The air didn't move.
It wasn't just still—
it was frozen.
As if the world itself had paused to watch what would happen next.
Ardyn didn't blink.
Didn't breathe.
Didn't look away.
Because the moment he did—
he had a feeling something would change.
"I'm what comes after you."
The words lingered.
Heavy.
Unnatural.
"…That doesn't make sense."
Ardyn's voice was calm, but his mind wasn't.
Every instinct he had was screaming—
this wasn't a person.
The other Ardyn smiled slightly.
"That's because you're still thinking in straight lines."
A step closer.
No sound.
No footsteps.
Just… closer.
Ardyn noticed it instantly.
The distance between them had shortened—
but he hadn't seen him move.
"…You didn't walk."
A pause.
Then—
"You just appeared."
The smile widened.
"Good."
Something shifted.
Not around them.
Not in the air.
Inside Ardyn.
A flicker.
A memory—
no…
not his.
A broken image flashed across his mind.
Dark sky.
Cracked ground.
A version of himself—
standing alone.
Then it was gone.
Ardyn staggered half a step back.
"…What was that?"
The other Ardyn tilted his head.
"You saw it, didn't you?"
Silence.
"That's where I'm from."
The words didn't feel like a lie.
That was the problem.
Ardyn's gaze hardened.
"…You're not answering the question."
Another step forward.
This time—
Ardyn saw it.
For a split second—
the figure blurred.
Like something struggling to stay in place.
"I am answering you."
The voice dropped slightly.
Colder now.
"You're just not ready to understand it yet."
The pressure returned.
Stronger.
Heavier.
The world around them started to distort.
Slightly—
but enough.
The passing people…
weren't moving anymore.
Frozen.
Mid-step.
Mid-breath.
Mid-life.
Ardyn's eyes widened slightly.
"…What did you do?"
The other version didn't look at them.
Didn't care.
"I didn't do anything."
A pause.
"This is what happens when you start noticing too much."
Another flicker.
Stronger this time.
The same broken world.
The same ruined sky.
And that version of him—
turning slowly.
Looking directly at him.
Ardyn clenched his jaw.
"…Stop."
The other Ardyn stepped closer.
Now only a few feet away.
"You can feel it, can't you?"
The pressure.
The distortion.
The shift.
"You're already changing."
Silence.
Then—
a whisper.
"And once it starts…"
The smile returned.
"There's no going back."
A crack.
A faint, almost invisible crack—
spread across the air between them.
Reality itself—
fracturing.
Ardyn froze.
For the first time—
he felt it.
Not around him.
Inside him.
Something…
breaking.