They say the Veil is a boundary.
But boundaries are supposed to separate. This one... pulls.
I stood at its edge, close enough that the ground under my boots felt thinner—like the world was just a surface waiting to crack. The air shimmered here, distorting the trees behind me like heat waves. My LAW mark pulsed quietly in my chest. Stronger now. Steadier.
The visions of the other Called still lingered in my mind. Syrien's sorrow. Maika's song. Korr's silence. None of them knew me, but it felt like their stories were tied to mine. Maybe the LAW connected us. Maybe it would one day force us to collide.
But for now, I had a choice.
Step forward… or stay in safety I didn't believe in.
I took a breath. The forest behind me exhaled.
And I walked into the Veil.
---
The first thing I felt was cold—not the kind that bites your skin, but the kind that slides into your bones. Everything blurred. My hands, my clothes, my thoughts. The world bent around me like smoke trapped in glass.
I blinked. My eyes didn't work right. Everything shifted. Shapes bled into one another. The trees vanished, replaced by endless mirrors of myself. Dozens—no, hundreds—of me stood, walked, crawled, or cried across fractured reflections.
I tried to speak. Nothing came out. Even sound was twisted here.
Then, the light broke.
Not white. Not colorless. Just wrong. Like memory forgotten and remembered at the same time.
A shape stepped out of one of the mirrors.
It was me.
Or something wearing my face.
It was perfect. Hair clean, clothes unburned, eyes bright—not sunken like mine. No scars. No hesitation.
It smiled.
"Is this who you think you are?" it asked.
The voice was mine. Clearer. Confident. Unshaken.
I couldn't answer. My throat felt sealed.
"You think the LAW will make you more," it said, circling me. "But it will only reveal what's already broken."
It held out its hand. My blackwood blade appeared in its grip, forged exactly as I remembered it.
"You're afraid of what you'll become."
Then it lunged.
---
The fight wasn't fair.
It was faster. Cleaner. Like it knew everything I would do before I did it. Every swing I made, it countered. Every block, it punished. My arms burned. My lungs begged. My LAW mark flared—hotter than ever—but still not enough.
It moved like someone who had already won.
Every strike felt personal.
"You hesitate," it whispered mid-swing. "You question. You doubt."
A blow to my ribs sent me sprawling into one of the mirror walls. My reflection shattered. Pain exploded through my side.
"You wear the LAW like a borrowed coat. But you haven't earned it."
I rose again, blade trembling in my grip. Blood dripped down my fingers.
"You're not a hero," it said. "You're not even a survivor."
It raised the blade to strike.
And I… laughed.
I didn't know why. It wasn't bravery. It wasn't madness.
It was memory.
The first time I felt the LAW activate, it was when I was broken. Alone. Weak.
And I survived.
Not because I was strong.
But because I chose to be.
I caught its wrist before the blade fell. My hands trembled, but I didn't let go.
"You're not me," I said through gritted teeth. "You're who I thought I had to be. But I'm not here to be perfect. I'm here to change."
My LAW mark erupted in light. Not soft. Not warm.
Violent. Truthful. Mine.
The copy staggered back, shrieking. Its body cracked, glitching like a broken reflection. The mirrors around us rippled, pulsing with white light.
I stepped forward, raising my blade.
"I'm not afraid of what I'll become."
I slashed.
The thing burst into dust—fragments of memory swallowed by the Veil.
---
The world convulsed. The air screamed. Mirrors shattered like glass in a storm.
Then... silence.
A path appeared ahead—jagged, black, burning with symbols I couldn't read but somehow understood. Not with language, but with instinct.
I stepped onto it.
And the world snapped back.
---
I fell forward, landing on cold stone.
Not the forest. Not the Veil.
Somewhere new.
The floor was cracked marble. Pale gray with veins of gold. Faintly glowing vines twisted up broken pillars. The sky above wasn't blue or gray—it was shifting. Like oil on water. And far above, something massive swam through the clouds, leaving trails of light.
I stood slowly, aching.
Ahead of me lay a ruined structure. Dome-shaped. Open to the air. Symbols etched into every wall, every stone.
At the center—an altar.
And atop it, floating just inches above the surface, was a crystal. No, not a crystal. A shard of something older. It pulsed with a rhythm I recognized.
A rhythm that matched my LAW mark.
I approached slowly.
As I neared, the air thickened. Every breath tasted like thunder.
When I placed my hand on the altar, the shard reacted. Light spiraled into my chest, fusing with my mark. The pain was instant.
But so was the clarity.
---
[Adaptive Soul — Stage 2 Achieved]
New Trait Gained: Resonant Recall
You may absorb fragments of memory from places touched by LAW.
---
I staggered back, breathing hard.
The world didn't feel bigger.
I did.
The Veil hadn't been a boundary.
It had been a test.
And I'd passed.
Somewhere beyond the shattered temple, a distant horn sounded. Not mechanical. Not natural. Like a warning. Or a welcome.
I wasn't alone anymore.
The real journey had just begun.