A clash of steel rang against shadow as Yumi stood beneath the broken crystal canopy and faced her double. The Hollow Yumi glided with the confidence of a phantom, unshackled by hesitation. Every blow was a defiled memory; every dodge, a refusal to accept pain.
Ren prowled the dais, unable to intervene as flames were drawn in a perfect circle around them from the pedestals they had ignited. This was her fight, her burden.
"You always ran from it," Hollow Yumi spat; her voice distorted by echoes. "From the guilt. From what it meant to live while others didn't."
Steel met steel as Yumi pivoted aside, sweat shining on her temple. "I never ran," she gasped, "I carried them with me.... every step."
"LIAR!" howled the hollow, the blade igniting with black fire. "You buried them under purpose. Used love as a shield. You were afraid of the truth: That, maybe, they weren't meant to survive."
The impact was brutal. Yumi staggered backward, dragging her feet against the ash coating the surface of the dais. Her back slammed against the edge of the flowered platform, with the pulse of the Embercore calling out to her—so close, yet so far from her hand.
She gazed into her reflection's eyes and saw not malice—but pain. Unending, unresolved pain.
[STATS: CRITICAL STRUGGLE -- Choice: Fight or Heal]
Yumi lowered her sword.
Hollow Yumi hesitated, the flames dwindling.
"I won't destroy you," Yumi said softly, "Because you are me. The part I never allowed myself time to grieve."
She stepped closer and placed her palm over the hollow's chest.
"I'm sorry I left you behind."
Before the light broke up that endless stillness: then-a blinding flare erupted from between them. The flames stopped. The room went silent.
When the light faded, Hollow Yumi was gone.
In her place stood a small ember, no larger than a heartbeat, hovering in the air. Yumi cupped it in her hands, tears tracing down her cheeks.
[ITEM GAINED: Inner Flame of Grace] Effect: Permanently strengthens emotional resilience. Unlocks the skill "Empath's Radiance."
Ren crossed the dais quickly to kneel beside her.
"You did it," he whispered.
"I didn't win." Yumi murmured.
"I listened." They rose together as the walls of the chamber folded back as though they were shining petals, laying bare the staircase that led up into warm, golden light.
A night entrancingly filled with balmy gusts: there stood forms clad in dark red cloaks, every one of them holding aloft a lantern that flickered no flame.
"The Ember Choir," Ren whispered.
One advanced forward, an elderly one with eyes like glowing embers.
"You bear the Embercore," it said. "And more—understanding."
Yumi held out the shard. "We were to bring back the flame. But we found something different; that healing needs more than power. It requires remembrance."
The elder inclined his head. "Then it is time. The Choir shall sing again. And the Veil shall be soothed."
[QUEST COMPLETE: Seek the Ember Choir] Reward: Audience with the Choir of Flame.
[NEW QUEST: Journey to the Veilspire] Location Unlocked: The Broken Sky Altar.
As the Choir resonated in harmonious humming, the heavens above changed. The stars shifted. An aperture of spiraling light opened above the horizon.
Ren clutched Yumi's hand before stating, "This path just keeps expanding."
She gave a smile through her drying tears. "Then let us keep walking."
They had trudged through pain into grace; and from grace, they would muster strength to confront the consequences which lay ahead.
At last, the Veil called.
And so too did the revelation to underneath it, of all they had presumed to know.