The darkness was absolute, a physical weight pressing in from all sides. It wasn't merely the absence of light; it felt like a tangible entity, thick and suffocating, swallowing sound and thought. For a terrifying moment, Kai wondered if he'd gone blind, deaf, utterly disconnected. The Hall's hum vanished, the crowd dissolved, leaving only the cold void and the chilling resonance of Elira's words: *"It belonged to him."*
*Him? Who?*
The phantom ache behind his eyes, the residue of the poisoned safety he'd bought, throbbed insistently. The image of his own crimson-stained hands flashed again, sharp and visceral. Was *he* the owner of those bloody hands? Was that paradoxical blend of maternal safety and brutal violence tied to someone else, someone Kai was inextricably linked to?
"Hello?" Kai whispered into the oppressive blackness, his voice muffled, weak. "Elira? Are you still here?"
Silence answered. A heavy, pregnant silence teeming with unspoken threats.
He reached out cautiously, fingers brushing only empty, cold air. Had she vanished? Was she another hallucination conjured by this sanity-shredding place?
"Don't move around too much," her voice materialized, startlingly close to his left ear. It wasn't a whisper, but a low, controlled tone that cut through the dark. "The shadows here aren't always empty."
"What do you mean?" Kai asked, trying to pinpoint her location. "And what did you mean… about the feeling? About *him*?"
A faint rustle of fabric, perhaps her sleeve, brushed his arm. "Some lots here… they carry an echo, Kai. They resonate with certain souls, or the fragments left behind. That maternal safety you purchased… it was potent. And tainted. Designed, perhaps, to resonate with a specific kind of regret… or guilt."
"Guilt?" The word sent a chill deeper than the ambient cold down his spine. "Guilt for what?"
"That's something you need to discover," she replied, his name on her lips sounding both familiar and alien. "Or perhaps… something you need to *remember*." The last word was almost inaudible.
Before he could press further, a faint light flickered back into existence. Not the pulsing crimson, but a cold, spectral blue, emanating from the obsidian floor in fractured patterns. It didn't illuminate the Hall fully, leaving vast pools of impenetrable darkness, creating a disorienting maze of light and shadow. The atmosphere felt different – colder, sharper, more dangerous.
The crowd was a scattered tableau of unease. Some participants huddled on the floor, heads in hands. Others peered nervously into the shifting darkness, eyes wide in the eerie blue glow. The sudden plunge into blackness had clearly unnerved everyone.
Elira stood a few feet away now, arms crossed, bathed in the ghostly light. It sharpened the angles of her face, making her dark eyes seem deeper, more inscrutable than ever.
"What was that?" Kai asked, gesturing towards the lingering darkness.
"A phase shift," Elira said simply. "The Hall changes. The rules might too. Stay alert."
As if on cue, the robed Auctioneer reappeared on the central platform, now glowing with the same cold blue light. The figure seemed entirely unperturbed by the interruption.
"The initial acclimatization period is over," the resonant voice announced, sounding colder, less mocking in the blue light. "You have tasted the auction, felt the weight of your Soul Units. Now, the true game begins."
A murmur of apprehension rippled through the scattered participants.
"Henceforth, the auctions will not always be passive affairs. Challenges will be issued. Opportunities to gain additional units… or to lose everything far more swiftly." An unseen smile seemed to curve the metallic voice. "The first challenge: 'Echo of Fear'."
The Auctioneer raised a hand, and another orb materialized – this one a swirling, stormy grey, like captured smoke. "This ability allows the wielder to project their own deepest fear into the mind of a single target for ten agonizing seconds. Temporary paralysis, a window for attack or escape. But there is a catch." The voice paused for dramatic effect. "This power is not sold to the highest bidder. It is *awarded* to the one who proves worthy… by enduring the fear echo of another."
The figure gestured towards the crowd. "Two participants will be chosen at random. One's fear echo will be inflicted upon the other. Whoever withstands the ordeal without breaking… wins the ability. The loser… forfeits twenty Soul Units as penalty for their weakness."
A stunned silence fell. This wasn't passive bidding anymore; it was direct psychological warfare, a forced confrontation with someone else's deepest terror.
Kai's stomach clenched. The thought of experiencing a stranger's primal fear was horrifying. The thought of having his *own* broadcasted… was infinitely worse.
"The selection is random," Elira murmured beside him, her eyes scanning the crowd. "But don't mistake anything in this Hall for pure chance. Everything serves a purpose."
The blue floor beneath them began to glow brighter in two distinct spots. One illuminated a pale-faced man who was already trembling visibly. The other… flared directly under Kai's feet.
