Mizu didn't remember falling.
But he remembered the moment everything *stopped*.
No sound. No air. Just the sensation of floating in an endless void—like the world had held its breath.
Then, suddenly—
**Boom.**
A pulse exploded from his chest. The blue crystal around his neck blazed to life, surrounding him with a dome of glowing water energy. It spun around him in liquid arcs, deflecting the incoming shadow like it was nothing.
The horned figure was nowhere to be seen.
At least for now.
Mizu fell to his knees. "Where… am I?"
The blue dome slowly faded, its protection spent. He staggered to his feet and looked around. The black-glass plain from before was gone. Instead, he now stood in a wide chamber, its walls made of pulsating crystal veins. Each vein flickered with memories—images of him, Rika, Sayos, Lucy… even enemies long past.
He touched one of the crystal streams.
An image flared: his father, backlit by flame, reaching toward him before vanishing into a collapsing building.
He pulled his hand back like he'd touched fire.
"This place messes with your head," he muttered.
Then a sound—footsteps.
Cautious.
Rhythmic.
A familiar voice followed. "Well, look at that. The blue flame lives."
**Rika.**
Mizu turned fast. She was bruised, scraped, and breathing heavily—but alive. Her fire was dim but steady in her hands. "Rika!"
"Don't look so shocked," she smirked. "Takes more than a bad acid trip to kill me."
He smiled faintly. "I'm glad you're okay."
"Well…" she glanced back. "I'm not alone."
Sayos stumbled in behind her, holding his arm and limping slightly. His clothes were torn, but his expression lit up at the sight of Mizu. "I thought I was gonna die of loneliness. You guys are slow."
"Or maybe you're just fast at falling into trouble," Rika retorted.
"Hey, I survived a shadow-beast with *three* eyes. That's worth bragging about."
Mizu stepped forward. "We need to find Honkai and Lucy. If they're still in here, we can't leave without them."
"I *know* they're still here," Rika said. "This place… it feeds off fear and doubt. It's a trial. Someone—or *something*—set this up to test us."
Sayos tilted his head. "Test us for what?"
Before she could answer, the floor beneath them began to tremble.
The crystal walls started flashing rapidly—red, then white, then pitch black.
A deep voice echoed through the chamber:
> "Three of six… have passed."
> "Let the fire burn. Let the water flow. Let the wind scatter the ashes."
> "Now face... **the Guardian of Depth.**"
The ceiling shattered.
A massive serpentine creature burst through—glittering like obsidian, its body composed of sharp, scale-like mirrors. Eyes lined its spine, blinking in erratic rhythms.
Rika whispered, "Nope."
Sayos drew in a sharp breath. "Nope."
Mizu stepped forward, fists clenched. "We fight."
---
The creature slammed into the ground with a roar that shattered the floor into dozens of floating platforms. The group was now separated by gaps of black mist, platforms hovering and shifting beneath their feet.
"Great!" Rika yelled. "Now we get a platformer level too?!"
Sayos jumped nimbly from one piece of floating ground to another, wind spiraling around his feet. "I'll flank it! Just… don't die!"
"Thanks for the pep talk!" Rika launched a fireball directly at the creature's eye—only for it to reflect off its mirrored body and explode near her platform. She tumbled backward with a curse.
"It reflects *everything*! We can't attack head-on!" Mizu shouted.
"Then what?" Sayos yelled.
Mizu narrowed his eyes. "Then we get smart."
He glanced down at his hands. The water around his arms shifted slightly—not flowing, but *twisting*. Like it wanted to do more.
Rika regained her footing, frustration evident. "Got any bright ideas?"
"Yes," Mizu said. "I'll bait it. Sayos, you use your wind to blind some of those eyes. Rika—"
She cut in. "Let me guess: I burn the thing anyway?"
"No. You melt the platform it's on."
Rika's eyebrows raised. "Now *that's* a plan."
---
Mizu dashed forward, his water shield flickering around his arms. He called out to the beast. "HEY! You ugly kaleidoscope! Come get me!"
The serpent roared, its mirrored body rippling. It lunged, mouth wide.
Just before it reached Mizu, Sayos summoned a windburst—sand and shards of floating debris hurled into the creature's many eyes. It shrieked in disorientation.
Rika struck.
Her flames erupted downward—not toward the creature, but *beneath* it. The floating platform it stood on melted like wax, destabilizing instantly. The beast shrieked and twisted, trying to hold its form mid-air.
Mizu didn't wait.
He surged forward, his crystal blazing. With a powerful strike, he slammed a wave of compressed water into the creature's throat—*not* its mirrored body.
This time, the attack worked.
The creature recoiled and tumbled backward—falling into the dark mist below.
---
The platforms slowly reassembled, locking back into place. The crystal chamber stabilized.
A glowing circle appeared beneath the group.
A portal.
"We did it?" Sayos asked.
"Seems like it," Rika replied. Then smirked. "Nice call, Blue Flame."
But Mizu