Chapter 12: The City of Echoes
As Kiran, Aadhya, and Unit 37 stepped through the portal, the world around them shifted violently. Unlike the dreamy haze of the Carnival of Lost Dreams, this new place was stark, sharp, and eerily quiet. Tall, glass-like structures surrounded them, reflecting their own images endlessly. The sky was an unsettling shade of violet, pulsing as if alive, and a faint whispering filled the air—though no one was speaking.
Barry floated beside them, his expression grim. "Ah, great. This place."
Aadhya frowned. "And what is this place, exactly?"
Barry sighed. "Welcome to the City of Echoes. A place where the past never truly dies and every action is repeated forever."
Kiran raised an eyebrow. "That sounds… mildly terrifying."
Barry nodded. "It should be."
Before anyone could question him further, the whispers grew louder. Shadows flickered in the reflections of the glass buildings—moving shapes that didn't quite match their own.
Kiran turned to Aadhya. "Uh… are we seeing ghosts?"
Aadhya stiffened. "No. We're seeing echoes."
Barry confirmed, "Exactly. The City of Echoes doesn't let anything go. Every word spoken, every event that happens here—it gets trapped in the reflections, endlessly replaying."
Kiran snapped his fingers, and an eerie, delayed version of the sound rang out seconds later.
He shuddered. "Yeah, I hate that."
Unit 37's sensors blinked. "Warning: Temporal distortions detected. Probability of encountering hostile anomalies—72%."
Aadhya rubbed her temples. "Can we not do this right now?"
Barry chuckled dryly. "Oh, but we have to. You see, there's something here we need to find."
Kiran groaned. "Of course there is."
---
The Watchers in the Glass
As they moved deeper into the city, the glass buildings seemed to shift and twist around them, forming new pathways and closing off old ones. It was like the city itself was alive.
And then, Kiran noticed something that made his stomach drop.
Their reflections were no longer just reflections.
In the glass panels around them, their mirrored images moved with a slight delay—then, suddenly, the reflections didn't move like them at all.
Kiran waved his hand experimentally. His reflection hesitated, then raised its hand… but not in the same way he had.
Aadhya noticed too. "Okay, that is unsettling."
Then, the reflections smiled.
Kiran took a step back. "Nope. Nope. Not okay."
Barry's voice was low. "The Watchers have noticed us."
"Who?" Aadhya asked.
Barry didn't answer. Instead, he pulled out a small, metallic sphere and threw it into the air. It emitted a high-pitched hum, and the reflections instantly froze.
Kiran let out a breath. "Okay, what the hell was that?"
Barry finally explained. "The Watchers are the guardians of this city. They exist within the glass, and they don't like outsiders. If they decide you don't belong here… well, let's just say you don't want to find out what happens."
Aadhya exhaled sharply. "Great. So how do we get out of here before that happens?"
Barry hesitated. "We have to reach the Echo Chamber."
Kiran threw his hands in the air. "Of course we do!"
---
The Echo Chamber
Navigating the city wasn't easy. The paths changed unpredictably, and the Watchers continued to lurk in the reflections, staring at them with eerie, knowing smiles.
Eventually, they reached the center of the city, where a massive dome of blackened glass stood. The entrance was a grand archway, inscribed with strange symbols that pulsed with a faint silver glow.
Barry gestured toward it. "Inside there, we'll find what we came for."
Kiran gave him a skeptical look. "And what exactly are we here to find?"
Barry took a deep breath. "An echo of someone who shouldn't exist anymore."
Aadhya's eyes narrowed. "Meaning?"
Barry hesitated, then finally said, "A memory of the past that refuses to die."
Before anyone could argue, the doors of the chamber creaked open.
With a shared look, they stepped inside.
---
The Voice That Shouldn't Be Heard
Inside the Echo Chamber, the walls were covered in countless shimmering reflections—thousands, maybe millions of images, all replaying past events. Some were joyous, others heartbreaking. But all of them were trapped, endlessly looping in this strange, forgotten space.
In the center of the room stood a pedestal. Upon it, a single glowing crystal pulsed like a heartbeat.
Barry approached it cautiously. "This is it."
Kiran crossed his arms. "And what is it, exactly?"
Barry didn't answer immediately. Instead, he placed a hand over the crystal. The moment he did, the entire chamber rippled—and suddenly, the reflections began to change.
Instead of random images, the glass now showed something horrifying.
A war-torn battlefield. Fire raining from the sky. A massive, mechanical entity towering over the ruins of a city, its eyes glowing with unholy light.
And at the center of it all…
A man stood, watching the destruction unfold. His face was obscured by the flickering images, but his presence alone sent a chill through Kiran's entire body.
The voice that followed was deep, commanding, and strangely familiar.
"You should not have come here."
The reflections shattered.
And the world turned black.
---
The Awakening
When Kiran came to, he was lying on the ground outside the chamber, gasping for air. Aadhya and Unit 37 were beside him, both recovering from whatever had just happened.
Barry stood over them, his expression unreadable.
Kiran groaned. "Okay… what was that?"
Barry didn't answer immediately. He simply looked at the crystal in his hand—the same one from the pedestal, now pulsing faintly.
Finally, he said, "That… was a message from someone who shouldn't exist anymore."
Aadhya sat up. "And who the hell was that?"
Barry's eyes darkened. "An echo of a man who died long ago. A man whose legacy still lingers in the shadows of time."
Kiran frowned. "You're being really vague."
Barry sighed. "Because some truths are dangerous, even to know."
Before they could press him further, a deep rumbling filled the air.
The Watchers were moving.
The city had awakened.
And it knew they had taken something they weren't supposed to.
Kiran scrambled to his feet. "Okay, time to go!"
Without wasting another second, they sprinted toward the exit as the city itself began to collapse around them.
The echoes screamed. The reflections chased them.
And behind them, the image of the man in the glass watched them go.
---
To Be Continued…
Will they escape the City of Echoes? What secrets does Barry's crystal hold? And who was the mysterious figure in the reflections?
Their journey is far from over. And the past… is not yet finished with them.