The air of the cathedral of bones was thick with ash and dread. The colossal heart suspended above them throbbed with an unholy rhythm, each pulse resonating like the toll of the bell. Ethan felt it in his skull, behind his eyes, rattling his very soul.
The figures beneath the heart shuffled forward, their feet scraping across the uneven bone floor. They came in dozens at first, then hundreds, their pale forms crawling from cracks in the cathedral walls, slipping from the rib bridges, slithering down vertebrae staircases.
The Choir had come.
Selene pulled Ethan behind one of the skeletal pillars, her breathing sharp but controlled. The beam of her flashlight cut across a row of eyeless faces. Their mouths moved in perfect unison, lips whispering a hymn that had no sound.
Ethan's throat tightened. "There's too many. Selene… there's no way through."
She crouched lower, her eyes never leaving the growing horde. "There's always a way. You just haven't heard it yet."
Her words puzzled him, but before he could respond, a figure detached itself from the swarm.
It was taller than the others, draped in robes of rotting cloth, its head crowned with broken shards of bone. Its mouth gaped wider than humanly possible, and though it sang no words, Ethan felt its voice flood into him—like poison smoke pouring into his lungs.
The others fell still. This one was the conductor.
The crowned figure extended a hand of brittle bone toward Ethan. A single word tore through his skull:
Chosen.
Ethan recoiled, his knees buckling. "What—what the hell did it just say?"
Selene grabbed his arm, forcing him back onto his feet. Her eyes widened with something close to horror. "It called you chosen."
The crowned figure's mouth stretched even wider. The hymn rose again, but this time Ethan heard it differently. Beneath the chorus of agony, there was rhythm—pattern—an echo inside his own chest.
It wasn't just music. It was a heartbeat.
And it matched his.
His breath hitched. "Selene… it's the same. My heart… it's beating with that thing." He pointed toward the massive, pulsing organ above them.
Selene's grip tightened until it hurt. "Don't you dare say it out loud."
But Ethan knew the truth, even before she confirmed it in her eyes. He was connected to the Heart.
The Choir advanced again, their whispers thickening the air. Ethan's vision blurred. His pulse pounded faster, harder, as if trying to keep pace with the colossal organ.
Selene shoved him against the pillar. "Listen to me. They want you to join. To bind yourself to that thing. That's why you've been hearing the bell, why the Hollow City called you."
"I don't understand!" Ethan gasped. "Why me? Why not anyone else?"
"Because you carry it."
Her words struck like a dagger. "Carry what?"
Before she could answer, the crowned figure raised its hand again. The heart above them convulsed, a jet of ash erupting like blood. The ground shook violently, bones splintering, dust falling like rain.
The Choir screamed in unison. Not words this time—commands. Their mouths split wider, their jaws unhinging. The sound pressed down on Ethan like a thousand weights, crushing his chest.
Selene fell to her knees, blood trickling from her ears. Ethan clutched his head, his own scream lost beneath the torrent of voices.
And then—just as suddenly—he screamed with them.
Not in submission. In resistance.
The moment Ethan's voice tore free, the air shifted. The Choir faltered, their hymn staggering. The crowned figure reeled back, its crown of bone cracking slightly.
Ethan's voice rang raw and jagged, but it cut. The massive heart above them skipped a beat, its rhythm misaligned for a single instant.
Selene's eyes snapped open, locking onto him with fierce recognition. "That's it!" she shouted above the cacophony. "You can disrupt them. You're not just bound to the Heart—you can oppose it!"
Ethan staggered, clutching his chest. His lungs burned, his throat raw. "I—I don't know how—"
"You don't have to know!" Selene grabbed his face, forcing his eyes to hers. "Just sing. Anything. It's yours, not theirs. Do it or we die here."
Ethan's fear twisted into something else—something primal. He drew in a shuddering breath and let his voice spill out again. This time not broken, not panicked, but desperate. Defiant.
