The vast expanse stretched before me, an ocean of shifting stars and cascading light, endless and unknowable. My footsteps, though soundless, left ripples in the celestial fabric beneath me. Every step forward felt like a moment suspended between time and infinity, as if I was neither moving nor standing still.

  I had crossed the veil. There was no going back.

  The voice of the Watchers had faded, leaving only the silent hum of the universe to accompany me. And yet, even in the stillness, I could feel something watching, something waiting. The knowledge of it sent a shiver through my core—not of fear, but of understanding. Whatever lay ahead had always been meant for me.

  A grand archway loomed in the distance, its form shifting between solid and ethereal. It was a doorway, a passage leading to what lay beyond this liminal realm. The light around it pulsed in a slow, steady rhythm, mirroring my heartbeat. It was waiting for me to make my choice.

  I stepped forward, but before I could reach it, the space around me shifted. My surroundings twisted, folding into themselves as a figure emerged from the distortion.

  She looked like me.

  No, she was me—yet different. A reflection, a possibility, a version of myself I had yet to become. Her eyes, golden and endless, carried a weight I could barely comprehend. Her presence was not oppressive, yet it filled the space between us as if the universe itself bent to her will.

  "Astoria," she said, her voice an echo of my own.

  I swallowed hard, steadying myself. "Who are you?"

  She smiled—a knowing, bittersweet smile. "I am what you may become. I am the path you have yet to walk, the choices you have yet to make. And I am here to ask you one thing."

  I felt my breath catch as the weight of her words settled over me. "What is it?"

  She reached out, her fingertips just shy of mine. "Are you ready to bear eternity?"

  The question rang in my mind like a bell, reverberating through my very being. Was I ready? Could I even comprehend what that meant? I had always sought to escape, to hide away in the comfort of solitude. But here, now, standing at the threshold of something greater than I could ever have imagined, I felt something stir within me.

  A longing. A resolve.

  I met her gaze, unflinching. "I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready. But I will step forward anyway."

  She studied me for a long moment before nodding. "Then go. And do not look back."

  The vision of her faded, dissolving into the cosmic winds that surrounded me. The archway before me pulsed once more, beckoning. I took a deep breath, feeling the last remnants of hesitation melt away.

  And then, with one final step, I crossed the threshold into eternity.

  The moment I stepped through, the universe reshaped itself around me. Stars bent into streaks of light, time and space folding in on themselves like the turning of a vast celestial wheel. I felt weightless, as if my very being was unraveling and reforming in an instant. The sensation was overwhelming, yet oddly familiar, as if I had always been meant to pass through this gate.

  When my vision steadied, I found myself standing atop an expanse of radiant stone, stretching outward into infinity. Above me, constellations pulsed and shifted, reshaping into symbols I couldn’t yet decipher. The air was thick with something indescribable—neither sound nor silence, neither light nor darkness. It was the breath of eternity itself.

  And then, from the distance, a presence stirred.

  I turned to see a figure materializing from the cosmic mist. Unlike my reflection from before, this being was wholly alien yet deeply familiar. Clad in robes woven from galaxies, eyes filled with swirling nebulae, they exuded an authority that made the very cosmos tremble.

  "Welcome, Astoria," the figure intoned, their voice resonating through every fiber of my being. "You have stepped beyond the known. The path before you is boundless. Are you prepared to claim what is yours?"

  I inhaled sharply, the weight of the moment pressing upon me. No turning back. No retreat. Only forward.

  And so, with resolve burning in my chest, I answered.

  "I am ready."

  The universe seemed to acknowledge my words. The celestial patterns above began to move, shifting in a slow dance of infinite complexity. The radiant stone beneath me pulsed as if alive, and the very air hummed with power. The presence before me observed in silence, as if measuring the weight of my resolve.

  Then, the figure raised a hand. A swirl of cosmic energy coalesced into an orb, hovering between us. It was beautiful and terrifying—a fragment of something beyond mortal comprehension. "Then take this, Astoria. Take your first step into what lies beyond."

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  I hesitated for only a moment before reaching out. The instant my fingers brushed the orb, a surge of energy coursed through me, setting every nerve alight with something indescribable. Knowledge. Power. A connection to something vast and infinite.

  The world around me blurred, expanding beyond sight and thought. And as I embraced the unknown, I knew—

  This was only the beginning.

  As the words left my lips—"I am ready"—the cosmos seemed to inhale, a pause before the inevitable shift. The figure before me, cloaked in celestial grandeur, tilted their head in acknowledgement. Their form shimmered, the very essence of the universe entwined in their being.

  "Then the trial begins."

  The moment they spoke, the ground beneath me dissolved. I plummeted, but there was no fear, only the sense of falling into infinity. The radiant stone gave way to a chasm of endless night, and in that abyss, I saw glimpses of memories—some mine, some belonging to no one, yet they all called to me. My past, my future, and the untold stories of countless souls flickered in the darkness.

