Noir stared in disbelief. The figure before him, a doppelgänger cloaked in shadows.. wore his face. Pale skin cracked like porcelain, leaking void-like energy, eyes hollow but brimming with malice.
"You're not me!" Noir shouted, rage surging through his veins. He lunged, driving his sword toward the creature's face.
With unnatural ease, the doppelgänger caught the blade mid-strike. A pulse of shadow erupted from its palm as it snapped the weapon in two, sending Noir hurtling backward.
Noir crashed to the ground, coughing, dazed. Before he could rise, the doppelgänger was upon him. Its cold hand closed around his throat, lifting him off the earth.
"Tell me," the entity hissed. "Who were you before?"
"A... commoner..." Noir choked out, struggling against the crushing grip.
"And who will you be in the end?"
"I... I don't know..."
"Then let me remind you," the doppelgänger whispered, tightening its grip. "The rising sun falls. Such is the fate of dawn. And like fate, it cannot be defied."
Noir's vision dimmed. The world blurred. But in that brink-of-death moment, images flashed through his mind: the burning farm, his grandfather's smile, laughter with Valeria, Celeste's quiet strength. His companions. His promise.
"You... don't get to decide who I am..."
A spark ignited deep within.
"I will blaze! A path of my own!"
A burst of golden energy exploded outward. The doppelgänger was flung backward, skidding across the ground. Noir floated, suspended in the air. His green scarf unraveled into radiant threads, weaving themselves into a suit of gleaming silver armor traced with golden lines. A sun emblem pulsed on his chest. Wings of pure light unfurled from his back.
He descended slowly, his eyes now glowing with divine fire.
"I am the sun. I am the dawn. I am the agony this world needs!"
He raised a new weapon.. "Lumenveil" A sword forged from the light of the rising sun.
The doppelgänger sneered. "You think a new form will save you? Pathetic. One who desire to leave..."
A dark blade rose from the earth and into its grasp.
"One must first step back into the stage !"
The air tensed. Dawn and Dusk stood opposed.
Without warning, the doppelgänger lunged. "Die, Dawnbringer!"
Their swords clashed, light against shadow. Sparks flew, the ground trembled beneath them. Blow for blow, they fought. The doppelgänger slashed low, Noir parried. Noir countered with a blinding arc of light, the doppelgänger deflected it, snarling.
"There is no place for you in the new world!" the doppelgänger roared. He raised a hand, freezing the air into jagged glaciers, launching them forward.
Noir soared into the sky, wings burning bright. He looked down, one hand outstretched.
"All shall bid farewell to one. And that person alone, shall witness the dawn of a new world."
A golden halo formed above him, charged with solar energy.
"The world will no longer know Dusk, for it too shall fall."
The doppelgänger howled, charging an enormous ice spear. Its tip shimmered with death.
"DIE BY MY HAND!"
The spear launched.
Noir remained unfazed.
"Feel its wrath! Lumenveil!"
He slid the blade into the radiant halo. A blinding beam erupted from the sky, colliding with the incoming spear.
Light met ice.
A deafening explosion shattered the memory realm. Mnemosyne's Rift collapsed, fracturing into oblivion.
---------------------------------
Meanwhile, in the real world...
"Die, you abomination of dead fish!" Valeria roared, cutting down another Undead Drown. "Celeste! Has the kid woken up yet?!"
"Give me a moment! His wound.. it's too deep... too fatal.. I don't know if I can stop the bleeding!" Celeste's hands glowed as she channeled every drop of magic into Noir's chest. The trident still protruded from his body.
"Noir... please... wake up.. Wake up!" she whispered. Her voice cracked with pain.
Suddenly, light bloomed.
The Grand Drown paused. Celeste looked up.
Noir's body was glowing. Wings formed. The trident was expelled from his chest by an unseen force.
CRACK-BOOM!
A golden beam shot skyward, blasting the Grand Drown off its feet. Celeste was knocked back from the force, landing hard.
As the dust cleared, a silhouette stood on the deck.
Noir.
Clad in shining armor, Lumenveil in hand, wings blazing behind him.
The Grand Drown rose, slowly.
This was no ordinary boy.
The real battle... had just begun.
The dust slowly settled. The air shimmered with fading light.
Valeria and Celeste stared at the figure standing before them. No longer a boy, but something more.
Wings of light pulsed gently at his back. His armor gleamed like morning steel. In his hand, Lumenveil hummed quietly, resonating with purpose.
He looked at them, those who never left him.
A slow breath. A tired, knowing smile.
"I'm home."
[—To Be Continued—]