The terrain is alive and disorienting, with groves of trees that appear to lean in closer the longer they stand still, and glowing paths that vanish as soon as they walk them. The air thrums with a strange energy—it's not hostile so much as... curious. The forest stretched and warped before them, as if Eidolon itself were trying to decide what story to tell. A stream gurgled in reverse, bubbling upwards into the air to form a floating, silver loop. Just ahead, the trees shifted—branches bending as though to whisper nearby.

  Ami stopped in her tracks, her boots suddenly heavy with hesitation. She glanced back at Fayra, who seemed unbothered, bathed in dancing motes of shimmering light.

  "Well, Fireworks," Fayra said, carelessly twirling a shard of crystal she'd picked up—where she found it was anyone's guess. "Looks like the welcoming committee is sending us..." she tilted her head, watching a multi-colored bird materialize midair, only to explode in a soft burst of giggles, "...a message. I think they're saying: 'Relax! Explosion birds are very in this season!'"

  Velene, predictably, wasn't amused. Her glyph-marked blade was out, her steps measured, and her brows knitted so tightly that Ami was sure they might've cast a shadow of their own. The rigid glow of Dominion gleamed faintly across her armor, resisting the colorful haze around her as if even standing here offended it.

  "Stay focused," Velene snapped, glaring at Fayra. "We didn't come here to play. Chaos thrives on distraction. The more you let it in, the easier it is to lose yourself."

  "Oh, lighten up, Vel." Fayra swished her tail, leaning against an utterly unnecessary tree that had just appeared out of nowhere. "If I didn't know better, I'd say Dominion sends their soldiers out here without hearts. Tell me—do they confiscate the squishy emotions during training, or did you have to donate yours voluntarily?"

  Velene's lip curled in response, but she refused to dignify that with an answer. To her credit, Fayra didn't seem to notice—or possibly care.

  she's wrong, you know. chaos isn't about distraction. it's about potential. if velene can't see that, darling, i'd be happy to tear that stick out of her perfectly regimented spine and replace it with something more... fitting.

  "Anna," Ami hissed quietly, her voice sharp and low.

  what? came the reply, soft and maddeningly innocent. i'm just saying... she's not wrong about one thing. something is watching us.

  Ami froze. Her fingers clenched involuntarily as she scanned their surroundings. The forest had gone still. Too still. The laughter of the motes had faded, and the trees—those impossibly warped and leaning trees—seemed to have straightened, almost like soldiers awaiting new orders.

  "Fayra..." Ami's voice came out uneven. She wasn't sure what she expected to happen, but she felt certain of one thing: Eidolon was not a place where one could rest easy.

  Fayra perked up, her ears twitching. "What's wrong, Fireworks? You look like someone just assigned you extra homework. Wait—did Velene do that? You can say it; I'm on your side, you know."

  Ami shook her head, fixing her gaze forward. "Something's... different. Can you feel it?"

  Velene stepped closer, her eyes narrowing. "She's right." Her voice was calm, but there was a note of tension Ami hadn't heard before. "The air has changed. It's heavier now. Focus."

  The word seemed as much a reminder to herself as a command to the others.

  "Focus." Fayra rolled her eyes but straightened nonetheless, dropping the crystal shard. The playful energy around her dimmed—just a little. "Got it. Big scary forest vibes. Message received."

  They moved carefully, stepping over ground that rippled like water and past floating shards of fractured light. All was eerily quiet until the ground beneath Ami's feet gave a sudden, sickening lurch. She gasped as the earth turned to liquid—a glowing, swirling pool of silver and gold. She would have tumbled in completely if Velene hadn't grabbed her wrist and pulled her back onto more solid ground.

  "Ami!" Velene barked, her tone sharp. "Watch your step!"

  "I-I didn't see it," Ami stammered, her heart still racing. "The ground—it just—"

  But her sentence was cut short as Fayra, who had lagged slightly behind them, suddenly gave a low whistle. "Uh... hey, Fireworks? Vel? You might wanna see this."

  Both girls turned to find Fayra standing stock-still, her usual grin replaced with something far more serious. She pointed up, where the air shimmered like heatwaves. And within those waves, scenes began to form—images hanging in the air like memories torn free from someone's mind.

  Ami's stomach turned cold.

  The floating image was of Dominion's academy—the Hall of Weaving, pristine and symmetrical, lined with its golden glyphs. But it wasn't just the Hall. It was her—Ami, standing at the back, watching as her containment threads unraveled into a spectacular, humiliating burst of violet sparks. The laughter of her classmates echoed faintly, hauntingly, through the air.

  "No..." Ami murmured, her throat dry. "That's not real. That's not happening."

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  "Looks real to me," Fayra said, tilting her head. "Also... yikes. That hairpin explosion? Chef's kiss. Brilliant work."

  "Stop it!" Ami's voice cracked, her fists clenched. She turned away from the mirage, but another image shimmered into view before her—a younger version of herself, seated beside her mother in that too-perfect office in Dominion. Her mother's cold, clipped voice rang out: "Dominion magic does not allow for miscalculations, Amarantha. It demands discipline. Perhaps you've forgotten that already."

  Velene's voice dragged Ami back to the present. "It's a trap." She sounded calm, but there was tension in her words now—a sharper edge. "Eidolon pulls from your mind. Your memories. It uses them against you."

  "Well," Fayra said, her tone carefully light. "That explains why I just got a front-row seat to every time my tail caught fire during training camp. Thanks for that, brain. Really needed the reminder."

