Snow crunched beneath their feet as Tenaro walked ahead of Tatsu through the narrow paths. Endless adobe bricks boxed them in on all sides, turning the place into a winding maze with no sense of direction. Tatsu still shivered behind him, his teeth chattering like loose stones.

  Even Tenaro began to feel the cold creep in. His fingers vibrated, starting to become numb and stiff, as the wind pressed against them, clawing at their warmth.

  He glanced around, curiosity tugging at him despite the cold. Murals lined the walls, some depicting people being sacrificed, some depicting fighting or leading armies. Some even had people conversing, others simply walking, frozen in quiet, meaningless motion.

  He looked up. The clouds had thinned, revealing a pale white ceiling stretching endlessly above them, icy stalactites protruding out of the snow, with small bioluminescent creatures making it more visible around them.

  *I've seen it all at this point.* Tenaro thought, shoulders sagging from resignation.

  They walked in silence. Tatsu lingered near the walls, studying the murals presented on the walls. Tenaro's eyebrow twitched.

  “S-so why are you looking for a crown?” he asked, glancing back at him, curiosity mixed with caution.

  Tatsu stood before a mural depicting a towering figure wearing a headdress with a high crest and a backflap covering his lower back, leading what looked to be an army.

  He turned at the question, jaw visibly chattering, yet his eyes still held that strange optimism.

  “W-Well, y'know,” he shrugged, voice shaky, “t-the lady with the crown has a really c-cool crown. S-said to be historically important and stuff. I w-wanna s-sell and have lots of money.”

  He gestured wildly with trembling arms. “Enough to buy s-some dual swords, like yours.” he pointed at the blades at Tenaro's hip.

  Then his face suddenly hardened.

  “So that I can kill her.”

  The words landed heavier than the cold.

  Tenaro's eyes slightly widened, his heart pounded, not just at what Tatsu said, but how he said it. The shaking in his voice vanished, as if his body ignored the freezing air just to let that sentence through.

  “Oookay, uhh…” Tenaro started, shifting uncomfortably, trying to steer away from the moment. “Um… you're a swordsman?” He asked awkwardly, scratching the back of his head.

  Tatsu blinked, as if waking up from a trance, and immediately resumed shivering.

  “Y-Yeah. But my swords shattered from the explosive booby trap.” He let out a weak laugh. “B-before you ask, they were old and dull anyway. That's why i want money, to buy better ones. Y'know, yours l-look cool. Actually worth having…”

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  *Man, he goes on and on.* Tenaro thought flatly, realizing Tatsu was just as content talking to the wall beside him like it was part of the conversation.

  Tenaro turned and walked off, letting the words spill out of one ear and vanish from the other.

  *Where is this exit?*

  “I'm actually surprised they're still clean with no scabbards and- h-hey!” Tatsu yelped when he noticed Tenaro several paces ahead.

  “C-Come back! The chamber beside me m-might actually have what I want!” He said, pointing at the mural of the man leading the army.

  “Why would I care?” Tenaro shouted back, still moving.

  “L-Look, I didn't tell you yet, but these chambers have insane pots and stuff. O-Oh! And even sculptures of people. They look cool as hell!”

  Tenaro stopped.

  His ear twitched.

  Slowly, he turned back, suspicion written across his face, yet curiosity seeped through.

  *That does sound cool.*

  “Ha! K-knew you'd come back, bro!” Tatsu grinned, draping and arm over Tenaro's shoulder.

  “Let's just go inside.” Tenaro muttered, shrugging him off as he pushed the chamber door open. Cold seeped instantly into his fingers as he touched the broken handle, sharp and invasive.

  Tatsu followed, pretending Tenaro didn't basically shove him away.

  Inside, Tenaro froze.

  The cold here was worse. Thicker, heavier, as if the air itself resisted being breathed. Darkness almost swallowed the room, the only light illuminating from outside through a window. Even Tenaro's jaw began to tremble.

  “Damn,” Tatsu muttered, hugging himself. “It's c-c-cold in here.”

  Before them yawned square-shaped pit.

  Inside, a skeleton sat upright against the far wall, scraps of clothing clinging to its bones. A headdress with a tall crest lay beside it.

  Another skeleton sat close by, smaller in frame but not a child. At the pit's center, rested a pool of clear water, its surface glassy and still, untouched by time.

  Behind the remains, a mural of a man wearing the same headdress facing a woman, weapons raised, locked in a moment of eternal conflict.

  Then Tenaro saw it.

  A pot.

  Its surface bore a sculpted face: high cheekbones, a stern expression, eyes carved with unsettling realism.

  “Whoaa…” he breathed.

  Tatsu suddenly trotted past him and hopped down into the small pit.

  “Ow!” He hissed, clutching his left leg. “M-My body is really cold!”

  He limped towards the water, staring at his reflection, amber eyes staring back from the dark.

  “Why's this here?” he muttered.

  Forcing himself onward, he crouched beside the pot and lifted it with shaking hands.

  “I saw p-plenty of these things while exploring.” He said excitedly, “But t-they started getting scarce the m-more I walked.”

  Tenaro jumped down with a thud, glanced at the water as he passed the pool and crouched beside Tatsu, also admiring the sculpture.

  “Was this their way of memorializing people who've died?” he whispered.

  Tatsu glanced sideways. “He looks c-cool right?” He smirked, “H-hey, he's got a scar on his lower lip. Like you. Well… yours is on the upper one.”

  Tenaro stared the sculpture's lip.

  “But he's not w-who I need.” Tatsu added, setting the pot down. “I need a lady.”

  He shifted toward the other skeleton.

  Bowls of varying sizes surrounded it, all filled with water, untouched by age. Resting on the skeleton's lap lay a katana, clean, sleek, almost untouched.

  Silver swirls danced along its hilt, fading into dark blue as they flowed toward the blade.

  Serene.

  Tatsu's eyes widened. “M-Maybe I get a sword f-for free, huh?”

  He reached out.

  The instant his finger touched the hilt, the patterns glowed faintly.

  He lifted the sword, breath hitching.

  “T-This… is… s-so cool!”

  The glow suddenly flared intensely, light exploding outward, blinding.

  Tenaro raised an arm instinctively, “What-!?”

  A scream tore through the chamber.

  “AAARRGGHH!!”

  Tatsu's voice.

  “WHAT ARE YOU?!”

  Tenaro couldn't see. Pressure crushed down on him pinning his body in place. His surroundings felt wrong, foreign. He couldn't move. Couldn't speak.

  Tatsu's screams filled the room, an explosion of raw sound that left Tenaro's ears ringing.

  “AAARRRRGHHH!!”