There was no sky.
No ground.
Only…reflections. It felt…like he was trapped inside his own head.
Eryndor floated in an endless expanse of mirrored light, each surface rippling like liquid glass. Every reflection showed a version of him a thousand possible Eryndors, each marked by a different choice, a different regret. It felt…like he was being judged.
He drifted closer to one and watched it move independent, unbound by his actions.
He felt a pang of envy, for the versions of himself that were free.
In that reflection, he was older his hair streaked with silver, his eyes tired but defiant. He stood in front of a ruined world, surrounded by machines shaped like angels. It felt…like a vision of the future.
"This is the path where you never destroyed the Veil," the reflection said, voice like a whisper carried by wind. "You ruled instead. You became the Architect in truth."
Eryndor swallowed, hard. "And what did it cost?"
The reflection's smile was a scar. "Everything worth…saving."
He felt a chill run down his spine.
Another reflection appeared beside it this one showing a younger version of him, eyes bright with hope. "And here," it said, soft, "you chose love over purpose. You let the world burn to save one soul."
Luca's face flashed in Eryndor's mind like lightning. It felt…like a lifeline.
He clenched his fists. "Why are you showing me this?"
"To remind you," the voices said together, "that every salvation is a betrayal of…something else."
He felt a surge of guilt, for all the choices he had made.
The air shimmered with sound thousands of whispers merging into one resonant pulse. It felt…like he was being overwhelmed.
Eryndor fell to his knees, pressing his hands to the mirrored ground. The surface vibrated beneath his touch, responding to his heartbeat. It felt…like he was losing control.
"I didn't ask for this," he murmured.
"You built it," the chorus replied. "You gave it…life."
"And now you're trying to…erase me."
"No." The reflections flickered, forming a shape a single silhouette stepping forward. "We're trying to…complete you."
It was him but not him. This version of Eryndor radiated a calm, dangerous certainty, his movements too precise, his eyes glowing faint with threads of gold. It felt…like he was facing his destiny.
"Who are you?"
The other smiled. "I'm what you buried the Architect who never stopped…building."
Eryndor's breath caught. "The one who…stayed."
The figure nodded. "You destroyed the Veil to stop the collapse, but you also destroyed your own purpose. I stayed behind, within the system, keeping the resonance alive."
"Alive?" Eryndor spat. "You…enslaved it."
"I preserved it. You think mercy saves worlds? No. Order…does."
He felt a surge of anger, towards this version of himself.
The mirrored floor cracked beneath them, lines of light splintering outward like veins. It felt…like the world was about to break.
Eryndor took a step forward. "If you're part of me, then you know I'll never rebuild it…your way."
The reflection tilted its head. "You already are."
He felt a chill run down his spine.
Before Eryndor could respond, a violent tremor rippled through the void. The stars bent inward, collapsing toward a single point of light. It felt…like everything was ending.
The reflection smirked. "Your anchor is fading. Your human tether can't hold much longer."
"Luca…"
"Ah, yes," the reflection murmured. "The variable that shouldn't…exist."
Eryndor's temper flared. "Don't talk about him like that."
The other Eryndor's expression softened slight almost pitying. "You forget, I am you. I know how he feels to you. But he is a consequence, not a constant. And consequences are meant to…end."
He realized that this version of himself saw Luca as a weakness.
The mirrors shook violent. The reflected versions of Eryndor began to distort, screaming silent as cracks spidered through their surfaces. It felt…like he was being torn apart.
"You'll lose everything if you stay divided," the Architect warned. "Merge with me, and we can finish what we began. Together."
Eryndor stared at him, voice trembling but firm. "If unity means losing myself, I'd rather stay…broken."
He knew he had to resist, even if it meant sacrificing everything.
The other smiled, faint. "Then you…will."
With that, he stepped forward and the world…collapsed.
Meanwhile, in the physical world
Luca slammed his hands on the console, shouting over the shrieking hum of the resonance chamber. "Damn it, Eryn, wake up!" He looked…desperate.
Dr. Soren barked orders from across the room. "Stabilize the feedback! We're losing the quantum tether!"
"I know! Just give me a second"
He felt a surge of panic, knowing that Eryndor was slipping away.
