The Blight of Beautiful Lies
"Not all illusions are traps. Some are choices we beg to remain inside."
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🎭 [Scene: The Garden of Never-Was]
Riven stood upon a field of silver roses.
The sky shimmered in hues of calm — soft pinks, warm blues.
And far in the distance stood a manor… exactly like the one from his childhood.
Intact.
Peaceful.
Alive.
> "This… can't be real," he whispered.
> "And yet, don't you wish it were?" Lyara murmured, almost entranced.
From behind them, Elera stepped quietly.
> "You're in the Blight.
A place between memory and manipulation.
Where your mind is offered the one lie it secretly wants to be true."
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🌸 Lore Drop: The Blight of Beautiful Lies
> 🧠 Created by the Architect of Grief, an ancient entity born from collective denial
🌺 Traps souls by showing them lives they could have had, had pain not occurred
💀 Too long inside — and the soul forgets which world is real
🔐 Only way out: willingly destroy the false life… with your own hand
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🕯 Riven's Perfect Illusion
He entered the manor.
His mother was there.
Laughing.
Alive.
His father reading in the next room.
Selene walked through the garden in a white dress.
They didn't question where he'd been.
They simply… accepted him.
> "Come sit, my son," his father said.
> "You're safe now," Selene smiled.
And for a moment…
He wanted to believe.
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🕸 Meanwhile, Reality Trembles
Outside the illusion, Lyara and Mirael struggled.
The field was tightening.
Vines of silk wrapped their legs.
Illusions whispered to them — promises of forgotten siblings, lost lovers.
> "We can't stay here!" Mirael screamed.
But Riven?
Sat.
And smiled.
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🩸 The Turning Point – Elera Intervenes
Inside the illusion, a small girl with glowing eyes approached Riven.
> "You named me," she whispered.
"So I'll help you remember your name."
She handed him a page from Flamechron — one he hadn't written yet.
And on it, just two words:
> "Burn this."
He looked at the perfect life…
The love.
The safety.
The lie.
He stood.
Eyes filled with tears.
And set the manor on fire.
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🔥 Breaking the Illusion
As the flames devoured the dream, voices screamed — not in pain, but in loss.
> "Why did you leave us, Riven?"
"You could've had this."
"You deserved peace."
> "No," he whispered.
"I deserve truth — even if it breaks me."
The garden turned to ash.
And the Blight… vanished.
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💡 Power Unlocked: Truthfire Sigil
> 🔥 Riven can now burn through illusion-based magic
🕯 Can expose hidden memories, even those repressed or cursed
⚠ When used, he briefly relives the pain of the original event
🧠 Caution: too many uses may fracture his sense of reality
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