Aiden plunged through pitch-dark emptiness, the Heart Core's glow the only anchor in his hand. Around him, the echoes of shattered threads screamed—a chorus of every doubt they had ever faced. He tried to right himself, but the void's pull dragged him deeper.
Lost in the Void
Below him, Maya drifted, her goggles useless in the blackness. "Aiden!" she called, voice trembling. "I can't stabilize my filter—every time I try, the code-threads choke it out!"
He reached for her, gripping her hand. "Hold fast! We'll break free together."
They tumbled toward a distant glimmer—a swirling knot of starlight where Cassie and Nephis struggled against the pull. Cassie's lantern-brooch flickered, casting brief halos of dawn-light that faltered under the void's weight. Nephis's shadow-barrier buckled, shadows dissolving into nothing.
Lin Xi's voice echoed from above, faint but determined: "I'm weaving Qi to form a lifeline! Find my chant!"
Aiden strained to locate Lin Xi's Qi pattern—a soft hum at the edge of perception. He pressed the Mirror-Shard to Maya's chest. "Use its clarity to filter out the code—reflect it away!"
Maya's goggles blinked once, then twice, as the Mirror-Shard's reflection algorithm purged a wave of corruption. The void stilled for a heartbeat, enough that Cassie and Nephis could grab Aiden's and Maya's outstretched hands.
They formed a chain: Lin Xi's Qi-rope connecting to Aiden's Heart Core, binding all four together. Slowly, they drifted upward, guided by Lin Xi's steady chant.
Fractured Reunion
Moments later, they landed on a shattered platform of obsidian glass—a piece of the star-bridge torn away from the Loom's rim. Beneath them yawned the abyss; above, the Loom's threads trailed off into darkness.
Cassie coughed, lantern-light flickering. "We're… not back yet."
Nephis examined the platform's cracked edges. "We need more fragments to restore lift—did anyone get the Coral Prism?"
Aiden's heart sank. "I lost it during the crash… It's gone."
Maya shook her head, face pale. "Without Coral, our resonance won't hold. The code-threads will reweave a new corruption."
Lin Xi knelt and laid the Spiral Stone on the ground, Qi rippling outward to scan the void. "There is a trace—faint but real—down there." He pointed into the darkness. "The Coral Prism may have fallen into a deeper gulf of forgotten dreams. We must retrieve it—before the Loom tears entirely."
Desperate Dive
The group formed a circle, harnessing the remaining artifacts:
Heart Core – Aiden's steady anchor
Mirror-Shard – Maya's reflective shield
Spiral Stone – Lin Xi's guiding runes
Dawnlight Prism – Cassie's warming beam
Soul Prism – Nephis's stabilizing light
Sanctuary Prism & Temple Prism – the others' supportive radiance
They braced themselves and stepped off the broken platform into the void once more—this time, diving with purpose. As they fell, Cassie's lantern-beam carved a narrow path of dawn-light; Lin Xi's Qi-cord reeled them toward the glimmer; Maya's filter blocked phantom code-threads that snaked through the darkness.
But the void resisted. Each thread of Prismatic light they cast was muddied by the Council's anomaly, turning to toxic haze before dissipating. One by one, the beams fractured.
Aiden lunged, pressing the Heart Core to his palm. "Hold onto our truth!" he cried. He unleashed its pure pulse, cutting a corridor of warmth through the haze. Maya followed with the Mirror-Shard's reflection, splitting the corruption in two. Cassie held the Dawnlight Prism high, its glow purging lingering taint.
Slowly, inch by inch, they approached the swirling knot. At its center lay the Coral Prism, spinning in a vortex of white-noise echoes.
Cliffhanger: Across the Rift
Just as Aiden reached out, a spectral arm of code-thread lashed out and grabbed the Coral Prism—dragging it deeper into the darkness.
"No!" Aiden screamed, heart pounding.
Maya caught his arm. "We can't let it go—"
The void shuddered. Above them, a single thread of starlight—Lin Xi's Qi-cord—snapped under tension, flinging Lin Xi backward into shadow.
"Lin Xi!" Maya's voice cracked.
Aiden turned to see his friend swallowed by darkness. The Coral Prism's vortex flickered before disappearing down an even darker rift.
Cassie's lantern dimmed. "We're losing him—and the Prism."
Nephis's shadow-cloak wavered. "We need to regroup—now!"
But around them, the void deepened—a yawning maw that threatened to swallow not just the Coral Prism, but the unity that held their entire quest together.