  But even Fayra wasn't smiling now. The air felt heavy, oppressive—charged with emotions that weren't theirs but still clung to them like smoke.

  of course it's pulling from you, darling. it knows the real you can't resist. those memories? they're delicious. aren't you curious to see what it has for you next?

  "Quiet," Ami hissed, her hands shaking. She turned to Velene. "What do we do?"

  Velene's jaw tightened. "We move forward. Keep your focus sharp, and don't let it pull you in." She glanced at Fayra. "That goes for you too."

  "Relax," Fayra muttered, her tail twitching nervously. "I'm not planning on getting turned into glitter soup today."

  Ami's breath came in ragged gasps as the illusions around her flickered and warped. The distorted echoes of her mother's voice—sharp with disapproval, tainted with weariness—wrapped around her, their edges biting like glass.

  "You're a mistake," one voice hissed from the treetops.

  "Chaos doesn't belong in Dominion," another jeered from the shadows.

  Ami squeezed her eyes shut, but the voices only grew louder, more mocking. She stumbled forward blindly, her feet sinking into the forest floor that now seemed to pulse like a living heart.

  "Ami!" Velene's voice cut through the din like a blade, sharp and commanding. "Focus! It's not real!"

  "Not real," Ami repeated under her breath, clutching her shaking hands to her chest. But it felt real. Too real.

  Fayra slipped to her side, her movements unnaturally quiet for someone with a wagging tail. Her grin, normally bright and irreverent, seemed dimmed, though it clung to her face like she was holding onto it for dear life.

  "Hey, Fireworks," Fayra said, her voice a little too chipper to be convincing. "C'mon, don't let the creepy forest win. You're better than some moldy trees with abandonment issues."

  Ami blinked and met Fayra's golden eyes. "Is that what this is? A... test?"

  "Test, or torture," Fayra snapped, swirling her tail in irritation. "Take your pick. But trust me, this place loves chewing up serious types like Vel over there. And—" She cut herself off, her ear twitching as her gaze shifted warily behind Ami. "Oh. Nope. That's new."

  Ami turned and froze. There, stepping out from the flickering shadows, was a figure cloaked in light. No, not light—a reflection. The figure mirrored her perfectly, but its eyes burned with wild intensity, and its grin was sharper than any blade.

  darling, it purred, tilting its head. finally. we're meeting properly.

  Ami stumbled back, her head spinning. "You're not real," she whispered.

  you keep saying that, but here i am, anna replied, her grin widening. you forget, darling, i'm always real. i'm you. your better half, the part that refuses to be tucked away like yesterday's mistake.

  "No. You're—" Ami's words faltered. She wasn't sure how to finish that sentence.

  Fayra stepped protectively between them, her tail puffed out and bristling. "Oh, great. So now the forest spits out creepy twins. Fine. I've seen worse. But, I'm fluffier than you, so back off!"

  stay out of this, fox, anna said, her tone dripping with disdain. The illusion raised a hand, and the ground beneath Fayra's feet rippled, suddenly slick and unstable. Fayra yelped, leaping back just in time to avoid sinking.

  "Ami!" Velene's voice rang out again, her tone taut with urgency. She was farther ahead now, her glyph-etched blade glowing faintly as she held off another illusion—a monstrous figure clad in Dominion armor, its face eerily blank. "Get a grip! Fight it!"

  anna's reflection didn't look afraid, nor did she seem in much of a hurry to attack. Instead, she stepped closer to Ami, her expression softening. The sharpness in her grin faded, replaced with an almost motherly gentleness—though her eyes still burned with wild chaos.

  why fight me, darling? anna whispered. i'm not the enemy. i'm your escape. this forest—this madness—it's a test, yes, but not of me. they're testing you. your rules. your control. and they'll chew you up unless you let me guide you. let me show you how to embrace what's already yours.

  Ami froze. The air crackled around her, heavy with the weight of anna's words. But Velene's voice cut through again, sharp and unyielding.

  "Don't listen to it, Ami! It's lying!" Velene's blade tore through the Dominion phantom in front of her, shattering it into a million shards of glowing light. She whirled around to face Ami, her expression furious. "You're stronger than this. Focus!"

  Ami's hands trembled, her heart pounding. She looked from Velene, whose eyes blazed with determination, to Fayra, who was clawing her way out of the slick ground with a snarl. Finally, her gaze locked with anna's.

  "You're not real," Ami said, her voice trembling but louder this time. "And you're not my better half. You're just... a part of me. A part I need to understand. But I won't let you take over."

  suit yourself, darling, anna's reflection sighed, a soft sound of disappointment. but don't forget—chaos isn't your enemy. it never was.

  Before Ami could respond, the ground beneath them shook violently, and the forest erupted into motion. Trees twisted and bent, their branches reaching for her like claws. The air turned electric, buzzing with raw, unbridled energy.

  Fayra finally clawed her way to solid ground, her grin reappearing as she brushed herself off. "Okay, that was not fun. Can we leave now? Like, immediately?"

  Velene stepped forward, her blade raised, her expression unreadable. "Stay close. This place is trying to break us, and it's getting stronger. We need to keep moving."

  Ami nodded, her determination hardening. The illusions still whispered, but their hold on her was weaker now. She could feel the chaos in her veins, the pulse of Eidolon's magic, but she wasn't afraid of it—not completely. Not anymore.

  As the trio pressed deeper into the forest, the shadows thickened, and the air grew heavier. Whatever lay ahead, Ami knew it wouldn't be kind. But she also knew one thing for certain: she wasn't fighting alone. Not anymore.