The Hollow Gate felt different now. The air hung heavier, the silence deeper. Liana stood in the center of the stone ring, her body still trembling from the visions she had just endured. Lucien stood across from her, his dark form motionless, eyes glowing faintly under the crimson-tinted sky. The realm shifted around them, alive with unseen whispers and ancient tension.
"You said the next lesson is trust," Liana said, steadying her breath. "But trust in what?"
Lucien took a slow step toward her. "In yourself. In your instincts. In me."
She narrowed her eyes. "That's asking a lot."
"I know."
A long pause hung between them. Fog circled the Hollow Gate like wolves watching from the dark. The blood-red sky pulsed dimly.
Lucien finally spoke. "The Reaper Realm doesn't just test your strength or your fears. It tests your loyalty. It tries to twist your heart. That's how it consumes souls. And only those who trust… survive."
She looked down at her hands. They still trembled.
"Then test me," she said quietly.
"I already am."
---
They left the Hollow Gate shortly after, following a narrow path marked by crumbling bone lanterns that burned with ghostly flame. Every step Liana took felt like a walk through someone else's nightmare. The shadows shifted unnaturally, bending toward her, whispering fragments of thoughts that weren't her own.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"To the Edge of Echoes," Lucien replied.
"The what?"
"It's where trust is earned—or broken."
Liana kept walking, her boots crunching against brittle black gravel. "Sounds charming."
They arrived at a jagged cliff that looked over an abyss. The air was colder here, the sky fractured like broken glass above them. In the distance, screams echoed—not loud, but constant, like wind trapped in a throat.
Lucien turned to her. "There's something I haven't told you."
She crossed her arms. "That's comforting."
He didn't flinch. "When I marked you, I didn't just bind you to the Reaper Realm. I tied a part of myself to you. My strength. My curse. If your soul breaks here… I break with it."
Liana's eyes widened. "Why would you do that?"
"I didn't expect you to survive," he said plainly. "But now… you have. And the bond is real."
For a long moment, neither of them spoke. Liana turned toward the edge, the abyss drawing her in like a siren.
"What do I do here?" she asked.
Lucien stepped back. "Jump."
"What?"
"You want to understand trust? Then trust me now. Fall into the Echo."
She stared at him, stunned. "Is this a joke?"
"If it was, it would be crueler."
Liana looked at the swirling black fog below, then back at Lucien. His face gave nothing away. Her heart pounded in her chest, but something inside her whispered—He hasn't lied to you yet.
So she stepped forward.
And jumped.
---
There was no falling.
Only darkness.
And then—memory.
She stood in her childhood bedroom. The light through the window was soft, golden. Her mother's voice called faintly from another room. Everything felt warm. Familiar.
Too familiar.
Liana walked forward, reaching for the doorknob.
But when she opened it, the hallway twisted. Her mother stood there—but not as she remembered. Her face was pale, hollow. Her eyes were all black.
"Liana," the thing whispered. "You left me to die."
Liana backed away. "You're not real."
The vision stepped closer. "But I am true."
Hands reached from the walls. Whispers choked the air. The warmth turned to ice. Liana fell to her knees.
"I trusted you," the thing hissed. "And you let me burn."
"No!" Liana shouted. "I was a child—I couldn't—"
But the house crumbled. Fire surged through the walls. The voices grew louder. Accusing. Angry.
And then—Lucien's voice.
"Liana."
She gasped.
A hand reached through the fire. Cold, but steady.
She grabbed it.
---
Liana woke on the cliff, breathless. Lucien knelt beside her, his expression unreadable.
"You saw it," he said.
She nodded. "My worst guilt."
"That's what the Echo shows. Your truth, not your lie."
Liana looked away. "I didn't expect it to be her."
"You can't lie to yourself here."
She shivered. "Is that what you meant by trust?"
"In part."
He stood and offered his hand again. She took it.
They walked in silence for a while, back toward the Hollow Gate. But Liana's mind wasn't silent.
"You said if I break, you break too," she said finally.
"Yes."
"Why risk that?"
He looked ahead. "Because I don't know what I am anymore. But when I'm near you, I feel… less lost."
She stopped walking. "That's not a good reason."
Lucien turned. "It's the only one I have."
Liana stepped closer. "You're asking me to trust you. To jump into fire for you. But you're still a stranger to me."
He didn't look away. "Then let me change that."
The fog parted ahead. A new structure emerged—one Liana hadn't seen before. It looked ancient, like a chapel carved from shadow.
"What is that?" she asked.
"My memory," Lucien said. "The place where I died the first time."
Liana's breath caught. "You're showing me this… why?"
"Because trust is a two-way blade. You jumped into yours. Now I'll walk into mine."
They entered the chapel. The walls pulsed with slow, aching sorrow. In the center was a cracked throne, black vines coiling around it.
Lucien stepped forward. "I was human once. A prince. Betrayed. Killed by the one I loved. The Reaper found me, offered vengeance. I accepted. And became this."
Liana said nothing. She just listened.
"She kissed me before stabbing me," Lucien said. "And I died loving her."
Silence.
Liana stepped to his side. "She didn't deserve your love."
"No," he said. "But I gave it anyway. That's what trust cost me."
She looked up at him. "Then why offer it again?"
Lucien turned to her. "Because you haven't betrayed it yet."
Their eyes locked.
Something shifted.
Not magic. Not death.
But closeness.
And possibility.
---