Elias took a cautious step forward, the soft grass beneath his feet damp with morning dew. The sky above stretched endlessly, painted in hues of gold and violet, as if dawn and dusk had merged into one. The air carried a stillness, not of emptiness, but of anticipation.
The lone figure beneath the tree did not move.
Elias could not see his face, only the broad outline of a man draped in a long coat, his presence neither welcoming nor threatening. The great tree above him had branches that curled toward the heavens, its leaves whispering secrets in a language Elias could not understand.
Something about this place felt real. More real than the city of mist, more real than the reflections of his past.
Elias swallowed hard and approached. "Who are you?"
The man did not turn. Instead, his voice cut through the silence, low and measured.
"That is the wrong question, Elias."
Elias hesitated. The way this man spoke—his certainty, his control—sent a chill through his spine.
"Then what is the right question?" Elias asked.
The man finally turned.
And Elias froze.
The face before him was his own. Older, sharper, burdened with knowledge Elias had yet to grasp. His doppelgänger's eyes held a weight that made Elias feel small, as if every path he had yet to take had already been walked by this version of himself.
"The right question," the older Elias said, "is why you are here."
Elias felt his chest tighten. "I—" He paused. "I don't know."
His older self stepped forward, closing the distance between them with an eerie calm.
"You are at the threshold of something greater. But you hesitate. You cling to the illusion of choice, when in reality, you have already chosen."
Elias shook his head. "That doesn't make sense."
A smirk tugged at the older Elias's lips—one filled with something between amusement and pity.
"It will."
The wind stirred, carrying the scent of rain. The great tree's branches swayed as if it, too, was listening.
"Elias," his older self continued, his voice quieter now, almost kind. "This is your last moment of ignorance. Step forward, and you will understand. But once you do, there is no turning back."
Elias's pulse pounded in his ears. Every fiber of his being screamed that this was important—that whatever lay beyond this moment would change him forever.
He took a breath.
And stepped forward.