For the first time in weeks, the corridors of the Academy were…silent. Too silent. It felt…unnatural.
No alarms, no trembling walls, no echo of collapsing resonance fields. Just the faint rhythm of footsteps and the occasional hiss of steam from half-repaired vents. It felt…like a tomb.
Eryndor moved through the dim hallways with his hands tucked into the pockets of his coat, head slight lowered. The world felt lighter, yet…unreal like waking from a dream that refused to fade. It felt…like he was walking through a ghost town.
Students whispered as he passed. Some offered hesitant nods, others quick turned away. The rumors had spread faster than the containment reports. They called him the "Mirrorborn," the man who had merged with his reflection and walked out alive. It felt…like he was a freak show.
He didn't bother correcting them.
What was the point?
"Still getting used to being famous?" Luca's voice came from behind him, lazy, amused. It felt…like he was trying to lighten the mood.
Eryndor glanced over his shoulder. "Fame implies…choice."
"Fair." Luca jogged to catch up, hands stuffed into his jacket pockets. "But you have to admit it's kind of legendary. You faced your own clone, saved the Academy, didn't die. That's a solid résumé."
He sounded…almost impressed.
Eryndor smiled, faint. "You forgot the part where I nearly erased reality."
"Details," Luca said with a shrug.
He didn't want to dwell on the negative.
They walked side by side in silence for a while. The repair drones buzzed overhead, sealing cracks in the walls with lines of molten silver. It felt…like they were trying to piece the world back together.
The once-bright halls of the Resonance Division now looked like the veins of a scarred world. It felt…like they were living in the aftermath of a war.
Eryndor paused at a window. Beyond it, the horizon shimmered with pale light the afterglow of resonance storms that still lingered far beyond the city's boundary. It felt…like the threat was still out there.
Luca leaned on the sill beside him. "You ever think it's strange? How quiet it gets after…chaos?"
Eryndor nodded. "It's the kind of quiet that listens…back."
He felt like he was being watched.
Luca studied him for a moment. "You really are different…now."
He looked…concerned.
Eryndor turned to him. "You mean…calmer?"
"No," Luca said, soft. "I mean…heavier. Like you're carrying something…invisible."
He knew Eryndor was still struggling with the weight of what had happened.
Eryndor looked down at his reflection on the glass. For a brief second, he thought he saw a flicker of silver in his eyes but when he blinked, it was gone. It felt…like he was losing himself.
Later that day, he stood before the central mirror array, now complete deactivated. It felt…like he was facing his past.
The containment engineers had sealed it beneath a lattice of crystalline shields, but Eryndor could still feel it humming quiet, dormant, but not dead. It felt…like it was waiting.
Soren entered the chamber, his usual sharpness muted by exhaustion. He looked…tired.
"You shouldn't be here."
Eryndor didn't turn. "Neither should you."
He knew that Soren was just as haunted by what had happened.
Soren exhaled, a faint sound between frustration, weariness. "We've finished the diagnostics. The resonance fields are stabilizing, but…something's off."
Eryndor looked at him then. "Off how?"
"Not dangerous," Soren said, though his tone lacked conviction. "Just…different. The readings don't match any known pattern. It's like the array's energy signature is"
"Alive," Eryndor finished, quiet.
He felt a chill run down his spine.
Soren's eyes narrowed. "You've felt it…too."
Eryndor nodded. "It's part of me now. It echoes when I sleep."
He couldn't escape the resonance, even in his dreams.
"That's what I feared," Soren muttered. "If the resonance is still tethered to you, then we didn't fix the fracture. We just moved it inside your…body."
He looked…worried.
Eryndor's hand tightened around the railing. "Then we find a way to…contain it."
Soren shook his head. "Containment isn't the answer anymore. Control…is."
He sounded…almost desperate.
The silence that followed was thick, uneasy. It felt…like they were standing on the edge of a precipice.
When night fell, the rain began again. Not a storm just a slow, rhythmic drizzle that painted the glass corridors with streaks of light. It felt…like the world was trying to wash away the past.
Eryndor sat by the large arched window of his dorm, legs drawn up, a datapad resting unread beside him. The world outside was blurred silver, soft, endless. It felt…like he was lost in his own thoughts.
He could hear faint music from one of the lower dorms someone playing the same haunting melody that had echoed through the halls weeks ago, before everything fell apart. It felt…like a ghost from the past.
He closed his eyes. The sound was almost too gentle to bear.
He couldn't help but be drawn to the music.
Then
A flicker.
In the glass reflection beside him, a faint outline took form. Not a person. Just a silhouette of light, shaped like memory. It felt…like he was seeing a ghost.
He didn't move.
He was afraid of what he might see.
"Still here?" he whispered.
The reflection didn't answer, but the hum in his chest deepened soft, resonant, like a heartbeat aligning with another. It felt…like he was being called.
Eryndor's fingers brushed the glass. "You said merging would end the…fracture."
