click, click—the mechanism gave way almost immediately.

The shackle fell open.

"One more," I said, moving to the other ankle.

This one opened even quicker. Both locks were old, neglected. Whoever had chained this woman here hadn't expected anyone to try freeing her.

The moment the second shackle released, the woman slumped forward completely. The white-haired girl caught her before she could hit the ground face-first.

"I've got you," the girl said softly, struggling to support the woman's weight. "Can you stand?"

The woman's legs trembled as she tried. With the girl's help, she managed to get her feet under her, but she swayed dangerously, barely able to stay upright.

I looked back toward the doorway. The hallway beyond was completely dark—we'd need light to get through.

"Wait here," I said, darting back to grab one of the candles that hadn't been knocked over. I carefully picked it up in my mouth, trying not to let the flame get too close to my whiskers.

"Follow me," I said, my voice muffled around the candleholder. "Stay close."

I led the way into the dark hallway, the small flame casting dancing shadows on the walls. Behind me, I could hear the shuffle of feet—the girl supporting the woman, both of them moving slowly.

"Kuro, wait," the girl called out. "She can't move very fast."

I slowed my pace, keeping the candle steady. The light wasn't much, but it was enough to see a few feet ahead.

Each step echoed in the darkness. The woman's breathing was ragged behind me, punctuated by occasional wet coughs. The girl murmured encouragement, helping her forward one step at a time.

Finally, after what felt like forever, I saw it.

light ahead. The hallway was ending.

"Almost there," I said around the candle.

We emerged into the bedroom, and the warm sunlight felt like a blessing after that suffocating darkness. I set the candle down carefully on the floor.

The woman's legs gave out the moment we crossed the threshold.

She collapsed onto the bedroom floor, her body curling in on itself. The white-haired girl knelt beside her immediately.

"You're safe now," the girl said. "You're going to be okay."

The woman's head turned slightly, her blindfold still covering her eyes. Her mouth opened, lips moving as she tried to speak.

"Th—" she started, but her voice cracked.

Then came the coughing again. Deep, wet coughs that shook her whole body. She turned her head to the side, more yellow fluid spilling from her mouth onto the floor.

When the fit finally subsided, she tried again.

"Thank..." she wheezed. "...you..."

The woman lay on the floor, her chest rising and falling with labored breaths. The white-haired girl gently reached for the blindfold.

The white-haired girl carefully touched the blindfold that covered the ggirl'seyes. "May I?" she asked softly.

The woman nodded weakly.

The girl carefully untied the soaked cloth and pulled it away. Underneath, the woman's eyes were bloodshot, ringed with dark circles. She blinked slowly in the sunlight, as if seeing light for the first time in ages.

"Thank you," she whispered, her voice raw and broken. "Thank you, Kuro. And you, Aster."

Both of us froze.

My fur bristled. "Wait—how do you know our names?"

The woman's cracked lips tried to form a smile, and there was a hint of amusement in her tired eyes.

"I am a Seeker," she said. "One who sees what is to come. I can perceive things others cannot—futures, fates, the threads of destiny itself."

I stared at her, genuinely unsettled. A seer who knew our names before we'd even introduced ourselves? That was...

"Though," she added, her voice taking on a slightly lighter tone despite its roughness, "I also just... heard you. Earlier. In the darkness. You kept calling each other by name."

There was a long pause.

"Oh," I said flatly. But something was off. I didn't ever remember asking for the white-haired girl's name. Looking at her, perhaps there was no lie to the Seeker's claim.

Aster's face turned slightly pink. "Right. We did do that."

"Yes," the Seeker said, and despite everything she'd been through, there was the faintest glimmer of humor in her bloodshot eyes. "The gift of foresight is powerful, but sometimes... ears work just as well."

I felt my tail twitch in embarrassment. Of course, we'd been shouting our names at each other the entire time we were down there.

"Well," I muttered. "That makes more sense."

"Both can be true," the Seeker said, her brief moment of levity fading. She turned her attention to Aster, her expression growing serious again. "But you, child... You carry something in your blood. Something rare."

Aster leaned closer, the embarrassment replaced with concern. "What do you mean?"

"Your older sibling is a Cleric. Am I wrong?" the Seeker said, her voice gaining a strange certainty despite its weakness. "The healers of the old times. The blessed ones who could mend wounds with touch and drive away sickness with prayer. What a rare gift."

Aster stared at her, stunned. "I... I don't know anything about that." She looked down for a moment. "I don't have those things. I'm not my older sister," she said quietly.

She'd never mentioned this before.

"I wasn't talking about your sister, child," the Seeker said quietly. "You also have this gift. You just need to learn it, that's all." She placed her weak hand on Aster's face, lifting it. With just a few words, she'd managed to cheer up this child.

I could tell—Aster's face went from sad and ashamed to confused, and then glad.

"Really?" she questioned.

Without saying a word, the Seeker gave a simple nod. Aster's face flushed red across her cheeks. She smiled warmly.

I had a hundred questions suddenly burning in my mind. This woman—this Seeker—she knew things. Things we desperately needed to understand.

"Wait," I said, stepping forward.

"Forgive me for asking this, but—" I couldn't finish my sentence before a hand patted my head.

"I know, child," she said simply. "I know that I was imprisoned for close to a hundred years. But you, however... you're still a prisoner, even now."

With those few sentences, my head filled with even more questions. I shook my head.

"Now I'm fully confused. But for now—who are you? Why are you here?"

The Seeker's expression darkened. I bet she knew I was going to ask such a question.

"The lord is..." she paused, choosing her words carefully. "He is old. Older than he appears. He rules this manor and the lands around it with power that shouldn't exist anymore."

"What kind of power?" I pressed.

"I don't know," she said flatly.

For someone who knew about people who didn't even know about themselves, it scared me.

"I was simply a traveler, passing by this small town. And when word was told that I was a Seeker, that's what he summoned me for," she said. "To find out his own future. Or what was foretold."

"And?" I prompted.

"The lord didn't seem to be amused. Perhaps out of curiosity, he asked me. I saw three visions. Three futures I saw for him." Her eyes refocused on us. "The first two... they came true. Exactly as I said they would. Harmless things."

"What were they?" Aster asked.

"The first was that it would rain for three weeks. The second was that ten of his maids would give birth to boys."

From what she told me, and from what I'd witnessed...

"That seems like—" I tried saying kindly.

"Are you sure you can see the future?" Aster said bluntly.

"Hey, I said I can see the future. I don't pick or choose them," the Seeker said. It was something I didn't know before.

A chill ran down my spine. "And the third vision?"

The woman's face twisted with something between fear and bitter satisfaction.

"After the first two I told, he told me to tell him the last vision and be on my way. Then I spoke... that he would meet the angel again."

The room fell silent.

I remembered Fuko saying the same thing. The term "angel." What did it mean? Surely not something from above? Right?

She continued, her voice hardening. "I didn't know what it meant either." Like she'd read my mind.

"His subjects were also confused. But it was his face... I could still remember his face when he looked at me. From that, I knew I wasn't leaving."

Her hands clenched weakly at her sides, trembling with the memory.

"He threw me in that prison," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "At first, just... a cell. Stone walls. Iron chains."

She paused, her breathing shallow.

"They would tie me up—arms above my head, sometimes for days. The cold was unbearable. Every few hours, they'd pour buckets of freezing water over me. Not to clean me. Not for any reason."