The barracks were silent.
Faint candlelight spilled across rows of old bunks, casting the trio in dim gold. They sat at the far end — three souls with nothing in common, yet bound by something none of them could name.
Negi sat cross-legged on his cot, staring at his hand like it didn't belong to him. His palm still trembled from the Soul Mirror's pull. That reflection — that creature — still lived in the corners of his mind.
Across from him, Ephi was sharpening her blade.
The rhythm of metal against stone was harsh, clean, focused. Her movements held no hesitation, no wasted effort. She didn't speak unless necessary — and when she did, it was like a knife slipping under armor.
"You were lucky," she said without looking up. "The Mirror didn't kill you."
Negi glanced at her. "It could've?"
Ephi nodded. "It's not a test. It's a sentence."
From the shadows by the window, Kisa let out a soft hum.
"She's not wrong," she said, her voice light, dancing between amusement and caution. "But hey… welcome to the freak show."
She adjusted her scarf — a rich royal purple that shimmered faintly in the dark. It was always there, tied carefully around her eyes.
Negi had wondered before — quietly, silently — but now he asked.
"Why do you wear that?"
The room went still for a beat too long.
Kisa turned her face toward him, lips curled into a small, sad grin. Calm on the outside, but beneath it — a weight.
"I'm blind," she said softly. "And… I don't like how my eyes look."
Silence.
Ephi paused in her sharpening. She didn't look up, but something shifted in her expression.
Negi's throat tightened.
"You don't seem blind."
"You'd be surprised what I see," Kisa said with a slight chuckle, though the laugh didn't reach her eyes — or rather, the space where they would be.
Negi didn't know what to say. So he just nodded, feeling the heaviness in her words settle in the room.
Outside, a horn sounded. Dull and distant, like thunder calling from beyond the walls.
The Trials were beginning.
---
They stood in a line by dawn — fifty initiates dressed in dark grey tunics, eyes full of fear, bravado, or numb detachment.
Negi found himself between Ephi and Kisa.
The Warden addressed them from a stone platform, flanked by silver-armored Sentinels.
"You were chosen because you survived," he said. "But survival is not enough."
"Beyond this gate lies the Forgotten Shore — a place where the veil between the soul and the flesh is thin. Where monsters are born from fear… and your own weaknesses will try to kill you."
"Prove you are more."
The gate creaked.
Beyond it was a land shrouded in mist, where twisted trees loomed like watchers and the air hummed with something unholy.
Negi clenched his fists.
Kisa adjusted her scarf.
Ephi drew her blade.
And together, the three of them stepped into the unknown.
---