Eren stepped through the glowing portal, feeling the familiar tug as his body was transported once more. The world around him stabilized into a new form, the blinding light giving way to a forested landscape. The scent of damp earth and decaying leaves filled the air. He squinted, taking in his surroundings.
A dense, fog-like mist rolled across the forest floor, obscuring the ground beyond a few feet ahead. The trees, tall and twisted, loomed above him like ancient sentinels, their roots snaking into the ground like massive fingers. Their branches twisted into unnatural shapes, some even curving toward him, as though watching his every move.
The sky above was a pale gray, clouds swirling in patterns that felt almost unnatural. The entire atmosphere was heavy, laden with an unspoken weight that made Eren's breath catch. This wasn't like any of the other floors he had seen so far. It felt… different.
Floor Objective: Investigate the Echoes
Hazard Level: Unknown
Special Condition: Time Distortion Active – Temporal Anomalies Present
Eren frowned. Time distortion? That could only mean one thing—the floor would mess with his perception of time. He had dealt with dimensional shifts and anomalies before, but something about this felt more personal. His scanner flared briefly, giving him only a limited reading.
"Alright, let's get moving."
Eren walked cautiously into the mist, his footsteps muffled by the thick, soft carpet of moss underfoot. He noticed strange markings carved into the trees around him, symbols he didn't recognize. They were ancient, worn by time, and yet they seemed to pulse with an eerie energy.
As he continued deeper into the forest, a strange sensation began to build in his chest—a feeling he couldn't quite place. It was like a whispering voice in the back of his mind, something faint but familiar, urging him onward.
The air grew colder as he moved, and the mist thickened. His scanner beeped erratically, showing strange readings that fluctuated wildly. He instinctively reached for his weapon, prepared for anything.
Then, without warning, the world around him shifted. The mist parted for a moment, revealing a small clearing ahead, bathed in soft, golden light. A figure stood there, its back to him.
Eren's heart skipped a beat. The figure was a woman, her hair a stark white that contrasted against the darkness of the forest. She stood perfectly still, almost statuesque, her arms crossed in front of her. The mist seemed to swirl around her, not touching her body but following her movements like it was alive.
"Who are you?" Eren called out, his voice strangely distant in the heavy air.
The woman didn't respond. She only slowly turned, revealing her face—a face that, for a moment, struck him as familiar, but just out of reach, like a memory he couldn't quite grasp.
Her eyes, a piercing shade of violet, locked onto his.
Entity Identified: Echo of the Past
Threat Level: Unknown
The figure didn't speak, but Eren felt a sudden rush of images—flashes of his past life. He saw himself in another world, on Earth. He saw faces, faces he hadn't thought of in years—his parents, friends, and the life he had left behind. The images were fleeting, like shadows, but they stirred something deep inside him.
His heart pounded in his chest as he took a step forward. "What… what is this?"
The woman didn't answer. Instead, she raised one hand, and the air around them grew still. A low hum resonated from the ground, and the symbols on the trees glowed faintly in response.
Eren's vision blurred. Time itself seemed to warp, his surroundings flickering between moments, like a broken film reel. One moment, he stood in the forest, the woman before him. The next, he was in a different place entirely—an ancient city of marble and gold, standing at the edge of a great cliff overlooking a vast ocean.
Then, he was back in the forest, only now the mist was heavier, thicker. The woman was gone, and he was standing in the clearing, the markings on the trees now glowing with a fiery intensity. His heart raced. He couldn't tell if time had passed or if he had simply blinked.
System Alert: Temporal Distortion Detected
Warning: Effects of the Echo are unpredictable. Proceed with caution.
Eren swallowed hard, trying to steady his breathing. The distorted images were fading, but the feeling of loss lingered. Whatever this was, it was messing with his mind—and with his perception of reality.
The woman's voice, soft yet commanding, echoed through his thoughts. "You are not who you think you are."
The words sent a shiver down his spine. He stepped back, unsure of what to do.
Suddenly, the woman reappeared in front of him, as if she had never moved. She reached out, her hand resting on his chest, just over his heart. The touch was cold but oddly comforting.
"The past is not a place you can return to, but it shapes everything you will become."
Before Eren could respond, the ground trembled beneath him. The symbols on the trees flared with blinding light, and the space around him began to distort once more. The woman's form flickered in and out of reality, becoming less tangible with each passing second.
Without warning, the forest began to dissolve. The trees faded into mist, and the clearing where the woman had stood was consumed by darkness. Eren reached out, but everything slipped through his fingers.
He was falling—no, being pulled.
Then, just as quickly as it had all begun, the world snapped back into focus.
Eren found himself standing alone in the same spot where he had first entered the forest. The mist was gone, replaced by a gentle breeze. The trees around him were normal once more, their bark unmarked, their branches still. The feeling of loss lingered, but the woman—the Echo—was nowhere to be seen.
Floor Objective: Investigate the Echoes
Status: Unresolved
Eren stood frozen for a moment, trying to process everything. What had just happened? Was it real, or had it been some kind of vision? His pulse was still racing, and his mind was clouded with unanswered questions.
But one thing was clear: the Echoes of the past weren't done with him yet.