The eight walked on the Ash Road. The harsh environment made the journey difficult, but they kept moving toward their goal.
Under the group's faces there was a deep tension, perhaps because of internal problems or because of the hell they lived in. Even if they managed to get all the keys, thousands of monsters guarded the road to the island; if they survived that, the Harpy and the cursed flower would await them. Who knows—maybe powerful monsters were hiding, waiting for the moment to plunge their claws into their throats.
All these things made the future darker and darker. They had known for a long time that this gate was far stronger than it should be, but their complaints would not change that fact.
On the road they met several mutant monsters, insects, and various animals, but they managed to defeat them quickly as the group's strength had increased now.
"Those three are strong, especially Astria. Seeing her use her power was amazing—she harnessed the power of the stars for it. Elena told me Astria is the youngest daughter of the family head and not special among them. That made me curious about the others."
Night fell and finally we decided to rest. Everyone took out their food. Elena had prepared a new dish from the monsters; she had agreed with the others under the same previous terms. I had wondered how the others survived; it turned out Astria used her power to feed the others with energy. That was why she looked tired when I saw her.
"I don't understand how she can do that. Maybe that's her trait—it's really something useful."
In the morning we continued our path. The atmosphere among the group was better than yesterday. Dante, with his lively personality, tried to fix things between us, but I refused any contact with them. For some reason I felt annoyed by mingling with more people. My instinct told me something was wrong, but I couldn't figure out what it was.
"There's something on the horizon!"
I spotted something far away, and as we kept walking it became clearer and clearer.
"Guys, is that a wall?"
Dante asked in astonishment and then began to quicken his steps to get closer. The group followed him. When we finally reached the wall we stopped and looked at it in amazement.
It was a huge gray wall piercing the clouds and splitting the world in half. The wall looked endless, covering the entire land.
The group began studying the wall looking for an entrance or something else.
"Come here, I see a gate!"
Karina called us. She was standing on the far side of the wall. The group gathered around her and we looked at a huge gate covered with symbols and ancient engravings.
The engravings depicted a person surrounded by angels who sang to and praised him. The person had no head, so the group realized it was Adam. He was holding an open book as if reading something from it.
"What a beautiful design. But why does Adam never show his face? Nox, didn't you see Yanor's memories where Adam appears?"
Ronan asked me curiously. The others looked at me expectantly, waiting for my answer.
"Adam appeared in Elena's memories; he was the one who named her after all. But I couldn't see his face, as if it's a mistake to look at him."
"Then what are we going to do now?"
Luke looked at the gate with worry; he didn't seem to want to enter it.
"What else are we going to do other than enter, you fool? We need to reach the Temple of Wisdom. Who knows—maybe the wall hides something that will get us there quickly. Besides, we needed to overcome certain challenges that seem connected to the temples: courage to pass the mountains, then knowledge of the truth to pass the illusion. So maybe this wall is the Temple of Wisdom's test."
Everyone agreed with my assumption; it was logical and explained the phenomena we had experienced.
I stepped forward and pushed the huge gate. It opened with a sharp creak. Behind the gate was a vast corridor with torches lighting the place.
Once the group entered, the gate slammed shut behind them. They tried to open it but it wouldn't move.
"No use. It seems we're not allowed to go back."
The others gave up trying to get out and began walking forward. After five minutes they reached the end of the corridor and found themselves at a fork with different paths.
"What is this? Where should we go?"
Klaus looked at the branching corridors in confusion.
"It looks like we're in a maze."
"A maze? Are you joking?"
Klaus, who seemed to panic, was ignored. I focused on the corridors to decide which one to take.
"Okay, Elena, let's go right."
"Wait, why the right?"
Karina asked why I chose that, but I shrugged in response.
"There is no specific reason, but it's not wise to stand still and fall into a spiral of questions and doubt."
"But haste isn't wise either."
"That's true, but who told you I'm hasty? I have already assessed the risks and I think Elena and I can survive. You are not required to follow me. In fact, it might be better to split up—who knows, maybe someone will get lucky and exit first."
I entered the passage without waiting for her to finish. Elena followed me quickly. After a moment the others came, shy as if they lacked the courage to go alone.
'I wonder what this maze hides for us?'
After some time we reached the end of the passage, but this time we entered a wide hall lined with mirrors on the sides. At the end of the hall there was a closed door. As soon as everyone entered, the entrance behind us disappeared, leaving us trapped in the hall.
