Hollow Vail
The city slept unaware beneath a sky that had begun to fracture.
A low hum rumbled beneath the streets, a vibration that tickled bones and unsettled hearts. Then, with the subtlety of a whispered scream, the asphalt split. A fissure pulsed with black and violet light, like liquid shadow bleeding into the world.
From the widening Crack came a faint, rhythmic motion — a tremor in the darkness. Something within it stirred.
An egg, pale and slick, shivered as if alive. It cracked, then split, leaking a viscous glow into the night. Limbs unfolded from the shell like tendrils of emotion made flesh. The creature inhaled, tasting the sorrow, rage, and fear that leaked from the hearts of humans above. Its eyes were not eyes, but voids reflecting every secret despair.
Seren Vale crouched in the rain-slick alley, watching the scene unfold. She was no ordinary citizen; she was part of the Veil, one of the Real's hidden agents. Her pulse weapon was ready, but even she hesitated. The thing before her — the newborn Echo — was unlike anything she had seen.
Nearby, a man staggered, his mind cracking under some unbearable weight. His soul screamed in colors no one else could perceive. The Echo slithered toward him, drawn by the vibrations of his despair.
It touched him lightly, and the world seemed to shiver. The man convulsed violently, eyes rolling into the void, then went still. The creature's essence seeped into him, harvesting every ounce of his anguish, leaving behind a hollow shell.
From the shadows, a Refracted cultist approached. His eyes glittered with devotion, a fevered light that made Seren's skin crawl. He knelt beside the fallen man and drew forth the glowing shard pulsing in his chest — the heart core of the Echo Soldier.
"This is perfect," he whispered. "The Echo gives, and we receive. Feel it… the light within sorrow."
He raised the shard toward the Crack. The air vibrated. Rain froze mid-fall, spinning like suspended crystals. Pain and ecstasy twisted together as the cultist's form shimmered. When the ritual ended, he stood tall, eyes glowing gold, radiant with the overwhelming surge of emotion.
Seren's finger trembled over the trigger. She wanted to stop him, but the words that left his mouth froze her.
"You destroy the Echo, and we become it. You erase emotion, and we embrace it."
Before she could react, he vanished into the misty night, leaving only the hum of the fading Crack behind.
A scream cut through the silence — different from the others, more fragile, human. Around the corner, a young man collapsed, clutching his chest as the world around him twisted. The ground vibrated, pulsing with the forbidden rhythm of the Abyss.
He was overloading.
White light erupted from his body, stretching outward like a living void. Rain suspended in the air, dripping like molten glass. Unlike the Echo or the Reflect, this was something different — a hollow pulse that swallowed energy instead of broadcasting it.
When the light receded, the boy was kneeling amidst the wreckage, trembling, eyes blank but piercing. The air felt empty around him — not just still, but hollow, drained of everything that might have been alive.
"Where… am I?" His voice was distant, fragmented, almost swallowed by the rain.
"You're safe," Seren said, lowering her weapon, though her gut twisted with unease. "What's your name?"
"James," he whispered. "I… I think I erased something. Everything…"
Seren studied him. Not a Reflect, not an Echo, not even a hybrid. Something new, something dangerous in its quiet.
She extended her hand. "Then you're coming with me, James. You have no idea what you've just done."
The night whispered around them, the first Crack beneath the city already closing, but the world above remained unaware. The Hollow Vail had begun to unfurl, and the Cracks were listening.