Chapter 15....The string I
Darkness swallowed him.
Drip. ..Drip....Drip.
Then came the sound of water. Echo's eyes slowly opened.Blue light shimmered above him.
He felt his body has become impossibly heavy.
He tried to move but pain immediately shot through his chest that made him stopped.
"...Where am..?" The answer came from somewhere nearby.
"The Sacred Waters." Echo's eyes opened wider in realization.
He was lying within the shallow basin. Silver and golden currents moved around his body. There was blue streaks all around him.
His damaged core pulsed weakly. Echo looked around and saw her. Elsa stood at the edge of the water. But she wasn't alone.
Several figures wearing dark Night Cycle robes stood behind her in silence. One of them stepped forward calmly.A silver mask covered his face.
"Echo."The man said.
Echo stared at him."Who are you..."
The masked figure looked down at him."You know you have just committed an act that should have killed you."
Silence!!
"And now the Night Hall wants to know..."His voice became colder. "...what exactly are you?"
Echo stared at the masked man.For several seconds , confused about what to say, he said nothing.
His mind started to search for an answer.But nothing came in mind.
Who was he? A Half? A collapsed? A disciple of Elsa?or a survivor?
None of those answers felt complete to him so his eyes moved from the masked figures to Elsa, then to the waters surrounding him but something felt wrong although not dangerous.
But...different.
Echo slowly looked down to where he was . He noticed he was lying down on a water .
Blue lights shimers around the surface of the waters not around him but through him.
His eyes widened in realization that he was inside the waters.
He tried to sit up but pain immediately shot through his chest.
"Ah..." Elsa then stepped forward. "Don't move."
Echo ignored her and looked beneath the water and the deeper he looked, the stranger it starts to become. He noticed the water wasn't merely touching his body alone but it was also inside him.
Blue streams of energy were passing through his skin and entering the damaged structure of his core.
Here and then his core pulses weakly and the water responded with it. A soft blue light moved from it.
Then....
Echo felt warmth spread through his chest and
His fractured core trembled.The pain slowly began to fade at every passing moment.
"...What is this?" Echo's assumption was eating at him.
"The Sacred Waters." The masked guard man answered.
Echo looked at him quietly, contemplating what he just heard.
Upon the stare the masked guard shook his head. He stepped closer to the edge of the basin."You do not yet understand where you are but you only know the name."
Echo remained silent and the masked guard continued.
"You are not merely lying in the Sacred Waters."He paused. "But you are within them."
Echo's eyes widened in shocked , how can that be possible.
He looked around steadily, the blue light above him, the streams beneath him and the currents moving through his body.
He finally understood one thing.He wasn't resting beside the Sacred Waters but he feels like he was being surrounded and immersed by them. If not healing within them
Is like the entire basin is alive.
"Why?"Echo asked in confusion.
The masked guard man looked toward Elsa but she remained silent the whole time.
"Because the waters allowed it," he said.
Echo frowned. "Allowed it?" What do you mean
"The Sacred Waters do not open themselves to everyone." The masked guard voice remained calm. "Many can approach them but few of them are permitted to enter."
Echo looked arround again and he noticed water moved gently around his hands.
"So why me then?" Echo said.
No one answered immediately.Then this time Elsa spoke."Because they recognized something in you."
What?"Echo looked at her eyes widened open.
Elsa's expression remained unreadable. "I know you are confused but we ourselves don't know"
Silence filled the chamber then masked guard finally spoke again. "And that is part of the reason the Night Hall is interested in you."
Echo lowered his eyes. His mind returned to the wall thinking about
The Presence, the fractures and the Crawlers. The string connecting his core to that impossible existence. He remembered the feeling that something had been attached to him is like something that shouldn't have been there is there.
His knukles tightened so hard that it became white .
"I..." he tried but his voice faded.
The masked guard waited.
Echo tried again. "I don't know."
"What don't you know?" The guard said.
Echo looked up. "Anything , am confused."
The masked figure remained still and Echo continued."I don't know why it came and what it wanted even I don't even know why it looked at me."
He placed a hand over his chest. "And I don't know what will happen to my core from now on."
The guard studied him. "You truly don't know?"
Echo shook his head. "No, i dont"
Silence!!!
The guard turned toward the other Night Hall members.They exchanged brief looks as discussing something in mind.
Then he looked back at Echo."Then we will not force the answer from you, you have to do this on your own."
Echo looked a little bit surprised."You won't?"
"No, we wont."The man stepped away.
"Your core is severely damaged. If we force your memories or resonance before it stabilizes, we could destroy what remains of it."
Echo's eyes narrowed for a moment." So you can force memories?"