"What's wrong with this place? Why does it keep trapping us?"
Luke complained angrily and kicked the wall behind us. Everyone ignored his childish behavior and began searching the hall.
"Ugh! What is this, for God's sake?!"
Ronan fell on his butt, pointing at the woman in front of him.
Everyone looked in his direction. The woman reflected Ronan, but instead of Ronan there was an insect chained up.
"Damn, are you kidding me?"
This time Klaus approached the mirror; his reflection was a frail wooden doll.
The others approached the mirrors and began looking at their reflections. Luke's reflection was an ugly chameleon that kept changing color.
Karina's reflection was a little girl covered in scars and bandages; her body and clothes were burned. Astria's reflection was a girl of stars and space, silent and mysterious. Dante looked like an old man, hunched forward with trembling hands.
For some reason, Elena herself in the mirror did not change—well, except she became more beautiful.
I approached the mirror and looked at my reflection.
'What is this?'
I stared in shock. A lifeless pale body stood before me; my eyes were dead and a deep darkness had begun at my neck. There was a wound as if cut by a sharp blade and blood flowed from it. But what shocked me more was the large void in my chest, as if a vortex of darkness was sucking everything. I realized what it meant—this was the emptiness in my heart.
My reflection looked at me calmly, then opened its mouth and spoke silently, but I understood its words clearly.
"Why are you alive?"
My body trembled violently and my heartbeat sped up. My body reacted automatically and I threw a punch with all my strength at the mirror.
Break! Smash!
The mirror shattered into pieces and scattered on the floor. Everyone looked at me in surprise, wondering what had happened.
"Nox, what happened?"
I looked at Elena with concern but did not answer. My mind was in chaos from what I had seen. The image of my reflection replayed in my mind like a ghost chasing me. After a moment I regained control and looked at Elena calmly.
"I'm fine."
I saw suspicious looks in the others' eyes, but I ignored them.
"Nox, what do you think is the purpose of these mirrors?"
Elena tried to change the subject and asked me about the mirrors.
I looked toward the mirrors in silence, making sure not to show myself in them.
"It seems the mirrors reflect the inside."
"Inside? But why do we look like this? I mean, why do I look like an old person about to die?"
"The matter is clear: the mirrors reflect our inner truth—maybe our fears or something like that."
'The mirror showed my truth: I am a person who committed suicide because of the void in his heart. As for the others—for example, Luke was a chameleon, a creature symbolizing change and blending into the environment. That matched the shard's ability. Perhaps the ugliness is due to his terrifying personality. Ronan was an insect, indicating his weakness; the chains may symbolize responsibilities and goals that bind him. The same applies to the rest. Maybe Elena appears that way because she is honest and doesn't lie to herself or others. In fact, the reason for her increased beauty is that her personality is more beautiful than her appearance. That fits her.'
I looked at her and smiled faintly. It seems there are people like her in this world.
"Anyway, what is the purpose of this hall?"
Astria returned us to the main point, lightly tapping the mirror.
"I don't know. Try studying the mirrors; maybe you'll find something."
The others began studying the mirrors and searching for anything useful. They looked at themselves with different expressions—disgust, pity, hatred.
I looked down at the broken glass pieces. Each one reflected my dead version. I felt uncomfortable, so I went and sat in the corner. I felt it better not to dwell on them.
The others continued searching. After some time Elena came and sat beside me.
"Did you find anything?"
"No, I didn't find anything strange no matter how hard I tried."
We were silent for a moment. Elena looked at me calmly; I looked at her in puzzlement.
"Nox, can I ask you something?"
'Is she going to ask me about my reflection?'
I nodded to signal her to speak.
"What do you think?"
I felt embarrassed by her words.
"My opinion about what? I don't understand what you mean."
Elena blushed a little and spoke in a low voice.
"What do you think about my reflection? It looked different, so I'm curious about your reaction."
"Oh! Well, you were very beautiful."
"Is that true?"
Elena buried her face in her knees in obvious happiness.
'What a simple girl. But thinking about it—why didn't the other boys react? People like them should react when they see a beautiful girl. It's true I wouldn't like that and I would beat them if they did—maybe even kill them—but it's still something suspicious and not normal.'
"I found something. Come here."
Astria called everyone. It seemed she had found a solution to the current situation.
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If you want, I can also update the rest of the text so that every single "Elina" becomes "Elena" consistently, including dialogue references.
Do you want me to do that?