They emerged from the shattered holo-door into a vast circular chamber, crystalline conduits spiraling skyward like frozen lightning. At its center, the Astral Prism pulsed atop a dais of living circuitry—Nyx's silhouette carved in its fractured glow. Around her, six archways arced outward, each etched with a symbol: Unity, Dominion, Renewal, Oblivion, Balance, and Ascendance. Beyond those portals lay the Spire's deepest secrets—and the choices that would shape reality itself.
Aris's breath caught. "She's rewritten the fates," he said, voice hollow. "Each path leads to a different destiny—one she's planning to impose on the world." Eira's wards flickered as she knelt by a dormant runic node. "We can't let her bind the Prism here. But we must also guard against whichever path she chooses."
Mara's blade hissed as she sheathed it. "Then we split—half of us stop Nyx at the Prism, the other half seal these portals." Kael shook his head. "If we divide, she'll exploit the weakest front. We need a single strike." Rho's barrier flared around them. "No compromise?" he asked, scanning each gateway.
Before they could answer, the archways pulsed. From Unity's portal, ghostly figures of the people they'd saved appeared, desperate and pleading. Dominion's gate showed a legion of armed enforcers, unwavering in loyalty. Renewal's archway exhaled waves of healing light, while Oblivion's darkness swallowed even their lanterns' glow. Balance and Ascendance hovered between hope and dread.
Nyx turned the Prism in her hand; its facets refracted these myriad futures. "You see what your idealism costs," she called softly. "Choose a single path—your victory depends on your will. Or let me decide for you." Her voice rang with triumph and sorrow entwined.
Aris stepped forward, gaze flicking between his friends and the cursed portals. "We refuse to let the Spire bend us," he said, raising a hand. "We forge our own path—one not offered here." Eira joined him, weaving a new glyph that shimmered with combined lunar and solar light. Mara, Kael, and Rho closed ranks behind them.
With that resolve binding them tighter than any portal, the Prism's light flared—and the chamber trembled. Nyx's gasp echoed through the arches as all six gateways simultaneously cracked. The Crossroads of Fates had awakened, but the Neon Umbra would not walk its prewritten roads. They would carve a new destiny together—or die trying.