---
[Interior: Hollow Crown Vault — mirror chamber. The last unbroken mirror hums with rising energy. The air smells of ozone and burnt memories.]
Sylrae (tightening her gloves):
"This is where he is. Or at least... part of him."
Thane (loading his sidearm):
"Walking through a mirror into a corrupted branch of reality wasn't how I planned to spend today."
Myrrenox (telepathic, solemn):
> "These are not mere reflections. They are wounds in possibility. Step carefully—lest you lose what anchors you."
---
**[They step through the mirror. The world flips.]
[Scene Shift: Alternate Aerathen — a thriving Skyborne Empire that never fell. Clean skies. Order. Processions. Kaelen is Sky-Emperor here—draped in crimson regalia, standing on the Skyborne Throne with a quiet, unreadable smile.]
Sylrae (breath stolen):
"He's ruling…"
Thane (grim):
"Looks more like he's imprisoned by perfection."
[Guards turn toward them. Not Bound. Loyalists. Unaware this version isn't the prime reality.]
Imperial Guard Captain:
"Halt. You approach the Sky-Emperor without sanction."
Sylrae (stepping forward, voice hard):
"We're not here for permission. We're here for Kaelen. The real one."
Kaelen (from the dais, calmly):
"I am real. And I chose this. The Empire didn't fall. We made it work."
---
[A flicker. For a breath of time—his eyes show fear. Then blankness again. A Bound echo is layered over his voice.]
Kaelen-Bound (distorted):
> "Perfection is a cage with golden bars. And now... I've made a prison of myself."
Sylrae (to Thane):
"He's aware. But trapped in a reality shaped by the Bound. They made this... to tempt him."
Thane (watching the guards closing in):
"Then we break the illusion."
---
[Gunfire. Swordflash. The mirror world begins to unravel. Skyships twist in impossible loops. Buildings crack like eggshells. Reality bleeds. As Sylrae reaches Kaelen, the world goes white.]
Kaelen (barely audible):
> "Find the anchor. I buried it... in the place I never wanted to return."
Sylrae (gripping his arm):
"Where?"
Kaelen (eyes flickering):
> "My mother's grave. The city that sank. Vel Sora."
---
[They are hurled back through the mirror. The Hollow Crown Vault is breaking apart. Mirrors scream. And far above, the Bound converge on the Verge.]
Thane (panting):
"Vel Sora's underwater. It's not even on maps anymore."
Sylrae (clenching her fists):
"Then we go diving into the drowned past."
---
End of Chapter Twenty-One