She stood there in silence—beneath the hanging spirit lanterns of the Crossroads—cloaked in twilight blue, with foxfire eyes that shimmered gold.
Hana could barely breathe.
The figure looked like her. Felt like her. But older… war-worn… timeless.
Her voice was calm but sharp like winter wind.
> "I was Aran. But I am also what you could become."
Taemin stepped forward instinctively, but the spirit version of Aran held up her hand.
> "No. This is between the fire and its memory."
Hana's hands trembled. "Are you a… vision?"
"I'm a memory left behind. One that stayed here when I died—refusing to move on. The Spirit Plane remembers all things that should have mattered more."
She walked toward Hana slowly, every step echoing with foxfire flickers.
"You want to wield the Echoflame? Then listen, Hana—there is a cost. Not all love saves. Not all sacrifice heals. The fire only answers those who accept the pain that comes with power."
"I've accepted it," Hana whispered. "The past… the pain… all of it."
"Have you?" the spirit asked sharply. "Then show me."
She raised her palm—and from it, a spear of pure flame formed.
The Spirit Plane darkened.
---
Trial of the Mirror Flame
Without warning, the spirit lunged. Her fire was not just hot—it was filled with grief, regret, and rage that had nowhere else to go.
Hana raised her own fire just in time, clashing against the spear.
The shockwave cracked the Crossroads beneath them.
Taemin shouted, "Hana!"
But the fox spirit barrier held him back.
This battle… was one she had to fight alone.
Each strike Hana threw was answered with a memory.
Of Aran bleeding beside Taemin.
Of betrayal from someone she trusted.
Of the Crimson Fang walking away with the Heartbound Pact.
But Hana fought back with new memories—her mother's kindness, Taemin's promise, her own choice to rise even when her hands shook.
At the final blow, her flames erupted upward, forming a massive fox that roared into the sky.
The spirit was forced back.
And then… she smiled.
"Good," she whispered. "You are not just me reborn. You are your own flame."
She dissolved into golden mist.
A single flame-shaped mark appeared on Hana's collarbone.
The Foxfire Crest.
---
After the Trial
The spirit barrier fell. Taemin rushed to her, catching her before she dropped.
"You okay?"
Hana exhaled slowly. "I'm not the same."
"No," he said. "You're stronger."
As they turned toward the path back to the living realm, a shadow flickered behind the spirit trees.
A voice echoed softly, unseen:
> "Let her grow stronger… I want to see how brightly she'll burn… before I extinguish her myself."
---