Location: Vault of Echoes – Chamber of Trials
Victor steadied his breath as the echoes of the vision faded. His limbs trembled, but the weight in his heart was heavier. He'd seen himself as the enemy, draped in power but devoid of soul. It wasn't just a warning—it was a threat carved from potential.
Zuri paced near the second door. "Whatever that thing showed you, it almost killed you."
"It didn't," Victor replied quietly. "Because I refused to become what it offered."
The obelisk faded into the floor, and in its place rose a new structure—tall, crystalline, and humming in a coded rhythm.
"Encrypted data?" Zuri asked, stepping closer. "No, not data… memories."
"It's the Code of the Forgotten," Nora said, voice barely above a whisper. "My mother told me once—about a hidden doctrine meant to protect those erased by history. Rebels. Refugees. Victims of power."
Victor placed his hand on the glass.
Suddenly, light burst out, and an ancient voice filled the room.
"This is Trial Two: The Judgment of Truth. In this space, lies and half-truths cannot survive. Only what is true will be revealed. Prepare yourselves."
---
Location Shift: Trial Space – The Truth Plane
The walls dissolved, and the trio found themselves standing inside a memory—not their own, but vivid and real.
Victor turned slowly. "This… this is my mother's village."
He saw her there—young, kneeling in the fields. He saw her protect him as a boy from hunger, from humiliation, from Kane family spies.
Zuri's voice shook. "We're inside your past."
A flicker—and now they stood inside Nora's childhood home.
She gasped. Her father stood before her, arms around a young Nora, whispering words of comfort as the government seized his lands. He burned secret documents in the fireplace.
Nora whispered, "My father was working with… the Resistance? He hid this from me."
Then came Zuri's turn. They stood in a jungle camp surrounded by masked soldiers.
"No," Zuri muttered. "Not this again."
She was a child. She had a gun. And she pulled the trigger.
Victor stepped back, stunned.
Zuri's eyes filled with fury. "I was trained to kill. My first mission… I didn't know the man was unarmed. They told me he was the enemy."
Nora reached for her hand. "We all carry scars."
A voice thundered again.
"You have seen your truths. Now choose: will you let the weight of your past define you… or will you rise above it?"
Victor raised his head. "We rise."
The chamber reassembled itself, returning them to the vault.
A symbol burned into the air—a swirling flame encased in a shattered cage.
Nora looked at it. "It's a mark. We passed."
Zuri gave a strained smile. "Barely."
The second of five rings surrounding the chamber began to glow.
---
Location: Dominion Core – Inner Chambers
Thorne stood before a table of generals. "They're inside the Vault of Echoes. Kane, the girl doctor, and Zuri."
General Rahm sneered. "No one has returned from that place alive."
Thorne's gaze darkened. "Then they'll be the first… or their bones will mark the exit."
He turned away.
"Send in the Reavers. Let's make this a war of legacies."