The wind outside the estate howled like a beast that had smelled blood.
Inside, Aaron stood in front of the cracked mirror, still trembling from the voice that had spoken from his reflection.
But this time… he didn't look away.
> "If you're me," he whispered to the glass,
"then you bleed like me too."
The reflection didn't answer—because it was gone.
Instead, smoke filled the corners of the room. The mirror blackened. And then—
A figure stepped out.
Same height. Same face. Same burning eyes.
But this one smiled like a god about to burn his own temple.
> "You called, Aaron," the figure said. "And I answered."
---
🩸 Split Flame
The real Aaron stepped back.
> "You're not real."
> "I'm more real than the version of you that kneels to old men," the reflection replied.
It circled him.
> "You hesitate. I don't. That's the only difference."
Aaron clenched his fist, and his flame flared blue.
The other Aaron raised his hand—flame the color of gold.
Their auras clashed, forcing the books in the library to fly off the shelves.
> "You can't exist without me," Aaron said.
The reflection smirked.
> "No. But you were created to contain me."
---
💥 Clash of Flames
Blue fire exploded.
Aaron lunged forward, striking with a whip of flame.
The echo—his reflection—met it mid-air, fire hissing and twisting like dragons colliding.
> "You think fire is your weapon?" said the echo.
"It's my language."
Aaron was thrown into the shelves.
Pain screamed across his back—but he stood again.
> "Then I'll rewrite the flame," he growled.
"Line by line."
---
🧠 Memory Unleashed
Suddenly, the room changed.
Bookshelves vanished.
Aaron stood on a battlefield made of ash and bone. Bodies of people he didn't recognize littered the ground. A black sun burned above.
> "What… is this?"
> "Your future," the echo said.
"The day you stop pretending to be human."
He pointed to a throne made of swords. A silhouette sat on it—Aaron, older, eyes glowing like twin suns.
> "That's the prince you were born to become."
---
🕯️ A Different Fire
But something flickered inside Aaron.
He saw Ashen.
He saw the ruined pool.
The bread he shared.
The hands that trembled in his own.
His blue flame ignited again—brighter than before. Not wild. Not angry.
Steady.
> "No," he said.
"That prince was forged from fear. I'll build a different fire."
The echo lunged—
—but Aaron met him head-on.
When the flames collided, the battlefield cracked.
And the world around them shattered like glass.
---
💫 Return
Aaron woke in the real library—alone. Burn marks scarred the floor. Books were ash. The mirror was gone.
But on his hand, the rune pulsed again—blue, golden, then still.
Ashen's voice echoed from down the hall:
> "Aaron…? Something's happening. You need to see this."
Aaron rose slowly.
> "Not cursed," he whispered. "Not yet."