Morning arrived quietly over Norvale.
For the first time since Seren entered the village, there were no mourning bells.
No coughing.
No hollow-eyed people wandering the streets like ghosts waiting to disappear.
Instead-
life.
The sound alone felt unfamiliar.
Children ran through the muddy roads laughing while merchants argued loudly near the center square. Smoke rose from chimneys into the pale morning sky, and somewhere nearby, someone was singing terribly off-key.
Seren stood outside Clara’s small house silently watching the village wake up.
It felt strange.
Too alive.
The wooden door behind her creaked open.
“You’ve been standing there for ten minutes.”
Clara stepped outside carrying a basket filled with dried herbs and glass bottles.
Seren didn’t look away from the village.
“It’s loud.”
“That’s what normal villages sound like.”
“…Annoying.”
Clara snorted quietly.
“You’ll survive.”
Seren glanced sideways at her.
“I almost died yesterday.”
“You survived that too.”
Clara walked past her casually down the small path leading toward Norvale.
After a brief pause-
Seren followed.
The moment they entered the village, people immediately began greeting Clara from every direction.
“Morning!”
“Clara, thank you again!”
“Tell your friend she scared my grandson half to death yesterday!”
Seren immediately regretted leaving the house.
She walked slightly behind Clara while trying to avoid eye contact with literally everyone.
Unfortunately-
people kept approaching anyway.
An elderly woman suddenly grabbed Seren’s hands tightly.
“You’re the girl from Underground, right?”
Seren visibly stiffened.
“…Maybe.”
The woman burst into tears immediately.
“My husband remembered my name this morning for the first time in three years…”
Seren froze completely.
The woman kept thanking her while crying softly.
Seren looked genuinely trapped.
Clara watched the entire thing silently before turning away to hide a smile.
By midday, Clara had dragged Seren through almost the entire village.
Helping repair collapsed fences.
Delivering medicine.
Carrying supplies.
At one point Seren somehow ended up on a roof fixing broken wood while Clara shouted instructions from below.
“You missed a spot.”
“I didn’t.”
“You literally did.”
“…I hate this village.”
“You say that while helping it for free.”
Seren glared downward.
Clara laughed.
Actually laughed.
The sound caught Seren off guard enough that she stopped moving entirely for a second.
It was different hearing Clara laugh now.
Before, even her smiles carried exhaustion underneath them.
Now—
she sounded lighter.
As evening slowly approached, the two sat briefly near the village well while Clara sorted herbs inside her basket.
Children continued running through the streets nearby.
One little girl suddenly stopped in front of Seren and stared at her intensely.
Seren stared back.
The girl narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
“…You look scary.”
Seren blinked once.
“Thank you.”
The girl immediately ran away terrified.
Clara nearly dropped her basket laughing.
“That wasn’t a compliment.”
“I know.”
“You said thank you.”
“She was honest.”
Clara covered part of her face while laughing harder.
Seren watched her quietly.
For a brief moment-
the noise of the village faded into the background.
The warm evening light caught softly against Clara’s face while strands of loose hair moved gently in the wind.
She looked happy.
Truly happy.
And something inside Seren tightened painfully at the realization that she wanted to protect that expression.
The thought unsettled her immediately.
Because wanting something meant fearing its loss.
And loss had followed Seren for longer than she could remember.
“…You’re staring again,” Clara suddenly said without looking up.
Seren looked away instantly.
“You imagine things.”
“Hm.”
That single sound somehow felt more teasing than words.
Night slowly settled across Norvale by the time they finally began returning toward Clara’s house.
The roads had grown quieter now.
Lanterns flickered softly outside homes while distant conversations drifted through the cold air.
For once-
the village felt peaceful.
Almost enough to make Seren forget the feeling from last night.
Almost.
As they entered the forest path leading home, Seren suddenly slowed slightly.
Clara noticed immediately.
“…What?”
Seren’s eyes shifted toward the trees.
Moonlight filtered weakly through the forest branches above them.
Everything looked still.
But then Seren saw it.
A mark carved into one of the trees ahead.
Small.
Precise.
A symbol resembling a cross wrapped in thorns.
Clara’s expression darkened instantly the moment she saw it too.
“…Church.”
The air around them suddenly felt colder.
Seren stepped closer toward the carving silently.
Fresh cuts.
Recently made.
Someone had been here.
Watching.
A faint unease crawled slowly beneath Clara’s expression now.
“They came this far already…?”
Seren reached out quietly, brushing her fingers against the carved symbol.
Then she noticed something underneath it.
Another line.
Smaller.
Almost hidden.
One word.
FOUND.
The forest fell silent around them.
And somewhere far beyond Norvale-
someone had already begun moving.