...and much like he said, Encea, or rather its ruins, weren't far from the passage they found themselves in.

The road was straight but full of little ups and downs, created by dark, rocky hills, with no nature trying to interfere whatsoever. They mostly trod alongside the lower parts of the passage, hugging walls through tight squeezes or looking up at the clouds of fog which drifted above the rocks, with some distant mountains sticking out.

When darkness reigned over the sky, with a slight red tint, Daress led the two Morians through a small underground corridor, which revealed more and more of itself, before turning into a large hall leading to something resembling a building.

With excitement, Daress jumped up, grabbing a long chain that hung from above. Two steel, corroding gates moved, slowly revealing an empty plain with highlands in the back, and a few, dark, marbled buildings splattered all around.

Morio tilted his head, before turning his eyes to the left, staring around at the debris lying freely, broken walls, uneven masonry and pillars which barely held round, delicate and empty roofs.

Daress suddenly stepped out, smiling a bit. "We're here! Encea! The prospering town of Encea!"

"Prospering," Jyuzou repeated. "There's nothing here. It's just... ruins."

Morio looked at the map he sketched a while back, trying to follow what Daress drew a few times already. "We're stepping through since there's no other way to the plateau, as Daress said."

Jyuzou fixed his backpack and walked forward.

"Not only that, there's a little surprise waiting for you, Morians!" Daress announced, raising a finger and running to what looked like a burned-down building, crawling through the broken window and hiding in the shadow.

Jyuzou sighed and furrowed his eyebrows while Morio stood still, shaking and twitching as he had been doing before. Although he seemed to be improving by the hour, the involuntary movements hadn't faded. He kept looking around as if he kept seeing something but was too afraid to speak up.

The two were quite surprised by their lack of reaction to the place they found themselves in. Daress appeared to be joyful, while the two Morians seemed a little disappointed.

In front of them, stood ruins of what once was humanity, living in small palaces, at the edge of rocky hills. From what could be made out, and strangely enough, there was no fog to accompany Encea, were debris of various structures. One Jyuzou immediately recognized was what seemed to be a big library, with stone stairs leading up to big arches and words written in Old Manjuno.

There were many roads, with masonry on either side and strange patterns drawn in the ground, which led to either completely wrecked buildings, damaged severely with only a few memories remaining or in otherwise, pretty good shape. Those seemed to resemble houses, with big round roofs and open windows, either small or massive ones. The glass, however, was shattered and patterns could be made out of its tints.

There were remnants of small towers barely extending above the highlands, ruined in such a way that round stairs were visible, suddenly cut off, next to corridors made out of marble pillars, with roofs crashing down without much of a rhythm. A big building towered in the distance, with only two of its walls remaining, coloured by different arches, and about those, there were a few, made out of stone, that led to both exits of the city, one that stretched towards the Yuman Swamps, and the other, back around and into the cave they came out of.

On the highlands, there were seven different, flat rocks, placed around, looking at each other, with an untouched pedestal in the middle.

Morio quickly assumed that this must've been some kind of place connected with the beliefs of people once inhabiting Encea, but was rather puzzled as to what happened to them.

Jyuzou sighed, breaking the silence, caused by their unified, silent analysis of Encea. "So, uh..." he scratched the back of his head. "How are you feeling, Morio?"

"I'm fine," Morio replied, without much emotion in his voice.

"Y-You know, I've been thinking for quite a while. About all of this." Jyuzou sat down on a small rock, and Morio glimpsed at him. "Do you think that the people who lived here led the same lives as we did in Mistwick?"

"Huh." Morio raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure." he sat down next to him. "One thing I noticed is that pedestal over there. We had something similar for Shin."

"Really?"

"Well, burning of the jile-wood." Morio smiled a bit. "We also had a way to honour our deity, and when I look over there-" he pointed to the stones. "It seems to me like something Bancho once described in his stories. A place where, precisely at noon, the stones would cast a light onto the pedestal and create a beam that would launch itself into the sky, piercing through the clouds and reaching the sun. They didn't have songs or dances..." Morio counted. "Actually, I don't remember that much of his story. What a shame. Maybe it was about this place all along?" he looked around curiously.

"I don't think so. It seems like hundreds of years have passed since anyone has stepped in." Jyuzou put his hands together. "...and Mr Bancho surely didn't live back then."

Morio chuckled a bit, and a light smile appeared on Jyuzou's troubled face.

"I know you didn't want to do such back then, but I'd love to collect some of those jile twigs and light that fire up again. Then, we'd sit down and listen to Mr Bancho's stories... and afterwards, we'd go to the bar and eat some of the best food there is. Mistwick's different than anything else, eh, Jyuzou?" he beamed, his face now resembling the Morio that Jyuzou knew for all the years they'd spent together.

