Echoes of the Abyss: The Stone of Prushka and the Lost Arm - The One-Armed Vow — The Hand That Cannot Reach, and the Feelings That Pass Each Other By

The dining hall of Serenie was as dim as ever. Everlight stones embedded in the walls cast a faint, pale blue glow over the damp air. Outside the pipes, hot water coursed with a steady, rhythmic gurgle—*gloop, gloop*—echoing through the chamber. Riko sat staring at the parchment spread across the table. On it, in her own careful hand, she had written every detail Ozen had told her about the Sixth Layer. The Unreturned City. The Crystal Corridor. The Lost Things. Every time her eyes traced those words, something stirred restlessly deep in her chest. "I really do have to go." She murmured it to herself. The brace on her left hand clinked softly against the table's edge. "Hey, Reg. I still want to go to the Sixth Layer." Reg, seated across from her, lifted his head. His amber eyes fixed on her, steady and direct. The shoulder where his right arm had once been tensed, just slightly. "...Riko." His voice was low, restrained. "I told you yesterday. I'm against it." "But we might be able to get back what we lost. Your arm, Nanachi's Miti, my hand—all of it." Riko clenched her left hand tight, as if to confirm through the brace that her fingers wouldn't move. "And there might be a lead on my mother, too." Reg stayed silent, his gaze dropping to the parchment on the table. He stared at the map of the Sixth Layer drawn there like a man looking at something bitter. "I understand how you feel, Riko. But the Sixth Layer is nothing like the Fifth. The strain of the ascent strips away your humanity. There's no guarantee any of us could come back." "But we won't know unless we go." "So you'll go because you don't know?" A thorn crept into Reg's voice for the first time. Riko's eyes widened, and she stared at his face. "Reg...?" "I don't want to see anyone get hurt again." Reg clenched his left fist on his knee, hard enough that his knuckles went white. "I don't want to lose your hand, or Nanachi's heart—not anymore. So why do you keep trying to walk into danger?" "I feel the same way. But giving up without doing anything would hurt so much more." Her voice rose, just a little. "If there's a chance to get back what we lost, I can't choose not to go just because I'm scared. That wouldn't be me." "You're only thinking about yourself, Riko." Those words cut sharply through the air of the dining hall. For a moment, Riko stopped breathing. "...What is that supposed to mean?" "You're always like this. The moment you want to do something, you stop seeing anything else around you. Have you ever once thought about how worried I am?" His voice began to tremble. "Ever since I lost my right arm, I've been thinking about it constantly. Can I still protect you the way I used to? What good am I when I can't even use the Incinerator? Can someone like me go to a place like the Sixth Layer and actually keep you safe? And if I can't—then this time, this time I'll—" He cut himself off. He bit his lip and looked down. Riko tried to say something in response, but the words wouldn't come. (So that's how Reg has been feeling.) She hadn't known. She hadn't tried to know. "...I don't need you to protect me." The words came out colder than she'd expected, ringing through the dining hall. Reg's face lifted slowly. His eyes wavered like a wounded animal's. "...I see." That was all he said before rising from his chair. "Do whatever you want." He turned his back. In the dim light of the dining hall, his silhouette looked very small. "Reg, wait—" Riko reached out. But Reg didn't turn around. He walked out of the dining hall and was gone. Left behind, Riko slowly lowered her outstretched hand. (No. That's not it. That's not what I meant to say.) A dull ache throbbed deep in her chest. She'd said too much. She knew that. But she didn't know how she should have said it instead. Riko looked at the parchment on the table once more. The words describing the Sixth Layer blurred before her eyes. "...I have to decide this properly, myself." She murmured it softly and stood up. The passages of Serenie were dark and damp everywhere. On the walls, remnants from the days when Bondrewd had ruled—reliefs of the Narehate—rose eerily from the stone. Water dripping from the ceiling struck the flagstones in a steady rhythm. Riko walked alone. (I shouldn't have said it like that to Reg.) Regret weighed down her steps. But even if she chased after him now, she didn't know what she would say. "Riko." She stopped at the sound of her name. Turning, she saw Nanachi leaning against the passage wall. Their body covered in white fur, long rabbit-like ears, reddish-brown eyes watching Riko quietly. "Nanachi..." "You fought with Reg, didn't you. I saw." Nanachi crossed their arms and sighed in exasperation. "Why do you two always have to make everything so complicated?" "But Reg won't try to understand how I feel." "And you're not trying to understand how he feels either." Riko fell silent, stung by the words. "...I do understand. That Reg is worried about me. But even so, I want to go." "That doesn't mean you get to say 'I don't need you to protect me.'" Nanachi looked Riko straight in the eyes. "He holds himself together by protecting you. He lost his right arm, he can't use the Incinerator anymore—and still, protecting you is the only way he has left to forgive himself." Riko slowly turned Nanachi's words over in her mind. (Reg can't forgive himself.) That was it. After that desperate battle, Reg had been blaming himself all this time. For failing to protect Riko's hand. For failing to protect Nanachi's Miti. That guilt had bound his heart tight. "...What should I do?" "Don't ask me. Figure it out yourself. I'm not here to referee your fights." With that, Nanachi walked past Riko. But the corner of their mouth was curved, just slightly. Riko stood there for a while. (I have to decide this properly, myself.) She repeated it in her heart. And then Riko headed alone toward the