The night was quiet, too quiet for a world that had just remembered pain.
The rain had ceased, leaving the city bathed in silver reflections that shimmered across every window and puddle.
Aiden sat by the riverbank, staring into the rippling water.
The surface mirrored his face faintly, but something within it moved differently from him, as if his reflection were alive.
He leaned closer.
The reflection smiled.
But Aiden did not.
His heart froze. "Who… are you?"
The figure in the water tilted its head. The voice that came was both his and not his, layered with echoes of thousands.
"I am what remains of you. What you left behind each time you died."
Aiden's fingers trembled. The ripples deepened, showing visions of his past lives—each death, each heartbreak, each promise broken beneath the same stormy sky.
"I don't understand," he whispered.
"You will," said the reflection. "Because I am the one who remembers when you forget. I am the sorrow that never left."
Behind him, footsteps approached.
Elias.
He stopped a few meters away, his shadow long across the water.
"Aiden," he said, his voice cautious, "step back from it."
Aiden looked over his shoulder, confusion filling his gaze. "It's me, Elias. It's just… me."
Elias's expression hardened. "No. That thing is not you. It's what feeds on what you've lost."
The reflection smirked.
"Ah, Elias Thorn. The loyal sinner. How many times have you killed him for love?"
Elias's jaw clenched. His hand went to his blade.
"Enough."
The water began to churn violently, waves forming even though there was no wind. The reflection rose from the surface like smoke, forming a transparent figure that wore Aiden's face.
It smiled with cruel tenderness.
"He always forgives you, doesn't he? Even after you burn him, break him, bury him."
"Stop," Aiden cried, stepping between them.
The entity's touch brushed his shoulder, and suddenly his mind flooded with memories—Ariselle's screams, the fire, the betrayal, Elias's face stained with tears and blood.
He fell to his knees, clutching his head.
Elias rushed forward, catching him before he hit the ground.
"Aiden! Stay with me!"
Aiden's voice broke. "I saw it again. You… killed me. I felt it. All of it."
The reflection's laughter echoed across the river, haunting and soft.
"And you will feel it again, until he learns."
Elias drew his sword, fury in his eyes. "What do you want from us?"
The reflection looked at him with Aiden's gentle smile, and for a moment, it almost looked real.
"I want to be whole again."
The ground shook, and the water exploded upward in a column of light.
Elias pulled Aiden close, shielding him from the shards of liquid glass raining down.
When the glow faded, the entity had taken full shape.
It was no longer Aiden, but something older, ancient and beautiful.
It spoke with a voice that made the air hum.
"She was the last Flame. You were her sword. Together you defied Heaven. But now, your rebellion has awakened something neither of you can control."
Aiden's voice trembled. "Then tell me what to do."
The entity smiled. "Remember. And when you do, choose who you'll be this time: the savior or the sinner."
Then it vanished, leaving only the trembling water behind.
Aiden slumped against Elias's chest, exhausted.
Elias held him tightly, his lips close to Aiden's ear.
"Whatever it is, whatever they want, I'll protect you."
Aiden looked up, eyes still wet from tears and rain.
"Even if it means killing me again?"
Elias's breath caught. He said nothing.
The silence was his answer.