The search had ended, or so they thought. The discovery of the shard, deep within the heart of Mount Hakone, had been both a victory and a turning point. The camp, though quiet, buzzed with the anticipation of packing up and leaving. Their mission was complete. Or was it?

  As Goom stood outside the tent, the soft wind carrying the earthy scent of the mountains, his mind refused to rest. The shard—what they had thought was just a fragment of something far older—was far more than they had anticipated. He could feel it in his bones, a hum, subtle yet unmistakable, calling to him.

  "Just a fragment..." he whispered to himself, repeating the words Kaori had said earlier. She was ready to leave. The discovery was significant, but she saw it for what it was—a discovery that answered some questions, but left others in the dark.

  Yet, for Goom, it was never just about what they had found. It was about the void left behind by the questions that still lingered. How did the shard work? What was it truly connected to? He paced back and forth, eyes fixed on the campfire in the distance.

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  Kaori stepped out of the tent, looking at him with a quiet understanding. She knew his restlessness. They had both spent so much time in the dark, uncovering pieces, only to realize the whole puzzle was far beyond their grasp.

  "Are you ready?" she asked softly, already packing up the last of their equipment. Her voice, calm yet tinged with a sense of finality, seemed to echo his unspoken thoughts.

  Goom turned to her, but his gaze quickly shifted back to the mountainside, where the shard had been taken. He could feel the call of something beyond, just out of reach.

  "I don’t think it’s over," he muttered, more to himself than to Kaori.

  She paused, letting the words sink in. After a moment, she nodded. “I know.”

  The feeling of being watched—the sensation that had followed them from the moment they discovered the shard—lingered still. Goom had felt it once, deep within the caverns of Hakone, the sense that someone, or something, was aware of their every move. But no one had followed them out. At least, not that they could see.

  As they packed their things, a distant rumble echoed through the mountain, faint but enough to catch their attention. It could have been a lingering aftershock, or perhaps something more. But for Goom, it was another reminder: the unanswered call.

  He could feel it tugging at him, a pull that wouldn’t allow him to rest. He wasn’t ready to leave. There was something more to the shard, something deeper than they had understood. Something that had been waiting—waiting for them to discover it, or for someone else to come and claim it.

  And somewhere, hidden in the shadows of the mountain, a pair of eyes watched them pack up, silently waiting. The mystery had not yet revealed itself in full.

  The unanswered call remained.

  Episode 1 End — First Resonation