The town hall lobby stretched out before us, vast and dark, a monument to the pride and opulence of a vanished age. Dust danced in the dim beams of our flashlights, and the silence was so profound that we could almost hear the sound of time crumbling around us. The grand staircase, curved and majestic, ascended into the gloom of the upper floor, its marble banisters broken in places, its stone steps covered in a fine layer of dust. The footprints we had followed led unmistakably toward it.
"It looks... intact, for the most part," Maelle whispered, examining the base of the stairs with the light from her flashlight. "Solid. Despite the years and... the Veil."
"A building built to last," Gustave commented, his voice low. "Or perhaps... the Veil respects certain places. Or certain people."
We began the ascent. Every step on the stone steps echoed in the vast space of the hall and staircase, the sound amplified by the silence. We tried to move as lightly as possible, but even the rustle of our clothes seemed like a roar. The air grew more stale as we climbed, with a scent of confinement and decay.
My intuition was active, not only looking for immediate threats, but also trying to "feel" the presence of those who had preceded us on the upper floors. It was as if the very structure of the building had a slow, heavy "pulse," and I tried to discern irregularities in that rhythm that indicated life or movement.
We reached the first landing. On either side, imposing wooden doors led to dark rooms. Gustave gestured for Maelle and me to take a quick look at one of them while Lune and Sciel covered the stairwell, ready to alert us. The room appeared to be an old office, with an overturned desk and papers scattered on the floor, most of them illegible. Cobwebs hung like dirty curtains. Nothing useful was there, only the ghost of bureaucracy from a bygone era.
We continued ascending. The second landing was similar, with more offices. In one of them, Sciel found an old map of the city on a wall, faded and partially torn, but showing the original layout of the streets and main buildings. "Might be useful," he murmured, carefully putting it away. "If the Veil hasn't altered the geography too much."
As we climbed, the silence above seemed to become more... attentive. I stopped hearing the simple echo of our footsteps and began to perceive other sounds, muffled, subtle, as if someone were moving cautiously on the upper floors. A distant creak, the soft brushing of something.
"They're close," I whispered, stopping in my tracks. My companions stopped as well, their senses heightened. "I can hear them. Upstairs. Several."
Lune nodded, her dark eyes fixed on the top of the staircase. "Yes. Soft sounds. It seems like... they're waiting for us."
The tension intensified, palpable in the stale air. There was no turning back now. We had followed the tracks all the way here. We had to see who they were.
The final flight of stairs led us to a larger landing, with a wide, closed double door at the end. The footsteps led directly toward it. The silence on the other side was heavy, heavy with anticipation.
We regrouped at the foot of the door. Maelle checked its mechanism, looking for obvious traps. She found none. "It seems... just locked," she whispered.
"We could force it," Gustave said, his hand on the hilt of his sword. "But it would be noisy. It would give them a clear signal that we're coming."
"If they're waiting for us, they already know we're here," I reasoned. My intuition wasn't screaming immediate danger of ambush, but rather... a tense wait. A confrontation, not a surprise attack.
"Maybe we should... call," Sciel suggested, his voice sounding a little incongruous given the situation.
Gustave considered this for a moment. "We could try talking. We don't know if they're hostile. They could be..."
"...Other survivors," Maelle finished, hope in her voice.
The decision hung in the air. Should we storm the gate, ready for combat? Or attempt a cautious approach, risking betrayal but opening the door to dialogue? I looked at my companions. We had trusted each other until now. We had fought together. And the Echoes' intelligence had taught us that not everything in the Fade was madness or senseless aggression. There were Echoes, who could communicate. Perhaps those behind this gate could as well.
"Let's try talking," I said finally. "If they're hostile, we'll know soon enough. But if not… we might learn something vital."
Gustave looked at me, weighing my words. Then, he nodded slowly. "All right. We'll proceed cautiously, prepared for the worst, but we'll open the door without violence. [Your Character Name], you speak first. Maelle, Sciel, stay behind me. Lune, cover the door from the side."
I stood in front of the large wooden door. I took a deep breath, the smell of dust and mystery filling my lungs. The silence on the other side was almost unbearable. I raised a hand and knocked softly. Knock, knock. The sound echoed in the quiet hallway.
We waited. There was no immediate response. Tensions rose. Had they ignored us? Were they preparing a silent ambush?
Then, we heard a sound from the other side of the door. The slow, deliberate creak of an antique lock being turned. Then, the creak of the door's heavy hinges as it began to swing inward.
My muscles tensed, ready for anything. My eyes fixed on the slowly opening. The darkness beyond seemed even deeper.
The door opened just enough to reveal a fragment of the interior. Dust and shadows. And then, a figure emerged from the gloom.
It was a woman, standing defiantly, holding a weapon I couldn't immediately identify in the dim light. Her face was partly hidden by dark hair and a stony, wary expression. She didn't look like one of the mindless husks. There was intelligence and determination in her gaze.
He looked at us, his gaze fixed on us. Then, his voice echoed in the silence, clear and cold.
"Who are you?" he asked. His voice wasn't madness, but absolute distrust. "And how did you find this place?"
.
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