Moonlit Echoes

The first chime struck, deep and resonant, shaking the silence of the night.

Selene's breath caught as the sound vibrated through her bones, echoing into the emptiness of the square. The clock tower loomed before her, its massive stone structure worn by time, yet unyielding. The frozen hands of the clock face stood at the impossible hour—thirteen o'clock.

A second chime followed.

She turned to Orion, whose silver eyes reflected the moon's glow. His expression remained unreadable, yet there was something in the way he stood, rigid and still, as if bracing for what was to come.

Cassius was tense beside her, his hand instinctively resting on the hilt of the dagger at his waist. "This isn't normal," he muttered. "That clock hasn't rung in years."

A third chime.

The very air seemed to shift, thickening with something unseen but deeply felt. Selene could hear whispers now, distant and fragmented, carried by the wind like echoes of voices lost to time.

She took a step forward. Orion didn't stop her. Neither did Cassius, though she could feel his unease like a tangible force pressing against her.

A fourth chime.

The whispers grew louder.

Selene's fingers grazed the rough stone of the clock tower's base. The coldness seeped into her skin, sending a shiver through her. Her vision blurred for a moment, and then—

A memory surged through her, unbidden and forceful.

—Moonlight spilling across the same cobblestone square. The air thick with the scent of rain. Orion standing before her, his expression one of quiet sorrow.

"You don't remember yet," he had said, voice heavy with something unspoken. "But you will."

Selene gasped as the memory fragmented, splintering like glass before she could grasp the full meaning of it. Her knees nearly buckled, but Orion's hand was suddenly there, steadying her.

"Easy," he murmured. His touch was warm, grounding her in the present.

A fifth chime.

Selene pulled back, her pulse racing. "What was that?" she asked, voice trembling.

Orion studied her for a long moment before answering. "A fragment of what you lost."

Her stomach twisted. "Why now? Why am I remembering all of this now?"

A sixth chime.

Orion's gaze flickered toward the clock face. "Because time is waking up," he said. "And so are the shadows."

A sharp gust of wind howled through the square. The gas lamps flickered wildly, their golden glow struggling against the encroaching darkness. The whispers had become a murmur, indistinct words slithering through the night.

Cassius took a step closer to Selene, his muscles coiled with tension. "I don't like this," he muttered. "We need to leave."

A seventh chime.

And then, the shadows moved.

Selene's breath hitched as the darkness at the base of the clock tower shifted, peeling away from the stone like something alive. A shapeless void unfurled, tendrils of black mist twisting unnaturally as it slithered forward. The air turned ice-cold.

A figure began to emerge from the inky mass—tall, faceless, wrapped in flowing darkness.

Selene instinctively stepped back. The figure had no discernible features, yet she could feel it staring at her, its presence pressing against her chest like a phantom weight.

An eighth chime.

The whispers turned into a low, reverberating hum, vibrating through her skull. The shadowy entity extended a hand—long, skeletal fingers stretching toward her.

Orion moved first. He stepped between Selene and the figure, his stance unwavering. "You're not taking her," he said, voice like steel.

The figure didn't speak, but the hum in the air deepened. The shadows beneath its form pulsed, writhing unnaturally.

Selene felt a sharp pain behind her eyes—an invisible force pulling at something inside her, as if trying to unravel a thread buried deep in her soul.

A ninth chime.

Cassius cursed under his breath. "Selene, we have to go. Now!"

But her body refused to move. The whispers were growing louder, clawing at the edges of her mind.

"Selene."

She gasped. This voice was different. It wasn't coming from the figure. It was inside her head.

"Remember."

Her vision blurred again, and—

—A flash of silver chains. Orion, his wrists bound, struggling against unseen restraints. The shadowy figure looming over him, whispering something she couldn't hear. And then—her own voice, filled with anguish.

"You promised!"

The memory shattered, yanking her back into the present.

A tenth chime.

Selene staggered, clutching her head. "No," she whispered. "No, no, no—"

The shadow figure took another step closer. Orion's stance shifted subtly, his body tense like a coiled spring.

"You don't belong here," he said to the entity, his voice edged with something dangerous.

The figure didn't respond. Instead, the darkness at its feet swirled violently, expanding. The clock tower trembled as if the very fabric of reality was being disturbed.

An eleventh chime.

Orion exhaled sharply. "Cassius, get her out of here."

Cassius didn't hesitate. He grabbed Selene's wrist. "Come on!"

But she couldn't move. The figure's presence was suffocating, an unseen force rooting her to the ground.

Twelfth chime.

The whispers turned into screams.

Selene's body convulsed as something inside her unlocked—a flood of memories rushing forward all at once. Faces, voices, moments of laughter and sorrow—Orion's hand in hers, the sound of his voice whispering her name in the dark, the feeling of loss so deep it threatened to drown her.

And then—one final memory.

Orion standing at the edge of a blinding rift, looking back at her with sorrow.

"Forgive me," he had whispered.

A thirteenth chime.

The shadow figure lunged.

Orion moved fast—his hand raised, fingers twisting in a sharp motion. A pulse of silver energy erupted from his palm, slamming into the entity with a force that sent shockwaves through the square. The darkness recoiled, shrieking, before dissolving into nothingness.

Silence followed.

The clock tower stopped shaking. The gas lamps flickered back to life. The air felt… still.

Selene collapsed to her knees, her chest rising and falling in rapid gasps.

Orion turned to her, his expression unreadable. "Now you understand," he murmured.

Cassius ran a hand through his hair, exhaling shakily. "That… what the hell was that?"

Orion's gaze remained locked on Selene. "The past is unraveling," he said quietly. "And if we don't stop it, the Second Moon will bring more than just memories."

Selene swallowed, her heart still hammering. She knew, without a doubt, that whatever had just happened was only the beginning.

She met Orion's gaze.

"What do we do now?"

He glanced at the clock tower. The hands remained frozen at thirteen.

"We find the missing piece," he said. "Before they do."