"W-What?!"

"Dead?!"

The dark-clothed girl fixed her giant glasses lying on the bridge of her nose and repositioned her hat. "You two... aren't from here?" Both shook their heads slowly, not taking their attention from the girl. "I see. So then, you two... Can't die."

"Miss, could you explain what is happening?" Aisha had finally calmed her breathing and was now standing on both feet. All the random words and unexpected events were spinning her brain in circles.

"Yeah, starting with the ghosts outside!" Elsword had also returned to his original pulse. Unlike Aisha, who was utterly confused, he had a decent grasp of their situation. At least, he thought he did.

The girl clapped her slowly like a villain from a movie. "My, My, You're a quick one!"

"Elsword...? G-Ghosts...?!"

With a slightly ungraceful curtsy, the peachy-blonde smiled. "First off, my name is Ilumina— call me Mina though. Second, to answer your concerns, the mysterious scenes outside were indeed caused by ghosts."

"Ghosts? R-Really?!" Aisha tugged at Elsword's sleeve gently. Mina nodded before continuing.

"Yes. The phantoms of the townsfolk. They are only visible during the evening, but they're up all day." Mina crossed her arms and smiled at the two— it wasn't a smile of joy or bliss, but one of hidden secrets and mysteries. "Shall I continue?"

Should she? Of course she should! Both nodded.

If there is something you should leave our town learning, it's this— community is precious, like a priceless gem or a sought after treasure. No matter if its your friend or enemy, life is dull without others.

As you probably saw, the town is rather old fashioned. We still handcraft items. We still use candles instead of lightbulbs. Heck, we still churn our own butter! The only thing up to date are the robots roaming around. It's rather inefficient, but it's better than what had happened when the town was still alive.

It was about thirteen years ago. I was merely four years old at the time. Born into a generation of laziness, our people desired to do less. We truly were the epitome of horrid habits and terrible complaints. We suddenly wanted a revolution in their lifestyles— I think if we'd been able to see our fates, we'd think otherwise about a revolution.

We researched without stop. Buying precious metals and investing every bit of time into the completion of the idea, there was no end! Less time was spent together as a community, yet not a person minded. Our townsfolk were closer than ever to inventing the perfect worker.

And finally, the robots had been completed. They were a break in our technology, assisting everybody in town with the push of a button. With the ability to receive any command without complaint was spectacular! The first batch was immediately sent to the elderly, then to the families that needed them most. Dozens more were produced to meet the demand in our town. It was so easy to mass-produce too.

Too easy.

At the strike of a bright midnight where the moon loomed over the town, blood-curdling screams filled across our town. At first, nothing but confusion was inside the minds of our people. But we soon figured it out— the bots had somehow been preprogrammed to revolt, going so far as to killing off people until nothing was left. Every household had a machine, so nobody was safe. One by one, death plucked the souls away from everyone.

How I survived... Well, that was a miracle. My mother, before she met her own fate, threw me out a window and into a bush. I was confused then, because I didn't understand why she did that, but I could soon hear her cries emitting from the open frame accompanied by whirring blades shredding something to bits and pieces. That's when I got it. I ran off into this shabby abandoned building, away from the robots' programmed routes and attentions— my parents had told me to escape here if something ever happened to them. Inside were cabinets of food, plant seeds for the dirt floor, and running water.

I soon discovered that all the dead had returned as ghostly figures, resuming their daily activities peacefully. Years and years of isolation went by, and I preferred my death over being away from everybody and the outside, but I couldn't bring myself to perform such a cruel act on my behalf. I could do no more than peek through the window during the evening, watching the townsfolk, though dead, living. They still went on as if nothing had changed. Nobody came to my rescue either, as visitors to the town had run off the minute the strange morning occurrences started. I was stuck in this little abandoned house most of my life with absolutely nobody to comfort me.

Sharing how truly important it is to spend time with the people around you is probably the one good thing that has come out of my life. The presence of people will flash before your eyes, and they'll disappear within mere moments. Cherish each encounter like it's the last you'll ever have, because the same event won't ever occur again.

Don't ever forget that.

The map flapped with the passing wind like a flag as the two made their way to the next town. With the paper guide in hand, Aisha peeked from over the edges of the map and watched the back of Elsword's head bob back and forth. "Hey Elsword, how much do you care for me?"

"Tons. You're like a sister to me."

She puffed her cheeks up and squinted at his answer. Typical him. "Of course you'd say that..."

"Hey, I care enough to miss you if you're not around!" He replied. His expression changed into one of guilt. "I still feel bad for leaving Mina behind there."

"Yeah... To suddenly have your first visitors in years desert you is..." The silence snuck its way into her words. A tear gently rolled down the purple-haired girl's cheek, leaving a trail of water in its place. She turned her face in embarrassment even though nobody else could see her. "... Painful, just to think about."

Nodding, Elsword readjusted his hands on the wheel. Before, Elsword couldn't even thinki it possible for someone to live through such pain and loneliness. Was it really possible that towns could be so... so tragic? "Poor Mina... Can't imagine what it would be like to lose someone—"

... But he could imagine. His sister, Elesis, was gone. For the past years of his life, he'd spent so many lonely days doing nothing, even if he did have Chung and Aisha to be around for him. Elesis was, like, a role model; she was his main support for more than half of his life.

And that all ended when she walked out of town and gave up the title of Town Engineer. The thought made him go silent as he realized that.

It was really depressing Elsword to think about— who wanted to talk about people leaving? Silence lingered amongst them while they soared to the next town.