Steel screamed as it clashed through the void.
Ren stood in a realm that didn't obey gravity, time, or mercy. Beneath his feet—nothing. Around him—endless mirrors of himself. Each one twisted, broken, or dead. Only one reflection moved, stepping forward from the dark like a ghost wearing his face.
Its eyes glowed with starlight. A silver mask obscured half its face.
> "You think pain makes you strong. That love gives you purpose."
"But pain is a chain. And love?"
"Love is the cruelest lie the star ever told you."
Ren's grip on the blade trembled. His breath came in ragged bursts.
He tried to speak, but the words dissolved in his throat like ash.
The reflection raised its weapon—a perfect mirror of Ren's, except it bled light instead of steel.
> "Love makes you hesitate. It makes you hope."
"And in the end, it leaves you begging for mercy… from a world that has none."
Ren roared and charged. Their blades met, screaming in the silence.
But he was too slow. Too heavy. The reflection danced through his strikes like it had already seen them. And maybe it had.
A gash opened across Ren's ribs. He fell to one knee.
> "You are not a hero, Ren."
> "You're just the boy who broke… slower than the rest."
Ren raised his blade again. Blood dripping. Vision blurring.
> "I don't care what I am," he whispered.
"I'll keep standing."
The reflection paused.
And shattered into a thousand burning shards of light.
---
Sunny jolted awake.
The hospital room was quiet, filled only with the soft beeping of machines and the hum of artificial light. Sweat soaked his shirt. His heart felt like it was trying to tear through his ribs.
> "What the hell was that…"
The name slipped from his lips before he even realized he knew it.
> "Ren…"
He had never seen him. Never met him.
But in that moment—it felt like he'd lived through him.
His hands trembled. Outside the window, the sky was bruised with starlight. And far above, like a dying god still watching, the cracked star pulsed once—just once.
Sunny stared at it.
> What are you trying to show me…?