CRACK-CRACK… CRACK-CRACK… CRACK-CRACK…
In the silence of the night, the only sound was the eerie crackling of the fire. The smell of smoke began to fill the air, and waves of heat wrapped around the room.
Kai jolted awake, his eyes widening as he watched the red flames consume the walls and furniture around him. At first confused, then increasingly terrified, he felt his heart racing.
"Mei! Mei!" he shouted in a hoarse voice, reaching abruptly for his sister. He began shaking her roughly, afraid she would wake up too late.
Mei slowly opened her eyes, still trapped in the fog of sleep. "Good morning...!" she mumbled drowsily, but her voice faltered when her gaze landed on the fire spreading faster and faster. "W…what…?"
"There's no time for questions, LET'S GO!" Kai yelled, his voice full of panic. He grabbed her by the arm, almost lifting her from the chair, and began pulling her toward the door. The heat behind them was growing stronger, the flames devouring the path before them with every second.
"Wait… what about that old man?" Mei asked, pausing for a moment and glancing toward the corner of the room.
"Maybe we can use him later..." Mei thought.
Before Kai could stop her, she broke free from his grip and ran toward the elderly man sitting in the chair. "Sir! Wake up!" her voice trembled as she shook him by the shoulders.
He didn't respond. His head was bowed, eyes closed.
"Come on, get up…" she whispered.
But then…
Something caught her eye. On the floor, beneath the chair, she saw a dark stain spreading. Blood. She pulled the chair back and then saw it — a knife deeply embedded in his stomach. He had taken his own life.
"Too bad..."
She jolted and ran back to Kai. He grabbed her hand and, without a word, pulled her toward the exit. They coughed as they fled the house, every breath a struggle against the thick smoke that burned their lungs.
They stopped outside, watching the flames consume the roof and walls, turning the building into a blazing inferno.
"My coins!" Mei shouted, stepping toward the house.
Kai smacked her on the back of the head.
"Ouch!" she protested, holding her head.
It was still night outside. The air was cold, but the heat ahead of them was unbearable. The moon hung high in the dark sky, illuminating the scene — the building before them was fully engulfed in flames, and the orange glow of the fire painted the clouds and rising smoke. The light of the fire cast their panting faces in a harsh glow.
"How did this… happen?" Mei asked, still trying to comprehend how it had all come to this.
"I was sleeping…" Kai replied quietly.
Mei turned, and then she saw. Beyond that house, half the village was already consumed by fire. Flames devoured rooftops, windows shattered with muffled crashes, and sparks flew through the night air.
The houses were almost entirely made of wood. Once they caught fire… everything was lost.
She reached out and grabbed Kai by the sleeve. "Bro… Bro… Bro…" she repeated, tugging him.
He stared off into the distance.
"Bro… Bro… Bro…" she continued pulling him, harder and harder.
Finally, he snapped his head toward her. "What is it…?"
But when he looked over her shoulder, his eyes widened. "What the flip? It's all burning!" he muttered, a tone of shock and disbelief in his voice.
Mei watched the flames devour the village. "What… is happening here?" she asked, curiously.
Kai moved silently toward the burning village, eyes scanning the chaos for any sign of what had happened.
On the shattered cobblestones, Elf bodies hung from twisted posts and wooden beams, their cold limbs swaying in the wind.
Some were impaled by rusty swords, driven deep into their chests or stomachs, while others lay with their throats slit to the bone, blood pooling in black puddles.
Some had strangled themselves with torn ropes, some had smashed their skulls against stones, and there were those who had driven daggers into their own hearts, still clutching them after death.
In the shadow of burnt houses, charred bodies of those who had chosen to stand in the flames were visible, disappearing along with their homes. In murky, red-stained water, floated those who had jumped into the river from the bridge, choosing drowning over waiting for a knife.
Everything was ablaze — houses, streets, even the sky seemed bloody from the reflection of the fire. Silence was dead, broken only by the crackling of flames and the occasional collapse of walls. Everything screamed SUICIDE.
"Oh… My God… Who's going to give us the Compass now?" Kai wondered aloud.
Mei came up and stood beside him, watching the scene. "Who did this? Everyone… committed suicide. There's no trace."
"Johan did it! Case Closed!" Kai declared, raising his hand theatrically.
SMACK! — Mei hit him on the back of the head.
"Ouch!" exclaimed Kai, holding his head and looking at her with a wounded expression.
"Let's try to find the Compass," she suggested, already bending down to search the first bodies lying in the ash and smoke.
Kai sighed, but began doing the same, moving one lifeless body with his foot to look beneath it. "How do we even know it's here?" he asked, not hiding his doubt about her plan.
"I have a feeling…" she replied softly, but with enough conviction that he didn't dare to question her further.
A full hour passed, and their search yielded nothing. Their hands were blackened with ash, lungs filled with smoke, and their eyes stung from exhaustion. Finally, they collapsed onto the cold, dusty floor among the remnants of burnt beams to catch their breath.
"What will you spend your wish on?" Kai asked curiously, watching his sister.
"I shall see…" Mei replied briefly, her gaze fixed somewhere in the emptiness.
They remained like that for a while, sitting side by side in silence. Only the distant crackling of fire and the occasional collapse of charred debris broke the quiet.
"Maybe we should check over there…" Kai spoke suddenly, pointing toward a partially destroyed building. "Looks like the ruins of a shop."
Mei didn't bother answering. She simply stood and walked toward it, her steps light but determined. Kai rose and followed her, muttering something under his breath.
They began rifling through the remains of shelves, shattered glass, and collapsed beams. Half an hour of continuous rummaging through the wreckage passed before they saw it… the Compass Finder. It looked like an ordinary compass, but the needle remained still as Mei held it tightly in her hands.
"Give it here…" Kai said, then took the compass from Mei's hand. He grabbed it and lifted it in front of his face. At that very moment, the needle began spinning in circles. "It works! What now…?"
"Try saying the name of the thing you wanna find," Mei suggested, impatiently watching Kai fiddle with the endlessly spinning compass.
"Roxy's panties," Kai said, without a hint of hesitation.
SMACK! — Mei hit him on the back of the head.
"Try again!"
"Fine! The Diary…" he said, but the needle continued to spin in an endless circle, showing no sign of knowing where to guide them.
"Wait, let me check… Since the Compass works because of your Active Magic powers, maybe it says something in the manual," Mei said, taking the manual and flipping through it until she found what she was looking for. "'Find'… Use the command 'Find'!"
"Find the diary…" Kai repeated, this time louder. The compass needle immediately stopped, then slowly turned, pointing in a very specific direction.
"It works!" he shouted, his eyes sparkling with a sudden rush of excitement.
"Shall we follow it…?" Mei asked, leaning her hands on her knees, ready to move.
"What about all these Elves…?" Kai replied with a question, glancing around at the bodies still lying in the ash and darkness.
Mei paused for a moment, thinking.
Then an idea struck her…
"Wait, wait, wait. Doesn't this look familiar to you?" Mei asked her brother.
"What do you mean?" he replied with another question.
"What I'm trying to say… what if this was done by—" Mei began, her voice cracking as she tried to voice her theory, but before she could finish the sentence, something sounded behind them.
The ruined houses around them seemed to shudder under an invisible breath of hell. Their hearts leapt, their hands clenched, and their breathing became rapid and shallow.
From the darkness, something appeared that had no human shape. Something born from the very heart of hell. Its presence heated the air, and the smoke emanating from it twisted around them.
"It sssssseems like we met again…" hissed the Snake of Illusions, a grotesque, wide smile on its face, as its smoky form coiled around siblings.