Chapter 5: The Trial of the Mirror Tree (POV: Raine Fielding)
The mist moved like breath.
Raine wasn't sure when the dream began. One moment he'd been lying in bed, the next he was standing barefoot on damp earth, a soft silver fog curling around his ankles.
The trees were taller than skyscrapers—wide-trunked, glowing faintly with veins of soft blue light. The sky above flickered between starlit night and cloudy dusk. Silence pressed in, thick and humming.
He turned slowly.
There were no buildings. No lights. No city.
Just forest.
And mist.
He looked down. His hands shimmered faintly, as if made of smoke. Every step he took left a glowing footprint that vanished in seconds.
"This is... a dream," he whispered aloud.
[Incorrect.]
The voice came from everywhere and nowhere. Soft. Not mechanical. Like a whisper through leaves.
Raine flinched. "What is this place?"
[Trial Forest: Mirror Seed Protocol - Phase One]
[Candidate: Raine Fielding]
[Sync Level: 71%]
[Stabilization: Active]
[Emotional Threshold: Acceptable]
"So this is the System," Raine said slowly.
[This is the beginning.]
A soft wind stirred the mist. The trees seemed to breathe.
Then the voice returned, deeper, like an older echo layered beneath the first.
[Walk forward. The path will test your shape.]
"My shape?"
[The choices you make will determine your mirror.]
Raine hesitated. Then moved forward.
---
The first part of the forest was quiet.
As he walked, the mist shifted subtly. At first, he thought it was just natural. But then he realized—each swirl reflected his emotions. When he grew afraid, it darkened. When he felt calmer, it lightened.
Then the path split.
Left: a bridge made of cracked glass, spanning a quiet river.
Right: a tunnel beneath twisted roots, dark but pulsing with warm light.
[First decision. Will you trust what you see, or what you feel?]
Raine bit his lip. The glass bridge was clearer—but it looked fragile. The tunnel looked ominous, but warmer.
He took the tunnel.
The moment he stepped inside, soft lights bloomed in the roots above him. The path curved downward. The air smelled of lavender and rain.
Then he saw it.
A small boy stood at the end of the path—barefoot, with tangled curls. Raine's breath caught.
It was... him.
The boy turned, eyes wide. "You left me."
"I never meant to," Raine said instinctively.
"You stopped listening."
The boy pointed. A mirror appeared between them—tall and narrow.
Inside, Raine saw his reflection.
But something was wrong. His reflection was crying.
[Face the forgotten.]
[Align the self.]
The boy walked into the mirror. The glass rippled like water.
Raine stepped forward. The mirror was cold. But he placed his palm on it.
His reflection looked up and whispered, "Will you carry me, or leave me behind?"
Raine's throat tightened.
"I'll carry you," he whispered.
The mirror dissolved.
The path opened.
---
He kept walking.
The forest changed. The mist grew golden. Flowers bloomed along the trail—strange ones, with petals shaped like runes.
Then he saw her.
A girl stood near a glowing stream. Pale hair. Familiar eyes.
Raine froze.
"Mom?"
She turned and smiled. But her eyes shimmered—glass, not flesh.
"I'm a memory," she said softly.
Raine stepped closer, heart pounding. "Why are you here?"
"To show you what love leaves behind."
She held out her hand. A seed sat on her palm, pulsing softly.
[Emotional Anchor Detected.]
[Would you accept memory code?]
"What happens if I do?"
"You'll feel what I felt," she whispered. "Not all of it. Just the moment I chose to stay behind."
Raine hesitated.
Then he took the seed.
Pain bloomed in his chest.
Not physical—emotional. The feeling of sacrifice, of fear hidden beneath resolve. He saw a flash of memory: his mother turning away from a blinding light, placing something into Nathan's arms, and whispering *"Protect him."*
The vision faded.
He stood alone again.
[Memory code received.]
[Empathy parameter: Reinforced.]
Raine wiped his eyes.
He wasn't sure how long he'd walked.
The mist deepened again. The trees grew taller—quieter.
Then the clearing opened.
In the center stood a tree unlike any other.
Its bark shimmered like metal. Its leaves glowed faint blue. A mirror hung from every branch—each showing a different version of Raine.
Some older. Some younger. Some smiling. Some... monstrous.
[You've reached the Mirror Tree.]
[Final query: Which version of yourself will you feed?]
A voice echoed—not the System's, not a memory's.
His own.
"I don't want to become someone else," he said.
[You already are.]
One of the mirrors pulsed.
It showed him—older, eyes glowing with code, hands crackling with energy. Behind him, cities bent to his will.
Another mirror shimmered.
It showed him walking through ruined streets, offering bread to strangers, guiding children through a storm.
A third flickered.
Him—silent, alone, crowned in mist, eyes unreadable.
[Choose.]
"Do I have to pick who I become?"
[No. You pick what you nurture.]
Raine walked forward.
He reached into his chest—not literally, but it felt that way—and pulled forward the seed. It pulsed now with the soft glow of memory and pain.
He placed it beneath the Mirror Tree.
The ground rippled.
The tree shivered. One mirror detached, floated down, and hovered before him.
It showed him just as he was—flawed, scared, trying.
But beneath his skin glowed soft light.
Hope.
The mirror fused into his chest.
[Trial Complete.]
[Candidate Acceptance: 81%]
[Phase One: Passed.]
The mist swirled faster.
The world began to fade.
Then he heard a final whisper, soft and unfamiliar.
"You are not the first, Raine Fielding. But you may be the last."
Then everything went dark.
---
Raine awoke with a gasp.
His sheets were damp with sweat. His window was fogged.
And etched into the glass in fine white lines was a single glowing rune.
A mirror tree.