Relita woke up slowly, with a dull ache in her head and her back. She looked around, but it was dark, there was nothing to see. The skin on her face was uncomfortably tight from the dried tracks of her tears, and her hands were sore, covered in dirt and blood from where she had scraped them raw only hours ago. Eventually, she had managed to exhaust herself, and had fallen into the deep sleep of the emotionally drained. But now that she was awake again, Relita felt strangely calm. She accepted the fact that she couldn't get out of here, and came to the conclusion that there were worse ways to die. Much worse. Though she wasn't sure wether she would die from suffocation or starvation or the interminable cold, she figured one way was as good as another. She deserved it, after all. I wont interfere ever again. she said to herself. Dear God, make it not hurt. Make it fast. Make sure that niichan is okay, watch over him, and watch over Kiju and Kou'un and everybody. after a moment: And God, watch over Yoku. Make sure that she's everything he thinks she is. Give her the patience to deal with niichan, make sure that she still loves him. another pause, then: and make sure that niichan knows I didn't mean what I said. And that I love him. Amen. Relita wasn't a religious person, but she figured that, on the off-chance that God might exist, she may as well give it a shot. That finished, Relita felt even calmer, a sort of stupified state was washing over her, making her feel lightheaded and dizzy. Like nothing mattered, not even dying. She crawled over to a wall and started to lean against it, hoping to just drift off and not wake up again, but as her weight pressed against the wall, it crumbled beneath her, and she found herself falling a short distance to land on something hard with a thump. The ground underneath her was bumpy and hard, and shifted eerily as she moved. There was a dry smell of hundred year old decay, and a feeling of desperation and sadness to the chanber she found herself in. Relita pulled something big and hard out from beneath her, and brought it up to her face, feeling it in hopes to determine what it was. She wasn't even afraid when she realized that the chamber was full of bones, and that she was grasping a human skull.

On to Part V

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