They did not fall asleep.
They were taken.
Ashara had not closed her eyes. Neither had Caelum nor Kallad, both stationed in separate wings of the palace under guard and spell.
And yet—
One moment, they were awake.
The next, they stood in a place outside time.
No stars. No ground. Just endless fog curling like smoke across a floor of black mirror-glass, reflecting nothing.
System Alert:
✦ Forbidden Domain Detected
➤ Dream-State Construct: The Labyrinth Between Breaths
✦ Participants:
— Ashara Vael (System Host)
— Prince Caelum of Varenthia (Unaligned Divine Candidate)
— Prince Kallad Thorne (Fragmented Vowbearer)
✦ Time Limit: 3 hours (Dreamtime)
✦ Penalty: If one remains lost, they awaken without memory of the others
Ashara stood alone at first. The fog parted around her in spirals, as if recognizing her claim to the space.
"Where—" she began to speak, and her voice echoed like thunder caught in a tunnel of glass.
A shape emerged from the mist—sleek, graceful, draped in dark silver armor and loose crimson threads.
Caelum.
"Ah," he said, smiling faintly, "so we're truly cursed. Dreamwalkers, now?"
Before Ashara could respond, the fog shimmered again.
Kallad appeared.
And the space between them thickened.
The labyrinth shifted.
Without warning, stone walls erupted from the mirror beneath them—smooth as bone, twisting and reforming to create corridors around each of the three.
Ashara's path led her into a circular room where thorned vines curled like serpents across the ceiling, forming symbols she recognized only because the Heart burned at her chest as she entered.
Divine Glyph: Binding Root – Memory Chamber Initiated
She stepped forward. Her reflection in the black mirror beneath her feet flickered—then changed.
She was no longer wearing her battle-gown. No crown. No boots.
She stood in a white shift, bloodstained at the hem, her hair longer, looser, tangled with petals.
From behind her, a voice whispered.
"You let me die."
She turned.
And faced herself.
Not a mirror.
A version.
Ashara—the girl who had not been resurrected. Who had died in the ritual chamber, who never took the Heart of Echoes, never clawed her way back from divine abandonment.
The dead girl smiled.
"You wear my face well."
Ashara narrowed her eyes. "What do you want?"
"To know what you want," the dead version whispered. "To rule, or to rewrite."
------------------------
Elsewhere in the dream-realm, Caelum entered a vaulted hall carved entirely from fossilized feathers. Pages fluttered without books. Names hung in the air like perfume.
A lectern awaited him.
On it, a scroll. Written in the tongue of his mother.
He read:
"Caelum Varenth – Prince. Pretender.
Designation: Catalyst.
Probability of Loyalty: 41%
Projected Role: Knife in the Dark. Or Sacrifice."
He smiled tightly.
"Oh, you arrogant creatures," he muttered to no one. "Even your dreams want to write my part for me."
A door formed before him—wrought of obsidian and runes. Beyond it, laughter. Not his own.
He stepped through.
------------------------------
Kallad was led by silence.
The corridor he walked was narrow, lined with mirrors. Each one cracked, but still clear enough to show versions of himself in armor, in chains, in blood.
One showed him as king.
Another—kneeling before Ashara's corpse.
Each version whispered his name.
"Kallad…"
"Coward."
"Traitor."
"Liar."
One version smiled.
"Would you do it again?"
He reached out, touched the mirror.
It shattered.
------------------------------
As the trial rooms closed, the walls fell away.
Ashara, Caelum, and Kallad found themselves once more in the mirrored chamber—no longer fog, but marble now, and lit from above by a pale, pulsing heart suspended like a moon.
System Alert:
✦ Dream Synchronization Achieved
➤ Emotional State Bonding in Progress…
Proximity Effects Activated
➤ All three parties may experience bleed through of memories, emotions, or unresolved desires
Ashara felt it first—like a heat behind her ribs, crawling across her skin.
Kallad stood a few feet to her left, head bowed, fists clenched.
Caelum circled lazily to her right, posture relaxed but eyes sharp.
"This place is testing more than loyalty," she muttered.
"Desire," Caelum said. "Regret. Guilt."
"And choice," Kallad added quietly.
The silence deepened.
The Heart of Echoes shimmered—and then began to ring.
A sound like a bell underwater. Not metal, but bone.
The pulse resonated in their chests. The dreamscape shifted again.
The chamber rippled—and one door appeared.
One only.
Ashara stepped toward it.
A plaque above read:
"Only the one who forgives shall open the path forward."
She looked at them both.
Neither moved.
Neither spoke.
She reached for the handle—
And froze.
The system screamed in her mind.
Critical Choice Triggered
➤ This door leads to a fragment of reality outside the gods' jurisdiction
➤ Opening it will expose your greatest hidden desire
This exposure may permanently alter loyalty balances and romantic arcs
Ashara glanced at Caelum.
His gaze never left her.
Then at Kallad.
He had taken a step forward—but didn't try to stop her.
She opened the door.
She stepped into moonlight.
Real moonlight.
Soft wind, carrying the scent of lilac and wet stone.
A cabin. On a hill. Overlooking a quiet sea.
Inside—
A table. Two chairs. A cloak hung by the door.
Boots beside a hearth.
And on the table—
A single cup of tea.
Still warm.
She walked through the small home. Every object familiar. Personal.
Loved.
Footsteps behind her.
Kallad stepped into the room.
Not armored.
Not a prince.
Only a man. Barefoot, wearing linen, hair tied back. A smile so gentle it did not belong in any court.
Ashara turned to speak—
But he kissed her first.
Not hungry. Not desperate.
Home.
And behind him, as the world faded—
Caelum stood on the path outside, watching the cabin's door.
His hand rested on his chest.
Over a wound that never closed.
System Update
Unspoken Path Revealed
➤ You have witnessed your own buried desire
➤ Kallad Loyalty +13
➤ Caelum Loyalty +9
✦ Romantic Arc Branching Options Available
— Option A: The Healed Vow – Kallad
— Option B: The Broken Chain – Caelum
— Option C: The Pathless Throne – Reject both and ascend alone
Warning: Final selection not yet required
➤ However, each interaction now nudges the arc forward
They awoke the next moment in their respective places.
Ashara sat up in her chamber, heart racing, breath shallow.
The window was still open.
But outside—no rain.
Only silence.
And in that silence, a single bell rang again.
Not in her mind.
In the world.
She rose.
And whispered, "The labyrinth wasn't the test. This is."