The floor beneath Evelyn trembled as the Heart throbbed angrily. Shadows warped into the shapes of Sophie, Alex, and Leo—but something was wrong. Their features twisted together, faces overlapping, eyes glowing red, mouths jagged and smiling cruelly.
"Evelyn…" the voice hissed, layered from all three, soft yet mocking. "You can't save us… you can't save yourself…"
The perfect illusion lunged, moving faster than her eyes could follow. Each swing of her lantern met resistance—not just shadows, but the combined memories and fears of her friends, all sharpened and twisted.
"You left us," the illusion whispered. "We trusted you. You failed!"
Evelyn staggered back, lungs burning, but her lantern flared brighter. She refused to let them win. "You're not real!" she screamed. "I will not be tricked by you!"
The illusion roared, splitting into three separate twisted forms, each mirroring her friends' voices and actions, attacking from every angle. Shadows coiled around her legs, the walls bent toward her, and the Heart's pulse throbbed faster, desperate.
Evelyn swung the lantern in wide arcs, flames cutting through the nightmare. Each strike seared the illusions, which screamed, melted, and reformed instantly—but she didn't stop. Her tears mixed with sweat, her voice cracked, but she shouted again:
"I am still fighting! I carry you all in my heart—but you are not them! You can't take me!"
The lantern erupted in a blinding flare, white-hot, flames scorching the illusion and burning across the Heart's surface. The perfect trap shrieked, the three faces twisting into grotesque agony, then disintegrating into ash.
Evelyn stumbled forward, panting, her lantern still burning fiercely. The Heart pulsed erratically, almost faltering.
For the first time, lil sis… she realized: her defiance, her love, her grief—they were stronger than the Heart's illusions.
Ahead, the Heart rippled and opened into something bigger, darker, and even more dangerous.