Chrono Weaver: The Keys of Infinity

Chapter 3: My imprisonment in the Vault part 1

Piper's POV

Darkness pressed in from all sides, thick and suffocating like a heavy shroud.

I was floated in the void, unable to tell if I was dreaming or caught in some endless abyss.

Faint echoes whispered in the distance and it was my mother's voice, calling my name. "Piper... Piper."

But the voice wasn't warm and it wasn't the voice I remembered. There was no comfort, only the cold steel of her words from before

You shouldn't have come here

I tried to reach out, but my limbs felt heavy, useless.

Shadows swirled around me, pressing closer, suffocating me in their weight and I gasped for breath but the darkness swallowed me whole

Then I awoke to more darkness

My body ached, my limbs heavy and numb and my mind was slow to catch up, the memories of what had happened swirling in fragments.

I tried to move but my arms were bound, my wrists pinned above my head by something cold and unyielding.

Panic flared in my chest as I tugged against the restraints, the metal digging into her skin.

"Where am I?" I thought to myself as a look around

The cold, stifling air clung to my skin like a second layer and the silence around me was suffocating. As my vision began to adjust I realized that I wasn't just bound I was trapped.

The faint glow of shifting runes illuminated the dark stone walls of a small, cramped cell. The floor beneath me was cold and unforgiving, made of smooth obsidian, just like the walls around me

The Vault. I'm in the Vault.

Fear crawled up my spine as the reality settled in.

The Hunters had caught me.

I had been reckless, exhausted from my last escape and now she was deep in their territory far beyond any hope of rescue.

My breath quickened and I felt for the familiar hum of my magic, but it wasn't there.

The keys that were my lifeline, my only way out were gone, their comforting presence severed

They knew. They had been waiting. They had stripped me of my power, leaving me vulnerable and exposed

I squeezed my eyes shut, willing myself to stay calm. Panic wasn't going to help me now or would panic help me?

Slowly, I forced my breathing to steady

The Hunters wouldn't kill me, not yet because they wanted something from me

The keys

They'd take my bracelet, interrogate me, try to force the locations of the remaining keys out of me.

That meant I still had time but how much, I didn't know but there had to be a way out.

I wouldn't give them what they wanted.

I couldn't

My ears pricked at the sound of footsteps, distant at first, then growing closer.

The door to my cell creaked open and two figures stepped inside their shadows stretching long across the floor.

The first was a Hunter clad in the familiar dark armor, face hidden beneath a heavy hood.

But it was the second figure that sent a cold wave of dread crashing over my whole body

Amara

My mother

The shock hit me harder than the chains around my wrists.

I stared, wide-eyed, as Amara stepped into the dim light of the cell.

Her face was unreadable, all warmth drained from her expression.

There was no love, no recognition, only the same cold, calculating gaze she had seen once before when we had been on opposite sides

The last time I had seen my mother was when I had first realized the truth that Amara had become a Hunter.

Even now, after all this time, after all the running, the betrayal still burned.

"Mom..." my voice was weak, barely more than a whisper. "Why?"

Amara's eyes flicked to me but showed no hint of emotion.

"You've been reckless, Piper."

The words stung, but it wasn't just the coldness in her tone it was the absence of the person I had once known. My mother stood before me but the woman who had raised me was long gone, replaced by something hard, something dangerous

Amara stepped closer, her eyes settling on my bracelet, the one thing that had kept me connected to the keys

She reached out, fingers brushing the metal surface, and I flinched, my body tensing as though Amara's touch alone could sever that bond

"You could have avoided this," Amara said, her voice measured "If you had just come willingly, none of this would be necessary"

"Is that why you've done this?" I spat, my voice trembling with anger. "You betrayed me. You betrayed everything we stood for"

Amara's eyes darkened

"You don't understand. You never did."

My heart pounded in my chest, my hands shaking against the restraints. "I understand enough," i hissed. "You're working with them. The Hunters. They want the keys. Why, Mom? Why would you help them?"

For a moment, Amara's gaze softened, but only for a fleeting second. Then, just as quickly, the cold mask returned.

"Because there are things far more dangerous than you realize. The keys, Piper... they're not what you think."

My breath caught in her throat.

I had spent so long protecting the keys, believing in their power, their importance.

But there was something in her mother's voice, something ominous

Amara turned to the Hunter beside her, nodding slightly.

The figure stepped forward, unlocking the chains that bound me to the wall, but my wrists remained cuffed.

The moment I was freed, the Hunter grabbed me roughly by the arm, pulling me to my feet.

"Where are you taking me?" I demanded, my voice shaking.

"To the Hall of Silence," Amara said, her voice even. "You'll be held there until you're ready to tell us where the remaining keys are."

My blood ran cold.

The Hall of Silence was a place of legend, a dark, twisted chamber within the Vault where prisoners were interrogated, broken, until they gave up everything. No one ever escaped it. And no one ever left the same.

"No," I breathed, struggling against the Hunter's grip. "No, you can't do this. Please."

Amara stepped closer, her hand lifting to brush a lock of hair from my face.

For a moment, it almost felt like the mother she remembered was there. But then Amara's hand dropped, and the cold look returned.

"This is for your own good," she said softly.