The silence that followed was not peace. It felt…like a held breath.
It was the kind of quiet that comes after something ancient takes a breath a pause before the next…inevitable shift. It felt…like something was waiting.
Eryndor awoke to the low hum of an aircraft. It felt…like he was being transported somewhere against his will.
The cabin lights flickered pale blue, cutting through the dimness like veins of ice. It felt…cold.
His head throbbed, a dull ache pulsing behind his eyes. It felt…like he was waking from a nightmare.
He turned and saw Luca beside him, half-asleep against the wall, one hand loosely curled over the strap of his seat harness. He looked…vulnerable.
Outside, clouds rolled past in dense, gray waves. A faint glimmer of the Academy's spires appeared on the horizon, ghostly beneath the storm. It felt…like they were returning to a place that no longer existed.
Eryndor blinked, struggling to remember how they'd gotten here.
The last thing he remembered was the outpost shattering into white light the reflection, the voice, the silence. Then…nothing. It felt…like he had lost a part of himself.
The pilot's voice crackled over the intercom.
"Approaching Academy airspace. Medical team is standing by." It felt…like they were being treated as a threat.
Luca stirred. "We're…home," he muttered.
But the word home felt hollow. It felt…like they were strangers in a strange land.
The Academy had changed. It felt…wrong.
When they landed, the air was sharp with ozone, disinfectant. It felt…sterile.
The courtyard once filled with chatter, footsteps, the hum of students was now eerie empty. It felt…like a ghost town.
Drones patrolled the walkways. The banners that once displayed the crest of the Resonance Division had been replaced by blank, white fabric that fluttered soundless in the wind. It felt…like their past was being erased.
Eryndor stepped out of the craft and paused, scanning the surroundings. The familiar patterns of energy he used to sense in the air were gone, replaced by something denser restrained, artificial. It felt…like the city was being controlled.
Luca let out a low whistle. "Did someone forget to tell us we were gone for a…century?"
He sounded…uneasy.
"Security protocols," said a calm voice.
They turned.
Dr. Soren stood at the base of the stairs, his usual immaculate coat replaced by a dark uniform with faint silver threads running down the sleeves. He looked…different.
His expression was unreadable.
"Welcome back," he said. "You've caused quite a stir."
He sounded…almost accusing.
Luca crossed his arms. "We caused a stir? You left us in a collapsing facility!"
"An unfortunate necessity," Soren replied. "Containment required isolation. You survived that's what matters."
He sounded…callous.
Eryndor studied him, unease coiling in his chest. "The outpost wasn't a containment zone. It was…bait."
Soren's eyes flicked toward him. For a moment, the faintest smile touched his lips. "You always did see too much."
He sounded…almost admiring.
He gestured toward the hall. "Come. The Director wishes to debrief you."
The halls of the Resonance Division felt…wrong. It felt…like they were walking through a museum of their past.
Where once there had been a steady thrum of energy a living rhythm that ran through the floors, walls now there was only a sterile quiet. It felt…like the life had been drained from the building.
Even the air seemed heavier, like the entire structure was holding its breath. It felt…oppressive.
They passed familiar corridors training chambers, labs, the dorm wing that once echoed with laughter, chaos. It felt…like they were passing through memories.
Each door was sealed with glowing red locks. It felt…like they were being kept out.
Luca muttered, "Feels like a tomb."
He sounded…resigned.
Eryndor didn't respond. His hand brushed against one of the doors the faint vibration beneath it told him something was still alive inside. Something humming beneath the silence. It felt…like the resonance was refusing to die.
The Director's chamber was brighter than he remembered. It felt…like he was being interrogated.
Cale Arden stood by the window, the morning light painting sharp angles across his face. He looked…cold.
Behind him, the skyline shimmered with the faint outline of the mirror array rebuilt, reactivated, towering over the city like a frozen storm. It felt…like a threat.
"You've done well to return," Cale said, turning toward them. "The array responded to your presence both of you."
He sounded…almost calculating.
Luca frowned. "You make it sound like we wanted that thing to wake up."
"Whether you wanted it or not," Cale said, "it chose you. The resonance field is stabilizing, but something new has emerged a pulse signature unlike anything we've recorded."
He sounded…almost intrigued.
Eryndor stepped forward. "And you think it came from me."
"I don't think," Cale said, soft. "I…know."
He sounded…certain.
He tapped a console. Holographic data filled the air swirling light forming a wave pattern that twisted into human form. A figure, translucent, made of shimmering fragments. It felt…like he was seeing a ghost.
The same one Eryndor had seen within the core.
Luca's voice dropped. "That's it. The thing from the outpost."
Eryndor's pulse quickened. "It's not a thing."
"Then what is it?"
Eryndor stared at the projection, unable to look away. "It's a…memory. A reflection that learned how to breathe."
