The moment I stepped through the black door, the world changed again.
We were no longer standing in the cracked marble of the Shadow Valley. Instead, we found ourselves in a vast, hollow space, the air thick with an oppressive, almost suffocating silence. The floor beneath us was smooth, dark, and reflective, stretching out into a seemingly endless void. The only light came from flickering shadows that twisted and writhed on the edges of the room, casting distorted reflections on the surface.
The walls were invisible, as if the room extended infinitely in every direction, beyond the reach of our eyes. Yet, somehow, I could feel the presence of something all around us — something ancient and watching.
Alice's warning echoed in my mind: The trials aren't just games — they're traps.
"Where are we?" Arisa whispered, her voice barely a breath. She was looking around, but I could tell she couldn't make sense of it either.
"Welcome to the Hall of Echoes," Alice's voice rang out, though there was no sign of her. It was like she was speaking directly into our minds. "This is the first trial."
I could feel the tension creeping up my spine, the weight of the words sinking in. The Hall of Echoes. The name alone sent a shiver through me.
I glanced at James, his face pale, but he was standing firm, clutching the chain around his neck like it was his lifeline. Arisa, too, looked tense, her hands gripping the mirror like it was a weapon.
Then, the air shifted, rippling like the surface of water disturbed by a stone.
Suddenly, the silence broke, replaced by a low, humming sound, like a distant wind rushing through an endless cavern. Shadows flickered on the floor, stretching and pulling toward us. My heart pounded in my chest, but I stood still, waiting, trying to steady myself.
The shadows deepened, growing darker until they coalesced into something far more tangible. A figure. A shape. A reflection of myself, standing at the far end of the room.
The figure in the distance raised its head. It wasn't me, not exactly, but it felt like me — the same eyes, the same expression, but twisted, somehow wrong. Its smile was too wide, too sharp. A mocking version of me, wearing the face I saw in the mirror every morning, but it wasn't my reflection anymore.
It was… an echo.
"Alex…" the reflection called, its voice warped and hollow. "You've come a long way, haven't you?"
The words were soft, but they carried weight — a weight that pressed on my chest, as if the very air itself was pulling me toward the echo.
"No," I whispered, shaking my head. "This isn't real."
But the echo smiled wider, its eyes flashing with a darkness that felt too familiar. "Everything here is real, Alex. You should know that by now."
I reached for the ring on my finger, feeling the violet glow pulse against my skin. The shadow blade it concealed was a comforting weight, but it didn't seem like it would help me here. I had to face this. I had to face me.
The echo took a step forward, its movements slow, deliberate. "You've been running from yourself for a long time," it said, its voice dripping with venom. "Haven't you, Alex? Running from the truth of what you've done. From who you really are."
My heart stuttered. The words hit home, deep into a place I had buried long ago. It knew me, didn't it?
"Shut up," I spat, stepping back. My pulse quickened, but I forced myself to hold my ground. "You're not real. You're just… just an illusion."
But the echo laughed — it was my laugh, but colder, emptier. "Isn't that what you tell yourself every time you look in the mirror? That none of it matters? That you're not the person who did those things?" The reflection's hands reached out, fingers long and distorted, as if it was reaching for my very soul.
I could feel my breath hitching in my throat. It was right. I had tried so hard to bury that part of myself, to tell myself it didn't matter anymore. That it wasn't me.
But in this place… I couldn't escape it.
The reflection continued to move, its face twisting in grotesque parody. "You think this is just a game, don't you, Alex? That you can just play through, ignore your past, and move on. But it's not that simple. You'll always have to face who you really are."
The shadows surrounding me deepened, the air growing colder, thicker with guilt. The echo grinned wider.
"You want to survive? Then face me. Face the truth of what you've done."
It was too much. The pressure, the weight, the suffocating sense of inevitability. I stumbled backward, my mind racing. I wanted to escape, to run — but there was nowhere to go. No escape.
The echo lunged toward me, its distorted hand reaching for my throat, for the part of me that was still fragile, still haunted by what I had done. But before I could react, the air shimmered, and the shadows flickered.
"Alex!" Arisa shouted, her voice cutting through the darkness. The sound of her voice snapped me out of the trance, and the echo faltered for a moment, frozen in place.
I took a deep breath, gripping the ring harder, forcing myself to remember who I was. Not the echo. Not the past.
I was in control.
"Enough," I growled. The words came out like a command, a decision. I stepped forward, my shadow blade materializing with a flash of violet light, cutting through the space between us.
The echo screeched, its form shuddering as the blade passed through it. It dissolved into shadows, disintegrating like dust in the wind, until there was nothing left.
I stood there, panting, feeling the weight of the moment pressing on my chest. But the trial wasn't over yet.
The floor beneath me rippled again, and a new echo began to form. The next one.
I wasn't done facing myself yet. Not by a long shot.
I looked up at my friends — James, Arisa — both watching in silence, their faces filled with the same fear and determination. We couldn't stop now. We couldn't fail.
The Hall of Echoes had only just begun.