Reflections of the self

The world stood still for a breath.

Then, it screamed.

The alternate Himari—crowned and corrupted—stepped fully into their world. Her presence warped the air, time bending around her like a heat haze. Every breath she took echoed like thunder across dimensions. The Trumpet of Revelation floated behind her, humming like a heart ready to explode.

Himari—this Himari—staggered back. Her knees trembled, not from fear, but from recognition. That other version… was her. A future her. A possibility born of rage, isolation, and power unchecked.

Sebastian’s hand shot out protectively in front of her. “Stay behind me.”

“No,” she whispered. “I need to face her.”

Ash, still gripping his sword, looked between the two Himaris, then stepped forward, wings unfurled in defiance. “You don’t belong here,” he said to the crowned version. “You’re destabilizing this realm.”

The crowned Himari tilted her head. “Oh, I belong everywhere. That’s the point. Your Himari… our Himari… has the potential to reshape reality. I just stopped pretending I didn’t want to.”

She raised her hand—and the world cracked.

Buildings trembled. Time stuttered. The moon flickered between full and crescent. Streetlights flared, turned to vines, then shattered. The Requiem agents behind Ash were gone—erased by a thought.

“You see?” she said softly. “This realm is fragile. A song, barely remembered. But I can conduct it anew.”

The Trumpet pulsed.

Himari stepped forward, jaw clenched. “If you’re really me, then you know what I lost to get here. I won’t let you take it from me.”

“I am what you lost,” the other replied. “Every death, every betrayal, every exile. I embraced the chaos. You ran from it.”

“And now I’m standing in front of it.”

A heartbeat.

Then—light. Battle.

Ash launched into the sky, blades spinning with celestial energy. Sebastian vanished into shadows, reappearing above the crowned Himari with claws bared. But she moved like a god—effortless, graceful, terrifying. Their attacks passed through her like wind through smoke.

Himari focused, reaching deep. The shadows around her danced to her will, flames pulsing to the rhythm of her heart. But something was off. Her power—all her power—was pulling inward.

The alternate version smiled. “You feel it, don’t you? I’m not just you. I’m consuming you. Every time your power surges, I draw closer.”

And suddenly—snap!—Himari dropped to her knees, coughing blood.

“She’s siphoning my energy,” she gasped. “Every version of me… she’s feeding off them.”

“We have to sever the link,” Sebastian said, appearing beside her. “Before she collapses the multiverse into a single thread—hers.”

Ash, now bloodied, landed beside them. “There’s only one way to break it. Destroy the trumpet.”

Himari looked up, eyes blazing. “If we destroy it, we destroy the veil between us. I might never find my real self again.”

“Or save the rest of the world,” Ash said.

They looked at each other—and a silent decision passed between them.

“Then let’s end it,” she whispered.

Sebastian extended his hand. “Together.”

Their powers intertwined—shadow, flame, divine light. The rooftop became a storm of energy. Himari stood, one last time, and stepped toward her alternate self.

“You want to be me?” she said. “Then take everything.”

She lunged forward—through fire, time, and pain—her hands reaching not for the trumpet, but for the heart of who she used to be.

And the moment they touched—

The world shattered.

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