He felt a strange connection to the figure, like it was a part of him.
Cale folded his hands. "Whatever it is, it remains tethered to you. And until we understand why, you are both confined to the Academy."
He sounded…unyielding.
"Confined?" Luca snapped. "You mean…imprisoned."
Soren spoke up, quiet, almost gentle. "For your own safety. And for ours."
He sounded…almost apologetic.
Eryndor's gaze hardened. "You're afraid it'll happen…again."
"We're afraid it already…has," Soren said.
He sounded…resigned.
Later, in their assigned quarters, Luca paced the room like a trapped storm. He looked…restless.
"I told you this was a setup. They don't want answers, they want…control."
Eryndor sat by the window, watching the faint shimmer of the rebuilt array in the distance. It felt…like he was being watched.
"Maybe they're right to be…afraid."
Luca stopped. "Don't start with that…again."
"I saw it, Luca. The reflection wasn't hostile. It was trying to…connect."
"Connect? It nearly killed you!"
He sounded…terrified.
Eryndor turned, eyes glinting in the half-light. "Maybe that's the point. Maybe what we call destruction is just transformation we don't understand…yet."
He wasn't sure what to believe anymore.
Luca stared at him, jaw tightening. "You sound like…Soren."
Eryndor didn't answer. Outside, the sky darkened not from clouds, but from something else, something faint luminous moving behind the veil of the storm. It felt…like something was coming.
That night, the dreams returned. It felt…like he was being haunted.
He found himself standing in a corridor made of mirrors. Each surface shimmered with distorted reflections of himself dozens of them, hundreds, all whispering in languages he didn't know. It felt…like he was lost in his own mind.
One of the reflections stepped forward.
Its eyes were silver fire. Its voice was his own. It felt…like he was facing his demons.
"You sealed the fracture, but never…healed it," it said.
"You left half of yourself behind."
Eryndor reached out, but the mirror rippled beneath his touch. His reflection's hand pressed back a perfect echo. It felt…like he was being rejected.
Then the mirror cracked, and the world bled white…again.
He knew he couldn't escape his past.
He woke to the sound of alarms. It felt…like the world was ending.
Luca was already on his feet, grabbing his jacket. "What…now?"
The intercom blared: "Containment breach. Level Seven. Sector C."
Sector C the mirror research wing. It felt…like it was all happening again.
They sprinted through the corridors. Drones darted overhead, lights flashing red. It felt…like they were running out of time.
The air vibrated with low resonance unstable, alive. It felt…like the resonance was trying to break free.
When they reached the sector, the door was already half-melted, warped from the inside. It felt…like something powerful was trying to get out.
Through the gap, they saw it the core fragment from the outpost, suspended in containment glass. It was glowing again, brighter than before. The surface rippled like liquid light, and within it, something was forming. It felt…like it was giving birth to something new.
Eryndor took a step forward.
The pulse from the glass synced with his heartbeat. It felt…like he was being called.
Luca grabbed his arm. "Don't"
But it was too late.
The light burst outward. It felt…like everything was being destroyed.
When the glow faded, Eryndor was standing in the middle of the room. It felt…like he was standing in a void.
The containment chamber was gone. The glass was scattered across the floor, molten at the edges. It felt…like he had unleashed something terrible.
And standing before him, bathed in soft silver radiance, was the reflection no longer half-formed.
It was…complete.
It looked exactly like him. It felt…like he was facing himself.
The air was still. Even the alarms had gone silent. It felt…like time had stopped.
Luca whispered, "Eryndor...what did you do?"
He sounded…terrified.
Eryndor didn't answer. He was staring at himself or rather, the version of himself that wasn't supposed to exist. It felt…like he was looking into a mirror of his soul.
The reflection tilted its head, a faint smile crossing its lips. It felt…like it was mocking him.
"Finally," it said. "You…remember."
He knew, deep down, that this was inevitable.
The silence between them stretched like a fault line. It felt…like the world was about to split apart.
Eryndor stood frozen, his breath shallow, as his reflection the other him moved closer. The air shimmered faint, particles of light swirling around the figure's form. Every step it took made the temperature drop. It felt…like he was being drawn into the cold.
Luca positioned himself between them. "Back away," he warned. "Whatever you are"
The reflection turned its gaze toward him. "You shouldn't be here."
Its voice was quiet, steady, and eerie familiar layered like a chorus, as if multiple versions of Eryndor spoke at once. It felt…like he was hearing the voices of the dead.
Luca tightened his stance. "Too bad."
He looked…determined.
Eryndor reached out a hand. "Wait. It's not…hostile."
"Not yet," Luca muttered.
He didn't trust the reflection.
The reflection smiled, faint an expression filled with both sorrow, amusement. "You always think in opposites. Hostile or harmless. Light or dark. But we were never meant to fit into such small…definitions."
