Narrator's Voice:
"Some doors are not meant to be opened. But heroes never ask for permission—they follow the echo of fate, even when it leads into shadows shaped like themselves."
Scene 1: Into the Hall of Echoes
The stone door creaked open, revealing a long hallway lit by no torch or lantern—only a pale blue glow that hummed from the walls themselves.
Kael stepped in first. The medallion around his neck pulsed faintly, synchronizing with the glyphs under his boots.
Riven followed, silent but sharp-eyed. Zayen, trailing behind, whispered, "Why is it always you two who lead us into cryptic death corridors?"
"Because you'd try to bribe the traps with snacks," Riven said dryly.
"Facts," Zayen muttered.
As they descended deeper, the air grew colder. Along the corridor, portraits lined the walls—dozens of them. Regal robes. Crowns. Armor. But no faces. Every head was either blurred or burnt away.
"Who were they?" Kael asked.
Riven touched one. "Judges. Or impostors. Hard to say."
Then she paused. Her hand rested on a frame that sparked at her touch.
The portrait briefly flickered to life—showing a girl who looked eerily like her, standing atop a cliff, a crown of fire above her.
Then—gone.
Scene 2: Whispers and Warnings
Glyphs on the floor began rearranging. Slowly. As if responding to their presence.
Zayen whispered, "Is this alive?"
Kael didn't answer. He was staring at the wall. The glyphs were repeating a phrase:
"Blooming does not mean ready."
They reached the center chamber. It was circular—domed like a cathedral—but cracked down the middle like something had once split the room apart.
In the center stood a pedestal, and on it:A single silver seed, glowing faintly.
Kael approached.
The Soulfruit Seed.
Scene 3: Trigger
As Kael reached out—FLASH!
A sudden vision gripped him.
—He stood on a battlefield. Alone. Corpses of friends and enemies alike scattered. Above him floated a shadowed figure, wrapped in flame and sorrow.
—Zayen stood at his back… but fading, as if erased from time.
—Riven was on her knees, fire around her… but no crown.
Kael gasped, yanked back to the present. The room was spinning.
"Kael!" Riven grabbed his arm.
"I saw something—something that hasn't happened yet."
"A vision?" Zayen asked, paler than usual.
"A warning," Kael muttered. "Or a choice."
Scene 4: They're Not Alone
Suddenly—
CLACK.
The sound of a boot behind them.
They turned.
Standing at the entrance of the chamber—Was Professor Morn.
But his eyes… were glowing violet.
"You should not be here," he said, voice distorted.
Zayen backed up. "Dude, he's giving end-boss energy right now."
Riven: "That's not Morn. Not really."
The professor raised a hand, and the portraits along the walls screamed. The faceless figures warped, bodies twisting out of the frames, forming ghostlike armor constructs.
"RUN!" Kael shouted.
They bolted through the exit tunnels, glyphs flaring behind them. The air trembled as one of the portraits exploded into black flame.
Zayen: "WHY IS EVERYTHING CURSED?!"
Kael: "YOU FOLLOWED US!"
Zayen: "FOR MORAL SUPPORT!"
Scene 5: Escape... and Uncertainty
They barely made it back to the surface before the passage sealed shut behind them. Their scrolls crumbled to dust.
Kael was panting. His medallion was cracked. Riven was bruised, her arm slightly burned. Zayen had jellyfruit on his shirt from a snack he forgot he was holding.
Silence.
Then Kael looked at them both.
"We found the Soulfruit Seed. Or something pretending to be it."
"And it saw us," Riven added. "Marked us."
Zayen looked down. "So... what now?"
Kael answered, low and serious.
"Now, we prepare. Because we're not just part of the Trials anymore. We're part of its memory."
End of Chapter 5 – Portraits Without Faces
Narrator fades in, quieter:
"The Trials have begun—not when the council declares it, but when the past remembers your name. And the Soulfruit never forgets."