Narrator's Opening
Every trial has a purpose. Every myth, a warning. But what if the purpose was deception… and the warning was silenced?
In the heart of floating isles and fractured skies, the truth of the Soulfruit lies buried—not under earth or law, but beneath layers of forgotten blood and broken promises.
This is the chapter where illusions shatter, and fate begins to whisper louder.
Scene 1 – The Whisper That Wakes
It started with a dream.
Kael wandered down a dim corridor beneath Vantaria Academy. Walls pulsed faintly with blue sigils—foreign, but familiar. As if they were fragments of his own subconscious, etched in stone long before his birth.
In the distance, a soft voice called out—not words, but vibrations that hummed behind his heartbeat.
"You are not chosen. You are cultivated."
His hand reached out instinctively, sketching a spiral rune on the stone. The wall dissolved.
Before him, a great chamber unveiled itself—lit only by the glow of a massive crystal root wrapping around a suspended, half-rotten fruit. The Soulfruit.
As he stepped forward, a dozen chained figures rose from the shadows. They wore the Vantaria emblem… but their faces were erased.
Suddenly—Kael gasped and jolted upright.
Zayen stood over him, one eyebrow raised.
"You were chanting in your sleep again, bro. Three words, over and over. 'The Crown bleeds.'"
Kael wiped cold sweat from his neck. The words wouldn't leave him.He felt… watched.
Scene 2 – The Stranger with the Ink Arm
Vantaria's gates had never been breached. Yet today, someone passed through them without even triggering the Sky Barriers.
A traveler, cloaked in pale gray robes frayed from sun and salt wind. One arm shimmered like moving ink, runes dancing across his skin like a breathing manuscript.
His name was Ashen Vale, and no one knew how he got in.
"State your affiliation," barked the gatekeeper.
Ashen simply smiled.
"I'm not here to take. I'm here to observe the harvest."
Within moments, the wind changed. Even the birds stopped.
Kael watched him from afar, unsettled.
Their eyes met.
Ashen: "Scriptweaver... You've begun hearing the pulse, haven't you?"
Kael froze.
"You're bound tighter than you know. And the fruit is hungry."
Scene 3 – Riven's Past and Cracks in Fate
After Ashen was taken inside, Kael sought Riven in the east courtyard, beneath the silver flame trees.
She was training—alone, fiercely, her twin blades cracking the air with clean arcs.
Kael hesitated. He couldn't shake the feeling that Riven knew more than she let on.
"Why does the name Soulfruit keep echoing in my dreams?" he asked.
Riven stopped. Her back stiffened.
"Because your blood remembers what your mind doesn't."
She turned slowly, eyes sharp.
"My family were Crownkeepers. Once, we were protectors of the trials. But the truth? The Trials were never designed to test... They were designed to contain."
A beat of silence.
Kael: "Contain what?"
Riven: "The hunger inside the fruit. The price of power."
Scene 4 – Romantic Drift and Comedic Chaos
That evening, under a dome of glimmering stars projected by the academy's illusion gardens, Kael sat alone on the floating bridge. The air shimmered with bioluminescent pollen.
Riven joined him silently, their shoulders brushing.
Riven: "The further we walk, the heavier it feels. Like we're walking into a storm we can't outrun."
Kael nodded. He turned to her, voice softer.
"I don't want this to become just another war story."
Riven: "Then don't. Let's make it a love story too."
She reached over, laced her fingers into his.
BOOM!
Zayen literally exploded out of a nearby bush, covered in sparkles and holding a frying pan.
Zayen: "I MADE DREAM-NOODLES BY ACCIDENT AND THEY OPENED A PORTAL IN THE KITCHEN! HELP!"
Kael sighed. Riven smirked. Chaos, balance, laughter—still alive.
Scene 5 – Echoes from the Shard
Later, in their dorm, Zayen laid the Soulfruit shard on the desk. It pulsed, quietly this time.
As it touched Kael's fingers—images flashed across the room:
A younger version of Ashen, weeping over a grave of a twin brother.
A spiral tree, growing in reverse—its roots rising into the sky.
The Academy—bathed in red light, students screaming, a trial gone wrong.
Voice in the echo: "The fruit feeds on failure. On betrayal. And the Trials… are the feast."
Kael stepped back. His power, Scriptweaver, began glowing unbidden. A small sigil flared behind his eyes—an unformed future.
Zayen clutched his chest. His Time Riff sparkled with an electric resonance.
Both were evolving.
Zayen: "We're not ready for whatever's coming…"
Kael: "We have to be."
Scene 6 – The Crown Trials Announcement
The next morning, all students were called to the Grand Spire.
Headmaster Elrias stepped forward, robes stiff with stardust.
"Due to recent energetic anomalies, the Crown Trials will commence… one moon early."
The crowd erupted in noise—panic, excitement, confusion.
Kael felt cold. He wasn't ready. None of them were.
Ashen Vale watched from above, standing on the edge of the tallest tower like a wraith.
He whispered:
"The harvest begins now. Let the fruit bleed."
Behind him, a fissure cracked the sky—bleeding light from another world. And from the rift…
Something ancient stirred.
End of Chapter 10