2025-08-24 22:46:37
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Through the Broken Mirror
The silence after Damien spoke was unbearable. No one moved. The fissure glowed brighter, humming like a heartbeat beneath the ground, as though it was listening to their decision.Lena’s fists tightened. She didn’t trust it. The way he stood, the wrongness in his posture, the cold sharpness in his gaze wasn’t Damien. But the possibility he might still be inside that shadow made every instinct fight against action.Ash muttered, almost to himself. If we cut him down now, we might kill the only way through. If we let him lead, we risk losing ourselves completely.Sophia took a step closer. Something in her chest screamed not to give up. She had seen the flicker, the fraction of Damien still inside. His hand had trembled for a moment, like he was fighting it. She clung to that.Her voice was soft, but firm. He’s still in there.The shadow Damien tilted his head, studying her. Interesting, he said, almost curious. You think love can anchor him.The word hit her like ice and fire. Love. S
The fault
The air was unnaturally still, almost like the world was holding its breath. Behind them, the vault chamber sat silently, sealed tight for now, its secrets weighing heavily on their hearts. Ahead, the corridor stretched out, lights flickering as if the system couldn’t decide whether to guide them or swallow them whole.Damien was the first to move. He hunched his shoulders, but his steps were steady, his shadow stretching long in the corridor's glow. He didn’t look back, but the others followed, not wanting to face the silence alone.Sophia felt every footstep resonate in her chest. The moment with Damien still lingered on her skin fleeting, delicate, and dangerous. She had almost leaned in closer, almost let the wall between them fade away. That memory was something she couldn’t just shake off.Lena walked beside her, quiet, but Sophia could feel her gaze. Lena had always been sharp, reading between the lines and catching what words were left unsaid. Sophia wondered if Lena already k
The fault
The air was unnaturally still, almost like the world was holding its breath. Behind them, the vault chamber sat silently, sealed tight for now, its secrets weighing heavily on their hearts. Ahead, the corridor stretched out, lights flickering as if the system couldn’t decide whether to guide them or swallow them whole.Damien was the first to move. He hunched his shoulders, but his steps were steady, his shadow stretching long in the corridor's glow. He didn’t look back, but the others followed, not wanting to face the silence alone.Sophia felt every footstep resonate in her chest. The moment with Damien still lingered on her skin fleeting, delicate, and dangerous. She had almost leaned in closer, almost let the wall between them fade away. That memory was something she couldn’t just shake off.Lena walked beside her, quiet, but Sophia could feel her gaze. Lena had always been sharp, reading between the lines and catching what words were left unsaid. Sophia wondered if Lena already k
The Edge of Control
The moment Sophia stepped into the fracture behind Damien, everything around her shattered.She thought there’d be pain or at least a dizzying rush, but instead, there was just silence an endless, deep silence that felt almost alive. This place wasn’t a tunnel or a door; it was more like a vein, pulsing with light and memories, each heartbeat sending tremors through her bones.She tried to look up. Or maybe down? It was hard to tell in this void. The vein stretched forever, lined with shards of reality that hung like glass panels in the air. Each shard flickered with scenes that weren’t just memories but also possibilities different versions of them scattered across countless outcomes.In one shard, she saw herself standing tall in a ruined city, a crown of fractured light glowing above her head. In another, she was crumpled on the ground, broken, while Damien turned his back and walked into the darkness. Some of the shards were so warped, they showed choices that had never been made.
Echoes That Refuse to Die
When the light came back, it wasn’t really light it was memory.Sophia blinked, and for a moment, she wasn’t in that broken chamber anymore. Instead, she was in her old apartment, the smell of burnt coffee hanging in the air, her younger self giggling at something on the phone. The image was so vivid, so alive, she felt like she could reach out and touch it. But the longer she looked, the more it flickered, like a TV struggling to tune in.The air in that hidden chamber felt thicker than outside, almost like every breath was weighed down by echoes of lives long gone. Sophia treaded carefully, her fingers gliding over the jagged wall that seemed to pulse softly under her touch. It wasn’t just stone; it felt alive like a boundary, a thin skin over something much bigger than they could grasp.Ash broke the silence first, her voice thin but steady. This is it. The fracture Lena warned us about.Lena moved closer to the glowing seam in the wall. It wasn’t exactly a line of light more like
Beyond the shattered veil
The light receded, and in its stead came silence.Lena's eyes opened tardily, not knowing if they had been shut for seconds or centuries. She was lying on glossy stone, her cheek on a surface which was warm, pulsing. Spread around her was an endless hall, pale and wavy, as if walls could be made of tangled threads of memory.Sophia stepped alongside him, standing with her hand still in Damien's. Her features glowed softly, as if the flame of the Core had seared itself inside of her. She looked at Lena, her expression torn between horror and amazement.Damien surveyed their location, and his muscles were tense. This isn't the Council chamber anymore.It wasn't. The grand marble chamber was gone. No Arbiter. No guardsmen. No lofty thrones of authority. Instead, there were whispers of people moving like shadows in the distance men and women and children, all flickering in and out of existence, like half-remembered ghosts.Lena struggled to her feet. Did the Core pull us in… or did it pus
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