Oliver walked behind Aria, who now looked like an elderly woman well past seventy.
Her steps were extremely slow yet steady, and her back was slightly bent.
Even so, she walked as if she knew every corner of this village.
And the deeper they went into the alleys, the more people ran the moment they saw her.
Some dropped whatever they were holding, and some slammed their doors shut so hard the wood shook.
Oliver felt something strange creeping into him as he watched this chaos. The faces of the people made him uneasy.
Not because they were frightening, but because they were familiar in a way that made discomfort rise inside him.
Their features were slightly distorted, yet they were far too similar to faces he knew from his real village.
He could not explain the feeling, a disturbing mix of confusion, nostalgia, and fear.
All those emotions rushed into him every time he looked at those faces.
As for Aria, she walked in complete calm.
