The atrium served as the bunker's point—a large round room topped with a dome featuring holographic stars. Of stone the walls were made of mirrors. Their tiny cautious group was duplicated a thousand times in the reflections.
Valentina Rhodes was by herself in the middle next, to a dried-up fountain made of carved crystal. Today she donned an outfit charcoal grey and carried no apparent weapon.
"Cassianthon " she stated, employing the formal enunciation. ". Visitors. The fallen star, the goblins messenger, the demigods offspring. An intriguing alliance."
"Where is Raziel?" Morgan inquired, his hands relaxed yet prepared at his sides.
"Operating in locations. The Queen's concerns are extensive." Valentina's gaze remained fixed on Cassiathon. "You've been active. Crafting messages planting hidden traps dismantling forces not through force but via… ontological disruption. You are surpassing the Project's limits, in manners."
"I'm not an experiment " Cassiathon stated, his tone monotone.
"Aren't you? Every aspect of your existence was designed— from human despair then through celestial influence. You represent the pinnacle of creation." She moved nearer. The reflections appeared to duplicate her advance. "The Queen isn't merely seeking to retrieve you. She aims to decipher the formula. The blend of her life and Deaths conclusiveness. You might unlock the path to an era. One surpassing the loop of life and death."
"You're talking about a regime where she reigns eternally " Tania's voice echoed from, behind. She had demanded to join as guard and now entered the atrium her pistol secured yet her stance unwavering. "Don't disguise conquest as ideology."
Valentina grinned, her face lighting up with delight. "The mortal mother. Persisting in her emotions. It is those feelings, Cassiathon that render you vulnerable. That cause your uncertainty. Imagine if you never had to decide all. Imagine possessing the strength to safeguard what you cherish. Not, as a Reapers charge. As a Kings heir?"
The proposition lingered in the atmosphere endlessly reflected by the mirrors. It was crafted precisely targeting the struggle within him.
"Forever means simply a period to be mistaken " Cassiathon remarked.. The phrase sounded empty. The allure, the serene vow of no further decisions no additional farewells resonated within the quiet Abyssal section of his being.
Valentina noticed the glimmer. "You sense it. The chance for peace. For the conclusion of the turmoil, inside you. We can offer you that harmony."
She lifted a hand. The mirrors didn't break. They transformed. The images no longer depicted their circle. They revealed futures. Cassiathon, dressed in Abyssal armor standing alongside Vernia and Blaise Vouw as a cherished prince. Cassiathon, wielding his power to restore a land not by bringing life but through flawless preserved stillness. Cassiathon, with Tania and the Angel not in a mountain hideaway but within a palace unaffected, by the passage of time or conflict.
They were lies. Beautiful, seductive lies.
"Pause " Celeste uttered, her tone. Distinct. A gentle blue glow radiated from her acting as a shield, against the mirrors mental allure. "They're reflections. There's no substance to them."
Valentina's grin grew sharper. "Depth is overvalued. It's surface appeal that persuades." She clicked her fingers.
The images emerged from the mirrors.
Silent solid replicas of Cassiathon, Morgan, Sierra, Celeste and Tania appeared from the glass their expressions empty their actions exact. They wielded matching weapons maintained matching poses.
"A challenge " Valentina declared, retreating toward a lowering platform. "Confront your boundaries. Battle your bonds. Demonstrate to yourself which holds power: the forged weapon or the turbulent emotional being you claim to be."
The platform lowered her abandoning them in the atrium alongside their look-alikes.
The mirror-Cassiathon raised its hands, grey and violet energy swirling in a perfect, controlled, and utterly soulless blend.