The sound reached them before the sight.
A slow, endless flow—soft as breath, steady as time itself.
The Evernight Forest thinned, ancient trees retreating as the path descended into a vast basin carved into the land. Silver mist drifted low, curling around exposed roots and smooth stone, and at its center flowed the river.
The River of Illusions.
It stretched wider than any river should, its surface dark and glasslike, reflecting not the sky above—but something deeper. Faint light pulsed beneath the water, shifting colors that never fully settled, as if memories themselves were flowing beneath the surface.
No wind touched it.
No ripples disturbed it.
It simply was.
Lyra stopped at the river's edge.
The Phoenix Flame within her stirred, not in warning—but recognition. A quiet, uneasy pull settled in her chest, as if the river had already noticed her.
"This is it," Orion said quietly.
"The second trial," Serena murmured.
Kael's moon aether spread outward instinctively, stabilizing the pressure pressing down on them. "This place doesn't test strength," he said. "It listens."
Mia swallowed, hugging her arms. "I don't like rivers that look back at you."
As if in response, the river shimmered.
Not violently. Not suddenly.
Gently.
The surface shifted, and for a brief instant, Lyra saw a reflection that wasn't hers—older, standing taller, eyes burning with a light that felt both familiar and distant.
She blinked.
The image was gone.
"Do not touch the water unless absolutely necessary," Lyra said, her voice calm but firm. "Whatever this trial is… it begins the moment we step closer."
They moved as one, forming a loose semicircle along the bank.
That was when the whispers began.
Not voices.
Not words.
Feelings.
Regret. Longing. Fear.
Each whisper slid into the mind softly, like a thought you almost believed was your own.
Emma stiffened first.
"…Did anyone else feel that?"
Kai nodded slowly. "Yeah. Like something brushing against the back of my head."
Seraphina's expression darkened. "It's searching."
The river pulsed again.
This time, the reflections sharpened.
Mia froze, staring at the water. Her breath hitched. "I—I see waves."
Rafael was instantly beside her. "Mia. Don't focus on it."
But the surface beneath her reflection shifted, dark water rising unnaturally high—too still, too deep.
Lyra raised her hand. "Everyone—eyes off the river."
Too late.
The mist thickened, and the world tilted.
Not violently.
Not suddenly.
The forest faded.
The river expanded.
And without any clear moment of separation, the illusion took hold.
---
Lyra stood alone.
Ash drifted through the air like falling snow.
The sky above was blackened, cracked with distant firelight, and the ground beneath her feet was scorched stone.
Ignis.
Not as it had fallen.
As it had burned.
Her breath caught.
She hadn't stepped into the water.
Yet the river had come to her.
Footsteps echoed behind her.
Slow. Familiar.
She turned.
A figure stood at the edge of the ruined plaza—cloaked in flame, wings folded, eyes glowing with ancient fire.
Not her mother.
Not a ghost.
Herself.
But wrong.
"You're afraid," the other Lyra said softly.
Lyra clenched her fists. "You're not real."
The reflection smiled—not cruelly, but knowingly. "Neither is the strength you pretend you have."
The Phoenix Flame surged in Lyra's chest—but the illusion did not burn.
Instead, the fire dimmed.
Just slightly.
Enough to make her heart stutter.
---
Elsewhere—
Orion stood beneath a blazing sun.
The banners of the Sun Kingdom snapped violently in the wind, torn and scorched. The throne behind him was cracked, empty.
He was alone.
"No," he muttered.
A voice echoed from behind the throne.
"You chose yourself over your people."
He turned sharply.
The crown lay at his feet—broken.
---
The River of Illusions did not isolate them by distance.
It isolated them by truth.
Across the basin, each Celestial Warrior stood unmoving, eyes unfocused, bodies tense—not asleep, not unconscious.
Trapped within reflections crafted from fear, doubt, and unresolved truth.
Serena stood frozen, golden light flickering uncertainly.
Kai's lightning sparked once—then vanished.
Zane's shadow twisted unnaturally, stretching away from him as if rejecting its master.
And at the center of it all, the river flowed on—patient, endless, merciless.
Watching.
Testing.
Waiting to see who would break first.