The humidity still clung to the cave walls, and the faint flickering light seeping through the cracks above barely dispelled the darkness of the illusions that had haunted the minds. Ragged breaths, dazed eyes, and shivering skin as if they had just emerged from the belly of a merciless night.
Selena knelt beside one of the sweat-drenched students, placed her palm on his forehead, and whispered softly:
"Wake up... this is not your truth, nor your end."
Nearby, Zenith stood, his broad shoulders heaving with heavy breaths. His eyes scanned the surroundings cautiously, saturated with a silent fury, like someone who had just fought a battle against himself and still loathed the part he lost in there.
"This one… almost drowned completely," he said quietly, looking at another trembling student.
Selena shook her head, smiled despite the exhaustion, and said:
"But we're still here. And that means we can save them."
Moments later, the students' bodies began to stir, their breathing calmed, and their eyes opened wide, lost and seeking refuge from the images they had just left behind their eyelids.
One by one, the students regained consciousness. Some burst into tears, others collapsed to the ground like hollow shells, and some stared at Selena and Zenith with suspicious eyes, as if they couldn't believe they were truly back in reality.
Valerian stood by the wall, his hands clenched as if his body still refused to leave his illusions. His eyes were pale, as though seeing from behind a thick layer of glass.
Selena glanced at him from the corner of her eye, then approached.
"Valerian?" she whispered, as if afraid to startle him. "Are you... with us?"
Slowly, without looking at her, he said in a voice that sounded like it came from the bottom of a well:
"He spoke to me..."
Selena and Zenith exchanged quick glances. Neither of them was ready to hear that.
"What did he say to you?" Zenith asked, his tone tinged with caution.
Valerian shook his head, his eyelids twitching, and his voice was laced with something that wasn't sadness or fear, but resembled painful realization:
"He said I no longer own my fate. And that everything I do... changes nothing."
Silence.
Then suddenly, he raised his eyes and looked at them. That look... it wasn't the look of someone broken, but of someone who had decided to fight even if he lost everything.
"But he's wrong," he said hoarsely. "Maybe I can't change everything... but I won't let him break me."
Selena felt a chill run through her body, while Zenith smiled calmly and commented:
"Welcome back, then."
…
The group moved with difficulty through the cave. The rocks were covered with layers of strange fungi, and the air was laced with distant echoes of screams, as if lost souls were still crying from their illusions.
Selena led the group, her gaze scanning the place, focused on every sound. Zenith was behind her, carrying one of the students who could no longer walk. Valerian took the rear, alert, silent, his eyes tracking every movement.
They passed through a narrow tunnel. There, at the other end, stood a lone girl.
Evelyn.
Her blonde hair glowed with an inexplicable light, and her eyes ever-shifting in color were fixed directly on Valerian.
"You were slower than I expected," she said calmly, without a smile or a nod.
Everyone froze, as if her appearance was an omen, or a promise of something yet unknown.
Selena approached her, then said with concern:
"Evelyn... how did you get out of your illusion?"
She didn't answer. Her gaze remained fixed on Valerian, as if trying to pierce through his walls. Then, slowly, she walked toward him until she stood directly in front of him.
She spoke in a tone closer to a whisper:
"You… were burning in there."
He didn't respond. Didn't even move. But he felt her, felt her words piercing the layer he had built around himself.
"I saw you," she added. "I saw you trying to resist your father's image. I saw you talking to yourself… and to him."
He replied quietly, without raising his voice:
"And what else did you see, Evelyn?"
She stepped closer, until her whispers could only be heard by him:
"I saw you wondering if you even deserve to live."
Something mysterious flickered in his eyes, but he remained standing, still, like a statue on the verge of collapse.
"Do you know what that means?" she continued. "It means you're no longer fighting for a goal, but to prove to yourself that you can still stand."
He smirked with sarcasm and said:
"And did you see, then… who I am now?"
She replied with a quietness that resembled a cold breeze:
"You are someone who gave up everything... then decided to start over."
Long silence.
Then, calmly, she reached out and gently touched his chest right over his heart.
"And that's enough for now."
Zenith stepped forward, breaking the silence, and said as he looked around:
"We have to move. There are still others. And these caves show no mercy."
The group began moving again. The students followed, some whispering prayers, others silent as if afraid that any word might shatter their fragile mental balance.
The path was narrow, then gradually widened, and new sounds started to reach them. Screams, mad laughter, the voice of someone singing a distorted childhood song.
Selena said:
"The rest are still trapped... but the illusions have changed. They're no longer just memories, they've turned into nightmares that question reality itself."
"Daydreams turned into waking nightmares." Zenith clenched his fist.
"There! There's another one!"
One of the students pointed at a shadow moving among the rocks. They approached cautiously, only to find a trembling girl, her eyes vacant, muttering her father's name over and over.
Selena knelt beside her, cradled her in her arms, and whispered soft songs, like a mother trying to soothe her child on a stormy night. Slowly, the girl began to calm down, and then... she cried.
