THUMP.
The sound echoed through the tower.
Aanya froze.
Aarav looked toward the floor.
“The original Heart.”
The Echo’s silver eyes flickered.
“Not the Heart you destroyed.”
Aanya stepped closer.
“Then what did we destroy?”
“A prison.”
Aarav frowned.
“A prison for what?”
The Echo looked at him.
“For the memories that Ravenhall couldn’t control.”
Silence.
The old woman lowered her eyes.
Aanya noticed.
“You knew.”
The woman didn’t answer.
“You knew there was another Heart.”
“I knew there was something beneath the original one.”
Aanya’s voice hardened.
“That’s not the same thing.”
The woman looked at her.
“Perhaps not.”
The floor suddenly began glowing.
A circular symbol appeared beneath them.
Aanya recognized it.
The same symbol from the Heart.
But this one had something different at its center.
A small black circle.
Aarav stared.
“That’s new.”
The Echo whispered:
“That’s where the first memory lives.”
Aanya looked at the old woman.
“How do we get there?”
The woman pointed toward a narrow staircase.
“Follow the clock.”
Aanya frowned.
“The clock?”
The enormous clock above them began moving.
Its hands turned backward.
TICK.
TICK.
TICK.
Then it stopped at a strange time.
11:47.
A door opened beneath the clock.
Aarav looked at Aanya.
“That’s our way.”
They descended again.
The staircase was narrower this time.
The walls were covered in old photographs.
Aanya looked at them as they passed.
Students.
Researchers.
Founders.
Then— her mother.
Aanya stopped.
There was a photograph of her standing beside the original Heart.
Underneath it was a date.
2012.
Aanya touched the glass.
“What was she doing here?”
“Trying to destroy it.”
Aanya looked at her.
“Did she?”
“No.”
“Why?”
The woman hesitated.
“Because someone was inside.”
Aanya’s heart skipped.
“Who?”
The woman looked at Aarav.
Aarav stared back.
“Me?”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“Someone who remembered you.”
They continued.
At the bottom of the staircase was a huge metal door.
No handle.
No lock.
Only two handprints.
One small.
One slightly larger.
Aanya stared.
“Our hands.”
Aarav placed his hand against one.
Nothing happened.
Aanya placed hers against the other.
The door began glowing.
A voice echoed:
“TWO MEMORIES.”
The door remained closed.
Then:
“ONE CHOICE.”
Aanya looked at Aarav.
“What choice?”
The voice continued.
“WHICH MEMORY WILL YOU KEEP?”
Aanya frowned.
“Keep?”
Aarav shook his head.
“We’re not choosing.”
The door remained closed.
The voice repeated:
“WHICH MEMORY WILL YOU KEEP?”
Aanya looked at Aarav.
“What happens if we refuse?”
The Echo answered from behind them.
“Then Ravenhall chooses for you.”
Aanya’s expression hardened.
“Not again.”
She placed her hand firmly against the door.
“We choose together.”
The door opened.
Beyond it was a massive chamber.
At the center stood the original Heart.
But it was completely different from the one Aanya had destroyed.
This one was enormous.
Dark silver.
Covered in thousands of glowing lines.
And inside it— memories moved like stars.
Aanya stepped closer.
“I can see them.”
Aarav nodded.
“Everyone who ever came here.”
The old woman whispered:
“Every memory Nightfall collected.”
Aanya looked at her.
The woman didn’t answer.
Aarav stared at the Heart.
“Too many.”
Then the Heart pulsed.
THUMP.
A memory appeared.
A little girl.
Aanya.
She was standing in the chamber.
But this time— someone was beside her.
A boy.
Aarav.
They were holding hands.
Aanya’s eyes widened.
“That’s before 2009.”
The old woman nodded.
Aanya turned.
“How is that possible?”
The woman whispered:
“Because your first meeting wasn’t your first meeting.”
Aarav stared at the memory.
“Then what was?”
The Heart answered.
“YOUR FIRST MEMORY WAS CREATED.”
Aanya froze.
“What?”
The Heart pulsed again.
“YOU WERE NEVER SUPPOSED TO REMEMBER THE ORIGINAL.”
The chamber shook.
The Echo suddenly appeared beside the Heart.
Its expression was no longer cold.
It looked afraid.
“Stop.”
Aanya turned toward it.
“Why?”
The Echo looked at the Heart.
“Because if you remember the original…”
It looked at Aarav.
“…you’ll remember who chose you.”
Aanya’s heart began pounding.
“Who?”
The Heart pulsed.
Once.
Twice.
Then a voice came from inside it.
A voice Aanya hadn’t heard since childhood.
Her mother’s voice.
“Aanya…”
Aanya’s eyes filled with tears.
“Mum?”
The voice continued:
“If you’re hearing this, Nightfall has failed.”
Aanya stepped closer.
“What happened?”
The recording answered:
“I need you to understand one thing.”
The Heart began glowing brighter.
“Aarav was never the experiment.”
Aanya looked at him.
The final words echoed through the chamber:
“You were.”
Silence.
Aanya stared at Aarav.
Aarav stared back.
And for the first time since they entered the Original Ravenhall— neither of them knew what was real.