The toll of the bell swept through the ruins like a wave. Deep, sonorous, as if the very stone had lungs and exhaled in mourning. The echo dragged on for seconds that felt like minutes, reverberating even through their bones.
Indra pressed a hand to his chest, heart pounding. It was as though each strike of the bell resounded inside him, keeping pace with his own pulse. Alexia tilted her head back, eyes half-closed, as if savoring a strange melody. "Mm. Almost beautiful, isn't it?" she mused with a crooked smile. "The wail of a corpse that doesn't know it's dead."
Aurora, by contrast, remained serene, though her golden eyes gleamed with something akin to fascination. "The Stone Bells were never meant to toll here…" she murmured. "They mark disruptions in the order. In Vallencourt, they always heralded disaster."
Ye Chen stood perfectly still, his posture immaculate, as though each note were part of a sacred rite. "The bell is warning and trial." he said solemnly. "The ancients believed that only those who stood firm before it were worthy of crossing into the next truth."
Indra swallowed hard.
Next truth? I barely understood the first…
Behind them, the altar remained dormant, but the walls stirred. Broken glyphs began to shimmer, unfinished lines stretching into the air as if the stone itself were struggling to complete sentences stolen by time. Some collapsed before completion; others multiplied, repeating themselves until their meaning was lost.
Aurora stepped closer, enraptured. "They're… trying to rewrite themselves."
Alexia gave a low chuckle. "Trying, failing. Rather like you, Indra."
His fists clenched, but he gave no answer. Instead, he approached the glyphs, and once again his muscles began to move of their own accord—tracing invisible lines in the air, as if his very skin remembered a forgotten script.
Ye Chen watched in silence, though his gaze held respect. "The choice will not be ours. The Bells do not sound by chance. They summon us."
The toll came again, nearer, more insistent. The ground trembled, and the roots clinging to the walls recoiled, revealing an opening ahead: a stairway descending into the depths of the ruin.
Aurora folded her arms, pensive, but with a thin smile. "Then the performance continues."
Alexia twirled on her heel, delighted, like a gambler watching the dice roll. "I love it when the world moves on its own. Come on, Indra. Your audience is waiting."
He drew in a deep breath.
Why is it always me? — yet his legs were already carrying him forward.
The four of them gathered at the stairway. The air rising from below was cold but not hostile, laced with the mineral tang of ancient stone and a sweetness almost floral. The bells echoed from the depths, each strike slower than the last, as though measuring their very footsteps.
Ye Chen offered a respectful gesture, nearly ritual. "Whatever lies below, we remain together. Honor is measured also in how we share danger."
Aurora inclined her head, her golden gaze settling on Indra—always weighing, always curious.
Alexia's smile was feline, her chin high. "Honor, curiosity, spectacle. Each of us has our reason to descend. How delightful."
Indra, wordless, was the first to set foot on the stair.
And so their descent began, guided by bells that seemed to mark not only time, but destiny itself.
---
The stairway felt endless. The bells guided them, each toll slower than the last, dragging time along with it. Indra could no longer tell how far they had gone—minutes, hours, perhaps days compressed into a single heartbeat.
The walls were woven with petrified roots that tangled like organic ramparts. In places, silver moss still pulsed with faint light. The shadows it cast shifted on their own, and Indra swore one mimicked his gestures a few seconds late.
Alexia noticed as well, but laughed, enchanted. "It's like walking among shattered mirrors. Every reflection, a lie."
Ye Chen remained composed, hands clasped behind his back. "They are not lies. They are memories." he intoned. "This place preserves all that has ever happened. We walk through its scars."
Aurora, her golden eyes sharp, studied every detail. "Fascinating. It's less a physical space than… a recording. A material echo."
Indra stayed silent, though he felt its weight more keenly than the rest. Each step seemed to pull at his body, his muscles twitching with involuntary fragments of the Sword Dance.
At last, the stair ended in a vast circular chamber. The ceiling vanished into shadow, and the polished floor was etched with concentric lines like ripples on a lake. At its center stood a black monolith, smooth and plain—except that with each toll of the bells, elven symbols flared across its surface, glowing for moments before fading.
Alexia was first to advance, her steps ringing across the stone. "So this is where the music comes from." she said, regarding it with genuine interest. "Beautiful, but incomplete."
Ye Chen stayed farther back, reverent. "Not incomplete—deliberate. The monolith only speaks when the bell calls. It is not ours to command."
Aurora approached too, though her hands stayed clasped behind her back. "A kind of synchronicity. Each toll releases fragments of memory. With patience, perhaps we could reconstruct the whole."
But Indra felt the pull of the monolith most of all. Each symbol cut through his mind like a blade, stirring memories that were not his. Without realizing, he stepped forward, hand rising of its own accord.
Aurora noticed first. "Indra… wait."
Too late. His hand touched the stone.