The other Morian breathed out. "Nothing we can do. But you're right. This place... everything we've encountered will never be as interesting or rich in culture as Mistwick." he fixed his glasses. "Maybe that book was right. Morians really are haughty." Jyuzou smirked.

"Maybe!"

"Dorians!" Daress jumped out from the window, carrying something in his hands, and the two stood up. "Food!" he threw something at the two, Morio caught it in his hands and it hit Jyuzou's head, causing him to fall.

"R-Rocks?" Morio raised his eyebrows, a bit disgusted. Jyuzou stood up, looking at the object in question.

"Edible rocks!" Daress raised a finger, stepping towards them. "Try it! They're tasty!"

"I'm not that hungry," Morio muttered.

"They do leave a little dry feeling in your mouth, uuh, but otherwise, tasty!" Daress proposed.

"I think that's what we're p-precisely trying to avoid." Jyuzou fixed his glasses. "Don't eat it, Morio."

Morio put the rock in his mouth, and Jyuzou seemed flabbergasted.

The Morian bit through, and to his surprise, it easily melted in his mouth, before making crunchy sounds with each bite. It turned into a little, salty gush and as he swallowed, he made a very strange expression.

"Eh?" Daress smiled.

"Awful. Give me more," Morio commented. Jyuzou sighed.

"I stored them under this little hatch here! I completely forgot about them earlier! Isn't it lucky that it rained?" Daress ran forward, and Morio followed, while Jyuzou stayed behind, looking around.

His eyes locked onto something he found while eyeing the mountain they stepped out of. A ghostly apparition, standing atop the rocks, bound by chains, with half a crown on its head.

He gasped, with his eyes widening, and one clenched fist. In the blink of an eye, it disappeared, and Jyuzou breathed out, shaky.

It didn't seem strange in hindsight, in comparison to everything else in this land. He swore he had seen something like that earlier, but left bits and pieces to his imagination.

Maybe, he was tired as well.

***

Morio ate a few more rocks, mentioning how he desperately needed something to drink. Jyuzou hesitantly offered him the rainwater he collected during the night at the Yuman Swamps, and he still wanted more. Afterwards, they chatted a bit, and Daress told them a little more about Encea.

Back when it was still lively, the town was inhabited by Erans only and served as the opposite of Palan. Encea was made out of dark marble, and Palan, of dark brick, both only found in the caves of Morta.

He described the story of two royal families, which fought for the longest time over who gets to rule Encea. The Drosslasses, and Filhemons, a surname the two recognized, constantly tried one-upping each other in creating laws or trying to talk the people in their favour. All in all, that led to spurs and finally, they organized votes in the town square, with the results being somehow equal for both families. The same things continued for years, and when Encea became what it is now, the argument still wasn't settled.

Morio was more curious about how Encea came to be, and what caused its fall, but Daress didn't know the answer. Not that he would listen, halfway through the story of the two royalties he fell asleep on the only comfortable sheet in the building. The two didn't feel like searching for the other one, so Jyuzou fell asleep on the floor and Daress crawled into a small hole.

In the middle of the night, the glassy Morian awoke, presumably to the sounds of Morio's snores, as well as to small shuffling through the rocks. He raised his head, looking out of the window and seeing Daress sitting on some masonry, under a dead tree. He played around with something in his hands before throwing it into a small pool of water in the front. Jyuzou climbed out of the building.

"Oh!" Daress immediately spotted him, signalling him to sit down, clearing some of the debris from the masonry. Jyuzou reluctantly agreed, waddling over.

"Can't sleep, uuh?" Daress asked.

"Morio's snores woke me up. What about you?"

"Clowingers can't really sleep," he added.

"Seriously?" Jyuzou turned.

"Yep, we don't need to, but sometimes we pretend to not weird anyone out," he uttered. "Well, I kinda want to sleep," he added. "It looks fun! Like, a few hours of your day can just be skipped over. It works especially if you're waiting for something! Just close your eyes, and nothing concerns you anymore."

"It doesn't work that way." Jyuzou scratched his neck, awkwardly. "Okay, maybe a little. Still, I imagined it was only demons who didn't have to sleep or eat. The former I've only heard was a rumour, but you seemed hesitant with those rocks."

"Not my cuisine! Over there, at home, we have a much better thing to snack on!" he grinned. "...and well." Daress looked at Jyuzou. "At least it makes you, Morians, a bit younger, I suppose." he threw another rock into the water, and it bounced off the shining water.

"What do you mean?"

