Initially, at the closing of the very first gate, the city of Vaen had become silent.
Four shadows whispered through its streets, while standing silent, citizens gazed-bearing eyes not empty, but suppressed-like a prisoners long ignorant of the shape of keys.
It has a second gate, which pulses in a center right in the city where silver statues with blank faces quietly guard. This one is smaller than the first, more personal, with the inscription above its arch shimmering in painful script:
"Gate 2: The Words Left Behind"
Offer a truth you never said. A confession, a fear, a love never spoken.
Silence.
Then Yumi stepped forward.
Her fingers trembled—not with fear, but with the beginning of it.
The state is designed to improve a person's perception of reality.
________________________________________
Within Gate 2 – The Unuttered Veracity
She had been behind the café table, looking at Ren, who seemed to be fumbling his way through the poems. His boyish looks owed equally to the look of the young man who appeared shaken before a sudden onslaught of admiration and touch; his gaze paused in endeavor of the impossible—to equate her gaze with the pages of the book.
She remembered that day. She said yes to his proposal, but she had never told him the entire truth.
That she had almost not come. That she'd very nearly turned him down—not because she did not love him but because she thought he deserved better.
The thought now hung again suspended in the memory.
"I almost didn't show up, Ren. I was scared... not of you. Of being loved that much."
He looked up at her. Smiled. Then held her hand.
[Memory Realignment Completed]
[Emotion Surge: +10% – Vulnerability, Trust]
[Skill Unlocked: Soul Thread – Link HP and stamina with Ren during combat]
[Permanent Passive: Shared Cooldown Reduction (Ren + Yumi)]
________________________________________
Yumi stepped through, tears anew with light but unshed; at the gate, Ren waited open-armed.
"I knew," he murmured. "Even then. I just waited for you to be ready."
There was no kiss yet. This, however, they embraced in such a way that the world might just collapse upon their release.
[Group Emotion Link Strengthened: Ren & Yumi – 30% Sync]
Bond Perk: Dual Skill Unlocked – Flicker Bloom: Upon passing through, an ally healing flash-step strike.
Behind their back, the gate creaked open, its light pouring into the streets of Vaen.
And the city trembled. Statues crumbled to the ground like glass towers shined on for a moment with uncertain destiny.
[SYSTEM ALERT: Null King Disturbance Detected — Emotional Activity Disrupting Containment Barrier]
"He is watching. And he remembers what joy tastes like."
A child stepped closer, a silent thing, offering what remained of a flower, the withering stem in a tiny clutch.
"I felt something," the child said in a whisper, "just now. For the first time in years."
The four silently regarded each other.
They were becoming more than wanderers; they were becoming catalysts.
[Current Emotion Levels]
Ren: 15%
Yumi: 22%
Alistair: 19%
Lyra: 17%
Two gates down. Five still remain.