The crack didn't disappear.
It spread.
Slowly.
Silently.
Like something alive.
Ardyn couldn't move.
His eyes were locked onto it—
that thin, jagged line in the air.
It wasn't supposed to exist.
And yet…
it was there.
Real.
Growing.
---
"You see it now."
The voice came softly.
Too calmly.
---
Ardyn's breathing grew heavier.
"…What is that?"
---
The other Ardyn didn't answer immediately.
He just watched.
As if waiting.
As if this moment mattered more than anything else.
---
"It's a beginning."
---
The crack pulsed.
---
A faint sound echoed—
like glass under pressure.
---
Then—
it widened.
---
The world flinched.
---
The frozen people—
glitched.
---
For a split second—
they moved.
Then stopped again.
---
Wrong.
Everything felt wrong.
---
Ardyn took a step back.
This time—
his footstep made a sound.
---
Sharp.
Clear.
---
Too loud.
---
The other Ardyn's eyes shifted slightly.
Not surprised.
Interested.
---
"…It's already affecting you."
---
Another pulse.
Stronger.
---
The crack spread further—
branching out like veins across empty space.
---
Ardyn's vision blurred.
---
The street—
flickered.
---
For a moment—
it was gone.
---
Replaced by something else.
---
Dark sky.
Broken ground.
Silence.
---
That world.
---
Then—
back again.
---
Ardyn stumbled.
His hand reached out—
grabbing nothing.
---
"…This isn't real."
---
The words felt hollow the moment he said them.
---
The other Ardyn stepped closer.
No blur this time.
No distortion.
---
Just one step.
---
And the distance vanished.
---
"It is now."
---
The pressure surged.
---
Ardyn's chest tightened.
---
Not from fear.
---
From something else.
---
Recognition.
---
Another flash.
---
That ruined world again.
Closer this time.
Clearer.
---
He wasn't just seeing it.
---
He was there.
---
Standing.
Breathing.
Existing inside it.
---
Ardyn gasped—
and the vision shattered.
---
Back to the street.
---
But something had changed.
---
The crack—
was no longer in front of him.
---
It was everywhere.
---
Faint lines.
Spreading across the sky.
Across the ground.
Across everything.
---
Reality—
splitting apart.
---
"…You're breaking it."
---
Ardyn's voice came out quieter now.
Not accusing.
Not afraid.
---
Certain.
---
The other Ardyn stopped.
---
For the first time—
his smile faded slightly.
---
"…No."
---
A pause.
---
Then—
---
"You are."
---
Silence hit harder than before.
---
Ardyn's mind froze.
---
Another pulse.
---
Stronger.
---
The cracks reacted—
like they were responding.
---
To him.
---
"I told you."
The other Ardyn's voice lowered.
---
"You're already changing."
---
A step back.
---
Not from fear.
---
From distance.
---
From control.
---
"And once it starts…"
---
The cracks trembled.
---
The world flickered again—
longer this time.
---
That other world—
pushing through.
---
"…it doesn't stop."
---
A sharp sound tore through the air.
---
Not from the crack.
---
From Ardyn.
---
A fracture—
spreading across his reflection in a nearby glass window.
---
But he hadn't moved.
---
The reflection had.
---
Ardyn turned sharply.
---
The reflection—
was still staring at him.
---
Smiling.
---
Not him.
---
Never him.
---
The glass trembled—
then—
---
shattered.