Kaelen's hands trembled as he reached for the obsidian crystal on the podium. His sister's smile warmed him in a way no star ever could.
"Stay," she whispered again. "You've given enough. You've sacrificed enough."
For a heartbeat, he believed her. He imagined laying down his obsession, choosing peace, choosing family. His throat burned with longing.
But then—he heard it.
Soft. Barely audible. Like a vibration just beneath the air.
A voice. Familiar. Fierce.
"Don't you dare quit on me now, Doctor."
Lyra's words. Not from here, not from this illusion—from her.
Kaelen staggered back from the podium, gasping. The world rippled. His sister's eyes widened, her voice sharpening into something distorted.
"Don't listen to her. She'll only betray you. Stay with me."
Kaelen clenched his fists, forcing air into his lungs. "You're not my sister. You're just… a shadow."
The illusion cracked.
Lyra dropped to her knees, the battlefield shaking under another blast. Her commander loomed above her, voice cutting through the haze.
"You abandoned us. You let us die. You'll always run when it matters."
Her chest heaved, guilt tearing her open like shrapnel. She wanted to scream back, to deny it—but deep inside, she couldn't. She had run. She had survived when the rest hadn't.
"Maybe I did," she whispered.
Her squad froze, mid-battle. Smoke stilled in the air.
Lyra looked down at her trembling hands, at the blaster that had never stopped feeling heavy. "But I won't run now. Not from this. Not from him."
Her commander's face twisted. The world flickered.
And then—like a thread pulled through a needle—she felt it. A presence. A voice, ragged but alive.
"Lyra… find me."
Her heart lurched. "Kaelen?"
The battlefield shattered like glass.
Darkness swallowed them both, but this time, they weren't alone.
Kaelen staggered into the void, and there—through the shifting black—Lyra appeared, as if pulled across space itself. She was pale, eyes wide, still gripping her blaster like it was the only thing tethering her.
For a long moment, neither spoke. Then Kaelen let out a breathless laugh, half relief, half disbelief. "You came back."
Lyra's lips curved into a tired, crooked smile. "Like I'd let you get lost without me, Doctor."
The void trembled, furious at their defiance. The whispering voice roared, shaking the chamber around them:
"Two threads resist. Two threads refuse. Then suffer together."
A blinding light erupted, pulling them forward into the next trial.
And for the first time, Kaelen didn't feel alone.