He sounded…almost pitying.
Eryndor took a hesitant step forward. "Who are you?"
"You already know," it replied. "You're just afraid to…admit it."
He knew, deep down, that this was a part of himself that he had tried to bury.
The reflection's light dimmed, revealing more human detail skin, breath, the faint outline of veins that pulsed with silver glow. It was not an illusion. It was…real.
Eryndor's throat tightened. "You're…me."
The reflection nodded. "The part you cast away when you sealed the fracture. The resonance needed balance. You couldn't bear the weight of both sides, so you…severed one."
He felt a surge of guilt, for what he had done.
Luca blinked. "You're saying he split himself?"
"Not by choice," the reflection said. "By…survival."
He knew that Eryndor had done what he had to do, to survive.
The words hung heavy in the air. It felt…like they were finally understanding the truth.
A tremor shook the floor. Alarms began to flash again, echoing through the ruined sector. It felt…like the world was falling apart.
The drones had stopped responding; the walls themselves seemed to hum with unstable energy. It felt…like the resonance was taking over.
Soren's voice crackled through the intercom. "Eryndor, step away from the entity. It's destabilizing the core systems."
The reflection tilted its head. "They'll destroy me again if you…stay."
Eryndor's mind raced. "If I…don't?"
"Then we'll both cease to exist but the fracture will…heal."
He knew he was facing an impossible choice.
Luca grabbed his arm. "Don't even think about it."
He didn't want to lose Eryndor.
Eryndor looked at him really looked. The tension in Luca's jaw, the faint tremor in his fingers, the fear he tried so hard to hide. It felt…like he was seeing him for the first time.
"I can't keep running from what I am," Eryndor said, soft.
He knew he had to face his past, even if it meant sacrificing everything.
"Eryn, listen to me"
But he was already stepping forward.
He couldn't stop himself.
The reflection raised its hand. Their palms met light against flesh and the resonance surged between them. It felt…like they were becoming one.
The world exploded into sound, color. It felt…like he was being torn apart, and put back together again.
He was falling or maybe rising. The difference didn't matter. It felt…like he was being transported to another dimension.
Fragments of memory spiraled around him: the first time he'd entered the resonance chamber, the moment the mirror had shattered, the look in Luca's eyes when everything fell apart. It felt…like he was reliving his entire life.
He saw flashes of other lives worlds overlapping, versions of himself scattered across possibilities. It felt…like he was seeing all the paths he could have taken.
Each one trying, failing, breaking, healing.
Then, through the noise, a voice his own, quiet, clear.
"You don't destroy what you don't understand. You listen."
The light dimmed. The noise receded. It felt…like he was finally finding peace.
When Eryndor opened his eyes again, he was standing in a place that wasn't real a mirror world, suspended between light, reflection. It felt…like he was standing in his own soul.
His other self stood across from him, hands glowing faint. It felt…like he was facing his destiny.
"This is the resonance," said the reflection. "Where everything you were, and everything you could become, exists at once."
Eryndor's voice trembled. "Why show me this?"
"Because it's time to…choose."
He knew he had to make a decision, that would change everything.
The reflection gestured, and a thousand shards of light appeared each showing glimpses of people, places, moments. The Academy. The collapse. Luca's smile. His own guilt. It felt…like he was being given a chance to rewrite his past.
"The fracture can't sustain both of us," the reflection said. "But it doesn't have to erase one to heal the…other."
Eryndor hesitated. "Then…how?"
"Merge, not divide."
He knew he had to find a way to reconcile the two parts of himself.
The reflection stepped closer. "Accept me the part you feared. The part that feels too much. The part that wanted to protect and destroy at once."
Eryndor's pulse pounded in his ears. It felt…like he was standing on the edge of a precipice.
He thought of Luca his stubbornness, his laughter, the way he looked at Eryndor like he was both a question, an answer. It felt…like he was his reason for being.
He took a breath.
"Then let's end the…fracture."
He knew what he had to do.
The reflection smiled. "Together."
He knew he wasn't alone.
They reached out and the mirror…shattered.
He was finally free.
He awoke in the ruins of Sector C, the light fading around him. It felt…like he was being reborn.
The air smelled of ozone, ash. It felt…like something had been destroyed.
The hum of the resonance had gone still. It felt…like the world was holding its breath.
Luca was kneeling beside him, eyes wide. "Eryn! Hey stay with me." He looked…relieved.
Eryndor blinked. The glow beneath his skin had vanished. His heartbeat felt…different. Steady. Balanced. It felt…like he was finally at peace.
The reflection was gone.
"Where…is it?" Luca asked, scanning the room.
Eryndor touched his chest. "It's not…gone."
He knew that a part of the Architect would always be with him.
Luca frowned. "What do you mean?"
He met Luca's gaze. "It's