The silence was deceptive.
Not the comforting kind that followed peace—but the eerie stillness before something cracked.
Kaito's fingers grazed the wall of the maze—a surface that shimmered like a mirror, but felt like skin. His distorted reflection blinked back at him a second too late, lips curled in a half-smile that wasn't his.
Aya stood beside him, unusually still. Her violet eyes didn't move, fixed on something he couldn't see.
"Aya?" Kaito asked softly, not wanting to disturb whatever moment she was lost in.
Her head tilted.
"You… look different," she murmured. "Your eyes—they're scared."
He blinked. "I'm not scared."
"You are," she whispered. "But not of this place. You're scared of me."
The maze trembled. A low chime echoed, as though the structure itself had reacted to her words.
Kaito opened his mouth to deny it—and froze.
Because the reflection staring back at him was not him.
It was a child.
Small, frail, with matted hair and bruises across bare arms. Alone in a corner. Crying.
His past.
The maze had reached into his memories.
"Damn it," Kaito muttered. "It's starting."
Aya's own reflection shifted too—no longer her usual flawless expression. Instead, her face twisted into one of hatred, cold and regal, a mirror of her old self—before she changed.
"You'll betray her," a voice echoed from the walls, low and cruel.
"You're weak," another voice told Aya. "You cling to a stranger because you're terrified of being unloved."
Their deepest fears weren't just being shown.
They were being weaponized.
---
Memory Chamber – Phase I: Fragmentation Begins
Each step now separated them further—not by distance, but by memory.
Illusions crawled out of the glass-like walls: their younger selves, failed timelines, alternate realities, even future versions where one of them died.
Aya fell to her knees as she was forced to relive her childhood—the pressure to be perfect, the blade of loneliness, the scorn of those who feared her power.
Kaito saw himself standing over the corpses of allies he had failed to save. A broken mask in one hand. His own hand.
"This isn't real," he muttered. "None of this is—"
But then Aya screamed.
And his heart stopped.
---
Internal Split – Maze of Doubt
Kaito turned and saw two Ayas.
One weeping, begging for help.
One standing tall, accusing him of betrayal.
He stepped toward the crying one—
"Wrong choice," the system whispered.
Pain ripped through his chest like a blade.
Blood spilled.
And then—
Nothing.
---
Intermission: Real or Illusion?
Kaito woke up in a quiet room.
Aya was there. Smiling. Peaceful.
"Bad dream?" she asked softly.
He frowned. "What day is it?"
"Day 142."
He froze. "That's not possible. We just entered…"
He looked around. Everything was too perfect.
"I made breakfast," she said, holding out a tray. "You like rice with soy egg and miso soup, right?"
Kaito stepped back.
"Who are you?" he asked.
Her eyes turned pitch black.
And the walls melted away.
---
System Notification
> [Mind Labyrinth Phase II: Core Trauma Initiated]
Participants' mental integrity dropping.
Duos will now be separated.
Survive 72 hours alone.
If mental corruption reaches 100%, the body will perish.
Begin.
---
Final Scene
The maze splits in a pulse of light.
Kaito and Aya reach for each other—
But their hands never meet.
They vanish into separate realms.
Alone.
And somewhere deep within, a version of Kaito smiles from the shadows.
"You were never the hero, Kaito."
"You were the final trial."
---