Chapter Three: Veil Between Realities
---
Chapter Three: Veil Between Realities
Emberfall was quiet that night — too quiet. The city that usually hummed with molten life now seemed to be holding its breath. Even the crimson sky above had dimmed, as though the embers themselves feared to glow.
Sai Fujimoto sat alone in the courtyard of the temple, his sword laid beside him. The Reflective Core's trial had left a scar along his palm, still faintly burning with silver light. Every time he closed his eyes, he could still feel the presence of that reflection — his other self — watching him from somewhere unseen.
He drew in a slow breath and whispered, "Was that truly me?"
The wind didn't answer, but it carried the faint echo of laughter — his own voice, distant, mocking.
Sai's eyes snapped open. He rose instantly, blade drawn. "Who's there?"
No reply. Only the soft hiss of the embers in the distance. But then, a shadow passed across the courtyard wall — tall, distorted, impossible. Sai turned sharply. The shadow mirrored him, every movement delayed by a heartbeat.
His grip tightened. "So it's begun…"
A slow clap echoed from behind him. "You're learning faster than expected."
Sai turned to see Max Vista standing near one of the black pillars, the emberlight painting his pale skin in shades of crimson. His black eyes gleamed faintly, like pools of liquid shadow.
"What's happening to me?" Sai demanded. "The illusions… they're not staying inside the trials anymore."
Max stepped closer, each footstep echoing unnaturally loud. "That's because your perception is changing. The boundary between illusion and reality is breaking — as it must."
Sai frowned. "As it must?"
Max gave a faint, knowing smile. "To master illusion, you must accept that everything is illusion. Even this world. Even me."
Sai felt a flicker of unease. "You're saying… nothing here is real?"
"I'm saying," Max replied, his tone calm, "that reality is defined by belief. The stronger your mind, the more real your illusions become. But that power is dangerous. A single doubt can twist it — make nightmares real."
Sai looked down at his trembling hand. "Then what's stopping me from losing myself completely?"
Max's smile faded. "Me — for now."
He turned away, cloak whispering across the ground. "Tonight, we begin the next stage. The Trial of Paradox."
Sai followed him through the temple corridors. The deeper they went, the colder it became. The walls changed — from stone to glass, then to something else entirely, like translucent skin pulsing with red light.
At last they entered a vast chamber suspended over a void. Below them, endless shadows moved, whispering in tongues older than time.
"This place feels… wrong," Sai muttered.
"It should," Max said, stepping onto a floating platform of obsidian. "This is where the illusions of others come to die — and where yours will either be born or consume you."
Sai's eyes narrowed. "Consume me?"
Max looked over his shoulder, his expression unreadable. "Every illusionist eventually faces a paradox — the moment they can't tell if what they're seeing is real. The weak break. The strong… rewrite reality to fit their will."
He raised a hand, and the platform lit with runes. The air cracked — and the world dissolved.
Sai staggered as his surroundings shifted. The temple vanished. The void became a forest of glass trees glowing faintly blue. He could hear whispers again — his own voice multiplied a thousand times.
He turned slowly. The reflection of himself from before stood there — but this time, it wasn't chained. It was free.
Sai's pulse quickened. "You again?"
The reflection tilted its head. "Did you really think you could accept me and that would be the end? You accepted fear. Now accept truth."
The air rippled, and suddenly Max Vista appeared beside the reflection — but his eyes were glowing red, and horns now curved from his skull.
Sai stepped back. "Max?"
The demon smirked. "You didn't think your mentor was human, did you?"
Sai's grip tightened on his sword. "No… this isn't real. This is another test!"
The demon laughed. "If it's not real, then why does your heart race?"
Sai hesitated — and the ground fractured beneath him. The glass forest splintered, the sky bled into flame. His surroundings twisted into chaos — Emberfall burning, people screaming.
He saw himself again — this time, standing atop the burning temple, laughing as flames devoured everything.
"No…" Sai whispered, shaking his head. "That's not me!"
"It is you," the demonic Max said, voice echoing through the inferno. "It's the you that will be born when illusion and power finally consume your humanity. You think you can master illusion without losing your truth? Foolish."
Sai fell to his knees, clutching his head. The world was collapsing — heat, screams, shadow, flame. He couldn't tell what was real anymore. His sword was melting in his grip. The reflection laughed. The demon smiled.
And then — silence.
A hand rested on his shoulder.
Sai looked up. The flames were gone. The forest was gone. Only Max stood there, calm and composed, his eyes normal again — deep black, unreadable.
"You did well," he said softly. "You didn't break."
Sai exhaled shakily, his body trembling. "What… what was that?"
Max crouched beside him. "That was the edge of madness. The line every illusionist must touch — but never cross."
Sai looked around. The world had returned to normal. The void, the runes, the whispering shadows — all gone. Only the quiet hum of the temple remained.
"You made me fight my own mind," Sai said bitterly.
Max's tone was almost gentle. "No. I made you see your mind. You can't control what you don't understand."
Sai looked down, breathing slowly. "Then… did any of that happen?"
Max tilted his head slightly. "Does it matter? You remember it, you felt it, you bled for it. Whether illusion or not — it shaped you. That's reality enough."
For a long moment, Sai said nothing. Then he rose, steady but cold. "What's next?"
Max smiled faintly. "Next comes the final lesson — the point where even gods hesitate."
Sai frowned. "And that is?"
Max's gaze turned distant, his voice almost a whisper. "When the illusion fights back."
He turned away, walking toward the temple's exit. But as he did, Sai noticed something strange — Max's shadow remained still, unmoving.
Sai's eyes widened slightly. "Max… your shadow—"
"Don't," Max said sharply without turning. "Not now."
For the first time since they met, Sai heard something in the demon's voice — not calm, not power… but fear.
The emberlight flickered across the temple walls, and in that flicker, Sai saw movement — something vast, ancient, and shapeless lurking behind Max's shadow, as if watching him through the fabric of illusion itself.
Then, it was gone.
Sai stood there, his heart pounding, realizing the truth Max had hidden all along — the illusions weren't just his own anymore.
Something else was watching.
---