A dull impact cuts through the silence like a blade.
Aria crashes against a stone wall. Her white resonance flames flare up briefly – then fold back into themselves, as if extinguished from within. The air around her doesn't vibrate because of sound, but because of something deeper. Something that moves beyond any physical boundary.
Aria (shouting):
"Reeve!"
But her voice sinks into the density of the room. No answer.
Reeve lies in the center of the scene – his body curled as if a storm is raging inside him. Around him, three figures take shape from the darkness. Human in form, but faceless. Their bodies are covered in pulsating lines of darkness that move like thoughts – not muscles.
Aria (about to attack)
Before she can move, a single voice stops her.
Vera (tense):
"No! Not again!"
Aria (gasping):
Her left shoulder burns. Right where her last attack passed through the shadows – and Reeve had screamed, as if he himself had been pierced.
Vera (quiet):
"They are… him. These are projections. His thoughts. His memories. His doubts."
Aria (whispering):
"Then he dies if we destroy them."
Vera:
"Yes."
Silence settles between them. Only Reeve breathes heavily. The shadows come closer.
Inner World – Reeve
No light. No sound. No up or down.
Reeve stands in an endless blackness. Surrounded by something that is not space – but condition. As if he is trapped inside his own shadow.
But he is not alone.
Three versions of himself stand before him. The Child. The Broken One. The Cold One.
The Cold One:
"They betrayed you."
The Broken One (whispers):
"You were just a tool."
The Child (crying):
"You were never enough."
Reeve tries to speak. But every time he opens his lips, ash flows out.
Outer World – Vera
Vera (trembling):
She keeps her eyes on Reeve. Her resonance is active – a fine, mentally woven net stretches like invisible fog across the battlefield.
Doom's Lullaby.
A soft but penetrating tone deep below. A mental wave that can push back the figures. But the cost is high.
Vera:
"We can't get too close. But I can hold them."
A crack forms in her focus. Her nose starts bleeding. Then her right eye. In her thoughts, Haunting Whisper scratches – a voice meant to confuse shadows, but it cuts into her own mind like barbed wire.
Vera (tense):
"I'll hold them. Aria – go to him."
Aria (hesitating):
"What if I don't come back?"
Vera:
"Then make sure he does."
Connection – Aria & Reeve
Aria kneels beside Reeve. She places her hand on his forehead. Activates her inner resonance.
White light flows from her skin – like liquid fire that doesn't burn but cleanses. Not warm. Not hot. Just absolute.
She reaches into him.
Inner World – Aria & Reeve
The world shifts.
It is not empty – but overloaded. Not black – but distorted. Aria stands in a labyrinth of endless corridors. No doors. No orientation. Only paths branching endlessly.
She walks. Guided by resonance.
Then she sees him.
Reeve, kneeling before the three shadows of himself.
Reeve:
"They're talking. All the time."
Aria steps closer. Takes his hand.
And then she sees – what no one should have seen.
The three figures turn to her. And a fourth one steps out of the shadows.
Outer World – Vera
The shadows are almost fully formed. Their bodies pulse with knots of dark energy. Like creatures born from nightmares.
Vera holds them back with her mental power. But her body starts to collapse.
Vera (quiet):
"Not yet… I'm not done…"
She trembles. Dark blood flows from her mouth and eyes. Her thoughts are burning. Every memory flickers like fire on paper.
Vera:
"Haunting… Whisper…"
One last mental command cuts like a blade through the shadows.
They do not scream. But they stop. For one breath.
Inner World – Reeve & Aria
The fourth figure has a face.
Aria recognizes it instantly.
Aria (whispering):
"No…"
It's not a dream. Not distortion. Not a symbol. It is real. Someone she lost. Someone she couldn't save.
Aria:
"You're not real."
The Figure:
"But you are to blame."
Reeve stands up slowly. Shaking. But upright.
Reeve:
"I know you."
The Figure:
"I'm the part of you that never stopped wanting to die."
Shadow Duplication – Phantom Mirage
A rift opens in the darkness.
Three more versions of Reeve step out. Pale. Incomplete. But fighting.
Reeve (softly):
"Phantom Mirage."
The Child:
"You remember."
Reeve:
"I create shadows… to fight shadows."
The duplicates attack their own counterparts. Not to kill. But to untangle. To separate identities. Aria understands: Phantom Mirage is not a technique. Not a weapon.
It is Reeve himself – splitting apart to find himself again.
Final Moment – Vera Collapses
Outside. Vera falls. Her resonance collapses. One last mental impulse escapes her like smoke.
The shadows pull at her. She gasps for air. Black blood runs down her chin.
Then: unconsciousness.
Inner World – Decision
Reeve:
"I am not a shadow."
He takes a step forward.
Reeve:
"I am not a child. Not a mistake. Not a victim."
Reeve:
"I am Reeve."
The figures stare at him.
Then – they start to crumble. No sound. No explosion. They fall apart. Like dust that should never have existed.
Reeve reaches out.
He touches the fourth figure.
The Figure:
"You won't get rid of me."
Then it's gone.
Outer World – Return
Reeve gasps. Opens his eyes. His hands tremble. Above him: Aria, pale, worn out. Next to him: Vera, unconscious, blood-stained.
Reeve:
"I'm… back."
Aria:
"Are you… you?"
Reeve:
"I don't know. Not yet."
Aria nods. No comfort in her eyes. Only truth.
Aria:
"I saw someone, Reeve."
Reeve:
"I know. I felt them too."
A moment passes.
Then – a quiet voice, only in Reeve's mind:
"See you soon."
And this time, it isn't his own.