"You live long lives, don't you? You have all the time in the world to see everything it offers." He slowly looked up, seeing thousands of small stars illuminating the sky, which this time, was completely silent and dark, as opposed to the usual reddish colour. A few stars suddenly moved, zipping through the atmosphere at fast speeds. Jyuzou wondered if maybe, somewhere out there in space, lived a civilization, following their adventure and writing it down in books, much like those he read in Shimori.

Daress smiled. "See this, Jyuzou?" he pointed up. "I've only seen this once in my life before, and I've already lived for twenty years, uuh!"

"Huh." Jyuzou opened his mouth a bit.

"You're lucky that you get a gander, considering that you've never been to Asno before! Doesn't it make you feel any grateful, Jyuzou?"

"I guess so." he scratched his head.

"Guess so," Daress repeated, sighing. "I know you don't like me, Jyuzou."

"C-Come on."

"I'm honest. I like you, though, Dorian, uuh. You're smart and brainy, and a good friend to Morio. I'm grateful for living a life where I could meet the two of you. Guess that's what I'm trying to say, uuh, is... I'm glad that I'm still here."

Jyuzou looked down.

"Clowingers don't live for long, I've heard," Daress said, before gulping. "...and to think that I got to spend this time with two amazing Dorians. It even let me see the stars one last time. Doesn't that make me lucky? Aren't we all lucky, Jyuzou? Humans, demons, all the other creatures. To have a feel of Errarion, to each day wake up knowing that we're still here?" he smiled.

"I'm... glad." Jyuzou finally spoke.

"I'm glad too,"

Daress smiled, throwing one last pebble he carried into the water. Jyuzou stared at its reflection, as the stars eventually faded.

***

In the morning, the three didn't waste much of their time, quickly stepping out of Encea, and following a different route than imagined. Instead of leaving through one of the exits, Daress informed that the plateau they tried to reach was closer to the highlands, and the way they'd tread would be long but lead directly to his people.

"The plateau," Daress muttered. "Plateaus of the Flying Demon, as once called."

"What?" Morio asked. "Flying demon?"

"It's surely dead by now, but everything leading towards my land is dangerous! We have to watch out every step of the way."

"Mountains aren't a problem for us, eh, Jyuzou?" Morio shoulder-bumped him.

"Plateaus aren't exactly mountains, but I have no say in what you call things around here." he scratched his head.

Daress looked a bit confused. "Until the Karaia Springs, they won't be an issue. Afterwards, it will be very steep, but when we reach the top, we'll finally be there."

"Your people, the place they live in, what's it called?" Morio asked, with a small smile, and Daress stopped.

"Amaru Toni," Daress replied, grinning. "It didn't exist when people other than Clowingers lived here, uuh. We used what we had and made the best of it."

They treaded through a straight path, which led upwards towards a broken balcony, looking out to the highlands, which seemed less and less strange the further they extended. They saw spots of grass, eventually growing bigger, and bending trees with big leaves, hanging down.

"Down here!" Daress waved, jumping down from the balcony and sliding down the dirt. "Come on, Dorians!"

"N-No way!" Jyuzou raised his voice. "It's way too high!"

"Slide down!" Daress yelled out.

"C-Come on, Morio." Jyuzou turned around. "We'll find a safer way down." Morio took a step forward, stepping off the edge and instantly panicking. "MORIO!" Jyuzou raised his voice before Morio grabbed his hand, and the two rolled down, chaotically, landing below.

Daress turned around, laughing a bit.

"This isn't funny! I could've broken a bone! Or my glasses!" Jyuzou said.

"Glasses would've been a bigger deal." Morio spouted, climbing out from below and sitting down, putting his hands on the ground.

"Hope to Shin that this Amaru Toni place has people who are compatible enough to fix these." Jyuzou pointed, standing up and brushing off the dirt. "With their claws? Oh, no..." he covered his head.

"I bet Clowingers don't have to wear glasses! It's only you that's strange!" Morio proposed.

"You and I perfectly know this is a foolish n-notion!" Jyuzou announced.

"Pff, I'm sure there's a way to fix that eyesight. Even the smallest of ants can make it up-" Morio's eyes suddenly shrank, as any and every word that he was about to spew out was cut short. He moved his hand around his chest, feeling nothing.

"Huh?" Jyuzou looked at him. "Up what? Mistigo Mountain? Lockum Mountains? How did that saying go again?"

"Ah." Morio made a noise as if he was short of breath. He dug around his pockets, and then back to his vest. "It's gone. IT'S GONE!" he screamed out before suddenly standing up.

Daress turned, his eyes widening.

"MY EMBLEM IS GONE!"