Chapter 666: Possibilities

Putting aside her lack of a name, Elion did something rather impulsive, barely giving it a second thought.

"How about I call you Eva?" he asked. "It would be a little awkward to keep calling you without a name. Just until you remember your own, of course," he added.

The little girl’s eyes brightened, and she clasped her hands together excitedly. "I like it! Yes! You can call me Eva!"

The others exchanged odd looks, unable to understand what Elion was trying to achieve by naming her.

Naming someone suggested some sort of familiar connection, and him doing such a thing so casually irked them for more reasons than they cared to name.

"What is he doing?" Cole whispered to Maya.

Maya only shrugged, looking just as uncertain. "Who knows?"

"Do you know where your mum and dad are, Eva?" Elion asked. He fully expected her to say she didn’t have any, but he had decided to ask anyway.

Eva’s excitement settled into a thoughtful expression as she considered his question. "My parents?"

She seemed to struggle to connect the word to anyone, a deep frown settling over her brow. Then she suddenly lifted a finger, as though she had finally figured something out.

"Ah... I used to have parents, but the master ate them!" she said casually, an excited look appearing on her face.

Elion gave her a dubious look, and the others looked equally troubled. "Sorry, who ate them?" he asked.

"The master!" she repeated, as though the answer should have been obvious. "Everyone knows it’s a blessing to be eaten by the master! After she eats you, you go to a place called paradise, where you never ever have to go hungry!"

She shouted the last part, her face lighting up with delight. Even the thought of this paradise seemed to make her so happy that she looked ready to jump up and down.

Elion glanced back at the others, finding them just as stupefied as he was. The notion itself was strange, but a theory quickly formed in his mind, and he turned back to Eva.

"Tell me, Eva, what is this master of yours like? I’d like to meet him," he said, offering her a smile. "I think he might be able to help me so that I never have to go hungry again."

Eva’s face immediately brightened. "Of course!" she replied, raising her clenched fists excitedly to her chest, though her enthusiasm faded almost as quickly as it had appeared.

"Ah... I forgot. I’m sorry, but you can’t meet the master just because you want to. Only very important people can do that!" She hesitated briefly before adding, "But I can take you to someone who can!"

Elion studied her for a moment, keeping the kind smile on his face even as his thoughts moved elsewhere.

There were other people here, then, somewhere within this immense expanse of desolation, and apparently enough of them to distinguish between ordinary people and those important enough to meet her so-called master.

"Do you live nearby, Eva?" he asked, glancing toward the silent buildings around them. "With other people, I mean."

"In the town!" she replied, pointing vaguely down the avenue.

She sounded quite sure about her own words, but when Elion looked in that direction, he saw only more facades of weathered stone, their cavernous entrances black beneath the overhanging ledges.

"Then why were you out here eating by yourself?"

Eva lowered her hand.

She looked quite embarrassed for some reason.

Her fingers gathered a small fold of her dress, and she rubbed the fabric between them while looking down at her feet, suddenly reluctant to meet his eyes.

"I’m not allowed in the town anymore," she admitted. "One of the important people banished me."

Elion’s smile faded, and behind him, he heard Maya draw in a quiet breath.

The word sounded terribly incongruous coming from such a small child, especially when she spoke it with the shame of someone confessing to an ordinary misbehaviour.

Eva must have noticed the change in his expression, because she quickly lifted her head.

"But I can still show you the way!" she promised, releasing her dress. "I know where it is. You won’t get lost if you follow me, though I will probably be chased away by the important people when they see me!"

Elion glanced toward his companions, finding the same unease reflected in their faces.

Whatever doubts they had about the girl, none of them seemed particularly comfortable with the thought of leaving her here, alone among the crumbling buildings and the remains of her dreadful meal.

"Alright, then," he said, straightening up. "Show us the way to your town."

Her face brightened, and she turned down the avenue with an eagerness that left him standing still for a moment.

After a moment, he followed, the others falling into step behind him as Eva led them farther into the ruins.

Whatever this town was, Elion found it difficult to imagine anything resembling the settlements he knew.

He had surveyed the surrounding land from above more than once, and even allowing for how much the depression had concealed, a reasonably large, inhabited settlement should have left some sign of its existence.

Even down here, beneath those immense and oppressive walls, he had heard nothing to suggest that anyone lived nearby until they found Eva.

Perhaps she meant a few occupied buildings somewhere deeper in the ruins.

He hoped she meant something that simple.

The avenue sloped gently downward, passing between rows of structures whose upper floors almost met above their heads. Here, the pale masonry bore an intricate network of shallow channels, straight lines dividing the walls into vast, geometric panels.

The passage of time had softened some of the finer carvings, but the precision of the architecture remained almost unnerving, every doorway and projecting ledge arranged with a symmetry that made the empty streets feel ceremonial.

Long bridges crossed between the buildings, their undersides disappearing into shadow.

Several had collapsed, strewing the road beneath them with enormous slabs, and Eva guided the group around these obstructions without slowing, occasionally glancing back to make sure they were still following.

Maya drew closer to Elion while the girl picked her way around a mound of rubble.

"Would you mind telling us what you’re planning?" she asked quietly. Her eyes remained on Eva, who had stopped to wait for them beside the broken base of a statue.