Luca's voice cracked with panic as he typed furious, sweat running down his neck. The monitor showed Eryndor's vitals spiking erratic neural patterns looping in impossible formations.
"He's trapped in recursive resonance," Soren muttered. "His consciousness is…splitting."
Luca grabbed the old resonance shard Eryndor had carried since the Vault the one that pulsed with faint light, like a heartbeat. It felt…like it was his only hope.
"If you can hear me," he whispered, holding it close to his chest, "come back."
He poured all his love and hope into that call.
The shard flickered weak, then pulsed once, twice matching his heartbeat. It felt…like Eryndor was responding.
Soren looked up sharp. "What did you do?"
Luca shook his head. "I justcalled him."
He didn't know if it would work, but he had to try.
Inside the mirrored void, Eryndor felt the vibration like a pulse cutting through the chaos. It felt…like a lifeline.
He looked down at his chest light flickered beneath his ribs, responding to something real. Something…alive.
Luca.
The reflection stepped closer, voice almost gentle now. "That tether will burn you alive. You can't hold both…worlds."
"Maybe not," Eryndor said, quiet. "But I'll try…anyway."
He knew he had to fight, for Luca.
He pressed a hand to his chest, closing his eyes as the light within him blazed brighter. The reflections screamed, fracturing into fragments of sound, light. It felt…like he was sacrificing himself.
The Architect shouted, "Stop! You'll destroy"
But it was too late.
Eryndor's pulse exploded outward in a wave of pure resonance, tearing the mirrored plane apart. The light consumed everything It felt…like he was being reborn.
And for the briefest moment, he felt Luca's hand on his.
He knew he wasn't alone.
Light consumed everything.
Then silence deep, suffocating, as though the universe itself had forgotten to breathe. It felt…like he was floating in the void.
Eryndor floated weightless, his body unbound from gravity, his mind echoing with fragments of voices that weren't his own. It felt…like he was being haunted by the ghosts of his past.
Each whisper was a memory, each image a life he could have lived.
The air shimmered with broken reflections splintered shards still hovering like dying stars. It felt…like he was surrounded by the remnants of his former self.
He gasped, the breath tearing through his chest as sensation returned. Pain. Cold. Existence. It felt…like he was coming back to life.
The mirrors were gone, but he was not free.
He stood upon a plain of liquid silver, the remnants of the Architect's domain collapsing around him. It felt…like he was standing on the edge of a precipice.
From the distance, a single figure emerged through the disintegrating light.
It was the other Eryndor the Architect his form flickering, unstable. It felt…like he was facing his final test.
"So," the reflection said, soft, "you've chosen…defiance."
Eryndor raised his head. "I chose…myself."
He knew he had to be true to himself, even if it meant facing the unknown.
The Architect's expression was unreadable. "And what will you do with it? You think the world outside will welcome what you've become? You're as much an echo as I am."
"Maybe," Eryndor whispered. "But at least I'm an echo that remembers why it…began."
He took a step forward. The mirrored ground rippled beneath him, and for a moment, their reflections merged two versions of the same soul standing within one shadow. It felt…like they were becoming one.
The Architect tilted his head. "If you kill me, you destroy the last of your…control."
Eryndor met his gaze. "Control isn't what I want…anymore."
He realized that true freedom meant letting go.
The world around them shuddered. The mirrors imploded one by one, fragments of light streaking toward the horizon. It felt…like everything was being destroyed.
A deep hum filled the air, resonating with the shard in Eryndor's chest. Luca's pulse echoed within it, steady, real. It felt…like a lifeline.
The Architect looked toward the sound, almost wistful. "That heartbeat it doesn't belong in this…realm."
"It's what's keeping me here," Eryndor said, voice trembling. "It's what's calling me…home."
He knew that Luca was all that mattered.
The Architect sighed, his image blurring. "Home…such a fragile illusion."
He reached out a hand not in anger, but as if in farewell. "When the resonance collapses, pieces of me will linger inside you. You can't destroy what's already part of your…making."
He knew that he would never be completely free of the Architect.
Eryndor nodded, slow. "Then I'll carry it. Not as a curse, but a…reminder."
For the first time, the Architect smiled small, almost human.
"Then…go," he whispered, as the last of the mirrors shattered into