Kaelen's Room – Midnight
The flamelight flickered across Seraphine's face as she held out the journal.
Kaelen stared at it.
The words on the page didn't move. But they might as well have screamed.
Kaelen Vale – Subject 9Veritas Compatibility: Full ResonanceStatus: Fail-Safe Classification. Do not activate without override.
His name. Written years before he ever touched a glyph.
"…This is a joke," he said, voice hollow. "Or a forgery. Some cruel setup."
"It's not," Seraphine said softly.
"I wasn't even born when this was written."
"That's what scares me."
Kaelen's breath came short.
His hands trembled.
"What am I?" he whispered.
And then, another voice—sharper, colder—cut through the moment.
"You're still you."
Selene stood in the doorway.
She hadn't knocked.
The room shrank in the silence that followed.
Seraphine slowly turned toward Selene. "You were listening?"
"I followed her." Selene didn't flinch. "I knew something was off. Turns out I was right."
Kaelen closed the journal and stood up.
His voice was quieter now. "Both of you. Stop."
"You don't get it, Kaelen," Selene said, stepping forward. "If you were created, if they planned you—"
"I am still me," he cut in. "I have to be. Otherwise…" His voice cracked. "What was the point of all of it?"
Seraphine's eyes shone with something unspoken. "You're not alone in this."
Selene hesitated. For the first time, her expression cracked. "We're not leaving you."
Before Kaelen could reply, a sound split the silence—
crack
A pulse from the glyph beneath his skin.
A second resonance.
From beneath the floor.
The world tilted.
Kaelen gasped—and suddenly, they weren't in his room anymore.
They stood inside a darkened stone chamber, lit by violet runes circling the walls like a heartbeat.
Trial Detected: Veritas Mirror LoopParticipants: 3. Condition: Emotional Echo Active.
"Oh no," Seraphine muttered. "This wasn't supposed to trigger."
"You think?" Selene snapped.
Kaelen fell to one knee. His glyph surged.
"Where—what is this?"
"A buried trial," Seraphine said, drawing her staff. "It reacts to your core fears. It loops them. It doesn't stop until you break it."
"Why are we in it?" Selene hissed.
"Because the glyph pulled you in," Seraphine said. "You two are closest to his emotional resonance."
"…Figures," Selene muttered.
Trial Initiation: Begin
Illusion – Echo One
The world shifted.
Kaelen blinked—and found himself back in Windgrave.
Smoke hung in the air. His house burned.
But this time, he wasn't alone.
His mother stood before him.
Not screaming.
Smiling.
"You survived," she whispered. "But did you save anyone else?"
Kaelen shook his head.
"No—no, this isn't real."
She stepped forward, untouched by flame.
"Then why does the fire never leave your eyes?"
He fell backward.
Into darkness.
Illusion – Echo Two
Selene stood in an empty hall of mirrors.
Each one showed Kaelen.
Smiling. Bleeding. Dying.
And one mirror showed him holding Seraphine's hand.
Her breath caught.
"Do you always push people away before they can leave you?"
The mirror spoke in Kaelen's voice.
Selene struck it.
Glass rained down.
But another rose in its place.
Kaelen, walking away.
"You were too late again."
Illusion – Echo Three
Seraphine was back in the Sigil Archive.
Her mentor lay dead—eyes wide.
And Kaelen stood over the body, glyph burning.
"You brought him here," the ghost of her mentor said. "You trusted him."
"You gave him the key to destroy us all."
Seraphine backed away.
"No—he wouldn't—"
The ghost smiled. "He wouldn't now. But soon… he won't have a choice."
Trial Room – Reality Bleeds In
Kaelen screamed and slammed his fist into the floor.
The glyph exploded outward—
—and the illusion shattered.
They collapsed onto the stone chamber floor again. Breathing hard.
Selene was first to stand.
She stumbled to Kaelen, dropped to her knees, and without hesitation—
—wrapped her arms around him.
Not for him.
But for herself.
"I'm fine," Kaelen murmured.
"You're not," Selene whispered. "And neither am I."
Seraphine sat nearby, silent, hugging her knees.
The trial had cut deeper than she'd expected.
Kaelen glanced between them.
And for the first time, he saw it clearly.
The fear in both their eyes.
For him.
The Lock Turns
As they exited the hidden chamber, Kaelen paused, his hand brushing the doorframe.
Behind the stone, he felt something click.
Not magic. Not warning.
But memory.
A new glyph line flared under his skin.
Veritas Tier: Unlocked – Path of the Witness Initiated
The glyph wasn't just showing truth anymore.
It was remembering for him.