  Then, abruptly, I was still. Suspended in a void of swirling mist, I turned to find that I was no longer alone. Shadows peeled away from the abyss, forming figures—no, reflections of me. Each one bore a different expression, a different stance. One held sorrow in her gaze, another carried a wicked smirk. A third, taller and wreathed in golden light, radiated an aura of power so immense it pressed against my soul.

  "Who are you?" I asked, though I already knew.

  The sorrowful one spoke first. "I am the Astoria who never left the room. The one who clung to the past, who let her fears chain her in solitude."

  The wicked one chuckled. "And I am the Astoria who embraced power with greed, who conquered not for salvation, but for control."

  The golden one took a step forward. "I am the Astoria who walked this path fully, who accepted the weight of eternity and bore it without hesitation. I am the you that could be."

  A chill ran through me. These were the choices before me, the diverging paths that could shape my existence.

  "Do you fear us?" the sorrowful one whispered.

  "Do you crave us?" the wicked one purred.

  "Will you accept us?" the golden one asked.

  I swallowed, feeling my heart pound against my ribs. This was the trial—not of battle, not of endurance, but of self. I had to choose. To reject one was to deny a part of me, to embrace another was to set my fate in stone.

  But then, a thought formed, clear and unwavering. "I do not reject you, nor do I fear you. I acknowledge you. Each of you is a path I could take, but none define me. I will carve my own way."

  The shadows trembled, then burst into streams of light, spiraling into the void. The golden Astoria remained, nodding slowly before vanishing into the abyss. And then, I was moving again, lifted by an unseen force, ascending beyond the mist.

  When I emerged, the celestial figure stood waiting. Their expression was unreadable, yet there was something like approval in their gaze.

  "You have chosen," they said. "And now, the path truly begins."

  The stars above shifted, aligning into a sigil of radiant light. The trial was over, but the journey was just beginning.

  I stepped forward, unafraid.

  For the first time, I truly understood what it meant to be Astoria.

  The celestial figure extended a hand, and as I took it, the space around us fractured into cascading prisms of light. I found myself transported to an expanse of white marble, stretching endlessly in all directions. Floating symbols of unknown language burned like embers in the air, shifting and reforming as if alive.

  "This is the Hall of Ascendancy," the celestial figure explained. "It is where the chosen are forged into something greater. But know this—your journey does not end here. The real test is what lies beyond."

  The words echoed within me, heavy with meaning. My trial had not been the destination but merely the threshold of something far grander. The realization settled in my chest like a steady fire, neither overwhelming nor fragile. It was simply there, unwavering.

  The celestial being gestured, and the marble beneath me rippled, transforming into a pathway lined with towering obelisks. Symbols pulsed across their surfaces, as if reacting to my presence. I took a hesitant step forward, and the moment my foot touched the pathway, energy surged through me—visions of distant worlds, forgotten legends, and deities who had walked before me flashed in my mind. I was seeing history, the weight of eternity unfolding in mere moments.

  A voice, neither male nor female, resonated through the space. "Walk the path, Astoria, and see what lies beyond mortal understanding."

  I moved forward, the vast unknown unfurling before me, and for the first time, I was ready to embrace it.

  As I stepped beyond the celestial threshold, the weight of the trial still lingered in my chest. The golden sigil above faded, dissolving into constellations that flickered out one by one, as if the universe had exhaled in relief at my passage.

  I was somewhere else now—no longer in the void of self-reflection, yet not quite in the mortal realm either. The space around me shimmered, an ever-shifting tapestry of flowing energy and fragments of unknown realms. It was a liminal space, a bridge between what I had been and what I was becoming.

  Before me, the celestial figure remained, their presence no longer overwhelming but expectant. Their star-forged eyes studied me with the depth of eternity itself.

  "You have passed the threshold," they said. "But stepping forward is not enough. You must claim your existence beyond fate’s script. Do you understand what lies ahead?"

  I met their gaze. "No. But I will walk it regardless."

  A slow nod. "Then let your will shape the path."

  A sudden force pulled at me, not outward, but inward. I gasped as the space around me imploded into threads of light, coiling into my very essence. The celestial realm blurred, and I felt myself falling—not into darkness, but into awareness.

  Memories that weren’t mine surged forth—glimpses of ancient civilizations, of forgotten wars waged in realms that defied time. I saw beings of light and shadow, gods and mortals intertwined in an endless cycle of creation and destruction. And at the center of it all, a presence familiar yet unknowable—myself, yet not.

  I landed on solid ground, the force dissipating as my senses adjusted. My surroundings had changed.

  A vast city stretched before me, its spires of gold and silver reaching toward a sky split into hues of dawn and twilight. Ethereal mist wove through the streets, carrying whispers that brushed against my mind. The architecture was unlike anything I had seen before—both ancient and impossibly advanced, as if time had folded in on itself to create something both new and forgotten.

  And at the heart of it, a monolithic structure pulsed with energy—an ancient sanctum, its presence commanding yet inviting. It called to me, a beacon in this unfamiliar world.

  I took a step forward, and in that moment, I knew—this was the beginning of something far greater than a mere trial. The journey ahead would test not only my strength but the very core of who I was meant to be.

  Astoria, the Ascendant, had taken her first step beyond eternity.