Domgis walked through the tunnel of mirrors, his spirit shattered by countless failures. He no longer knew how many times he had traveled this path, how many times he had seen that icy light reflecting off the walls. All he knew was that this time would be the last. Not out of hope, but out of a dark resignation. He had no strength left, no will, yet he moved forward anyway.
The glass heart awaited him at the end of the tunnel, still there, unmoving and oppressive. But something had changed. Its pulsations, once powerful and regular, now seemed erratic. A flickering light emanated from its facets, and ominous cracks echoed through the cavern. The heart seemed… sick.
Violent tremors shook the ground, making the walls quake. With each step, Domgis felt a shockwave pass through him, causing him to stagger. The noise was deafening, a cacophony of shattering glass and disordered beats. Yet, he kept moving forward, his gaze empty but fixed on the thing ahead.
A voice suddenly echoed in his mind, cold and disembodied.
"You've returned, again. Why?"
Domgis didn't answer. He saw no point.
"Do you think there's something to gain here? There's nothing, boy. Nothing but suffering, failure, and oblivion."
The tunnel walls vibrated under the power of the words. Domgis stopped, trembling, but raised his eyes.
"You've lost so many times. And you'll lose again. Nothing awaits you beyond me. Nothing but a suffering even crueler than this cave. Stay. Accept your prison. It's better this way."
The heart's pulsations intensified, casting shards of light onto the walls. Each shockwave seemed to tear away the last fragments of Domgis's will.
"You've been here since the decline of humanity. You don't remember, but I know. I've seen you fail again and again. And believe me, it's for a good reason."
Domgis clenched his fists, his body swaying under the assault of the tremors.
"Nothing good will come if you destroy me. Nothing. You'll never be free. Look at yourself. You're weak, broken, barely a breath of life. Go back home. Forget everything. It's easier, isn't it? Why fight?"
The heart's voice softened, becoming almost seductive.
"Go back to sleep, Domgis. Stay in your world. You'll be at peace. None of this matters. No one is waiting for you. No one will remember. You're alone."
Domgis swayed. His legs seemed ready to give out, and his mind wavered between surrender and a dull, almost extinguished rage.
He stumbled closer, the ground shaking so violently he thought it might break apart. The shards of light from the heart were blinding now, but its cracks were visible. The heart was no longer invincible.
"This is your end."
The heart's voice was now a shrill scream, a cacophony distorted by panic. Its surface, once smooth and perfect, was cracking visibly. Shards of glass erupted from it in waves, swirling in the air like thousands of blades ready to shred anything that approached.
"You won't escape!" it thundered, its voice broken by terror. "Even if you pass, you'll never be free!"
The world around them exploded into a frenzy of illogic. One moment, the ground turned into an expanse of black, unfathomable water, the next into a plain swept by howling winds. Mountains rose from nothingness, only to shatter and be replaced by a desert burning with countless suns. Everything collapsed, reformed, in a chaos where no reality could take root.
Domgis fell to his knees, breathless. His body was nothing but pain, his thoughts faltering under the heart's relentless assault. But deep within him, something persisted. A raw, untamed will.
He dug his fingers into the ground—or whatever passed for it in that moment—and stood up.
"Maybe you're right," he murmured, his voice hoarse as if he had been screaming for centuries. "Maybe there's nothing beyond. But I'd rather that than belong to you."
The glass heart roared, unleashing one last desperate attempt. The universe froze. Time itself shattered like a broken mirror, each shard suspended in the ether.
An absolute stop. An eternity of stillness.
Domgis felt his own thoughts slow, frozen in this endless stasis. His breath stopped. His heart ceased to beat.
The heart wanted to imprison him here. Forever.
The chaos, the destruction, the shards of glass suspended in the air—nothing moved anymore. Not even time. Not even the concept of time.
Domgis immediately felt the horror of this state. He no longer existed. His breath no longer existed. His thoughts no longer existed. He was a silhouette frozen in a perfect, icy eternity.
The heart had won.
An infinite abyss opened in his mind, a terror greater than death itself. Not the end, but the total absence of an end. An imprisonment beyond reality, a stasis without beginning or conclusion.
But as eternity threatened to engulf him…
Something moved.
Tiny. A blink.
A cosmic error.
Domgis still existed.
His finger trembled, against all laws, against all the rules imposed by this perfect prison. A microscopic breach, but irreparable.
Then, slowly… painfully… he lowered his hand.
The weight of the entire universe tried to stop him. The heart screamed in silence, unable to prevent the impossible.
Domgis opened his hand, fingers trembling, and pressed it against his chest.
**BOOM.**
The first heartbeat.
**BOOM.**
The second.
A shockwave exploded from his body, rippling through the frozen world. Time trembled. Invisible cracks snaked through the air.
Domgis smiled. A slow, cruel smile.
Then, with absolute force… he took a step forward.
The universe shattered.
A terrifying scream erupted from the glass heart, a cry of agony and panic. Time resumed in a devastating explosion. The glass shattered under a power it could no longer contain.
And then, Domgis struck.
The impact made no sound. Just an absolute light.
The entire world imploded in a storm of blinding fragments. The echo of the heart's scream vanished into nothingness.
Then…
Nothing.
A perfect silence.
Domgis opened his eyes. He was lying on the cold floor of the tunnel. The air was heavy with that unique sensation—the total absence of chains.
He breathed in.
For the first time in an eternity…
He was free.