The reflection shimmered faint, then dimmed, fading into the rain's reflection. It felt…like it was disappearing.
Eryndor exhaled, forehead pressing against the window. "Then why do I still feel split in…two?"
He knew, deep down, that the fracture was still there, waiting to be healed.
The next morning, the Academy resumed its usual rhythm lectures, drills, briefings. It felt…like they were trying to pretend that everything was normal.
But beneath the surface, tension rippled like static. It felt…like the calm before a storm.
The Resonance Council was holding closed-door meetings, and whispers of external interference spread among the students. Something about "residual energy patterns" detected beyond the Academy's shield grid. It felt…like they were being invaded.
Luca caught up with Eryndor outside the main hall. "Hey. You heard the rumors?"
"I try not to."
"Well, too bad. Word is, someone or something is tampering with the outer mirror zones."
He looked…worried.
Eryndor frowned. "The mirror zones were locked."
"Apparently not all of them," Luca said. "Soren's been running silent protocols all morning. He's not saying much, but I saw the data stream. It's not natural resonance fluctuation."
He sounded…almost angry.
Eryndor's thoughts flickered to the reflection in the rain. "Then we're not done…yet."
He knew that he had to face the threat, even if it scared him.
That night, he dreamed. It felt…like he was being transported to another dimension.
He was standing in an endless field of mirrors, each one reflecting a different sky some burning, some frozen, some utterly black. It felt…like he was seeing all the possibilities, and all the horrors, of the universe.
The ground beneath him pulsed like liquid glass. It felt…like he was standing on the edge of a precipice.
In the distance, a figure moved. Not his reflection this time something else. It felt…like he was being watched.
Something watching him from beyond the resonance veil.
Its voice was like wind through broken crystal. "You think the fracture closed because you willed it. But balance demands…consequence."
He felt a chill run down his spine.
Eryndor tried to move, but his feet were rooted. "Who are you?"
"The other side of your…choice."
He knew he was facing something powerful, and dangerous.
The mirrors began to crack one by one, each shattering in silence. It felt…like his world was falling apart.
Through the fractures, he saw flashes of the Academy students, Luca, Soren each image flickering with distortion. It felt…like he was losing control.
He reached out, but the light collapsed inward
And he woke up gasping, drenched in sweat, the echo of the voice still resonating through his mind. It felt…like he was being haunted.
The room was dark except for the pale blue pulse of the containment beacon embedded in his wrist. It was glowing faster than before. It felt…like he was losing control.
He whispered into the quiet, "What have I brought…back?"
He felt a surge of guilt, for what he had done.
Outside, thunder rolled across the horizon. It felt…like a storm was coming.
The next day, the rain hadn't stopped. It felt…like the world was mourning.
The Academy was wrapped in fog, every surface glistening with moisture. It felt…like they were trapped in a dream.
Eryndor and Luca stood on the north observatory deck, watching the storm gather strength. It felt…like they were waiting for the end of the world.
"You ever feel like it's watching…us?" Luca asked, sudden.
He looked…uneasy.
Eryndor turned. "The…storm?"
"No. Whatever's inside it."
He sounded…almost afraid.
Eryndor didn't answer. He could feel it too that subtle vibration in the air, that faint echo that didn't belong to the wind. It felt…like something was trying to communicate with him.
Luca sighed. "Guess peace was too much to hope for."
"Peace was never the point," Eryndor said, soft. "Understanding…is."
He knew that they had to find a way to make sense of what was happening.
Luca shot him a sideways glance. "That sounds like something your reflection would say."
"Maybe he was…right," Eryndor murmured.
He couldn't help but wonder if the Architect had been right all along.
Luca huffed. "Don't start talking like that. It's creepy."
Eryndor chuckled under his breath. "Noted."
They stood there for a long while, neither speaking, as lightning flickered across the distant horizon. It felt…like they were the only two people in the world.
That night, the resonance hum returned soft at first, then deepening until it pulsed through every wall of the dorm. It felt…like the world was coming alive.
Eryndor shot up from bed, eyes wide. The light on his wrist beacon was no longer blue. It was…silver.
He knew something terrible was about to happen.
And from the far side of the corridor came a sound he hadn't heard since the day of the collapse
The whisper of glass shifting, as if a mirror were breathing. It felt…like the past was repeating itself.
The sound came again soft, brittle, like a sigh against glass. It felt…like he was being called.
Eryndor froze, every muscle tight. It felt…like he was trapped in a nightmare.
The corridor outside his dorm glowed faint silver, pulses of light running along the mirrored tiles like veins beneath translucent skin. It felt…like the resonance was taking over.
He stood, breath slow, and reached for his jacket. The air felt charged, thick with the scent of ozone, something faint metallic. It felt…like he was walking into a trap.
When he stepped into the hallway, the glow dimmed then flickered back to life, reacting to his presence. It felt…like he was the trigger.
