Reflections show us what's real.
But sometimes, they also show us what we're hiding.
Three nights passed.
Riven Kael made no announcements. No preparations. No dramatic declarations.
But when the moon rose to its highest point, he slipped through the side gates and walked toward the Garden of Still Mirrors.
This wasn't a place for lovers.
It wasn't even technically part of the academy anymore.
It was a relic—an old ritual site from the academy's earliest days.
Seven standing mirrors.
Seven different angles of reflection.
And one secret: if you lie in the garden, the mirrors remember it.
Riven arrived alone.
As instructed.
Elion Verrian stood at the center of the garden in his white and gold uniform, holy blade still sheathed across his back, eyes glowing faintly in the moonlight.
"I didn't think you'd come," Elion said without turning.
"I didn't think you'd still be here."
"Why?"
"Because men who speak like prophets usually burn fast."
Elion smiled softly.
"I'm not here to burn.
I'm here to cleanse."
The wind stirred gently between the mirrors.
Each one reflected Riven's image slightly differently.
In one, he looked younger.
In another, monstrous.
One mirror didn't reflect him at all.
Elion gestured to the center. "Stand there."
Riven didn't move.
"You want me to step into a magic circle designed to strip truth from my bones?"
"I want to see what this world refuses to."
Riven tilted his head. "What makes you think you'll survive it?"
Elion finally looked him in the eye.
"Because I've already seen your end."
Quest Path Activated: Trial by Reflection
Conditions: Enter the Circle / Accept Inner Truth
Risk: Memory Fragment Exposure
Reward: Unknown
Bonus: Divine Trust Path Unlock
Riven exhaled.
Then stepped forward.
Into the center.
The mirrors shimmered.
The world grew silent.
And then—
It began.
Mirror One flashed.
Riven as a child.
Abandoned. Alone. Mocked for being "too cold."
A boy who learned that kindness was a weakness people exploited.
Mirror Two.
Riven on Earth.
Typing venom-filled reviews under an alias.
Laughing as he destroyed others' work.
Feeling powerful only when anonymous.
Mirror Three.
Riven's first night in Valkyrion.
The smirk. The flirt. The way he touched Seria's mind not to win her, but to test her limits.
Mirror Four.
The future.
The throne room.
Blood on his hands.
Kaela chained.
Elion kneeling, dying.
And Seria—silent, cold-eyed, no longer human.
Elion stepped forward, voice calm.
"You see it now."
"I've always seen it," Riven replied, voice steady. "I just stopped caring."
Elion's gaze didn't waver.
"You can walk away. Right now. End the cycle. Save them."
"And go back to what?" Riven snapped. "A boring life? A broken story? A version of myself too weak to matter?"
System Alert:
Dialogue Fork Detected
Path A: Deny Power – Initiate Redemption Arc
Path B: Embrace Power – Trigger Divergence
Choice: Manual
Riven looked into the fifth mirror.
It was blank.
No reflection.
No future.
Just possibility.
"I'm not here to follow a script," he said.
"I'm here to write one."
Elion stepped back, his expression unreadable.
"So you choose destruction?"
"No," Riven said. "I choose freedom."
Elion's fingers brushed the hilt of his sword.
"Then I have no choice."
"Yes," Riven whispered, eyes glowing faintly, "you do."
The mirrors shattered.
Light exploded.
And for one brief second, both men stood in opposite circles of divine and chaotic energy.
Power surged.
Choices clashed.
And then—
Silence.
Elion dropped to one knee, breathing hard.
His blade remained sheathed.
Not out of mercy.
But confusion.
"You didn't kill me," he said.
"You didn't attack," Riven replied. "You judged. I simply let you decide if you were right."
Elion stared up at him.
For the first time, doubt crept into the saint's eyes.
"Who are you?"
Riven smiled.
"I'm the man the story forgot to warn you about."
Trial Complete: Garden of Still Mirrors
Outcome: Neither Salvation nor Condemnation
Elion Status Updated:
Relationship: Cautiously Intrigued
Alignment Shift: Neutral → Unstable
New Perk: Divine Tolerance – Immune to detection by low-tier holy scans.
As Riven walked away from the ruined garden, the mirrors lay shattered behind him.
But something else remained.
A tiny white feather drifted through the air.
When it touched the grass… it burned.
Every great institution hides a skeleton.
But Valkyrion Academy?
It sealed its monsters alive.
Three days passed since the night of the mirrors.
Elion hadn't spoken to anyone.
Not publicly. Not in council meetings. Not even to Seria, who quietly observed him with eyes that no longer held certainty—only questions.
Riven, however, felt something stirring beneath his skin.
Like the world was adjusting to him again.
Not resisting him.
But reacting.
He stood on the edge of the academy's eastern cliff, wind brushing through his silver hair as he read the latest system update.
System Notification:
Narrative Integrity: 57%
Suppressed Zone Detected – Status: Unstable
Location: East Ruins – Sublevel Seal Chamber
Warning: Seal weakening due to Narrative Pressure
Estimated Time Until Breach: 48 Hours
Breach.
That meant something was locked up.
Not just hidden.
But sealed.
Riven smiled.
"I didn't even touch it."
Correction: Your existence is touching everything.
He snapped the interface shut and turned.
Time to explore.
The East Ruins weren't part of official maps.
Vines strangled the old stone structures, and a faint metallic taste lingered in the air—like blood long dried.
Riven moved carefully.
There were no guards.
No alarms.
Just silence.
Until he found the entrance.
A cracked stone arch.
Runes along the edge flickered weakly.
And behind it?
Stairs spiraling down.
As he descended, the air grew colder.
Each step made the lights on the walls dim further—until he reached the sealed door.
Massive.
Black.
Etched with seven red rings and a single silver handprint carved into the center.
[System Override Available]
You may force the seal to weaken ahead of schedule.
Risk: Unleashing unprocessed entity.
Reward: Unknown.
Riven pressed his hand against the silver mark.
The runes glowed.
The door groaned.
And then—
BOOM.
It opened just enough for air to escape.
Thick. Dusty. Cold.
And with it… a whisper.
"…Who… dreams me… again…?"
Riven's eyes narrowed.
That wasn't the wind.
Inside was a suspended glass chamber surrounded by magic arrays—some broken, some flickering.
Floating inside?
A girl.
Or… something shaped like one.
She had long silver-blonde hair that floated as if underwater. Her skin was pale blue. Her body wrapped in a faint white veil. Eyes closed. Hands bound in silver cuffs chained to nothing.
A sleeping weapon.
A forgotten memory.
Or both.
Entity Status:
Name: ???
Alias: "The Sealed One"
Classification: Null Code – Nonexistent
Designed Fate: Eternal Sleep
Awakening Chance: 7%
Awakening Now… 46%
Cause: Narrative Proximity – RIVEN KAEL
"Oh," Riven murmured. "You're mine, aren't you?"
Suddenly—her eyes opened.
Bright silver.
Unblinking.
And locked directly onto him.
The chamber shuddered.
The chains cracked.
And then…
She spoke.
"You're not the first."
Riven blinked. "Excuse me?"
"The others came before.
But only you… smell like a rewrite."
The walls shook.
The seal flashed red.
Then turned black.
Major Quest Triggered:
"Awaken the Forgotten Queen"
Objective: Unseal the entity without triggering a collapse.
Reward: Unknown Power / Unknown Bond
Note: This entity predates the original timeline.
The chamber hissed.
One cuff broke.
Then another.
She floated downward… feet brushing the cracked floor.
Still barely dressed.
Still completely calm.
She took one step forward.
And whispered:
"Riven Kael.
You are… late."