"Anna must be all grown up now. What a shame I'll never see her again."
He turned to Chen Lun and smiled.
"Jack, I can help you return to the Mortal World... come with me."
With that, Arno rose, lantern in hand.
Chen Lun silently followed him away from the campfire and into the darkness behind the Wooden Hut.
A moment later.
Once they were deep in the darkness, Arno suddenly stopped. Before him stood a pitch-black well.
"Philip left this well here back then, and his lover Maggie built the Wooden Hut for me... but really, Wonderland is only a replicated, fictional world. The real me outside may already be dead... after all, so many years have passed. Even I will eventually be swallowed by the darkness..."
Arno turned and gave Chen Lun a radiant smile.
"But I'm still very glad to have met you, Jack."
Looking at Arno, Chen Lun suddenly felt an inexplicable weight pressing down on him.
"Arno, do you still remember who you are? Could I help you... help the real you outside escape the End of Darkness?"
Arno shook his head.
"Thank you, Jack, but you can't help me... you're still too weak. You can't even see through the second layer of the Spirit World, and your life might even be in danger.
"Besides, I wouldn't necessarily accept your help, because this was my own choice."
He pulled a ring off his hand and pressed it into Chen Lun's palm, then clapped Chen Lun hard on the shoulder with a radiant smile.
Whoosh.
Chen Lun felt the world spin. Arno had thrown him into the well.
In the final instant before darkness engulfed him, he heard only Arno's retreating footsteps and a faint voice:
"I don't remember who I am, but I will never