The room seemed to breathe, its walls stretching and shifting as if responding to some unseen pulse. Eili stood still, her heart racing, the shard in her hand growing warmer. The symbol on the wall had now fully formed—a swirling spiral of geometric lines that hummed with energy. It beckoned them to act, its center glowing with an intensity that made her skin tingle.
Lumis stepped closer, his expression guarded. “We’re being pulled into something,” he said softly, his voice carrying the weight of their uncertain future.
Eili nodded, her gaze fixed on the symbol. “This is it,” she whispered. “We’ve reached the final trial.”
But as they raised their shards, a new challenge emerged: the reflections began to twist and distort. Their own faces flickered across the walls, but they were not the people they recognized. Each reflected image was warped—eyes too wide, mouths too stretched, movements exaggerated. The room seemed to mock them, showing them twisted versions of themselves, as if it knew their deepest doubts and fears.
“What is this?” Lumis said, his voice strained.
“It’s testing us,” Eili replied, her voice trembling. “Not just the symbols—the choices we’ve made.”
The ground beneath them trembled slightly, and a low hum filled the air, vibrating the very walls. The mirror-like surfaces shimmered, causing the air to feel thick and heavy, pressing against them.
Eili felt a pull at her chest, as if the very space around them was drawing them in. The symbol before them flickered again, then expanded, consuming the entire wall. The glowing lines danced like fire, rushing toward the center as if urging them to complete the puzzle before them.
Lumis took a step forward, his hand reaching for the core of the symbol. But as his fingers brushed the surface, a shock of energy coursed through him, and he staggered back, breathless.
“It’s not just about the shards,” he gasped, his voice strained. “The room… it’s alive.”
Eili’s heart raced. The twisted reflections on the walls began to speak, their voices low and indistinct, merging into a haunting symphony of whispers. It was as though the room itself was trying to communicate with them, to push them toward the truth hidden within its depths.
She raised her shard once more, her fingers steady despite the chaos around her. “We have to synchronize, Lumis,” she said firmly. “This is the only way.”
Lumis nodded, his eyes narrowed in focus. They aligned their shards, holding them up to the symbol, and as they did, the room fell silent. The reflections ceased their haunting dance, and the air became still.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the spiral at the center of the symbol began to spin, slowly at first, but quickly gaining momentum. The ground trembled again, but this time, it was not a warning. It was a promise—something was about to shift.
The final trial had begun.