POV: Ariya 🔥🪞🩶
The chamber of mirrors pulsed with slow, steady heat — like a heart trapped in glass. Ariya stood frozen before the reflection of her younger self. The child was thinner, trembling, wrapped in too-large robes from the Ember Project — and her wrists still bore the pale, glowing burn-marks of the restraints.
"You left me there," the reflection whispered."You became someone else."
"I didn't choose to forget," Ariya replied, breath tight. "They took those memories from me."
The mirror shimmered, and suddenly the younger version was older — closer to her current age. This version wore armor. Her eyes blazed. She stood among soldiers with the symbol of the Flameburn Empire on her cloak.
"Then why do you still want their approval?""You still want to belong."
"That's not true—"
"Isn't it?" the reflection snapped. "You want Kael to believe in you. You want Lyra's trust. You laugh with Jax. You burn for them. But you forget—" she pressed a hand to the mirror, "—they didn't suffer what you did."
The flame overhead dimmed slightly.
Ariya swallowed hard. "They saved me."
"And when they stop?""When they fear what you are?""Who will you choose?"
The chamber shifted again.
Ariya now stood in a hall of ash.
Before her: two burning paths.
To the left: her current team — Kael, Lyra, Jax — calling her name, caught in a ring of frostfire that slowly crept toward them.
To the right: dozens of faceless figures. Survivors of the Ember Project. Children like her. Their voices called out in haunting unison:
"You were the strongest of us. You were supposed to come back."
"You forgot us."
A voice filled the air:
"Loyalty must divide. What will you protect?"
Ariya's throat burned.
One path would close.
One would open.
"This isn't fair," she whispered.
"No," came a voice — her own voice, distorted by pain."It never was."
Tears welled in her eyes. Her chest throbbed with the pull — the ache of unfinished loyalty. Of survivor's guilt. Of fear.
But then she heard Kael's voice through the fire.
"You are not alone."
Ariya turned sharply. His voice wasn't part of the illusion. It came from the flame floating above — projecting real-time thoughts from the others.
Then Lyra's voice:
"You saved us. We'll save you back."
Then Jax:
"No matter which way you run, we'll be there. Even if it's the wrong way."
Her eyes stung.
The children still called.
So did her team.
And in that burning moment…
She walked forward.
Not left.
Not right.
Straight through the fire.
The illusion shattered.
The chamber vanished.
Ariya fell to her knees — back in the central flame circle.
Kael rushed to her side instantly. Lyra and Jax followed, their faces pale but determined. They had just finished their trials too.
"You're okay," Kael said quietly, touching her shoulder.
Ariya nodded slowly. "No… but I'm still here."
Jax flopped beside her dramatically. "Mine made me fight a flaming version of my dad while my pants kept changing color. So yeah, emotional trauma? Check."
Lyra wiped her eyes. "Mine made me choose whether to let any of you die to win a war. I said no… and it called me weak."
Ariya looked at them all.
"Then I guess we're all weak."
They sat in silence for a moment.
Then the flame pulsed above them once more — and began to merge, forming a single, swirling gold flame with streaks of red, blue, and white.
The voice returned:
"Flame unites not through strength… but through choice."
A doorway of fire opened ahead.
"Well," Jax said, standing and brushing ash off his trousers, "either that's the exit or we're about to be eaten by a lava worm. Place your bets."
Kael smiled faintly.
Ariya stood — tired, but stronger.
Together, they stepped through the flames.