LIGHT 04: Signs of Exhaustion

LIGHT 04: Signs of Exhaustion

Even after the light leaking from Elia’s fingertips disappeared, the guardian bodies did not move.

All three kept their awareness fixed in the direction where the distortion had been, while watching Elia at the same time. Their gaze held no emotion. And yet, their stillness carried unmistakable vigilance.

They were still watching.

The distortion.

And Elia.

At the far end of the collapsed passage, the spatial distortion was slowly shrinking.

It had not vanished completely.

The thin remnant of warped space trembled like the torn edge of cloth. The surrounding dust had begun to settle, but only the white particles drifting near the distortion continued to flow in an unnatural direction.

It was quiet.

Only the abnormality remained.

Lumira adjusted her hold on Elia.

There was no longer any reason to stay here.

At the very least, Elia had to be moved away from the distortion.

Lumira slipped an arm around Elia’s shoulder and slowly lifted her. The moment she put strength into it, that lightness came through with painful clarity.

Even lighter than before.

She was supposed to be supporting a collapsed body, yet there was hardly any weight left in her arms.

Too light.

Lumira checked Elia’s breathing only once.

The shallowness remained.

But the irregular rhythm had begun to settle, little by little.

Inhale.

Pause.

Exhale.

The interval was still unstable, but it had not collapsed completely.

She would hold.

Judging that, Lumira moved her feet carefully.

She guided Elia forward while avoiding the rubble.

The corridor floor was split open. In the gaps between broken stones, faint light still remained. Perhaps because of the distortion’s influence, a crack that should have been right before her eyes seemed, for one instant, far away.

It should have been close, yet it was distant.

It should have been distant, yet it was underfoot.

Her sense of position had not fully returned.

Something was wrong.

But she could not stop.

One guardian body moved ahead and stood as if confirming the route. The remaining two continued watching both the direction of the distortion and the area around Elia.

Then Elia’s eyelids moved faintly.

Lumira stopped.

Elia’s fingertips trembled slightly, and then the rhythm of her breathing changed. Her closed eyes slowly began to open.

They were not focused.

Her half-open eyes reflected the outline of the ruined ceiling, then slowly turned toward Lumira.

“Elia.”

Lumira called her name quietly.

There was no answer.

Elia was looking at Lumira.

She should have been looking at her.

But there was no recognition in that gaze.

She had captured the person before her, yet name and meaning did not seem to connect. Only a hollow blankness remained.

Too slow.

For a few seconds, time stopped.

Lumira called to her again.

“Elia, do you know me?”

Elia’s lips moved faintly.

No voice came out.

She did not look afraid. Her expression only wavered, as if searching for something she could not find.

In the next instant, a faint focus returned to Elia’s eyes.

“...Lumira.”

Her name came late.

Without changing expression, Lumira continued supporting Elia’s body.

The recognition had returned.

But it had broken once.

Elia herself had not noticed the missing moment. As if the seconds when she could not say Lumira’s name had never existed, she only looked up at her in a haze.

Something was missing.

Lumira adjusted Elia’s posture and asked in a low voice.

“Do you know where we are?”

Elia blinked once.

There was a pause before she answered.

“...A broken place.”

The answer was not wrong.

But it was late.

Lumira continued.

“Do you remember what happened just before?”

Elia’s gaze started to drift toward the place where the distortion had been.

But it stopped halfway.

She was trying to remember something.

But she could not reach it.

“There was... light.”

Elia answered softly.

“And after that?”

Elia’s brows drew together.

After a while, she shook her head slightly.

“I don’t know.”

Her voice was thin.

Lumira did not question her any further.

She should not make her lose more right now.

One of the guardian bodies turned its gaze toward Elia’s hand.

There was no longer any strong light at Elia’s fingertips. Even the pale particles that had been leaking from them a moment ago were now almost invisible.

The light response was dropping.

That was what the guardian body’s observation indicated.

But even though the light was weakening, it did not mean she had stabilized.

Only the air around Elia was trembling unnaturally.

Something cold touched Lumira’s cheek.

In the next instant, a faint heat remained in the same place.

Cold.

Hot.

That difference repeated itself only around Elia.

Her breathing had started to return.

And yet the space around her body would not stay constant.

It was not over.

Still supporting Elia’s shoulder, Lumira looked toward the distortion.

It had grown even smaller.

Only a thin, crack-like ripple remained deep within the space.

At the same time, the light left at Elia’s fingertips faded even further.

Lumira made her decision.

She had to move her away.

Completely.

Elia had to be taken out of the distortion’s range.

Lumira placed Elia’s arm over her own shoulder and began moving again. Elia barely managed to move her feet, but it looked less like walking and more like being carried forward.

They had taken only a few steps when it happened.

Elia’s body suddenly tilted.

Her knees gave way as if she had lost sight of the ground, and her gaze shook sharply.

Lumira caught her at once.

Elia’s hand grasped at empty air.

The floor should have been there, yet for one brief moment, her body could not recognize it.

Her sense of balance was breaking.

Bad.

Lumira corrected her stance and supported Elia as if holding her in her arms.

At that moment.

Deep within Elia’s eyes, white light trembled once.

It was not strong.

But it had certainly leaked out.

It was not breath.

Not tears.

Not a reflex.

A faint light rose from the depths of her eyes, then vanished almost immediately.

All three guardian bodies turned their gaze toward Elia at the same time.

The air stopped.

Elia noticed nothing.

She did not understand that light had leaked from her eyes.

She did not understand that the guardian bodies had reacted.

She only remained supported, breathing faintly.

Lumira could not move while holding her.

The exhaustion was not only in her body.

Memory.

Sensation.

Recognition.

Something was beginning to fall away, little by little.

And Elia herself was the only one who did not notice the loss.

Then it happened.

One of the guardian bodies watching the path ahead slowly turned back.

Not toward the distortion.

This time, it was looking in the direction Lumira and Elia were trying to go.

At the far end of the collapsed corridor, the darkness where no one should have been moved slightly.

— Lumi 🪄💕

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