Chapter 5: Deeper Than Time

The staircase was made of stone, cold and worn by years — or centuries — of footsteps. No lights. Just darkness, stretching deeper than I could see.

I looked at Kael. He didn’t flinch. Didn’t hesitate. He just started walking down.

Every instinct screamed at me to run.

But I didn’t.

I followed him.

With every step, the air grew colder. Thicker. Like we were walking into something that wasn’t meant for human lungs. My fingers brushed the wall beside me. Rough. Ancient. Carved with symbols that looked familiar but made no sense.

I whispered, “How far does it go?”

Kael didn’t turn. “Far enough to reach the truth.”

Not helpful.

After a while, the stairs opened into a wide chamber. The walls were black stone, and strange machines lined the corners — old, broken, yet somehow humming faintly like they were half-asleep.

In the center of the room stood a tall crystal pod, glowing faintly blue. Inside it… was a girl.

I stopped breathing.

She looked exactly like me.

Same face. Same hair. Same scar on her wrist from when I fell in the orchard as a child.

But she wasn’t breathing.

Frozen in time.

“What… is this?” I whispered.

Kael stepped beside me, his voice low. “That’s you. The original you.”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m right here.”

“You’re a looped copy,” he said gently. “A version built from memory. That’s how the academy keeps the cycle alive. The real Lyra is in there. Locked away. Sleeping. Safe… for now.”

I backed away. “This is a lie. You’re lying.”

“I wish I was,” Kael said. “I’ve seen it happen before. Other students. Other experiments. But you’re different. You were the first one who almost broke it. That’s why they had to trap the real you.”

I stared at the pod. My chest burned like fire and ice at once.

“Then why am I still here?” I asked. “Why make a copy at all?”

“Because the loop feeds off the living version of you,” Kael said. “Your emotions. Your fear. Your curiosity. Every time you loop, the system learns — adapts — so it can stop the real you from waking.”

I felt sick.

Was that why I’d been so tired lately?

Why my memories felt like paper, soft and ready to tear?

I turned to him. “Then how do I stop it?”

Kael’s eyes met mine.

“You have to wake her up. Break the loop from the inside. But once you do… this version of you may not survive.”

Silence. Thick and cruel.

I looked back at the pod. At the girl with my face. My body.

But a soul untouched by the cycle.

Could I really do it? Could I destroy myself to save… myself?

Kael stepped back. “It’s your choice, Lyra. You have until midnight. After that, the loop resets — and everything you’ve learned disappears again.”

He walked toward the stairs, leaving me alone in the cold chamber.