The Wraithling lurched, throwing Ethan forward into the control panel. Aelira slammed into the bulkhead beside him, and the room spun as the world outside flickered, twisted, fractured.
"What the hell is happening?" Aelira shouted, her voice echoing strangely, as if coming from far away.
Ethan staggered to his feet. The console's interface was glitching wildly, trying to sync with a reality that was no longer whole. The mirror outside had expanded, an infinite reflection of their ship, but this reflection was wrong; they weren't alone in it.
Aelira, still gripping her blades, stepped closer to the viewport. "That… that's not you."
The mirrored Ethan Kaelen Varros—stared back at them, his expression filled with smug, cruel amusement.
[SYSTEM UPDATE: ENTITY RECOGNITION: REFLECTION-CLASS KAELEN VARROS | THRONEBOUND PHASE][Warning: Hostile Entity Identified][Unstable Dimensional Rifts Active][Temporal Integrity Breach: 37%][Entity Status: Immortal Fragment][Warning: Origin-Class Signature Detected]
"You should have stayed in the darkness, boy." The reflection of Kaelen's voice boomed through the ship, as though it was coming from all directions at once. "The throne calls to you. It always has."
Ethan clenched his fists, breath coming faster. "That's not me. Not anymore."
The mirrored Kaelen chuckled, standing from the chair, stepping down onto the bridge of the Wraithling through the glass.
[SYSTEM UPDATE: Dimensional Breach—Hostile Entity Crossing][Warning: Hostile Entity May Use Ship's Systems Against User]
The mirror distorted as Kaelen moved through it, like liquid poured from a broken vessel. He was coming.
"You think you can escape? You who would forsake the throne?" the reflection sneered. "The crown's weight is eternal. It calls to the void in you. It always calls to those like us."
Ethan stepped forward. "I chose the void but not that throne."
The ship groaned again, warping under the pressure of the dimensional rupture. Aelira glanced back at Ethan, eyes wide with realization. "Ethan… This isn't just a reflection. It's a part of you. Your past."
[SYSTEM UPDATE: Fragmentation Confirmed. Subconscious Link Established][Pathway Open: Initiating 'Thronebound' Protocols][Warning: Hostile Entity May Override User's Systems]
Kaelen's reflection no, Kaelen raised a hand, and the ship's systems responded. The lights flickered, and weapons charged.
[Warning: Ship's Weapons System Override Imminent]
Ethan's pulse raced. "Aelira… Get to the weapons. Now."
They moved. The Wraithling was fighting itself now—against Kaelen's will, against a memory alive.
Ethan stared at the mirrored figure once more. "This ends now. Whatever's left of you… isn't me."
The System pulsed again. The ship's hull groaned as the breach expanded, time bending and twisting further.