**
---
Sora woke to the sound of distant chimes, soft and haunting, like music played on glass. The ship had entered a vast expanse of shimmering light. Around them, space fractured into infinite reflections, creating a kaleidoscope of stars, planets, and distant galaxies.
"What is this place now?" Sora groaned, rubbing his temples. He was starting to feel like he'd stepped into one surreal nightmare after another.
The ship's voice responded with a rare tinge of awe. *"The Fractal Expanse. A place where the fabric of space reflects upon itself endlessly. It is both a passage and a trap."*
"That sounds... comforting," he muttered, glancing at the fractured images outside. The reflections weren't perfect—some seemed distorted, their stars bent, their colors wrong. In others, he could see ghostly images of himself on the ship's deck, each one slightly different.
"Is that... me?"
*"Echoes,"* the ship replied. *"Possibilities of who you could have been, shaped by choices you did not make."*
Sora stared at one of the reflections. In it, he wasn't alone. He stood with a crew—a tall woman with a sharp gaze, a mechanical creature shaped like a bird, and a figure cloaked in shadow. They moved with purpose, as if they had been on this journey together for years.
"Who are they?" he asked, pointing to the reflection.
*"Paths untaken,"* the ship said simply.
Sora shook his head. "This place is messing with my brain."
The ship's voice turned serious. *"Focus. The Fractal Expanse is not just a reflection of what was and could be. It is also a hunting ground."*
"Hunting ground?" Sora's pulse quickened. "For what?"
The answer came in the form of a ripple across the reflections. A shadow moved between the fractures, dark and fluid, slipping from one echo to another. Sora watched as it passed through a reflection of himself piloting the ship, distorting the image until it shattered into nothingness.
"What was that?"
*"A Fractal Wraith,"* the ship answered. *"A predator of the expanse. It feeds on possibilities, erasing them from existence."*
Sora gripped the controls instinctively. "Can it hurt us?"
*"If it reaches our reality, it will not just erase us—it will consume our entire thread of existence."*
"Great. Another thing trying to kill us."
The wraith shifted, its form darting closer to their reflection. Sora could feel the ship tense around him, its core pulsing faster.
*"You must navigate the expanse,"* the ship said. *"Find the Resonance Point."*
"The what?"
A map unfolded in his mind, showing the fractured space around them. At its center was a glowing point where the reflections converged.
*"The Resonance Point is the only stable exit. If we reach it, we can escape the expanse."*
"And if we don't?"
The ship didn't answer.
Sora didn't need it to. He gritted his teeth and focused on the controls. The ship surged forward, weaving through the fractured reflections. The wraith followed, its form darting from echo to echo, growing larger with each thread it consumed.
The fractured space made navigation almost impossible. Every turn revealed another reflection, another Sora, some lost and terrified, others calm and determined.
One reflection caught his attention: a version of himself standing alone, holding a small, glowing orb. The Sora in the reflection stared back at him and whispered a single word.
"Trust."
"What the hell does that mean?" Sora muttered, but he didn't have time to dwell on it. The wraith was closing in, its dark tendrils reaching toward their ship's reflection.
The ship's voice cut through his thoughts. *"The Resonance Point is near. But the path is unstable. You must make a choice."*
"Choice? What choice?"
The map in his mind shifted, showing two routes. One led through a dense cluster of reflections, chaotic and dangerous but offering a quicker path. The other was longer, winding through more stable echoes but with a greater risk of the wraith catching them.
"Fast and dangerous or slow and safe," Sora muttered. "Great."
The wraith roared—a soundless, gut-wrenching vibration that made the reflections tremble. It was growing impatient.
Sora closed his eyes, remembering the word from the reflection. *Trust.*
"Alright, fast and dangerous it is."
He willed the ship forward, plunging into the chaotic cluster of reflections. The ship twisted and turned, narrowly avoiding shards of broken echoes that threatened to tear through its hull.
The wraith followed, its form splitting into multiple tendrils that lashed out at the ship's reflection. One struck the edge of their echo, causing the entire ship to shudder.
"We're not gonna make it," Sora muttered, sweat dripping down his face.
*"Trust yourself,"* the ship urged, echoing the reflection's words.
Sora's instincts kicked in. He stopped thinking and let the connection between him and the ship guide their movements. They spun through the chaos, dodging fragments and weaving between collapsing echoes.
Ahead, the Resonance Point came into view—a brilliant sphere of light that pulsed with a steady rhythm.
"We're almost there!"
The wraith lunged, its entire form converging on their reflection.
"Hold on!" Sora shouted, pushing the ship to its limit. The engines roared as they surged forward, diving into the Resonance Point just as the wraith's tendrils snapped shut.
---
Silence.
Sora opened his eyes to find the fractured reflections gone. They were back in normal space, the stars calm and unbroken.
He slumped in his seat, his body trembling from the adrenaline.
"We made it," he whispered.
*"You did well, captain,"* the ship said, its voice tinged with pride.
Sora exhaled, staring out at the endless stars. For the first time, he felt a flicker of hope.
But the question lingered: what other horrors lay ahead?
---
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