The resonator core thrummed like a heart of glass and lightning. The crystal bell at its center — Cherina's final cage — hung thirty feet above a lattice of soul-iron and bone. Veins of violet light crawled across its surface, pulsing in perfect sync with the song rising from Cherina's throat. Every note made the bell grow, edges sharpening into knives of pure sound.
Farren-Prime stood beneath it.
Older. Scarred throat glowing faintly. Same duster, same lynx-gold eyes. He held the plasma sword's twin — runes crawling REQUIEM — and the revolver etched with FATE. A circle of serpent-priests knelt behind him, heads bowed, coils twitching.
"I killed Arcturus," Prime said, voice calm as still water. "To save the world. The Rift devours everything. Cherina's bell closes it. Permanently."
Farren's revolver clicked empty. He raised the plasma sword. The runes screamed: LIES.
"You're a lie."
Prime smiled. "I'm you. The part that chooses. Join me. Fuse. Become whole. End the suffering."
Sable snarled, claws igniting with plasma. Farren slashed. The blades met — VENGEANCE vs REQUIEM — and the clash birthed a shockwave of light that cracked the chamber walls. Shards of crystal rained like knives. Lira dove, wings shielding Cherina.
Prime pressed the attack. His revolver spoke — six shots, each a different sigil. PAIN. FEAR. DOUBT. Farren parried with the sword, each block carving scars into the air. Sable leapt, claws raking Prime's duster. The clone caught the lynx by the throat, Rift-mark flaring. Gold light poured from Sable's wound into Prime's hand.
Cherina screamed. The bell rang — a single note that shattered the floor beneath them.
Farren rolled free. Lira grabbed Cherina, talons gentle. "Armory — now!"
They fled through corridors of soul-iron. Alarms wailed. Serpent-priests poured in. Farren carved a path — plasma sword singing, runes burning WILL. FURY. CHERINA. Blood-runes smoked on the blade.
They burst into a pre-Rift armory — racks of weapons humming with dormant power. Farren reloaded: six new rune-bullets, etched with WILL. FURY. CHERINA. HOPE. FAMILY. SABLE.
Prime's voice echoed through speakers: "You can't stop the requiem. It's already begun. The bell rings for all of us."
Farren kissed Cherina's forehead. Her skin burned like fever. "Then we rewrite the song."
Lira pointed to a vent. "Core access. Prime's alone now. The priests fear the bell."
Sable's Rift-mark had spread to its eyes — pure gold. The lynx spoke in Farren's mind:
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Farren holstered the revolver. Gripped the plasma sword in both hands. The runes flared white-hot.
They ran. The core loomed ahead — the crystal bell now singing Cherina's name. Prime stood beneath it, arms raised. The bell lowered toward Cherina's suspended form — chains of sound wrapping her like a shroud.
Farren leapt. The plasma sword screamed. REQUIEM met VENGEANCE again. Sparks flew. The bell cracked.
Prime laughed. "You're too late."
Cherina's eyes opened — milk-white, then gold. She sang — not the Choir's hymn, but something older. Something hers.
The bell shattered.
Shards became butterflies of light. The Coil trembled. Prime staggered. Sable's stolen light poured back into the lynx — Rift-mark blazing.
Farren pressed the blade to Prime's throat. "This ends."
Prime smiled. "No. It begins."
The core exploded in white fire. The requiem was building to its crescendo — but whose song would ring true?