Chie felt cold goosebumps run down her spine at the Collector's words. There was something darkly playful in the way it spoke, almost like it was toying them for its own amusement.

  "Us?" Chie repeated, trying to keep her voice steady despite the growing dread churning in her stomach. "...And what exactly do you want from us?"

  Another low chuckle answered, the sound coming from all directions this time like it was surrounding them even as the glass jars around them trembled ever so slightly…

  The Collector hummed thoughtfully, its voice echoing through the room in a way that gave the illusion of coming from everywhere.

  "Oh, so many things," the voice began, amusement laced through every word. "Your souls, your bodies, your memories, your hopes...all of it would make a fine addition to my collection."

  Chie felt her hands curl into fists, the desire to run clawing at her legs but somehow the paralyzing fear kept her rooted in place. "And why should we just hand that over?" she managed to bite back with forced bravado.

  The Collector let out another soft laugh, almost... pleasured this time.

  "Oh, my dear, you're smart," the voice crooned in what sounded suspiciously like praise. "Most simply come running into my grasp like sheep towards a slaughter, but you ask questions first...I like that."

  The temperature dropped even lower inside the chamber, the jars around Chie now rattling ominously like they were ready to shatter at any second.

  Chie had to fight to keep her teeth from chattering as the Collector spoke, struggling to maintain as much composure as possible as her body began to shiver visibly from the sudden cold.

  She was starting to regret not listening to Tenzing and coming in here after all…

  "...So what happens if we refuse then?" Chie shot back at the Collector, her voice laced with a defiant edge as she wrapped her arms around herself for warmth.

  The Collector merely hummed again, its tone growing more amused by the second.

  "Ah, I was expecting that question," the Collector whispered, almost sounding pleased. "If you refuse...then I'll simply take you by force."

  Chie's eyes widened slightly, the icy fear in her chest tightening into a tight knot. "Take us...how?" she asked, her voice strained despite her best efforts at keeping it steady.

  The air in the chamber felt heavy now, almost suffocating. The glass jars around them shook even more violently, some of them even trembling close to tipping over...

  The Collector chuckled again, the sound sending shivers down Chie's spine again.

  "By any means necessary, my dear," the voice purred in a tone that bordered on sinister now. "I have many tricks up my sleeve, you see... and I always get what I want in the end.”

  Chie felt a shiver run down her spine at the finality in the Collector's voice, her mind racing for some way to counter such a dangerous threat... but any thought of escape seemed impossible while trapped in this frozen room.

  "...And if we do agree to your...request? What then?" she whispered after a moment, her hands curled into tight fists to stop herself from shaking from the cold.

  At that, the Collector laughed outright in a way that almost sounded genuine.

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  "Ah, now that was an unexpected question," the voice said, a hint of genuine approval now coloring the undercurrents of its words. "Most simply despair and accept their fate when they come into my grasp... but you, my dear..."

  The jars around them quieted slightly at that last sentence, their rattling slowed down to intermittent clinks.

  "...You bargain. I like that.”

  A flicker of defiance and hope flickered in Chie's chest at the Collector's almost-praise, a small spark of determination pushing back some of the paralyzing fear in her.

  "Yes, I bargain," she replied, forcing her voice to stay steady. "So what exactly would we get in return for... giving you whatever it is you want?"

  The room waited, holding its icy breath in anticipation of the Collector's next words.

  The Collector hummed thoughtfully, a low sound of contemplation echoing within the frozen chamber.

  "Oh, you are a cunning one," the Collector admitted, almost begrudgingly impressed. "If you were to bargain with me, my dear, I would give you...anything you ask for."

  Chie's breath hitched, the flicker of hope flaring slightly at the Collector's words as the possibility of having their wishes fulfilled suddenly seemed within reach...but her heart still raced with fear and uncertainty.

  "Anything?" she echoed, not daring to let herself believe quite yet. "What about telling us where Elara is?”

  The Collector let out a slow, deliberate exhale, almost like it was savoring the question.

  "Ah... that one," it murmured, voice laced with something between amusement and warning. "Elara? Oh, she’s been here before...but not for long." The jars around them shuddered violently as if reacting to her name alone.

  Chie stiffened further at that revelation—so Elara had already interacted with this thing? Was she taken by force too?

  "She begged just like you," the Collector continued smoothly now while its tone remained eerily playful despite all else happening inside this frozen room right now…

  "And in return?" It paused dramatically before answering: “I gave her back nothing.”

  The Collector let out a long, slow chuckle, one that echoed unnaturally through the chamber as if coming from everywhere at once.

  "Ohhh, Elara," it mused in a voice dripping with mocking familiarity. "She’s not here anymore... but she was quite the firecracker while she lasted."

  A glass jar near Chie suddenly cracked violently without warning, something inside hissing like steam before settling again just as quickly…

  "And now?" The Collector's tone shifted into something colder. "Now she belongs to me."

  Chie swallowed hard at those words because what exactly did that mean? Was Elara trapped inside one of these jars somewhere unseen within this endless room?

  The thought of Elara being turned into something to be collected like a mere item or artifact left a sour taste in Chie's mouth, her fists clenching in anger.

  "You...you can't do that," she countered, the heat in her voice making up for the lack of warmth in the room at that moment.

  The Collector's low and smooth chuckle echoed again in response, the sound almost condescending now as it replied, "Can't I? I am the Collector, my dear. I can do as I please with those foolish enough to cross my path.”

  Chie felt her fear and anger mix into a volatile whirlwind inside her at the Collector's arrogant tone. It was like the creature was playing with them as if they were nothing more than a toy to be put away after being done with...

  She forced her fists to unclench before asking the second and most important question.

  "And what exactly happened to Elara?" Chie repeated, her voice tight with both anger at being mocked and worry for Elara's possible fate.

  The entire room seemed to hum in anticipation of the Collector's next words…

  For a few seconds, the chamber's air was dead silent... then the Collector chuckled, the sound low but holding that air of sinister amusement that was now always present in every tone it spoke with.

  "You wish to know what happened to dear, precious Elara, hmm?" It whispered in a tone of false sympathy, the sound almost taunting.

  The jars around them shuddered slightly this time… anticipating what the Collector would say next…

  Chie found her heart hammering as she waited for the Collector's answer, its tone and the atmosphere inside the room seeming more and more sinister now.

  She clenched her hands into fists to keep them from trembling, waiting to hear what it had done to her friend just like the jars around her.

  "Yes," she said through clenched teeth, her voice coming out as a quiet hiss in the still, icy air of the chamber. "I want to know what. Happened. To Elara.”

  The Collector hummed thoughtfully again, its tone almost amused as if it were taking pleasure in torturing them with anticipation.

  "Ah, so determined," it mused, almost sounding pleased. "Well, I suppose I can tell you...on one teeny-tiny little condition."

  The jars around them shuddered again, the suspense almost unbearable at this point as they all waited and listened for the Collector's ultimatum.