Mouthless Whispers

Chapter Nine : Reflections That Bleed

Lucien stood still.

The creature crawled forward—not like an animal, not like a man. Its movement broke the rhythm of space, limbs jerking in and out of angles that shouldn't exist. Its body was a collage of shattered versions of himself—arms from memories he never lived, faces half-formed from choices he never made.

It hissed—not with breath, but with meaning.A wave of guilt. Another of rage. A whisper of loss. All of them his… and not his.

❖ Threat Detected: Multi-Identity Echo ConstructDesignation: MirrorbeastNature: AggressiveWeakness: Unstable Core (Emotional Anchor)Suggested Response: Confront, not flee

The cathedral pulsed around him.Mirrors trembled on the walls. Some cracked. Others wept. From the ceiling hung ropes made of flickering thought—dreams, regrets, untaken paths.

The creature's many eyes—some his, some not—locked onto him.

"You left me," it said, in a dozen fractured tones.

Lucien took a step back."No," he muttered. "I became me."

The Mirrorbeast charged.

Lucien didn't run. He raised his hand. The system pulsed.

❖ Ability Activated: Inner EchoDescription: Trace hidden thoughtsTarget: Hostile constructResult: Temporary destabilization

He focused—not on the creature's body, but its noise. Beneath the rage, beneath the pain, he found a single thought, buried deep:

I don't want to disappear.

Lucien stepped into the charge.

He collided with the creature—not with force, but with will. His hand reached into its shifting chest. It was like plunging into cold thought. He grasped the core.

A memory.

His.

A moment from childhood—a time when he was silent, unseen, unheard. A room of adults arguing. Lucien, small, staring at a cracked mirror. Whispering to himself: "I'll become someone no one can ignore."

He tore the memory free.

The creature froze.Then collapsed—shards of identity falling like dust, scattering across the cathedral.

Lucien stood, breath shallow, heart… quieter.

❖ Mirrorbeast NeutralizedEmotional Residue: ProcessedIdentity Reintegration: Partial (4%)Mental Stability: Holding

The cathedral reacted.

The mirrors now showed only one version of him—his current self. Worn, altered, incomplete. But singular.

From the center of the chamber, a pillar of glass rose slowly. Upon it, a key floated—twisting, weightless. It bore no teeth, no ridges, just a spiral etched along its length.

❖ Acquired: Sigil KeyFunction: Unlocks Bound RealmsNote: One use only

Lucien took it.

The mirrors began to hum—a low, harmonic vibration.A message formed across every surface at once:

To pass is to forget. To survive is to become. Are you ready to lose more?

Lucien closed his eyes. "I was never whole to begin with."

A doorway split open in the floor beneath him.

He fell.

Not downward, but inward.

And the Depth swallowed him one last time.