Keisha had barely closed her eyes when the world shifted.
She was standing in a vast, barren landscape painted in deep hues of blue and violet. The stars above pulsed like living things, and a silver ribbon of mist traced its way across jagged stone. This wasn't sleep. It wasn't even a dream in the usual sense. This place hummed in her veins-**a lucid realm stitched between memory and magic, one born from her bracelet.
The silver band on her wrist glowed faintly. Before her stood an archway carved from obsidian, swirled with runes she didn't recognize but somehow understood: "To seek truth, step through fear."
Her steps were silent as she crossed the threshold.
The moment she entered, the air thickened. The realm blinked, seemed she had entered a trial of ashes-turning from violet twilight into blood-orange dusk. She stood inside a ruined temple that bled whispers from its walls. Fires sputtered in half-buried sconces, and the floor was scattered with ash and broken relics.
What place was this?
A voice called out: "Keisha of the Veil, bearer of memory. To claim the second artifact, you must give what you fear to lose"
Why does it always have to be a trade?
A figure emerged from the shadows- "herself" , but not quite. This Keisha wore a crown of shadows and eyes like drowned stars, sadness was all over her face. With a pale face, like it has never had a chance to be exposed to sunlight.
As the trade began, Her twin spoke her deepest doubts aloud words Keisha had buried, whispers of weakness and abandonment. Each doubt formed into blades of flame. Keisha had to parry them not with force, but with truth:
"I was not broken. I was becoming."
"I feared being unloved, not because I was weak, but because I had loved too, i just wanted to belong, among everyone ."she said. Something in her eyes shifted, pain she had been hiding.
Pain that her father's money can't mask up.
The temple walls became mirrors. They reflected moments she'd wished away-her parents' arguing, the family's cold secrets, the way she'd once doubted her own worth.
She had to walk barefoot across burning coals while reliving them, each step scorching her until she forgave herself, for trying to be a perfect daughter and the world's savior, most importantly for finding the bracelet.
After completing the process of forgiving herself, she crossed over to the center of the temple were a stone pedestal laid. A swirling orb hovered above it-"the second artifact" , the "Memory Flame"
But to claim it, she had to offer one of her most cherished memories,something she was going to forget for life. And can never be regained.
Keisha hesitated. She chose the soft, golden memory of the night she first felt she belonged-with the bracelet, the day they ate kung pao chicken with Illario. It was a scary yet amazing experience.
Seeing how much she seemes to treasure the memory the orb quickly accepted it, glowing fiercely, and embedded itself into her bracelet making her wrist feel heavy.
As soon the orb absorbed the memory, the dream twisted suddenly-spiraling into wind and static. Keisha fell backward as flames engulfed the temple. Her twin stared as the smoke closed in, whispering, "you are morethan what they remember . You must become what onlyyou know you are"
She awoke with a start.
Sweat soaked her skin. Her chest burned. Her lips cracked. And her eyes... her eyes held the shimmer of a realm she had walked through in sleep.
But her body had paid the price.
She was pale, feverish, barely able to stand. The bracelet hummed weakly, as though it too needed rest.
This was real....she could barely sleep fpr the rest of the night, as she lay awake, the pain and the fever only getting worse. When her roommates woke up, she could barely talk anymore.
She was sent home for recovery.
.....
And it was there, in the slow days of healing, that Illario found her.
His usual sarcasm softened by concern. He didn't know everything, but he sensed something had changed. He spent quiet afternoons reading to her from strange books she couldn't yet process, and he watched her when she stared too long out the window.
How did we get here? She would often ask herself.
, "I walked through fire in a place no one believes exists, you were there Illario, but you couldn't ease the pain, i stepped on hot coal all for you. Hope its all worth it" she said as hot tears flowed making her let out a silent cry... This was harder than she thought.
Illario could not find the right words to say...
Was he really hurting her this much...?
Do they also have a slight idea of what he's going through where his soul is locked up?
"Kei words can never be enough but if it turns out worth it I'll deliver the world to you, I will shift mountains, fight anyone and anything that causes you pain... If its me... I will kill myself in the most painful way" he aaid his voice echoing in the room
A little smile ached from her lips as her eyes let out more tears..
"really?"....