He froze. *Him?* Why him? Was it because he'd bought the tainted feeling? Was the system testing him, punishing him?
"Fate selects you, newcomer," the Auctioneer declared, and Kai couldn't tell if there was amusement in the tone. "You, and the gentleman over there. His fear echo will be inflicted upon you first. Brace yourself."
Kai looked at the other man. His face was a mask of pure terror, eyes wide and staring at something unseen. Whatever his deepest fear was, it was already consuming him.
"Don't fight it," Elira said quickly, her voice low and urgent. "You can't block it. Try to find the anchor *within* it. The truth behind the terror. That's the key."
*Anchor?* What did she mean? There was no time to ask. The swirling grey orb on the platform pulsed brightly, then shot towards him like a projectile.
Kai couldn't move, couldn't blink. The orb struck his chest, and an icy coldness spread through his veins, far colder than the backlash from the false safety. No physical pain this time, but a psychic deluge.
The world dissolved. The blue light, the Hall, Elira – all gone. He was in a tight, dark, damp space. The smell of mildew and rotting earth filled his nostrils. He could hear his own shallow, panicked breaths, and the sound of something scratching, *scuttling*, nearby in the suffocating dark.
*Fear.* Not his own, but he felt it as intensely as if it were. Claustrophobic, primal terror. Buried alive. Forgotten in the dark. Eaten by whatever *things* skittered nearby.
He could feel the walls closing in, the ceiling lowering. Dirt trickled onto his face. He gasped, heart slamming against his ribs so hard it hurt. He wanted to scream, to thrash, to claw his way out.
*Find the anchor.*
Elira's words cut through the rising panic. The anchor? What was the *truth* behind this terror of being buried alive?
Kai forced his mind past the overwhelming horror. It wasn't just the dark, or the confinement. It was deeper. It was the fear of… *helplessness*. Of being trapped, unable to act, while something terrible happened. Of being utterly alone and powerless.
As soon as he identified that core – the helplessness – something shifted. The fear didn't vanish, but it lost some of its suffocating power. It became something observable, analyzable, rather than just raw, blinding experience.
The scratching in the dark continued, closer now. But Kai no longer felt paralyzed. He was still afraid, but not consumed. An awareness, a calm observer somewhere deep inside, noted the fear without succumbing to it.
Then, as suddenly as it began, the experience receded. The blue light and the Hall snapped back into focus. Kai was breathing heavily, slick with cold sweat, but he was standing. A few yards away, the other man lay crumpled on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably, utterly broken by the reflection of his own terror.
"Impressive," the Auctioneer stated, a hint of genuine surprise perhaps coloring the metallic tone. "You have weathered the Echo of Fear. The ability is yours." The grey orb detached itself from above the collapsed man and floated gently into Kai's outstretched palm. It felt cool to the touch, pulsing with a slow, unsettling rhythm. "And a twenty-unit penalty for the loser."
Kai felt a faint tingling as the orb absorbed into his skin, settling somewhere within him. The power to project fear. A dangerous psychic weapon. He looked at the broken man on the floor, feeling a disturbing mix of pity, revulsion… and a flicker of newfound strength.
"You did it," Elira said, reappearing beside him, her eyes gleaming in the blue light. "But you've drawn attention now. Be careful."
She didn't need to elaborate. Movement flickered in Kai's peripheral vision. He turned to see Scar, the man who'd won the Time Echo, approaching slowly, a nasty grin spreading across his scarred face. He wasn't alone; his two remaining associates, the burly one and another with cold, dead eyes, flanked him.
"So, the newcomer's got some spine after all, eh?" Scar rasped, his voice grating. "Got yourself a nice new toy. But toys can be broken. Or… taken." His greedy eyes flickered down to the hand that had just absorbed the Echo of Fear.
Kai tensed, feeling the new power thrum beneath his skin, cold and ready. Could he use it? Should he? The fear he'd just experienced from the other man lingered, but a new fear, sharp and immediate – fear for his own safety – began to rise.
"I don't think the rules allow that," Kai said, trying to project a confidence that felt paper-thin.
Scar laughed, a short, harsh bark. "Rules? The only rule here, boy, is strength. Who has it, and who takes it. And you look… very alone." He took another step forward, his cronies moving with him, forming a menacing semi-circle around Kai and Elira.
Kai glanced at Elira. Her face was unnervingly calm, but her eyes were alert, darting between the three aggressors. Would she fight? Could she?
"There's always a price for drawing attention, Kai," Elira murmured, her voice barely audible. "And now… it's time to pay."
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