The world around Akihiko shattered into flashes of light and distorted shadows. He felt the weight of reality tearing around him, pulling him into a space where time and memory intertwined. His breathing was ragged, his senses struggling to adjust to what was happening.
When the distortion ceased, he found himself standing in a place he recognized... and at the same time, he didn't. It was a distorted version of the dojo where he had trained as a child, but the details were off, as if his mind was reconstructing something he couldn't quite remember.
"This is..." he murmured.
"Your past, Akihiko," said a voice behind him.
He turned and saw a powerfully built man, dressed in a black robe adorned with golden inscriptions. His face was hidden by a mask, but his eyes conveyed a sense of unwavering authority.
"Who are you?" Akihiko asked, drawing his katana.
"I am the Guardian of the Threshold," the man replied. "And this is your judgment. To find the truth, you must face that which you have tried to forget."
Before Akihiko could respond, he felt a chill run through his body. Around him, the dojo began to fill with shadows, faceless figures that loomed like incomplete memories. Then, among them, a silhouette appeared that made his blood run cold.
It was him… but younger.
"It just can't be..."
The younger Akihiko drew his katana, his expression hard and determined. "You can't keep running away from what you are. Fight."
Akihiko gritted his teeth. He knew this was more than just an illusion. It was a test of his own determination. If he wanted to find The Key, he had to overcome his own history first.
The Echo of the Others
Elsewhere in that distorted realm, Isabella walked through what appeared to be a dilapidated version of a grand mansion. She recognized the furniture, the paintings—everything from her childhood, but it was deteriorating, as if time had slowly eaten away at it.
A whisper made her stop. "Why do you keep looking for something that will only bring pain?"
Isabella turned and saw a woman with black hair and stern eyes. She recognized her instantly: it was her mother.
"This isn't real," Isabella said, trying to maintain her composure.
"That doesn't make it any less true," the figure replied. "The truth you seek will destroy you."
Kael, Helena and the others were also trapped in their own memory fragments.
Kael appeared in a ruined laboratory, with destroyed equipment and flickering screens. In front of him, a stern-looking man regarded him with disappointment. "You will fail, just like me," the figure said. Kael recognized the face of his lost mentor, someone he had tried to forget so as not to carry his shadow.
Helena found herself on a battlefield littered with bodies. In her hands, her metal spear dripped with blood. "How many more are you going to sacrifice for a cause you don't understand?" a voice echoed behind her. Turning, she saw her former leader, someone who had fallen because of his own arrogance.
They were all being judged, not for their sins, but for the burdens they had chosen to carry.
The Price of Truth
Back at the dojo, Akihiko and his younger self crossed katanas in a vicious fight. Each blow echoed through the distorted air, each impact releasing sparks of energy that lit up the darkness. However, Akihiko soon realized something disturbing: his opponent wasn't attacking to defeat him... but to make him remember.
Suddenly, an image flashed through his mind. A memory he'd blocked out for years: the night his mentor died, protecting him from an Order attack. His master's face, stained with blood, and his last words: "Never let the past consume you. Always look forward."
Akihiko felt a deep pain in his chest. The truth hit him harder than any attack.
"Now I understand..."
His younger self stopped his attack and nodded. "Then it's time for you to wake up."
The Return to the Present
Suddenly, the distortion broke. Akihiko opened his eyes and found himself back in the spectral city, surrounded by his companions, who also seemed to have gone through their own trials.
Kael was breathing heavily, Helena was staring off into space, and Isabella was holding her arm, trembling slightly. No one spoke. No one wanted to share what they had seen.
The Threshold Guardian watched them silently. "You have faced your pasts and accepted your truth. But the test is not yet over."
He raised his scepter, and the ground shook beneath his feet. "Now you must prove yourself worthy of knowing the fate of The Key."
The shadows began to move once more.
The echoes of the past had been revealed, but the real challenge was about to begin.