The storm of broken glass settled into uneasy silence.
Fragments floated in slow orbit around Ren, catching and scattering the pale silver glow of the rift above. His new crown shimmered jagged and incomplete across his brow, shards jutting like teeth of a broken halo. Every step he took pressed authority into the ground itself, making the mirror-realm tremble as if reluctant to bear his weight.
The shard-winged girl stared, wings twitching in awe and unease. She whispered his name like it was something sharp.
"Ren…"
He glanced at her, his fractured eye flaring with cold light. It was him, and yet… not only him. Layers of voices whispered beneath his words, reflections tethered to his will, their murmurs a chorus only he truly commanded.
"They kneel," Ren said simply.