"How many are left?" Zenith asked.
"Three. But one of them... won't be coming back."
All eyes turned toward her, but she didn't elaborate. The sorrow in her voice said everything.
Valerian, for the first time, said quietly:
"If we can't save them all... let's save those we can."
As time passed, they became a team, coordinated despite their differences. Selena saved with her words, Zenith fought in the shadows, Evelyn saw ahead with her gaze, and Valerian… dove into the deepest darkness to bring back even a faint light.
And despite everything, they hadn't yet emerged. But they were closer than ever.
Their steps slowed, and the walls narrowed again as if the cave was breathing, exhaling nightmares from its chest and swallowing anything that approached the light.
They walked in silence, their bodies tired, and their hearts heavier. Even the air grew thick, as if the cave was tempting them to surrender.
Then... they heard the sound.
The sound of sword strikes, an angry sigh, a scream born from a fierce battle.
Selena ran first, followed by Zenith, while the others exchanged looks of anticipation and caution.
They arrived at the center of the cave, illuminated by a faint red glow, as if the place was breathing hell.
And in the middle... was Leonard.
He stood rigid, drenched in sweat, his eyes wide with madness, and in his hand the silver spear that shimmered with a light only he could see.
He was striking at the air.
"Die, you bastard!" he shouted, attacking the void before him with the fury of a true killer.
Then he spun, struck again, as if his enemy kept shifting places.
Selena approached slowly, her hand extended.
"Leonard... there's no one there."
But his voice cut her off angrily.
"Don't come closer! He's right in front of me! Don't try to trick me!"
He growled and struck with such force that stones scattered from the ground.
Zenith whispered:
"He's completely trapped. And this... this isn't just any enemy in his illusion. It's someone he knows."
Valerian said quietly, his eyes on Leonard:
"This is the enemy he couldn't defeat... or wasn't supposed to defeat."
Suddenly, Leonard screamed:
"Stop crying! It wasn't my fault! I was just... defending myself!"
His voice trembled. The spear shook in his hand, but he kept striking, more fiercely, as if guilt had become flesh before him.
Selena moved closer, but Zenith stopped her with his arm.
"Selena, no. He might hurt you now without meaning to."
Evelyn stepped forward, her gaze soaked in sorrow, and said:
"He thinks he's still there... that night. Trying to rewrite it his way."
Valerian said in a hoarse voice:
"We see him fighting air. But he sees a corpse... trying to rise again."
Everyone around him went silent.
But then a new voice broke the silence.
"Leave him to me."
Everyone turned.
Alistair.
He stood there at the entrance, his appearance unchanged: dark cloak, messy hair, features showing only fragments of emotion... but his eyes?
His eyes boiled with a hidden pain he'd never shown before.
He approached calmly, with measured steps, making no sound.
"Leonard," he said in a low, steady voice.
The boy didn't respond.
"Leonard, it's me... Alistair."
Leonard paused, his sword still raised, his muscles tense.
"Don't come closer. I... I have to end this."
"End what?" Alistair asked, his voice growing gentler. "A fight with a past that can't hear you? With your ghost?"
Leonard screamed:
"She wasn't a criminal! I told them! But she attacked me... I only defended myself!"
Alistair moved closer, his steps steady like someone walking on the edge of a blade.
"And who said we blame you?"
Leonard exploded in a shout:
"I blame me! Don't you understand? I could've... I could've stopped her. Saved her."
Then, suddenly, he fell to his knees, his hands shaking, the sword slipping from his grip, and his voice completely broke.
"She was my sister..."
Alistair closed his eyes for a moment.
Then he sat on the ground in front of him, directly facing him.
"And that's their fault, Leonard. They trained you to fight everything... except your pain."
The words seemed to creep into his heart.
Alistair added quietly:
"What died that night... wasn't just her body, but a part of you too. But you didn't stand there as a killer... You stood as a brother trying to choose between love and survival."
Leonard slowly raised his head, his eyes filled with tears.
"I... was weak."
Alistair replied, his voice barely above a whisper:
"No... you were human."
Then, without hesitation, he extended his hand.
"Come. Let's get out... No one deserves to be buried with their past."
A moment of silence.
Then, as if the illusion walls collapsed all at once, Leonard gasped deeply and burst into muffled sobs, resting his forehead on Alistair's shoulder.
His body trembled, as if years of guilt were finally beginning to fall away.
Selena stood, silently wiping a tear, while Zenith said in a quiet voice:
"I never imagined Alistair... carried all this."
"He only shows what he wants seen. Like most of us," said Valerian.
As for Evelyn, she spoke very softly:
"But in the end... some shadows can only be slain by a light that resembles them."
They sat together for a while. Leonard still collapsing in silence, and Alistair beside him, saying nothing. Just... being there.
There was no sword. No enemy. No corpse.
But the battle... was over.
And the soul... began to breathe again.