Tower of cours

Chapter 42: The Loop of Forgotten Moments

The village seemed to pulse with a strange, quiet energy. The air was thick with the scent of wood smoke and damp earth, yet something felt out of place. The villagers, their faces blank, moved with robotic precision, as though trapped in an endless repetition of their lives. It was as if time itself had become a cage for them, one they couldn't escape from, no matter how hard they tried.

Kael, Mira, and Selene walked through the heart of the village, their footsteps muffled by the thick fog that clung to the ground. The buildings, once vibrant, now stood in quiet disrepair, their windows dark and empty, their doors creaking with age. A small group of children played near the well, but their actions were stiff, mechanical—like actors stuck in a scene they couldn't break free from.

"This place… it's wrong," Mira murmured, her staff glowing faintly as she studied the villagers. "The timeline here is completely fragmented. They're living in a loop, reliving the same moments over and over, unable to break free."

"Could this be connected to the fractures we saw in the Cradle of Time?" Selene asked, her eyes narrowed in concentration. "The same force that manipulated time in the Cradle could be affecting this place as well."

"I think so," Kael replied, his gaze fixed on the motionless villagers. "It's like something or someone is holding them in this moment, trapping them in their own memories."

They continued walking, the weight of their mission pressing on them with every step. The village square, once a bustling center of commerce and community, was now a silent, empty space, save for an old woman sitting on a bench, staring at the ground. She looked up as they approached, her eyes sharp but hollow, as if she had seen this exact moment countless times.

"Visitors," the old woman said, her voice raspy, as though it hadn't been used in years. "You've come to fix it, haven't you? You want to stop the loop."

"How do you know that?" Mira asked, her voice cautious.

"I've seen it all," the woman replied, her gaze distant. "Every day, it's the same. Every day, I see the same faces, the same movements. Time is broken here, but it's like no one remembers how it started. No one knows when it began."

"What happened to cause this?" Selene asked, stepping closer, her voice soft but urgent.

The old woman looked up at the sky, her eyes narrowing. "It wasn't always like this. This village was once a place of peace, a place where people came to forget their troubles. But something… something came through the cracks in time. At first, we didn't notice, but as time passed, we began to forget things. Whole days, whole seasons would slip away, leaving us behind. And now…" Her voice trailed off. "Now we're all trapped, each of us reliving our worst moments over and over again."

Mira stepped forward, her staff pulsing with energy. "The fractures in time… they're not just affecting this village. They're causing ripples, pulling people into these loops."

"Yes," the woman whispered. "The cracks are widening. And once they're wide enough, they'll swallow everything. The past, the present, and the future will all merge into one. There will be no more time to save. No more memories to hold onto."

Kael clenched his fists. The enormity of their task weighed heavily on him. "We need to find the source of this. If we can close the fractures here, maybe we can stop it from spreading."

The woman's eyes flickered with something like recognition. "You don't understand. The source isn't just here. It's everywhere. And it's in all of us. We're all connected by the fractures, by the forgotten moments."

"Then how do we stop it?" Selene demanded, her tone sharp. "How do we break the loop and undo what's been done?"

The old woman stood up slowly, her movements stiff as if she was afraid of breaking the delicate balance of time that held her in place. "There is one way," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "You must go to the heart of the loop. The place where it all began. It's hidden beneath the village, beneath the earth, in the ruins of the old temple."

"The temple?" Kael asked. "Where is it?"

The old woman pointed toward the edge of the village, where the trees grew thick and wild. "There, at the base of the mountain. The temple lies beneath the earth, sealed away for centuries. But it was once the center of the village's power. If you can reach it, you might be able to find the source of the loop."

Mira nodded. "We'll go there. But we have to move quickly. If the fractures are as bad as they seem, we don't have much time before they spread beyond this village."

The trio turned toward the mountains, but before they could take a step, a voice called out from behind them. It was the old woman again.

"Be careful," she warned. "The loop isn't the only thing you'll face down there. The ones who control the fractures… they don't want you to succeed. And they will stop at nothing to keep you from closing the cracks."

The warning hung in the air, but there was no time to waste. They had come too far to turn back now.

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The Descent

The journey to the temple was treacherous. The path through the forest was narrow, the trees thick with vines that seemed to claw at them as they passed. The air grew heavier the closer they got to the mountain, and the forest seemed to come alive with strange noises—distant whispers, rustling leaves, and the occasional shadow flitting just beyond their vision.

As they neared the entrance to the temple, the landscape shifted. The air grew colder, and the sky above darkened, as if time itself was pressing in around them. A sense of dread settled over the group, but they pressed on, undeterred.

The entrance to the temple was hidden behind a massive boulder, its surface etched with strange symbols. Mira raised her staff, and a pulse of energy rippled through the air, causing the boulder to shift and move, revealing a dark, narrow passage leading underground.

Without another word, they entered.

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The Heart of the Loop

The temple was ancient, its walls carved with intricate designs depicting scenes of time itself—sunrises, sunsets, the changing of the seasons, the flow of rivers and mountains. But the further they ventured into the heart of the temple, the more distorted the images became, as if time itself was unraveling in the depths of the stone.

At the center of the temple stood an altar, ancient and cracked, bathed in a strange, flickering light. The air was thick with an oppressive energy, and as they stepped closer, the distortion in the air became palpable. It was as though they were standing on the edge of something vast and unknowable, a force that stretched out into eternity.

"This is it," Mira whispered, her voice echoing in the cavernous space. "The source of the fractures."

As they approached the altar, a dark figure materialized before them, its form flickering in and out of existence like a broken memory. The figure was tall and cloaked in shadows, its face obscured by a hood. But as it stepped forward, its presence filled the room, casting a deep, foreboding shadow over everything.

"You should not have come," the figure said, its voice a low growl that reverberated through the temple. "The fractures belong to me now. Time cannot be fixed. It must be broken."

Kael drew his sword, stepping forward. "We won't let you destroy everything."

The figure laughed, the sound cold and mocking. "You think you can stop what has already begun? You are merely pawns in a game far larger than you understand."

The ground trembled beneath their feet, and the temple seemed to shift, the walls bending and warping like a reflection in broken glass.

"This is the end," the figure whispered. "The end of time itself."

And then, the battle began.

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To Be Continued...