One Must Stay
Day 8 – The City's Deception
Morning arrived, but exhaustion lingered. They were drained—both physically and mentally. Pushing forward in this state was asking for disaster.
"We rest until midday," Eris decided. "We won't last otherwise."
Ash didn't argue. In Eterna, reckless endurance was a death sentence.
But Eterna wasn't going to let them rest.
The City Shifts Against Them
They moved through the crumbling streets, stepping over broken stone and twisted metal, the weight of exhaustion settling into their limbs. The city was quieter than usual, the ever-present distortions lurking just out of sight.
Three hours had passed since they started exploring. They'd found two intact shelters, a rare stroke of luck, but luck in Eterna was always double-edged.
Ash glanced at Eris. "One more hour, then we start mapping a route back?"
Eris nodded, eyes scanning the alley ahead. "Yeah. Just a bit further."
The road narrowed into a passage flanked by half-collapsed buildings, and at the end of it—a mural.
It stretched across the remains of a stone wall, warped and shifting, as though painted in liquid shadow. Scenes of figures in robes, jagged spires, something that looked like a ritual. The details flickered—one moment sharp, the next, distorted beyond recognition.
Eris stepped forward, drawn to it. It felt important. The images didn't just tell a story; they unraveled one.
She reached out, tracing a sigil embedded in the mural.
A low, grinding sound echoed through the street.
The world snapped.
---
Trial of Betrayal Begins
The sky above fractured.
The streets beneath them twisted. The walls expanded outward, stretching into a vast arena of jagged stone.
Eris and Ash stood at the center, their surroundings unfamiliar and wrong. The edges of the space flickered like a mirage, and shadows stretched unnaturally.
A voice, deep and distant, rumbled through the space.
"One must leave. One must stay."
A shimmering portal appeared on the far side.
Eris stepped forward—and immediately froze in place.
Ash moved at the same time—and the moment he did, he felt an invisible force hold him back.
It wasn't a choice. It was a law.
The air around them thickened, and from the shifting shadows, the distortions emerged.
Only this time, they didn't rush forward blindly.
They stood there, watching. Waiting.
A realization settled in Ash's gut.
They weren't here to fight the distortions.
They were here to fight each other.
---
Reality Twists Against Them
Eris didn't attack. Neither did Ash.
But the city didn't need them to want it.
The first attack came when Eris instinctively raised a sigil—not to strike, just to shield herself.
Pain ripped across Ash's chest. His body reacted as if the sigil had hit him full force. He staggered, breath hitching.
Eris' eyes widened. "That wasn't—"
Ash moved, purely on instinct—his body responding to the strike like an opponent rather than an ally. His fist shot forward to counter, but the moment his knuckles connected with air—
Eris choked as the blow landed on her ribs.
No illusions. Real damage.
And worse—there was a delay.
When Ash blocked a phantom strike from the distortions, nothing happened at first. Then—a wound opened on his arm, seconds too late.
Their instincts—everything they'd trained to rely on—were being used against them.
The distortions watched, their expressions unreadable.
Then, they started shifting.
One took Celeste's form. Another, the hooded figures from Eris' nightmares.
They whispered. They mocked.
Ash's grip tightened. "We need to—"
The portal pulsed.
The city whispered again.
One must leave. One must stay.
The distortions moved.
They had no choice.
They fought.
Rejecting the Trial – The Fight Against Reality
They fought.
Because they had no choice.
Eris moved first—not to strike, but to reposition. But the city didn't care about intent.
Ash flinched as his body reacted like she had attacked. A sharp force slammed into his shoulder, sending him staggering back.
Eris' stomach twisted. "I didn't—"
The distortions laughed.
Ash clenched his jaw. He could feel the game tightening around them. The city was forcing them down a path.
One must leave. One must stay.
The words drummed in their skulls.
Another attack—this time, deliberate.
Ash pivoted, swinging low, aiming not at Eris but at the ground to test the reaction.
But the city twisted the rules again.
The impact never landed where intended.
Eris felt it.
A pulse of force against her ribs, a breathless second where her vision blurred.
She wasn't sure if she had struck back or if the city decided she had—but suddenly, Ash was hurt, too.
Their own instincts were weapons against them.
Eris' pulse pounded. There was no winning this fight.
They weren't battling distortions. They weren't battling illusions. They were battling Eterna itself.
And Eterna did not care who broke first.
---
The Breaking Point
They needed to stop.
But stopping wasn't enough.
The distortions were closing in.
The portal pulsed, demanding a choice.
One must leave. One must stay.
No.
No.
Eris refused.
Something inside her rebelled, raw and furious. She would not play this game.
Ash felt it too. The weight of the demand. The forced inevitability.
If they chose, they lost.
If they fought, they lost.
So they did the only thing left.
They ran.
---
Breaking Eterna's Hold
The distortions howled as the city shuddered. The trial was breaking apart—not because they had beaten it, but because they had rejected it entirely.
The world twisted around them, streets flickering between past and present.
The unstable zone.
They had seen it earlier—a street where Eterna's reality flickered.
Eris locked eyes with Ash.
"We need to lead them there."
They ran.
The city warped as if sensing their intent. Doorways twisted into endless loops. Streets folded into themselves.
The distortions didn't just chase. They appeared ahead of them.
A dead end. A trap.
Ash didn't slow. "Break through!"
They didn't need to find the right path.
They needed to make one.
Eris threw down a sigil—not to defend, not to fight.
To unmake.
The world splintered.
The unstable zone tore open.
Ash grabbed Eris' wrist, and they dove through the fracture in reality.
Behind them, the trial collapsed.
The arena, the distortions, the forced rules—all of it unraveled into nothing.
---
Aftermath
They hit the ground, gasping for breath.
The city had returned to normal—or what passed for normal in Eterna. The trial was over.
They hadn't solved it. They hadn't beaten it.
They had broken it.
Ash exhaled. "We survived again."
Eris rolled onto her back, staring at the shifting sky. "Yeah."
"I remember the mural though. I still think it's pretty important,"she continued.
"Let's go back to our base and take a breather. Maybe, that would help us make a sense of that mural," Ash agreed
As they mapped their way back to their first base, neither of them spoke. The weight of what had just happened settled into their bones.
The city was evolving again.
It wasn't throwing illusions at them anymore. It was turning their own instincts against them.
---
Saria's Notes
They did not break. Good.