Down the hall, one of the mirrors trembled. Its surface rippled like disturbed water. It felt…like something was about to break through.
"Not…again," Eryndor whispered.
He couldn't help but feel a sense of dread.
He approached cautious. The reflection that stared back at him wasn't his own it was fragmented, shifting between multiple versions of himself younger, older, smiling, bleeding, fading. Each reflection blinked out of sync. It felt…like he was seeing all the possibilities, and all the horrors, of his life.
A faint voice murmured through the distortion. "Did you think the echo would vanish just because you looked away?"
He knew he couldn't escape his past.
The words sent a shiver up his spine. "Show…yourself," he said, quiet.
The reflection tilted its head. "I am always here. You brought me with…you."
He felt a surge of guilt, for what he had done.
Eryndor's heartbeat quickened. "You're not…real."
"And yet," the reflection said, the edges of its voice sharp as broken crystal, "you…hear me."
He knew, deep down, that this was a part of himself that he couldn't deny.
Before he could answer, the glass behind him hummed violent. A line of resonance energy surged through the corridor, throwing him back. Lights burst overhead, shards of fractured mirrors scattering like rain. It felt…like the world was falling apart.
He hit the floor hard, coughing. When he looked up, he saw Luca sprinting toward him, barefoot, half-dressed, eyes wide. He looked…terrified.
"Eryndor!"
"I'm fine" he started, but the words were drowned by a deep, resonant hum rising from the floor itself. It felt…like the resonance was taking over.
The walls began to shift, their reflections bending into impossible angles. Every mirrored surface seemed to awaken, showing not their own hallway but other places. The Academy grounds. The laboratories. The containment chamber. Even the storm outside. It felt…like they were being transported to another dimension.
"Holywhat is happening?" Luca yelled, grabbing Eryndor by the arm.
Eryndor's eyes blazed with faint silver light. "It's not the mirrorsit's me. The resonance inside me is responding to…something."
"Then turn it off!"
"I…can't!"
He was losing control.
The hum deepened, low harmonic, vibrating through their bones. The air rippled with heat, light until the corridor no longer resembled a corridor at all it looked like an endless passage of reflections, each one leading to another version of reality. It felt…like they were trapped in a nightmare.
Luca held onto him tighter. "Eryndorfocus on me, not the mirrors. You hear me? Stay…here."
He was trying to anchor him, to bring him back to reality.
Eryndor clenched his jaw. "If I don't control this, it'll spread across the entire…division."
"Then I'm not letting you do it…alone," Luca said, eyes burning with stubborn determination.
He wasn't going to leave Eryndor, no matter what.
Their hands met. For a moment, the silver energy recoiled, then folded inward, spiraling into the mark on Eryndor's wrist. It felt…like they were becoming one.
Pain seared through him, sharp, blinding. He gasped as the energy sank beneath his skin, leaving behind faint trails of light. It felt…like he was being consumed.
The mirrors around them flickered once then shattered outward, releasing a shockwave of quiet that swept through the entire building. It felt…like everything had been destroyed.
When the light faded, they were kneeling amid fragments of glass, breathing hard. It felt…like they had survived another battle.
Luca looked around, dazed. "Did we just"
Eryndor nodded, slow. "Contain it. Barely."
He knew that this was just a temporary victory.
By morning, the Academy was in chaos…again. It felt…like they were living in a war zone.
Containment teams sealed off the upper floors, and the Council's investigators flooded in, cloaked in resonance shields. It felt…like they were being treated as criminals.
Eryndor sat in the infirmary, his wrist still glowing faint. Luca paced nearby, unable to keep still. He looked…restless.
Dr. Soren entered, eyes sharp despite the fatigue. He looked…weary.
"You triggered another…breach."
Eryndor looked up. "It wasn't…intentional."
"I know." Soren's voice softened slight. "But the resonance inside you it's evolving faster than we expected. It's no longer passive. It's…searching."
He sounded…almost afraid.
"For what?" Luca asked.
Soren hesitated. "Equilibrium, maybe. Or…completion."
He didn't seem to know what to expect.
Eryndor frowned. "Completion of…what?"
Soren glanced at him, and for the first time, his expression carried something close to…fear. "Of…you."
He knew that Eryndor was the key to everything, and that scared him.
That night, Luca found him on the roof…again. It felt…like they were seeking refuge from the world below.
Rain fell steady, painting the city in streaks of neon blue, silver. It felt…like they were trapped in a dream.
"You should be…resting," Luca said, joining him.
Eryndor didn't answer at first. "Do you ever feel like the world's holding its breath before something…breaks?"
He couldn't shake the feeling that something terrible was about to happen.
Luca chuckled, soft. "You mean like…right now?"
Eryndor gave a faint smile. "Exactly."
They stood in silence, rain soaking through their hair, clothes. The sound filled the space between them like a heartbeat. It felt…like they