The plaza remained silent after the vision faded.
Kael stood motionless at the base of the throne steps, breathing slowly as the last fragments of the Echo memory slipped away.
The kneeling crowds.
The storm tearing open the sky.
The Silent King's voice.
"…we must become its memory."
Lyra studied him carefully.
"You look like you just walked through someone else's life."
Kael rubbed the back of his neck.
"Something like that."
Lyra glanced toward the throne.
"That was Echo memory, right?"
Kael nodded slowly.
"I think so."
He looked around the plaza.
The skeletons scattered across the stone felt different now.
He had seen them alive only moments ago.
Lyra followed his gaze.
"Those people…" she said quietly.
"They were part of the city when it sealed itself."
Kael nodded.
"Looks like it."
For a few seconds neither of them spoke.
Then the compass in Kael's hand stopped vibrating.
Completely.
He looked down.
The needle had gone still.
Lyra stepped closer.
"That's strange."
Kael tilted the compass slightly.
No reaction.
The artifact had been pulling them forward for hours.
Now it felt… dormant.
Lyra frowned.
"Maybe the throne was the destination."
Kael looked back toward the massive stone seat.
"Maybe."
Then the Echo vanished.
Not slowly.
Instantly.
The whispers that had filled the Ghost City since they entered disappeared at once.
The silence was absolute.
Lyra stiffened.
"…Okay."
"That's new."
Kael nodded.
"Yeah."
Lyra slowly turned, scanning the plaza.
"This entire place was saturated with Echo a second ago."
"And now?"
"Nothing."
Kael stepped closer to the throne.
The polished black stone surface reflected faint light from the fractured Echo lines running across it.
For a moment—
The reflection moved.
Kael froze.
Lyra noticed.
"What?"
Kael didn't answer immediately.
He leaned slightly toward the throne.
The stone surface acted like a dark mirror.
Kael saw his reflection.
Lyra's beside him.
And behind them—
Someone else.
Kael's heartbeat slowed.
A third figure stood a few steps behind them in the reflection.
Tall.
Still.
Watching.
Lyra frowned.
"…Kael?"
Kael spoke quietly.
"Don't move."
Lyra blinked.
"What?"
"Just stay still."
Lyra obeyed, though confusion spread across her face.
"What do you see?"
Kael swallowed.
"In the reflection."
Lyra leaned slightly to look at the throne's surface.
"I see us."
She squinted.
"And a cracked chair."
Kael shook his head slowly.
"There's someone behind us."
Lyra turned instantly.
The plaza behind them was empty.
Only broken stone and ancient skeletons.
She turned back slowly.
"…Kael."
Kael kept staring at the reflection.
The figure was still there.
Standing calmly behind them.
But something about it was wrong.
The outline was human.
The posture relaxed.
Yet the face—
The face refused to exist.
Every time Kael tried to focus on it, the details slipped away like smoke.
As if reality itself refused to draw that part.
A calm voice spoke from the reflection.
"Direct observation is unreliable."
Lyra flinched slightly.
"…Did you say something?"
Kael answered quietly.
"No."
The voice continued.
"But reflections are remarkably honest."
Kael stared at the distorted figure.
"You."
Lyra looked between him and the empty plaza.
"You're talking to someone."
Kael nodded slowly.
"Yes."
Lyra rubbed her forehead.
"…Fantastic."
The distorted figure in the reflection tilted its head slightly.
"You reached this place faster than expected."
Kael frowned.
"What are you doing here?"
The figure stepped closer inside the reflection.
Still impossible to see clearly.
"Observing."
Lyra crossed her arms.
"Okay."
She looked around again.
"I'm officially uncomfortable."
Kael kept his eyes fixed on the throne's surface.
The voice from the reflection spoke again.
"This city converted itself into Echo memory."
Kael frowned.
"I saw that."
"Yes."
A pause.
"But something unusual happened when the memory triggered."
Kael blinked.
"What do you mean?"
Before the figure could answer—
The throne cracked.
A thin line of white Echo light spread across the stone seat.
Lyra stepped back instinctively.
"That wasn't happening before."
The reflection flickered.
The distorted figure inside it glanced toward the throne.
"Well," the voice said calmly.
"It seems the king noticed."
Kael's stomach tightened.
"Noticed what?"
The Echo returned.
Violently.
Thousands of whispers flooded the city at once.
Lyra grabbed her head.
"Okay that's worse!"
The throne pulsed with blinding light.
Echo lightning spread across the plaza.
Kael looked back at the reflection.
The figure was fading.
The voice spoke one last time.
"This should be interesting."
Then the reflection returned to normal.
The Echo surged again.
And something inside the throne began to move.