The light cut out.
The golden path vanished from beneath their feet, and the three of them were thrown onto unyielding stone. The shock of knees and palms hitting stone shot through their bodies.
Koyoi lifted his head.
The familiar, pale glow of a lantern flickered dimly through the encroaching mist.
It was a station—Nakaoka Station.
Asahi was the first to his feet. Keeping his hand on the hilt of his greatsword, he scanned the surroundings for any threats. Only after confirming they were safe did he allow himself to exhale.
"Are we back?"
"We were sent back."
Kuon answered, still slumped on the stone floor. He was covering his face with his left hand. Through the gaps in his fingers, the light of his artificial eye flickered with an irregular, frantic pulse—the backlash of pushing its output too high at the bottom of the Moonlight Well.
"Is your eye... okay?" Koyoi asked, crouching beside him.
Kuon didn’t lower his hand. A thin thread of blood trickled from the corner of his left eye, like a crimson wire.
"I can see," he muttered. "I can still see."
With that, he closed his eyes.
For a long while, no one moved. The chill of the station’s stone sapped their remaining body heat. The mist wrapped around them, leaving the lantern’s flame as their only source of light.
Koyoi placed his drawstring pouch on his lap.
The Drops had gone quiet.
The frantic pulsing they had felt at the bottom of the Moonlight Well had vanished into a deep silence. As if their resonance with the pillar of light in the Frozen Sanctuary had been a mere dream, the three Drops now lay dormant in the depths of the pouch.
"They're exhausted," Koyoi said, resting his hand over the fabric. There was warmth, but it was faint.
"We’re all exhausted," Asahi said, leaning his back against one of the station's pillars. He propped his greatsword against his knee and closed his eyes, though he didn't let the tension leave his shoulders.
Kuon slowly opened his eyes. The flickering of his artificial eye had subsided, returning to a weak but stable azure glow. He reached into his robes and produced the Catalog.
The cover had changed. A single streak of gold now ran across the corner where the gray corruption had been encroaching. It was a lingering trace of the light they had bathed in within the Frozen Sanctuary.
"A new entry has been added to the Catalog," Kuon said, flipping the pages.
Faint characters were emerging in a section that had previously been obscured by a sunless gray.
"There is another layer at the bottom of the Shimozato Well. A layer that wasn’t visible on our last descent. Without the Catalog being touched by the Sanctuary’s light, we wouldn't even be able to perceive its existence."
"Are we going back down?" Koyoi asked.
"We are. I told you the wells of the three towns are keys. But to turn the key, we must return to the depths once more."
Asahi opened his eyes. "If we can still move, the sooner the better—before the Catalog turns gray again."
He stood up, adjusting the weight of the greatsword on his back. From deep within the station, the train’s presence began to stir. Instead of a whistle, the lantern flames flickered twice.
Kuon closed the Catalog and stood. His footing wavered for a moment, but he steadied himself before Koyoi could reach out to help.
Koyoi retied the pouch to his waist. He could feel the warmth of the Drops returning, just a little.
The silhouette of the train emerged from the mist. Its chassis, wreathed in the pale glow of lanterns, waited silently for them in the darkness beyond the platform. Koyoi gently clutched his pouch and began walking toward it.