The transition from the solid, iron-ribbed reality of the Western Wastes to the Gemini Sector was not a journey across land, but a journey through the air.
Kael stood at the edge of the Grand Rift, the physical boundary where the tectonic plates of Terra ended and the endless sky of the Twins began. Behind him stood his core team: Jax, whose heavy boots left deep ruts in the soil; Sia, who was busy re-tuning her light-filaments for high-altitude air pressure; and Rin, who seemed to have merged entirely with the shimmering heat haze.
"There it is," Sia whispered, her breath hitching. "The Floating City. Aeolus."
In the distance, suspended three thousand feet above the clouds by a massive, rotating vortex of violet energy, sat the capital of the House of Gemini. It was a masterpiece of impossible geometry—a cluster of crystalline towers, silver bridges, and hanging gardens that seemed to flicker in and out of existence.
It wasn't a fortress. It was a mirage.
[SOVEREIGN STAR PROTOCOL: CALIBRATING] [ZODIAC ALIGNMENT: GEMINI — 0.5%] [WARNING: HIGH-FREQUENCY ATMOSPHERIC INSTABILITY] [DETECTION: DUAL-CORE RESONANCE DETECTED IN SECTOR CENTER]
"The gravity here is... thin," Jax grunted, his Runic bellows hissing as they adjusted to the lack of pressure. "I feel like I'm going to float away if I don't keep my gauntlets clamped. How do they even breathe up there?"
"They don't breathe the air, Jax," Kael said, his platinum eyes fixed on the shimmering city. "They breathe the Phase."
As they approached the lift-gate—a series of floating platforms designed to carry visitors into the sky—a shimmer of silver light appeared in front of them.
Two identical figures stepped out of the air. They were tall, slender, and dressed in robes of shifting silk that mimicked the clouds. Their faces were hidden behind silver masks that had no eyes—only a single, vertical line of violet light down the center.
"The Sovereign of the Anchor approaches the Threshold," they spoke in perfect unison, their voices overlapping in a way that made it impossible to tell who was speaking. "The House of Gemini welcomes the Aries. But your 'Weight' is not permitted in Aeolus."
The Gemini Twins raised their hands. A wave of violet energy washed over the group.
Jax let out a roar as his Taurus-Vanguard armor suddenly became a liability. The high-density metal began to vibrate, the atoms trying to pull apart. Sia's light-filaments began to fray, and even Rin's Zone of Silence flickered as if the air itself was trying to scream.
"Leave the heavy metal at the door," the Twins chanted. "In the City of Mirrors, truth is a choice, and matter is an opinion."
Kael stepped forward. He didn't draw a weapon. He didn't activate a shield.
He reached into the air and grabbed the violet energy wave with his bare hand.
[ABILITY: THE LAW OF THE CENTER — ABSOLUTE DENSITY]
Kael didn't neutralize the energy. He forced it to become solid. Under his touch, the shimmering Phase-wave froze into a jagged sheet of violet glass. He snapped it in half with a flick of his wrist.
The Twins stumbled back, their masks flickering. The overlapping voices broke for a second, revealing two distinct gasps of shock.
"My weight is not an opinion," Kael said, his voice a low, terrifying vibration that grounded the floating platform they stood on. "And I am not here to play with mirrors. I am here for the Dual-Core."
The Gemini Twins recovered, their masks stabilizing. They looked at each other, then back at Kael.
"The Dual-Core is the heart of the Twins," they said. "To reach it, you must walk the Divide. You must face the version of yourself that the stars intended—and the version that the Fracture created."
They stepped aside, the violet energy vortex behind them expanding into a wide, shimmering tunnel of light that led directly into the heart of Aeolus.
"Enter, Aries. But beware. In this city, the person standing next to you might be your best friend... or your worst enemy wearing their face."
Kael turned to his team. He saw the doubt in Sia's eyes and the tension in Jax's shoulders. He looked at Rin, whose silent gaze was fixed on the shimmering tunnel.
"Stay close," Kael commanded. "Sia, keep the neural link on a narrow-band frequency. If any of you see me doing something I wouldn't do... kill me."
"Kael!" Sia gasped.
"In this sector, the mirrors don't just reflect," Kael said, stepping into the light. "They replace."
As they entered the city, the world changed. The sounds of the desert were replaced by the chiming of a thousand crystal bells. The air smelled of jasmine and ozone. But as Kael looked into the polished silver walls of the first tower they passed, he didn't see a platinum-eyed Sovereign.
He saw a boy in a shredded cloak, standing in a Z-Town gutter, holding a rusted knife.
And the boy in the mirror looked at him and smiled.
[DEAD MAN'S SWITCH: 03:30:00] [LOCATION: AEOLUS — THE FOYER OF REFLECTIONS] [SYNC RATE: 1.0% (GEMINI)]