Lucian POV
I had ventured through countless trials and faced enemies that tested my resolve
at every turn, but nothing could have prepared me for this. After obtaining the
second relic fragment, I felt the lingering pull of the third piece, its presence
both distant and unnervingly close. The clues from the scrolls, the whispers from
the winds, all pointed here—this place, where the past and future blurred into
one.
Somewhere, deep within this world, a trial awaited me, unlike any I'd faced before.
And though I had no answers, I knew that this was where my journey was leading.
The forest was alive, but not with the kind of life I knew. Each step felt heavier,
the ground beneath me shifting unnaturally as if I was walking over something
alive. A fog clung to the air, wrapping around me like an unwelcome embrace. The
silence here wasn't peaceful—it was oppressive.
The glow of the relic fragment was faint but unmistakable, flickering like a
distant star on the horizon. It pulled me forward, even as the weight of the
atmosphere seemed to grow heavier with each step.
"This place…" I muttered, glancing around. The trees were twisted, their
branches stretching like skeletal hands toward the void above. No sun, no moon—
just an endless, suffocating expanse of gray.
Something wasn't right. The air hummed, almost like it was breathing, and for a
moment, I thought I could hear whispers—soft, indistinct, just beyond the edge
of comprehension.
I stopped, closing my eyes and focusing on the pull of the relic. Its energy felt
different this time—more intimate, more invasive. As if it wasn't just leading me
to a fragment but dragging something out of me.
"Let's see what fate has in store for me this time," I murmured, steadying my
breath.
And then, the glow disappeared.
I froze, my eyes darting around as the mist thickened, wrapping the forest in
impenetrable gray. The silence was broken by a single, soft sound—a voice I hadn't
heard in years.
"Lucian."
My blood ran cold.
"Lucian," the voice called again, soft and familiar. It was impossible. I clenched
my fists, forcing myself to move toward the sound.
"Show yourself," I demanded, though my voice cracked slightly. I cursed myself
for the weakness.
The mist parted, and there she stood.
Lilith.
She looked exactly as I remembered—her hair catching the faintest light, her
smile gentle but tinged with something I couldn't place. Grief? Sorrow?
"Lilith…" Her name slipped from my lips before I could stop it.
She took a step forward, her bare feet gliding over the forest floor. "You've come
so far, Lucian. But why? What are you really looking for?"
I didn't move. Couldn't. My mind screamed that this was a trick, but my heart
refused to listen.
"You're not real," I said finally, my voice hollow. "You're just another test."
Her head tilted, and her expression softened. "Does it matter? Whether I'm real
or not, I'm here now. Isn't that what you wanted? To see me again?"
I clenched my fists tighter, my nails digging into my palms. "Don't do this. Don't
use her—"
"I'm not being used, Lucian," she interrupted, her tone firm but still laced with
that infuriating calm. "I'm here because you need me to be. Because you won't let
me go."
The forest shifted around us, and the glow of the relic appeared behind her, faint
but steady. It was so close, yet impossibly far.
"I don't have time for this," I said, forcing my feet to move. I tried to step past
her, but she raised a hand, and the air itself seemed to ripple.
"Why are you still fighting?" she asked, her voice quiet but piercing. "You've lost
so much already. Why not stop? Why not let go of all this pain?"
Her words cut deeper than I wanted to admit. I stopped, meeting her gaze.
"Because I don't have a choice," I said through gritted teeth.
"You always have a choice," she countered, her expression sad. "You could stop
right now. You could leave this path behind and find peace. With me."
The forest shifted again, and I was no longer standing in the desolate woods.
Instead, I was in a home I didn't recognize but felt disturbingly familiar. Sunlight
streamed through open windows, and Lilith stood in the kitchen, humming softly
as she prepared a meal.
It was a scene out of a dream—or a nightmare.
"No," I said, shaking my head. "This isn't real. This isn't—"
"Why not?" Lilith said, stepping closer. "Why can't it be real? You've suffered
enough, Lucian. You've fought enough. Let it go. Stay with me."
For a moment—a single, fragile moment—I wanted to believe her. I wanted to
reach out and take her hand, to let myself fall into the lie.
But I couldn't.
"I've already lost you," I said, my voice breaking. "I can't change that. And I won't
let your memory hold me back anymore."
Her smile faded, replaced by something colder. "Then prove it," she said softly.
The warmth in her eyes was gone, replaced by an otherworldly glow.
The house dissolved around us, the forest returning as the mist coalesced into
her form. Her voice grew distant, echoing in the heavy air.
"Prove you can move forward, Lucian. Prove your resolve."
Lilith's form shimmered, the mist twisting and folding around her until she was no
longer the woman I knew but something else entirely. Her features sharpened,
her eyes glowing with an unearthly light. The warmth in her voice was gone,
replaced by a chilling calm.
"You've made your choice, Lucian," she said, her voice reverberating like a distant
storm. "Now, you must live with it."
The forest trembled, the ground beneath me splitting as the trees warped into
towering, skeletal figures. The air grew heavier, pressing against my chest, making
it hard to breathe.
The glow of the relic pulsed behind her, taunting me with its proximity.
"This isn't about the relic," Lilith said, stepping forward. Her movements were
fluid, too perfect, as if she were a phantom stitched together by my memories.
"This is about you. About what you've become."
I steadied myself, clenching my fists. "I know what I've become," I said, my voice
firm despite the unease clawing at my gut. "And I've accepted it."