The sound cracked through the cathedral like a whip. The Choir convulsed, their bodies spasming as their harmony fractured. Some crumbled into dust immediately, their mouths sealed shut in silence. Others screeched, covering their ears, stumbling blindly.
The crowned figure shrieked, its soundless roar rattling the marrow pillars. It raised both hands toward Ethan, channeling the force of the Heart. The organ above pulsed violently, veins of ash stretching outward like chains.
Ethan screamed louder.
The two forces collided—voice against heartbeat, mortal against abyss. The cavern itself groaned, bone structures shattering, skull towers collapsing. Chains snapped, and for the first time, the Heart trembled as though in pain.
Selene pulled Ethan back as the cathedral quaked. "We can't destroy it here," she yelled. "Not yet. But you've weakened it. We need to move—now."
Ethan's legs nearly gave out, his body drained, but Selene dragged him through the chaos. The Choir swarmed in fury, their ranks broken but not destroyed. Their hands clawed at the air, their voices rising in discordant madness.
The crowned figure lurched after them, skeletal limbs cracking with every stride. Ethan felt its gaze pierce his skull, the word burning into him again:
Chosen… Chosen…
He stumbled, his knees scraping against bone. Selene yanked him up, her voice fierce despite the blood running down her face. "Don't listen! Don't stop!"
They sprinted across the cathedral, weaving through falling debris. A bridge of ribs collapsed behind them, crushing dozens of the Choir beneath. The heart pulsed faster, its tolls erratic now, shaking the entire cavern.
At the far end, a jagged archway gaped like a wound in the wall. Selene shoved Ethan toward it. "Go!"
He hesitated, looking back. The crowned figure had raised its arms once more, summoning a tidal wave of ash and bone that barreled toward them like a storm.
"Selene—!"
She didn't look back. She slammed her hands against his chest and shoved him through the archway.
The wave hit.
Ethan tumbled through darkness, rolling across cold stone. His body screamed in pain. He coughed, choking on the dust in his lungs.
"Selene?" His voice cracked. He scrambled to his feet, blinking into the shadows.
The archway was gone. Only solid rock remained, sealing the cathedral away.
He was alone.
Panic surged. He clawed at the wall, screaming her name. The echoes bounced back, hollow and cruel. No answer came.
His breaths came ragged, tears blurring his vision. The thought of losing her here—after everything—was unbearable. She had been his anchor, his guide, his only thread of sanity. Without her… the Hollow City would consume him.
But then, faintly, a whisper stirred the air.
Not Selene's.
Ethan… don't cry. I'm here.
He froze, his blood running cold. The voice was his mother's again—soft, gentle, exactly as he remembered.
"No," he whispered. "Not again."
The voice came closer, warm and suffocating. Sing with me, Ethan. You don't have to be afraid anymore.
His chest heaved. The Choir had followed him. Even here, in this sealed tunnel, their reach was endless.
But as the whisper pressed harder, demanding, Ethan's grief and fear hardened into rage. He clenched his fists, his voice breaking as he shouted into the void:
"You're not her! You'll never be her!"
The tunnel shook. The voice screeched, unraveling into static before vanishing altogether.
Ethan collapsed to his knees, gasping. For the first time, he had resisted the illusion on his own. No Selene to silence him, no saving hand. Just him.
And for a fleeting moment, he felt stronger.
But the silence that followed was worse.
The tunnel stretched ahead, endless, a throat of stone. Ethan rose shakily, his legs trembling. He had no choice but to walk. Each step echoed too loudly, reminding him of Selene's warning: Don't echo.
He forced himself forward, deeper into the unknown.
As the darkness swallowed him, only one thought burned in his mind:
He had to find her.
No matter what the Hollow City demanded, no matter what the Heart whispered—he would not let Selene be another voice in the Choir.
Not while he still had breath to fight.
Do you think Selene survived the wave, or has the Choir taken her? Comment your theories!