Crystal Corridor, where the entrance to the Sixth Layer lay. The Crystal Corridor was at the deepest part of Serenie, beyond even the Chamber of Prayer. It was normally sealed off, but today, for some reason, the door at its entrance stood open. Riko stood before that door. (This is the entrance to the Sixth Layer.) Her heart pounded hard. Fear and hope, both at once. "Just a scouting trip. I'll just take a quick look." She murmured it as if to convince herself, and stepped through the door. The Crystal Corridor was, as its name suggested, a vast cavern filled with countless crystal pillars arranged like a maze. From the ceiling, innumerable crystals hung down like stalactites; from the floor, crystal spears thrust upward. Riko caught her breath at the sight. "Amazing..." The crystals scattered the light of her lantern, shimmering in seven colors. It was like wandering into a forest of jewels. Riko began to walk slowly, weaving between the crystal pillars, deeper and deeper. (The light is beautiful.) The brilliance of the crystals was almost enough to pull her soul in just by looking at it. (Beyond here lies the Unreturned City.) Riko touched the crystal wall. A cool sensation passed through her fingertips. (The Lost Things. If I could find them, maybe I could get back Reg's arm, Nanachi's Miti, my hand—all of it.) Riko gently clasped the Prushka stone at her chest. (Prushka. I'm going. I will never give up.) The stone felt, quietly, just a little warmer. Riko pressed further in. The crystal light grew stronger and stronger. (Huh...?) Suddenly, her footing felt uncertain. (I can't tell which way is which.) She turned around, but couldn't find the path she'd come by. Every crystal pillar looked the same. The reflected light warped her vision. "...This is bad." Riko stopped walking. Her heart hammered. (I'm lost.) She learned the terror of the Crystal Corridor firsthand. This was a labyrinth that led trespassers astray. The light scrambled all sense of direction. Riko took a deep breath. (Calm down. I'll be fine.) She told herself that and looked around once more. That was when it happened. Through a gap between the crystals, she saw an especially strong light spilling out. (That light... what is it?) As if drawn by it, Riko stumbled forward. The light seemed to be calling to her. (Beautiful. I want to see it closer.) Riko moved between the crystal pillars, toward the light. And then the ground gave way beneath her. "Eh—" The crystal she'd been standing on crumbled away with a clatter. Riko's body was flung into the air. "Ah—!" She reached out with her left hand on instinct. The braced hand caught, barely, on a nearby crystal pillar. "—nngh!" Her body swung wildly. Below her feet yawned a deep darkness. If she fell, there was no saving her. (Hold on...!) Riko poured strength into her left hand. But her paralyzed fingers wouldn't obey. The brace slid slowly across the crystal's surface. (I can't grip...!) Her fingertips slipped, inch by inch, away from the crystal. (I'm falling—!) And then— "Riko—!!" At the same moment as the shout, something wrapped around Riko's body. Reg's left arm had extended. The mechanical arm, which could stretch over forty meters, had caught Riko firmly around the waist. "Reg...!" Riko clung to his arm. Reg gritted his teeth and pulled her up. "Kh...!" Riko's body rose slowly up the crystal cliff. And then Riko was gathered up in Reg's arms. "...You idiot!!" Reg's roar echoed through the Crystal Corridor. "I told you not to go off on your own! Coming to a place like this by yourself—what were you going to do if you'd fallen?!" His voice shook with anger. But his eyes were wet with tears. "I-I'm sorry..." Riko buried her face in Reg's chest and apologized in a small voice. "...I was so scared." His voice suddenly went quiet. "When Nanachi told me you'd gone to the Sixth Layer entrance alone, my mind went blank. When I thought about what would happen if I hadn't made it in time, my body just moved on its own." Reg tightened his arms around her. "I'm terrified of losing you." Those words trembled. Riko wept quietly against his chest. "...I'm sorry, Reg. I didn't understand your feelings at all." Her tears soaked into his chest. "I don't really think I don't need you to protect me. I'm happy that you protect me. Always—thank you." Reg said nothing, and kept holding her. Only the sound of their quiet weeping echoed through the Crystal Corridor. After a while, Riko lifted her face. "...Let's go back, Reg." "Yeah." The two of them began walking slowly toward the entrance of the Crystal Corridor. Ozen stood at the entrance. Her massive frame—over two meters tall—was bent into an extreme stoop, and her sharp black eyes looked down at Riko and Reg. Her strange hairstyle was arranged to hide the scalp twisted by years of ascent strain. The Thousand-Men Wedges embedded all over her body glinted dully in the dim light. "...If you want to turn back, now's the time." Ozen's low voice resonated through the Crystal Corridor. "Ozen..." "You two underestimate the Sixth Layer far too much. So I'll show you reality while you still can." With that, Ozen pushed forward a man who had been waiting behind her. The man was a Black Whistle delver. No—a former Black Whistle, perhaps. His appearance was painful to look at. His eyes were vacant, unfocused. His mouth hung half-open, drool trailing from it. His limbs twitched and spasmed without any will of their own. "This man once crawled up from the Sixth Layer. He took the ascent strain and lost half his humanity. Now he can't speak a word, can't even remember his own name." Riko couldn't look away from him. (So this is the curse of the Sixth Layer.) The ascent strain of the Fifth Layer took your senses. But the Sixth Layer took your humanity. "The curse of the Sixth Layer is the loss of humanity. It's no

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Episode 2

Name: Echoes of the Abyss: The Stone of Prushka and the Lost Arm
Author: Novelia

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