For a moment, Ayame thought the grass beneath her wasn't real.
It was too soft, too alive, too… *normal.*
But the sharp bite of air in her lungs, the weight of Liora in her arms, and Kael's rough, warm hand brushing against hers — all of it grounded her in the now.
They were back.
Somewhere.
Liora stirred gently, eyes still closed, her brow furrowed in a faint dream. Ayame looked down at her, brushing a lock of silver hair from the girl's forehead. "She's breathing steady," she whispered. "Kael… we did it."
Kael sat beside her, panting, scratched and bruised but with a half-smile tugging at his lips. "Barely. That place didn't want to let her go."
Ayame followed his gaze upward.
The sky shimmered, deep sapphire blue, and the stars—they were no longer fixed.
Instead, they *moved,* slowly but deliberately, like they were gathering, rearranging, watching. Forming unfamiliar constellations in patterns Ayame couldn't decipher.
"I don't think we came back to *our* world," Kael said quietly.
Ayame's pulse quickened. "You think we're in another realm?"
"Or a pocket in between."
As if summoned by their thoughts, the wind changed.
And then—
Footsteps.
Ayame shot to her feet, shielding Liora instinctively. Kael was beside her in a flash, fire flickering along his fingertips.
From the treeline ahead, a figure stepped forward.
Not monstrous. Not shadowed. But… familiar.
He had no face, just a soft golden glow where one should be, robes that rippled like stardust, and a staff in hand that pulsed with slow, measured light.
The figure stopped several paces away.
Kael raised his arm. "You a friend or—?"
The figure lifted its hand in peace, and a warm, calm voice echoed inside their minds—not speaking aloud, but pressing gently against their thoughts.
> "You have returned what was stolen. The soul is mending."
Ayame narrowed her eyes. "Who are you?"
> "A Watcher. One of the old. I have waited here since the First Sundering."
"Of course you have," Kael muttered under his breath.
Ayame stepped forward slightly, cautious. "Where are we?"
> "A threshold. Between what was and what may become. You crossed more than one veil when you freed her."
He gestured to Liora.
Ayame looked down. The girl was now sitting up, her eyes drowsy but aware.
She blinked, took one look at the Watcher, and whispered, "You're real."
The Watcher inclined his head.
> "This place exists for one purpose now. To test the returning soul."
Kael bristled. "She's just a kid."
The Watcher's staff pulsed once.
> "The soul is not young. Not anymore."
Ayame knelt beside Liora. "What does he mean?"
Liora looked down at her hands. "I… saw things. While I was trapped. Every version of me. Every piece. I remember them now."
Ayame swallowed hard. "That's a lot for anyone to carry."
Liora nodded slowly. "It is. But I'm not afraid anymore."
The Watcher stepped closer.
> "Then the trial may begin."
Ayame stood. "No. She just *finished* a trial. She was locked away—alone—for gods know how long."
Kael added, "And we nearly broke ourselves getting her back."
> "You retrieved her. But she must retrieve *herself.*"
Before they could respond, the ground shifted.
Suddenly they were no longer standing on grass.
They stood on a massive floating stone disc suspended in the stars, endless space spiraling below them. The Watcher remained at the edge, unmoving.
At the center of the disc stood a mirror.
Tall. Elegant. Made of something that shimmered with impossible light.
Ayame's breath caught. "What is this?"
> "The Mirror of Becoming," the Watcher said. "To move forward, the soul must face itself—not as it was, or is, but as it *chooses to be.*"
Liora, now fully upright, stepped forward on her own.
Kael tried to reach for her. "Wait—"
But Liora shook her head.
"It's okay," she said softly. "I need to do this."
She walked to the mirror.
It shimmered.
Reflected back not the child she was.
But a version of herself cloaked in radiant white, a crown of stars upon her brow, her eyes steady and ageless. Power thrummed around her like a promise not yet kept.
Liora flinched. "That's… me?"
The reflection stepped forward, lips parting in a silent whisper.
Ayame saw Liora's shoulders tense, then slowly relax. Her eyes brimmed with tears—but not fear this time.
Acceptance.
The reflection reached out.
And Liora did the same.
Their hands touched.
A flash of light exploded outward, blinding.
When it cleared, Liora stood alone—no mirror, no shadow, no fractured girl.
But something was *different.*
She glowed faintly, her eyes deeper than before. She didn't look older, but… more *whole.*
Ayame's breath caught. "Liora?"
The girl turned. Smiled softly.
"I remember now," she said. "Everything."
The Watcher stepped forward once more.
> "Then the soul has returned. And with it… the choice."
Kael stepped up. "Choice?"
> "You may go back to your world, changed—but together. Or remain here, and begin again."
Ayame looked at Kael. Then at Liora.
And for the first time in a long time… she didn't know what to choose.
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