Chapter 3 — The Shadow in the Puzzle
The next morning, Kael returned to the park the card had led him to. He didn't know why, only that something in the melody—the fragment of lullaby—pulled him forward. Each step felt heavy, as though the world itself were stretching him in time.
The alley behind the fountain was quiet. A faint echo of the song lingered. Kael paused, listening carefully. Then he saw it: a small, locked box, partially hidden beneath the roots of a twisted tree.
He knelt to examine it. The engraving on the lid was a riddle:
"I move without legs, I speak without voice,
I follow the lost, yet offer choice."
Kael's heart thudded. He ran his fingers along the grooves, tracing the letters. The puzzle seemed alive. He leaned closer, murmuring the words aloud, trying to connect them to the lullaby in his memory.
And then he noticed her.
She was standing a few feet away, leaning casually against the edge of the fountain, head tilted slightly. The figure seemed familiar and unfamiliar all at once. A shiver ran down Kael's spine. She didn't approach, didn't speak—yet there was something in her presence, quiet, compelling.
Kael swallowed hard. "Do you… know something about this?" he asked, though he wasn't sure if he expected an answer.
She only smiled faintly, enigmatic. No words. Just a glance that lingered far too long, before she disappeared behind a cluster of trees.
The box seemed to hum softly, as if acknowledging the encounter. Kael realized something: this puzzle—and perhaps the letters themselves—were never just about the objects. They were about the people, the moments, the choices intertwined with them.
He reached for the box again. His fingers touched the lid. The world around him seemed to blur, subtle echoes of déjà vu pulsing in his mind. He remembered flashes of streets he had never walked, voices he had never heard, a hand almost touching his own.
The puzzle demanded attention, patience… and courage.
Kael exhaled, gripping the box. He didn't know who she was, why she had appeared, or what she wanted. But he felt a tension in the air—a pull he couldn't resist, even if he tried.
Chapter-End Poem
"A shadow lingers by the fountain's side,
A choice awaits where whispers hide.
The box hums softly, secrets near,
The path grows tangled, unclear.
Eyes meet once, then fade from view,
The unseen hand has guided you."