Chapter 2: The Abyss of Reflection
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The world around me twisted.
A deep, gut-wrenching cold seeped into my being, and suddenly, I was standing. No… floating? The space around me shifted, forming a labyrinth of winding paths, walls that were not truly there, and shadows that flickered between reality and illusion. In whose portal was I sucked into?
The air was thick, like breathing through water. It was silent, but not the comforting kind—this was the silence of a place abandoned by time, where even sound had died long ago.
"What is this?" A soul next to me whispered. Their voice trembled in fear.
Then the shadows began to move.
At first, they were vague—formless figures slithering across the abyss. But then… they changed.
The moment I looked at them , I understood.
They took shapes—familiar shapes.
Around me, the other souls stiffened as they saw themselves reflected back.
A woman gasped, stumbling backward. "No… you're not real…"
A man fell to his knees, eyes wide in terror. "Why are you here? I—I never meant to—"
A soft, mocking voice hissed from the darkness. "Didn't you?"
The air turned heavy, suffocating.
Screams.
Some souls collapsed as the past swallowed them whole.
Others lashed out, their hands clawing at illusions that flickered and laughed in response.
I turned—and my breath stopped.
In front of me stood my own reflection.
It wasn't twisted or monstrous. It wasn't grinning mockingly like the others.
It just… stared.
Dead, empty eyes. A face I recognized but had never truly seen before.
"You wasted your life," it whispered. "You waited and waited… and died a coward."
My hands trembled. My breath—if I even still had one—hitched.
"You wanted to do something, didn't you?" The voice wasn't angry.
It wasn't cruel.
It was… disappointed.
"And yet, you just let the days pass. Telling yourself 'tomorrow, I'll change.'
But tomorrow never came."
I clenched my fists.
"That's not true," I muttered.
The reflection tilted its head. "Then tell me. What did you do that mattered?"
Silence.
I… I had no answer.
I had existed, but had I ever truly lived?
The maze pulsed. The walls twisted, tightening around me. The weight of my own failure pressed against my chest.
I wasn't alone.
All around me, I could hear the other souls breaking.
A young man collapsed to the floor, clutching his head. "It's too much… I can't… I can't…"
His illusion, a girl with hollow eyes, knelt beside him. "Then just give up. It's easier that way."
A woman screamed, thrashing as shadowy figures grabbed her arms, dragging her down.
"I didn't mean to! I didn't—please, I—!" Her words cut off as the darkness swallowed her whole.
One by one, souls vanished, lost to their regrets.
A chilling laugh echoed through the abyss.
I turned.
Lir stood in the distance, watching.
Their golden curls remained untouched by the swirling chaos.
Their hollow, light-devouring eyes drank in the illusions, their expression unreadable.
"Regret is the easiest thing to cling to,"
Lir murmured.
"It is warm. Familiar. It tells you that you could have done better, that next time you will. But for most… next time never comes."
They lifted a hand.
With a flick of their fingers, dozens of souls vanished.
Not because they had been judged.
Because they had given up.
I gritted my teeth. The shadow in front of me stepped closer.
"You can stay still,"
it whispered.
"You don't have to fight anymore. Just… let go."
I could.
It would be so easy.
No more struggling. No more trying. Just… nothing.
My body felt heavy. My legs trembled. My mind fogged.
Then…
A small voice. A thought. A question.
"Is this really how I end?"
"Insignifacant and unfulfilled?"
Not just die—but end?
Drifting away in some nameless void, erased from existence?
No.
I bit my tongue—felt pain. I was still here. I was still me.
And I wasn't done yet.
"No."
I forced my legs forward.
The illusion frowned. "Why?"
Because I didn't want my last moment to be one of regret.
Because if there was even the smallest chance to live again, I would take it.
Because…
I wanted to live.
One step.
The illusion shuddered, flickering.
Another step.
It withered, the shadows peeling away.
A final step—
And it shattered.
The maze collapsed around me.
All at once, the darkness vanished. The cries of the broken fell silent.
I looked up.
Only a few dozen of souls remained.
Lir's empty gaze swept over us. Then, they smiled—a small, distant thing.
"You have proven your will to live."
They raised a small hand.
"Then live."
The void shattered.
And suddenly we were somewhere else.