The meadow stretched endlessly, bathed in golden light that seemed to hum with life. Butterflies with wings like stained glass flitted between flowers that chimed softly in the breeze. Kael stood frozen, his breath catching as the woman before him turned—silver hair cascading freely, hands glowing with the same healing magic his sister had wielded. But her eyes held a weight his Lyra had never known, a sorrow carved deep.
"You're not her," Kael whispered, the words brittle.
She smiled, bittersweet. "No. But I remember you. Fragments, echoes… a brother who loved starlight and stories." She knelt, her fingers brushing the petals of a flower that curled toward her touch. "In my world, you died young. A fever. I've missed you."
Aria materialized beside him, translucent and seething. "This is a trap. Sentimental fools die first."
Alternate Lyra tilted her head, unflinching. "Your companion is fierce. But this place is safe. For now."
"Safe from what?"
She gestured to the horizon, where the sky shimmered faintly, like heat over glass. "The cracks. The hunger." Her voice softened. "Even here, the Voidspawn whisper."
Aria's sword materialized in Kael's hand, its edge blazing. "We're leaving."
"Wait." Alternate Lyra stepped closer, her glow dimming. "You seek answers. Let me show you."
Before he could protest, she pressed her palm to his chest. The meadow dissolved.
—
Kael gasped as visions flooded him—a grand hall of mirrors, Lira's voice sharp with fury. "The Architect's design is flawed!" she shouted at a hooded figure. "Harvesting Prime Cores will destabilize the multiverse!"
"And your 'pacts' will save us?" The figure—Veyron—laughed, his face scarred and cruel. "The Voidspawn are coming. Domination is survival."
The vision fractured, replaced by Selene, her eyes hollow and violet. "They'll all burn. Even you, sister."
Alternate Lyra released him, the meadow reforming around them. "Your Lira and Veyron were once allies. Their schism birthed the Synergists… and the Voidspawn."
Kael staggered, his mind reeling. "How do you know this?"
"Echoes travel. So do regrets." Her gaze dropped to the vial at his throat, where Lyra's essence glowed. "Your sister's death… it wasn't random. The Voidspawn target Prime Cores."
"Enough!" Aria's blade flared, her form solidifying. "You're distracting him."
Alternate Lyra sighed. "Your bond is fraying her. Too many voices, too many selves."
A tremor shook the ground. The sky splintered, jagged violet cracks spreading like spiderwebs. Voidspawn poured through—translucent, ravenous, their forms warped into nightmares.
—
Aria seized control, their Synergy igniting. Kael's body moved with lethal precision, carving through the wraiths. But for each one he felled, two more clawed from the rift.
"Use the Scholar!" Alternate Lyra called, her light flaring as she strained to seal the breach.
Kael hesitated, then gripped the mirror shard Lira had given him. ScholarKael's memories surged—equations, strategies, patterns unfolding like maps. Time slowed. He saw the wraiths' paths, their dimensional shifts a hairbreadth before they struck.
Aria's blade met emptiness—then sliced through a wraith as it phased into existence. One by one, they fell, their shrieks dissolving into static.
"Impressive," Aria admitted, her tone grudging.
Alternate Lyra collapsed to her knees, the rift sealed but unstable. "It's temporary. They'll return."
Kael panted, sweat stinging his eyes. "Come with me. Help us stop this."
Her smile was sorrow etched in light. "I'm bound here. But take this." She pressed a crystalline petal into his palm, its surface shimmering with memories. "It holds echoes of all our selves. Use it wisely."
Aria snarled. "We don't need her trinkets—"
The meadow trembled. The air rippled, and Veyron stepped through, flanked by holloweyed alternates.
"Touching," he drawled, his voice layered with a chorus of stolen souls. "But the girl belongs to the Void now."
—
Veyron snapped his fingers. Alternate Lyra gasped, her silver glow snuffed to violet.
"No!" Kael lunged, but Veyron's alternates barred his path, their eyes empty, their movements puppetstiff.
"She was never yours," Veyron mocked. "Selene sends her regards."
The meadow crumbled. Kael awoke in Elysion's archives, the petal burning in his grip. Lira stood over him, her mismatched eyes sharp.
"You tread dangerous ground," she warned. "Every bond frays your Core. Even with her."
Kael clutched the petal, Lyra's laughter echoing in his mind. "I don't care."
Somewhere, a clock ticked. The first chime of the Voidsparmageddon.