In the days that followed, Akiko couldn't shake the memory of the stranger's words. She had shared the encounter with Kaito and the others, but they dismissed it as just a strange occurrence, the work of a wanderer or a madman. Still, Akiko couldn't ignore the feeling that something was wrong, something far darker than any of them realized.
She spent more time walking the village, talking to the elders and the villagers. Everyone seemed to be avoiding the subject when she brought it up, almost as though they were scared to acknowledge it. Their reluctance only deepened her suspicion.
One evening, as the sun set behind the mountains, casting long shadows across the village, Akiko found herself by the village's well. She had come here many times before, but tonight it felt different. The air was thick with tension, and the silence was suffocating. It was as if the village itself was holding its breath, waiting for something to happen.
As she gazed into the well, she noticed something strange. A faint, glowing light flickered at the bottom, as though something—no, someone—was trying to reach out. Her breath caught in her throat.
Without thinking, she grabbed a nearby rope and began to lower herself into the well, her curiosity overcoming her fear. The closer she got to the bottom, the more the glow intensified, until she was finally able to peer into the darkness below.
There, at the bottom of the well, she found something that made her blood run cold—a strange, blackened stone, pulsing with a dark energy. She reached for it, but as her hand closed around the stone, a voice echoed in her mind.
"You should not have come."
The voice was low, ominous, and seemed to echo from every corner of her mind. It felt... ancient.
Before she could react, the world around her seemed to twist. The glow of the stone flared, and she felt herself being pulled deeper into the darkness, as though the well itself was swallowing her whole.
Her scream was drowned out by the rushing sound of the wind, and the world went black.