They left the chamber in silence. Even Riven didn't try a joke right away. The air after the mirror felt too heavy, like the gong still pressed on their ribs.
Kael walked with the scrap Seren had given him tight in his fist. Not Hollow. Kael. The words smudged a little with sweat, but the weight of them was real.
Finally, Riven blew out a sharp breath. "Alright. So, lesson learned: no more mirrors, no more masks, no more creepy doubles. Next room better just be a nice tavern with stew."
Seren scribbled fast: Keep dreaming.
Riven read it and groaned. "See? She's mean. One day she'll actually smile, and I'll die on the spot."
Kael rasped, "Worth it."
Riven barked a laugh, loud enough to bounce off the stone. "Ha! He speaks, and it's brutal. That's my guy."
The corridor opened into a wider passage lined with carvings. Not pictures, not symbols. Names. Hundreds of them, stacked row after row. Some shallow, some scratched out, some glowing faint like fresh wounds.
Kael's stomach turned. The Ledger had followed them here too.
The system whispered:
[Ledger Passage] Rule: All names are recorded. Condition: Walk without speaking.
They moved slow. Riven's grin slipped again, his eyes darting to the glowing lines. Seren's pencil hovered like she wanted to write something, then stopped.
Halfway through, Kael saw it — his own name, carved deeper than the rest. Kael — Hollow. Twice Marked.
The words pulsed faint. Waiting.
A sound stirred in the stone.
BOOOONG.
The gong rolled through the passage, dust raining from the ceiling. More names lit up across the wall, as if written in fire.
Riven cursed low. "I hate this place. I hate walls. I hate bells. I hate—" He stopped himself, teeth gritted. "Not saying it. Not giving it more."
Seren shoved a scrap into Kael's hand: We keep walking. Don't look too long.
He forced himself forward. Step after step, past names that weren't his. Past the wall that kept trying to make him stop and stare.
At the end, a seam of light opened. They slipped through fast, the stone closing behind them with a final grind.
Silence.
Then, faintly, another note etched across Kael's head:
[Trio Recorded Again] Note: Their names stay together. For now.
Kael let out a slow breath. He didn't trust the words. The Labyrinth didn't make promises. But it felt like a line worth carrying.
Riven clapped his back hard. "See? We're famous now. Trio of Idiots, immortalized in stone."
Seren rolled her eyes, scribbled one word, and held it up: Idiot.
Riven grinned wide, shadows still clinging to his legs.
Kael tucked the scrap into his cloak with the others. The Ledger might keep calling him Hollow. But as long as they kept writing their own lines, maybe — just maybe — they could outlast the ink.
The corridor stretched ahead, black and waiting. The gong's last echo lingered like a pen scratching one more note in the dark.
BOOOONG.