The valley groaned as ancient energies stirred. Mist clung to the ground like restless spirits, and the light above fractured into eerie shards as the Guardians approached the Veiled Gate.
At the center of the valley stood a monolithic arch carved into the base of a cragged mountain—its surface marked by runes older than time, pulsing faintly with silver light. The Gate was both beautiful and terrifying: a wound in the world stitched shut by celestial forces, now weakening under the pressure of a rising darkness.
The wind carried whispers, not of language, but of emotion: sorrow, betrayal, longing.
Li Wei took the lead, his steps cautious but unwavering. The Blade of Aether hummed at his side as if sensing the nearness of its opposite.
Yu Lin followed, her breath quickening as the air grew colder. Around her, fragments of starlight gathered, forming geometric halos above her shoulders.
Bo Qian carried the Map of Realms, its paths constantly shifting. The closer they came to the Gate, the more the lines bled ink—like reality was tearing itself apart.
And Mei Ling walked in silence, her eyes burning with vision after vision. Past, present, and possible futures swirled in her mind like storm winds. She saw herself holding a dying child. She saw herself kneeling in chains. She saw herself atop a throne of stars, alone.
But she said nothing.
They stopped at the base of the Gate.
A voice echoed—not aloud, but within their minds.
"One soul must remain. One thread must be cut... so that the Tapestry may mend."
The runes flared. The Gate cracked open, revealing a void of swirling light and shadow. It was not a door. It was a choice.
Bo Qian clenched his fists. "I'll do it."
Yu Lin turned sharply. "No. That's not your burden."
"I've walked the darkest paths," Bo Qian said quietly. "This—this might be how I make it right."
Li Wei stepped between them. "No one chooses yet. Not until we know what's inside."
---
They entered.
The Veiled Gate's interior was a realm unto itself. Neither physical nor spiritual, but a liminal plane where truths walked with form. The walls breathed. The ground shifted with memory. Their own thoughts echoed into shadows that whispered back.
A great staircase appeared before them, floating into the endless space above and below. With no other path, they began to climb.
As they ascended, visions came.
Li Wei saw his younger self, training under his master, laughing freely—then watched that same joy consumed by fire. He saw himself as a child, abandoned in the rain... then again, as a god, worshipped and feared.
A voice murmured: "Which are you? The orphan... or the flame?"
Mei Ling walked beside a version of her mother—alive, smiling, holding a flower. "You don't have to carry everything," her mother said. But when Mei Ling reached for her, the vision dissolved into ash.
Bo Qian met the phantom of his brother, whom he betrayed to save the Jade Prince. "You made the right choice," the vision lied.
Yu Lin saw herself glowing with so much starlight she had no face—only burning eyes. Around her, mortals bowed. But none dared touch her. She was divine... and alone.
Then the staircase ended. Before them stood a massive gate carved from obsidian and mirrored glass. In its center: the Throne of Threads—a seat woven from time, pain, and power. And seated upon it—
The Forgotten King.
His form was ever-shifting: a man of gold, a beast of bone, a child of smoke. His eyes held galaxies, and his voice was silk wrapped in razors.
"You came, as written," he said with a smirk. "You always do."
Li Wei stepped forward. "We've come to seal you away again."
"Seal?" the King laughed. "I am no wound. I am the answer to a prayer mortals don't know they make. You fear the dark... but you forget—you were born from it."
He rose, and reality trembled.
"But it matters little. The Gate has opened. The tether is frayed. One of you must die to close it. The only question is—who?"
The throne vanished. The King vanished.
And in his place, four mirrors rose from the ground—each reflecting not the Guardians' appearances, but their doubts.
Yu Lin stepped forward first. Her mirror showed her as a goddess surrounded by corpses, her power unchecked. "This is what I become if I live…"
She turned away. "Then I won't be the one."
Bo Qian's mirror showed him back in his childhood home, with the brother he left to die. He fell to his knees. "I was a coward. I don't deserve redemption."
Mei Ling's mirror showed her ruling the Realm as Empress—but her hands were covered in the blood of friends she'd sacrificed to gain peace.
Li Wei's showed him alive while the others were dead. The world saved—but empty.
"I can't choose who stays," he said, his voice cracking. "Not again."
A whisper echoed from the void:
"Then you are not yet ready to defy fate."
---
Suddenly, the King reappeared—this time behind them.
He lashed out, sending a shockwave through the chamber. The mirrors shattered, and with them, a piece of each Guardian's soul.
Yu Lin screamed as her body cracked with celestial flame. Mei Ling collapsed, overwhelmed by the flood of futures. Bo Qian was flung into the void's edge, bleeding stars.
And Li Wei...
He stood tall.
The Blade of Aether lit with a blinding light. The runes around the Veiled Gate roared to life.
"You said one of us must stay," Li Wei shouted. "But what if none of us do?"
He plunged the blade into the throne.
Reality shuddered. The Gate began to collapse.
The King snarled. "You dare defy the Thread of Destiny?"
Li Wei's voice rang out like thunder.
"I write my own fate."
A portal formed behind him.
"Go!" he yelled to the others. "I'll hold him!"
Mei Ling screamed, "No!"
Yu Lin tried to grab him, but the force pulled her away.
Bo Qian, eyes wide with horror, whispered, "You fool…"
Then the portal consumed them all.
All but Li Wei.
As the Gate sealed behind them, the Forgotten King lunged—
And the chamber exploded in white fire.
---