The forest thinned without warning, the density loosening until the trees gave way to open space, and the light shifted with it, sharper now, almost blinding after the filtered shadows behind them.
They stepped out onto higher ground.
The valley opened beneath them.
Wide. Vast. Quiet in a way that didn't feel natural.
For a moment, no one spoke.
The air moved differently here, freer, carrying distance instead of depth. The forest behind them already felt further away than it should have.
Aglaë exhaled softly.
"It's… beautiful."
Ishtar didn't answer right away, her gaze scanning the horizon, measuring instead of admiring.
Octave stepped slightly forward, eyes narrowing, already analyzing structure, elevation, patterns.
Mia remained still.
Taking it in.
Feeling it.
Ludwig stopped near the edge, Atlas beside him, perfectly calm.
He didn't look at them.
"Tell me what you see."
"Valley," Ishtar said.
"Topography," Octave added.
"Light," Aglaë murmured.
Ludwig nodded once, then looked at Mia.
She stepped forward just enough to feel the drop beneath her.
"It feels…" she began, then paused.
"Empty."
Ludwig held her gaze for a fraction longer.
"Good."
Octave frowned.
"That's inaccurate. There are multiple structures below, including—"
"There aren't," Ludwig cut in.
Silence followed.
Octave's eyes sharpened.
"That's not possible."
Ludwig gestured toward the valley.
"Look again."
They did.
Longer this time.
More carefully.
Nothing.
No buildings.
No paths.
No trace.
Aglaë blinked.
"But… we came from—"
"Yes."
Ishtar leaned forward slightly, eyes narrowing.
"…that's not normal."
"No."
Octave stepped closer to the edge, recalculating angles, distances, lines of sight.
"It should be visible," he said. "At least partially. There's no terrain obstruction sufficient to—"
"There is," Ludwig said calmly.
Octave stopped.
Mia's gaze remained fixed on the valley.
On the absence.
Something in her shifted.
Recognition.
"It's hidden," she said quietly.
Ludwig nodded.
"How?" Aglaë asked, her voice softer now.
"Aster," Ludwig said. "And Odin."
A brief silence.
"Technology," he continued, "layered with something else."
Ishtar crossed her arms.
"Of course it is."
Octave's attention sharpened further.
"Cognitive distortion? Environmental masking? Perceptual interference?"
"All of it," Ludwig replied. "And more."
Mia felt it again.
That layering.
The same sensation she had noticed earlier.
Things behind things.
"It's not just hidden," she said. "It's… displaced."
Ludwig glanced at her.
A fraction of approval.
"Close enough."
Aglaë looked between them, trying to follow.
"So people can't find it?"
"They can," Ludwig said.
A beat.
"If they're invited."
Silence settled again.
Ishtar let out a quiet breath.
"Okay. That's actually impressive."
Octave didn't respond. He was still looking, still trying.
Mia stepped back from the edge.
The feeling lingered.
Not just awe.
Understanding.
Or the beginning of it.
Ludwig turned away from the valley just like that.
"Alright."
They looked at him.
"You've seen enough."
Aglaë frowned slightly.
"What do you mean?"
Ludwig met their gaze, one by one.
"Now you go back."
Silence.
Ishtar tilted her head.
"…with you."
Ludwig didn't answer immediately.
Then—
"No."
The word landed clean.
Octave's posture stiffened.
"That would be inefficient."
"Good," Ludwig replied.
Aglaë blinked.
"Wait… you're serious?"
He was already stepping back.
"You know where it is," he said. "That's enough."
"It's invisible," Octave pointed out.
"Exactly."
Ishtar's grin slowly returned, not amused, but interested.
"Training."
Ludwig didn't confirm.
Mia watched him.
Didn't move.
"You'll figure it out," he added.
A pause.
"Or you won't."
Aglaë let out a small, nervous breath.
"That's… reassuring."
Ludwig turned fully now, Atlas already moving with him.
No hesitation.
Mia's voice came before she could stop it.
"Ludwig."
He stopped just enough.
Didn't turn.
A beat.
"Trust what's there," he said.
Not what you see.
What's there.
Then he moved.
A few steps.
And the forest took him back.
Just like that.
Gone.
Silence remained, but it had changed.
Ishtar let out a slow breath.
"Well."
Octave was already turning, scanning again, recalculating.
"This is… suboptimal."
Aglaë looked between them, then at Mia.
"Do we actually know how to get back?"
Mia didn't answer immediately.
Her gaze returned to the valley.
To the absence.
Then shifted.
To the space between things.
"…yes," she said quietly.
A beat.
"Probably."
Ishtar laughed, short and sharp.
"Good enough."
And just like that, the walk stopped being a walk.
And became something else.