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I nod as if they can see me. "Exactly."

"I like this." Rowan answers.

"Good." I smile.

"Mostly because I'm confused." Rowan admits.

The next false voice comes almost immediately. "Nyra." Her own voice. "Come here."

She doesn't move. Instead she asks quietly, "What did we decide after the bridge?"

The voice answers instantly. "To keep walking."

A pause. "No." Nyra says. She reaches for my sleeve. "We decided that no one gets left behind."

The false voice vanishes. Good. Warmth floods the bracelets. "Continue forward."

No one speaks after that. We obey the bracelet. Not because we suddenly trust it. Because, for the first time since entering the darkness, none of us knows what else to trust.

Cassian walks beside me now. Not touching. Not close enough to invade my space. Simply... near. As though instinct has quietly rearranged the group without anyone discussing it. Nyra leads. Rowan watches the silence behind us. Cassian listens. I observe.

The Trial has somehow found a place for each of us. The darkness gradually begins to thin. Not enough to restore sight. Enough that faint grey outlines emerge. The floor beneath our feet changes from stone back to earth. Roots weave across the path. The air grows warmer.

Nyra stops. "My bracelet has another instruction." "What is it?" Rowan asks.

She hesitates. "Four doors."

I look ahead. Shapes begin appearing through the darkness. Tall. Stone. Ancient. Each carved with different symbols. A crimson flame. A silver claw. A golden branch. A blue wave. There are no words beneath them. Only four identical doors standing side by side. Perhaps the Trial only created doors for those present.

Nyra continues reading. "Each student must choose one."

The bracelets pulse once. The Academy's voice echoes around us. "Only one may reach the end." Silence.

The words hang in the air. Only one. Again. The bridge. The path. Every major challenge has offered the same lesson dressed differently. Scarcity. Sacrifice. Competition.

Rowan looks between the doors. "So...which one of us?"

No one answers. I step toward the doors. Not to choose. To observe. The symbols are flawless. Too flawless. No scratches. No weathering. As though they appeared moments ago. Cassian joins me.

"What are you thinking?" He asks.

"That the Trial keeps asking the same question." I answer honestly.

"And?"

"It already knows our answer."

Nyra looks up from her bracelet. "It says one student qualifies."

I nod slowly. "It didn't say only one student deserves to." The others look at me. I continue. "The marker at the bridge wanted us to believe someone had to stay behind. It lied. The path wanted us to believe every instruction deserved obedience. It lied. The darkness wanted us to believe only certainty could guide us. It lied." I place one hand against the nearest door. "This feels the same."

Rowan folds her arms. "So...what do we do?"

I smile. "We stop accepting the Trial's first answer."

Nyra studies the four symbols. "What if..." She hesitates. "We all choose?"

Cassian looks toward her. "At the same time."