"Rebirth required. Protocol initializing. Reclaim your true self."
The voice echoed again. Genderless. Ageless. Rooted in something ancient and unrelenting.
Elira floated in the space between—not quite alive, not quite gone. Her breath caught as images surged all around her: flickers of lives she couldn't claim, names that tasted familiar but rang hollow.
Elira… Aria… Nalia… Selene…
Each version of her blinked past in rapid motion. Each had loved. Each had suffered. Each had made a different choice.
And they all stared back at her now.
"Where... am I?" she whispered, though no lips moved. The space responded—not with words, but with feeling. An ache deep in her chest. A yearning to be whole.
Then came Kael's voice. Gentle. Desperate.
"Come back to me, Elira. This time… remember."
Within the Real World — 10 Minutes Before
Kael knelt beside Elira's limp body, blood running down from his ear. He was trembling from the resonance backlash. She wasn't breathing—but her pulse was still there. Barely.
Jane stood behind him, a blade in one hand, a memory shard in the other.
"She's stuck, isn't she?" Jane asked, voice hoarse. "Between resets."
Kael didn't answer. He placed a glowing echo stone over Elira's forehead.
"She's not just stuck," he finally said. "She's being rewritten. The Protocol is burning her old versions."
Jane flinched. "So what happens if you fail to pull her out?"
Kael's fingers curled tighter. "Then she forgets everything. Not just this cycle. Not just me. Herself."
The Liminal Space — Inside Elira's Mind
She felt warmth. Then ice. Then fire.
Every moment of her past—fabricated or real—flooded her body. The mother who called her "Lira." The man in shadows whispering secrets. Christine's comforting smile. Jane's fury. Kael's hand in hers as they ran from something unseen.
Memories bled together. But one stood out.
A girl in a hospital bed.
The walls were gray. Machines beeped around her. And Kael… younger, trembling, stood at her bedside.
"You saved me," the girl whispered.
"No," Kael replied, "I broke you."
Elira stepped closer to the memory. It didn't feel like a flashback. It felt like truth.
"What did he do to me?" she whispered into the void.
The space trembled.
Rebirth protocol sequence: 73%
Warning: Emotional breach detected.
A surge of grief hit her like lightning. She screamed—louder than any sound should echo—and the world cracked.
The faces of her former selves screamed with her.
Reality – Elira's Body
The echo stone on her forehead cracked.
Kael shouted, "No—NO! She's fighting it! Jane, I need a stabilizer!"
Jane hesitated. "This wasn't part of the plan. Kael, she might not come back the same—"
"She'll come back wrong if we do nothing!"
Jane clenched her jaw, tossed him the shard. "Then bring her back right."
Mindscape — Rebirth Threshold
The floor beneath Elira fractured. She was falling now—through shards of herself.
Suddenly, Christine appeared in front of her. But not the Christine she knew.
This one had no eyes. Just threads—silver and red—crawling across her face.
"Why are you here?" Elira demanded.
Christine smiled sadly. "Because you needed someone to trust."
"You lied to me."
"I had to."
"You were working with him." Her voice cracked. "With Kael."
Christine reached out. "And yet… here you are. Trusting him again."
Elira wanted to hate her. She wanted to scream. But deep down, something made her pause.
Because Christine was crying.
"You were never supposed to remember," she whispered.
Then she was gone.
Rebirth protocol sequence: 93%
A white door appeared in front of Elira.
Carved into it were the words:
"Step through to become who you were meant to be."
Her hand hovered over the handle.
Then—Kael's voice. No longer desperate. Just… steady. Soft.
"Elira. I know you're scared. But you have to choose now. I can't do this for you."
She closed her eyes. Every version of herself—the fake names, the fractured memories, the pain—stood behind her.
But something new flickered in her chest.
Not fire. Not ice. Not fear.
Clarity.
Reality — One Second Later
The echo stone shattered completely.
Kael pulled back.
Then—Elira gasped.
Her eyes flew open.
But they were no longer brown.
They were silver.
Final Scene — Minutes Later
Kael sat in the shadowed edge of the safehouse, staring at his shaking hands.
Jane paced near the door, blade still drawn. "She's not saying anything."
"She will," Kael said quietly.
Jane looked at him. "Kael… what if the Protocol changed her?"
"She chose," he said. "That's what matters."
From the other room, Elira's voice rang out.
Low. Calm.
"I remember everything."
Elira is no longer fragmented. But the Protocol's activation has ripple effects beyond just her. Someone else has awakened.
And their first target… is Kael.