The impact was instant. The bells erupted in his mind, countless tones at once—slow and rapid, deep and shrill. The chamber dissolved, and he was elsewhere.
Elven towers again—but not in ruin. Alive, radiant, gleaming beneath a sky of eternal auroras. Warriors trained in flawless unison, the Dance traced like waves across the air. Indra felt every motion in his own body, as though he were one of them.
Then—silence.
The figures froze, and an immense shadow rose behind the towers. Not Chyrral, not Velmurr, but something indistinct, formless. Too many eyes, too many voices, all distorted.
Indra staggered, blinking—back in the chamber.
Aurora caught his arm, golden eyes intent. "What did you see?"
He panted, cold sweat on his skin. I can't say. I don't even know what I saw.
Ye Chen stepped closer, voice grave yet respectful.
"If the echoes chose you, then it is your burden to bear. You need not answer to us."
Alexia tilted her head, smiling slyly. "But it would be fun if you told us."
Before he could reply, the bell thundered once more—louder than ever. Lines on the floor lit up, a fissure opening around the monolith to reveal a passage descending deeper still.
Aurora arched a brow. "Looks like the next act is ready."
Ye Chen bowed briefly to the monolith, as though thanking an unseen host. "Then we proceed."
Indra drew a breath, steadying himself. Yet in his mind, the shadow's eyes still lingered.
---
The passage beneath the monolith led into a narrow tunnel, where the walls were not only stone but living roots. Massive, braided, they formed entire corridors. The air was sweet, damp, laced with the perfume of flowers blooming at night.
Indra felt a strange pressure—not of danger, but of expectation. Each step carried a whisper, as though the labyrinth itself were watching.
Alexia traced her fingers along the glowing veins in the roots, like touching cathedral glass. "It's like walking through the heart of a dead god. Fascinating."
Aurora, walking ahead, disagreed softly. "Not dead. Only… waiting."
Ye Chen's steps were steady, respectful. "If this place still breathes, it is not ours to judge. Only to cross with honor."
The labyrinth did not attack them, but shifted subtly. Roots closed behind, opening paths ahead. Sometimes three or four choices appeared, yet Indra's body always knew which way to go. The Sword Dance guided his steps without thought.
Aurora watched him sidelong, silent. Alexia smirked with amusement. And Ye Chen, though he said nothing, noted with respect how naturally Indra walked where others hesitated.
After an indeterminate time, the corridor opened into a vast chamber. Root-columns soared like the pillars of a living palace. At its center, upon a stone dais, rested an elven artifact.
A short blade, almost a dagger, delicate and crystalline. Elven runes ran its length, pulsing with the same light as the roots.
The group drew near in silence.
Alexia broke it first. "Pretty, but useless to me."
Aurora arched a brow but smiled faintly. "Agreed. I have relics enough."
Ye Chen studied it, then shook his head. "It does not suit my path. And besides, it was not we who were called."
The three turned to Indra.
He blinked, startled. "Me…?"
Alexia tilted her chin, savoring the irony. "It's always you, Indra. Haven't you noticed?"
With hesitant hands, he touched the blade. It shimmered—and dissolved into motes of light, reappearing inside his Dimensional Ring without his will. As if the artifact itself had chosen to follow him.
Silence hung heavy.
Aurora spoke at last, calm and certain. "Then it is settled. The artifact has found its bearer."
---
The return was curiously simple. The roots drew back, guiding them out of the labyrinth. When they emerged once more in the great hall, the bells were silent. Only a distant echo lingered, like memory.
Alexia exhaled with satisfaction. "Well. The performance is over."
Aurora tucked a strand of silver hair behind her ear, composed. "Then we return to the Intermediate Layer."
And so they did. Light enveloped them, and suddenly they were back. But this time, everything was… normal. The air no longer vibrated with chaos, illusions were gone, even the creatures kept their distance. The collapse had vanished as though it had never been.
An awkward silence followed. It was time to part ways.
Ye Chen was the first to speak. "Our path together ends here. It has been an honor."
Aurora inclined her head politely, though her golden eyes lingered on Indra.
Alexia smirked with malice. "Until the next tragedy you attract, Indra."
But Indra felt the truth: alone, he would not survive the Intermediate Layer. He needed to return to the Outer.
Before he could ask, Aurora stepped forward. "I will take you there."
Indra blinked. "You…?"
"Yes." Her voice was calm, almost gentle. "It would make no sense to leave you here to die."
Ye Chen did not interfere, only crossed his arms in tacit approval. Alexia raised a brow, entertained.
Indra swallowed. Something stirred in him at Aurora's presence—not fear, not trust, but a strange mix of both. She was dangerous in ways he could not name.
But he had no choice.
He nodded. "All right."
Aurora smiled. And that small gesture was enough to unsettle him even more.
And so it was decided: she would lead him back to the Outer Layer.