While Ari trains in healing magic under an old elder, Imperial and Tracey continue their search for the hidden pillar deep within the cursed southern forest. Meanwhile, in a shadowy chamber, mysterious figures plot around Kai Alden, revealing a shocking secret that could change everything.
They were running. Twigs snapped underfoot, breath misting in the cold, damp air. Shadows twisted with every step as the cursed forest thickened around them.
Imperial glanced sideways at Tracey, panting.
Imperial: "Hey… Tracey… do you know about magic waves?"
Tracey: (nodding, breathless) "Yeah, I've studied them a little."
Imperial: "Good. Then this might make sense. I've been keeping mine active since we entered, and right now… I can feel another flow. There's a second magic wave… intersecting with mine."
Tracey: "What does that mean?"
Imperial (narrowing his eyes, focused): "I think this locket I'm wearing… it's not just sentimental. It's reacting — its magical wave is faint, normally impossible to detect, but now? Because my own magic's resonating… I can feel it pulling. Interfering. Guiding me."
He held up the locket, now glowing faintly. The chain buzzed against his skin with subtle electric pulses.
Imperial (quietly): "We're close. I know it."
They surged forward again — faster, more determined.
But then—
Silence.
The thud of footsteps behind him vanished. No soft panting. No rustling leaves.
Imperial (stopping abruptly): "Tracey…?"
He spun, scanning the trees behind him.
Nothing.
A moment ago, Tracey had been just a few paces back.
His stomach sank.
Imperial (thinking): "No signs of a struggle. No sound. Not even a cry. Did he get pulled into something? Or… choose to divert?"
He stared at the path behind him, torn for a second. Then clenched his fists.
Imperial: "He knows the forest. He can take care of himself… but this signal, this trail — I can't lose it now."
He turned and dashed forward, driven by the strange pull of the locket.
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Scene: A Mysterious Clearing in the Forest
The trees parted ahead, revealing a fog-choked clearing.
Two figures stood in the mist — unmoving. The hairs on Imperial's neck rose.
Imperial (relieved at first): "Tracey? I'm here!"
He stepped forward… then froze.
Those weren't Tracey's clothes.
One figure was a girl in dark green and black, dual blades hanging loosely at her sides. The other—taller, heavier, holding a long blade that shimmered like thunderclouds.
Imperial (voice breaking): "Kai…? Ari…?! What the hell are you two doing here…?!"
No answer.
Suddenly —
Kai lunged, his blade cutting through the fog in a brutal downward arc.
CLANG!
The impact shuddered up Imperial's arm as he blocked with the flat of his sword, feet skidding backward on wet leaves.
Imperial: "Kai! What the hell?! Why are you attacking me?!"
But Kai's eyes were wrong — lifeless, dull, like storm clouds without lightning. Possessed. Controlled.
Before Imperial could respond, Ari blurred into motion, her twin blades spinning like silver wind.
Imperial: "Tch—Ari?! Not you too—!"
He dropped low, her blade slicing through the air just inches above his head, clipping a lock of hair.
Imperial (thinking): "Their movements… they're too clean. Too robotic. This isn't a duel. It's an execution. They're not in control."
He parried Kai's heavy swing and twisted away from Ari's next strike, the force of it gouging the earth.
Imperial: "Listen to me! It's me — Imperial! Wake up!"
No response.
CLASH!
SLASH!
CRACK!
Branches exploded. Rocks split.
Ari flipped in the air, striking from above while Kai swept low.
Imperial (gritting his teeth): "Damn… This isn't a spar. They're not pulling punches. They're trying to kill me."
A shallow cut bloomed red along his ribs. His blade arm trembled from the repeated impacts. His vision blurred.
Imperial (thinking): "I can't keep this up. Ari's unpredictable, and Kai — he's a monster now."
His hand flew to the hilt strapped to his back — the resonance blade, forged to store thunderous energy.
As he unsheathed it, lightning crawled across its edge, humming with ancient force.
Imperial (to himself): "Just a fraction… just enough to shake them."
He tightened his grip — and the forest shuddered. A pulse of raw power exploded from him, scattering leaves like a hurricane.
Kai flinched, his eyes twitching. Ari blinked, freezing mid-swing.
Imperial: "If even a sliver of the real you is left… remember this feeling."
He vanished in a flash of white light.
BOOM!
The three collided mid-air — a detonation of blades and energy. Trees bent and cracked, roots tore from the ground. The clearing became a storm zone.
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Imperial (roaring through gritted teeth): "I don't know who's controlling you — but I'll drag you both back to your senses, even if I have to burn this cursed forest to ash!"
Sweat stung his eyes as he blocked Kai's strike and dodged another blazing spell from Ari.
Imperial (thinking): "Fighting both of them like this… it's a suicide run."
He jumped back, heart pounding like a war drum.
Imperial: "I need to split them up. Isolate. One at a time — it's the only way."
He glanced at them. Calculated.
Imperial (thinking): "That move… I can use it now. But who first? The weaker one… probably Ari."
His body crackled. He vanished.
In a blink, he reappeared before Ari, gathering a spell in his hand — electricity weaving like threads between his fingers.
But—
His eyes widened.
The energy wavered.
Imperial (thinking): "Wait… something's wrong."
He stepped back instinctively, the charge fading.
The fog twisted unnaturally. The air rippled, shimmered — and for the first time, he sensed a third presence.
Imperial (muttering): "I think… I get it now."
A shadow shifted behind the mist, watching.
Something — or someone — was pulling their strings.