Her expression didn't change, but her presence grew heavier. "Have you? Truly?"
The ground beneath us cracked, and suddenly I was falling—falling into an endless
abyss.
I landed hard, the impact knocking the air from my lungs. When I looked up, I
wasn't in the forest anymore. I was in a place I knew too well: the wreckage of
the crash site.
The mangled remains of the car, the shattered glass glittering like stars, and the
faint smell of smoke—it was all there.
"No," I whispered, my chest tightening.
"You said you've accepted what you've become," Lilith's voice echoed, though she
was nowhere to be seen. "But have you accepted why?"
I turned, and there she was again, standing by the wreckage. This time, she wasn't
otherworldly or glowing. She was just…her.
"You could've saved me," she said, her voice soft but cutting.
My heart stopped.
"You weren't strong enough. You hesitated. And now, you're chasing a power that
will never bring me back."
I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my palms. "That's not fair," I said, my
voice shaking. "You don't know what I've been through. What I've done."
"I know everything, Lucian," she said, stepping closer. "I know the lives you've
taken, the bridges you've burned. I know the darkness you've let consume you."
Her gaze softened, and for a moment, I thought I saw the woman I loved. "But I
also know the man you used to be. The man who would've given anything to protect
the people he cared about. Is that man still in there?"
I couldn't answer.
The air shifted again, and suddenly I was no longer alone.
Standing across from me was…me.
But it wasn't the me I knew. This version of me was darker—his eyes a deep,
unfeeling red, his expression cold and detached. His posture radiated power, but
there was no humanity left in him.
"Meet your future, Lucian," Lilith said, her voice distant. "The man you're destined
to become."
The doppelgänger smirked, tilting his head. "You've done well so far," he said, his
voice dripping with disdain. "But let's see if you have what it takes to finish the
job."
Without warning, he lunged.
The fight was relentless.
Every strike he threw was precise, every movement calculated. It was like
fighting a mirror that reflected not just my body but every dark thought, every
regret, every doubt.
"You think you're different from me?" he snarled, his red eyes burning with
intensity. "You're not. Every life you've taken, every choice you've made—it's all
led you here."
I dodged a blow, countering with a strike of my own, but he blocked it effortlessly.
"You can't fight me, Lucian," he taunted. "Because I am you. The part of you that
you're too afraid to face."
His words hit harder than his attacks.
But I wasn't going to give in. Not now.
As the battle raged on, I realized something.
I wasn't going to win by overpowering him. He was stronger, faster, and every bit
as determined as I was.
But he was also wrong.
"I'm not afraid of you," I said, stepping back and lowering my guard.
The doppelgänger paused, narrowing his eyes.
"I've made mistakes. I've lost people I cared about. And I've done things I'm not
proud of. But those things don't define me. I define me."
The air around us shifted, and for the first time, the doppelgänger faltered.
"I know what I've become," I said, my voice steady. "And I'll carry that weight.
But I won't let it consume me. Not anymore."
The doppelgänger snarled, lunging at me one last time, but his form shattered like
glass before he could reach me.
The forest returned, and I found myself standing before the relic once more.
Lilith stood beside it, her expression unreadable. "You've passed," she said simply.
I stepped forward, my hand hovering over the relic. "Was any of this real?"
Her smile was faint, bittersweet. "Does it matter?"
I didn't answer.
As my hand closed around the relic, the forest dissolved into nothingness, leaving
me alone once more.
I stood there, the relic glowing faintly in my grasp, and took a deep breath.
"No more hesitation," I whispered. "No more looking back."
I turned and walked forward, the path ahead shrouded in shadows. But this time,
I wasn't afraid.
The world around me settled into an empty void—a quiet, suffocating silence. The
relic pulsed faintly in my hand, its glow dim but constant, like the last ember of a
dying fire.
Lilith's voice lingered in my mind, soft and haunting: "Does it matter?"
I clenched the relic tighter, my knuckles turning white.
"Of course, it matters," I murmured to myself, my voice barely above a whisper.
"It always mattered."
The air felt heavy with the weight of what I'd just endured. The pain, the
memories, the doubt—they pressed against my chest, but they didn't suffocate
me anymore. They were a part of me now, as much as the scars on my body or the
blood on my hands.
The mist that had veiled my path was gone, leaving only the dark horizon ahead.
It was a road without promise, without guarantee. But it was a road I would walk
all the same.
I looked down at the relic in my palm, its surface smooth and cold. It felt like
victory and defeat all at once. A piece of the puzzle that would lead to the end—
but whose end, I didn't know.
As I turned, I caught a flicker of movement in the corner of my eye. A fleeting
shadow, a whisper of a presence. My heart clenched, but when I looked, there
was nothing there.
"Lilith…"
Her name escaped my lips before I could stop it.
But the void swallowed the sound, offering no reply.
I straightened, steeling myself. "This is it," I said aloud, my voice echoing in the
emptiness. "There's no turning back now."
The relic pulsed once more, brighter this time, as if it were answering me.
I tucked it away and took a step forward, then another. Each step felt heavier,
but my resolve grew stronger with each one.
Ahead, the shadows twisted and writhed, welcoming me into their depths. The
faintest hint of a grin tugged at my lips, though it carried no joy.
"Let's see what fate has left to show me," I muttered, disappearing into the
darkness.