Three Days Later – Outskirts of the Academy
The air was unnaturally still.
The sky above the canyon shimmered with a faint violet hue, and before Kael and his party stood a colossal stone gate—half-submerged in the earth, marked by symbols of time, death, and memory.
Zara, Selene, Rayna, Mira, Lyria, and Althea stood behind him. Each one wore their academy gear—but something in their eyes had changed.
They weren't just students now.
They were his companions.
And they were walking into a dungeon that even high-ranking professors feared.
"Welcome to the Labyrinth of Echoes," Kael said quietly."Time will twist. Memories will bleed. And if we hesitate, this place will consume us."
The Labyrinth Breathes
As they entered, the stone gate slammed shut behind them.
The air shifted.
The floor moved like breathing flesh. Shadows whispered their names. And the walls themselves... shifted based on emotion.
Mira grinned, trying to break the tension.
"Sooo... basically, a dungeon designed to emotionally traumatize us and kill us slowly. Cozy."
Rayna: "Stay focused. This place reads your fears."
Zara's flames flickered defensively as the hallway turned into a mirror—reflecting twisted versions of themselves.
Kael stepped forward first, staring at his reflection.
Instead of a powerless prince, he saw a throne of bones… and himself, cloaked in divine fire, laughing as worlds burned.
"I am not that anymore," he whispered. "I chose another path."
The mirror shattered.
The path opened.
Trial One – The Echo of Failure
The first chamber dropped them into a scene from Kael's forgotten past.
He was standing in front of a burning city.
His divine self—Elarion the Broken Flame—was watching mortals die below.
The girls saw it too, like ghosts trapped in a memory.
Althea gasped. "This is… when you refused to help them."
Kael clenched his fists.
"No. This is when I let them die… because saving them meant breaking divine law."
"And breaking it would have doomed billions more."
The scene faded. The trial accepted the truth.
But the others looked at him differently now.
Zara whispered, "You were… colder than I imagined."
Kael: "You don't save a universe by being warm."
Trial Two – The Heart of the Labyrinth
The next test split them up.
Each girl was thrown into a dream world, forced to confront her deepest insecurity tied to Kael.
✦ Zara: Saw a future where Kael chose Althea as his only queen—and never even remembered her. ✦ Mira: Faced a version of herself where she never grew strong enough to be by his side—just another forgotten voice. ✦ Lyria: Fought a monstrous version of Kael, twisted by godhood and detached from humanity. ✦ Selene: Watched herself betray Kael for power—just as her clan did once to another celestial. ✦ Rayna: Saw a world where Kael never cared about justice… and burned everything in vengeance.
But all of them fought through.
All of them chose Kael again.
Even knowing his flaws. Even knowing his past.
"We don't love you because you're a god," Zara muttered later, bloodied and half-smiling."We love you in spite of it."
The Fragment Awaits
At the deepest core, the walls changed.
No longer stone — but starlight.
The Divine Fragment floated at the center of a suspended platform surrounded by shattered timelines. Voices whispered truths that had never happened… or hadn't happened yet.
Kael stepped forward, the divine resonance singing to his soul.
"Come home," the fragment whispered. "Remember the storm. Remember the flame."
He reached out—
—and a shadow struck.
A blur of speed. A dagger of void. A whisper that froze time.
The Shadowborn.
A hunter of gods.
Cliffhanger: The Shadowborn vs. the Harem
Kael was knocked back, divine blood dripping from his side.
Zara screamed, charging forward with a blazing spear.
The Shadowborn raised a single hand—and time around her stopped.
Althea gasped, "He's from the Outer Realms. Only fragments of Kael's true power can resist him!"
Kael stood, eyes glowing faintly, one hand bleeding divine fire.
"Then I guess it's time... I stop holding back."