Chapter 10: The Shattered Path

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Riven couldn't shake the feeling that something had followed them.

The alley was silent now, but the tension in his chest wouldn't release. Each step he took felt heavier, like the very ground beneath him was trying to swallow him whole.

He glanced over at Vera, who was pacing in front of him, her eyes narrowed in thought. Her hands gripped her pulse rifle with a white-knuckled intensity.

"You should get some rest," Riven said, trying to break the silence.

Vera's eyes snapped to him. Her gaze was cold, untrusting. "Rest?" Her voice was almost a growl. "Maybe you should get some rest, Steele. You've been acting strange lately. Not like you."

Riven's heart skipped. He wanted to argue, to say he was fine, but he knew better than to lie now.

"Do you trust me?" he asked quietly.

Vera didn't answer immediately. She just stared at him with eyes that had seen too much.

Finally, she spoke. "I trust you as much as I trust the shadows we're running from."

Her words hung in the air like a death sentence. And somehow, it felt more true than ever.

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A Bitter Revelation

Vex was waiting for them at the rendezvous point, his face illuminated by the flickering light of his wrist console. He didn't look up as they approached.

"You're late," Vex said, his voice flat.

Vera's eyes narrowed. "We had… complications."

"You always do," Vex replied, his tone tinged with something darker. "But I found something."

Riven glanced at Vera. She looked just as suspicious as he felt.

Vex pulled up a series of holographic documents on his wrist console, his fingers swiping quickly through them. "There's a pattern to these disappearances. These aren't random."

Riven's stomach churned. "What do you mean?"

Vex turned the console toward him. The documents were old, far older than the current crisis. It was a set of military records, names listed, dates.

"Riven Steele. The first Sentinel to vanish," Vex said, pointing to a name on the list. "Except it's not the first time this has happened. This has happened before."

Riven's heart stopped. He leaned in closer. "What do you mean, before?"

Vex's voice dropped to a whisper. "There have been other Sentinels. Other versions of you. All of them erased. All of them replaced."

The words hung in the air, as if the world itself had just cracked open to reveal the truth.

"No," Riven breathed. "That can't be true."

But the unease in his gut told him otherwise.

Vex continued, scrolling down to another name—one that made Riven's blood run cold. "Riven Steele—Vanished. Presumed dead. One of the previous attempts. Seven years ago."

The room spun. His mind refused to process it.

"Attempts?" Riven echoed, voice shaky. "You're telling me this isn't the first time I've—"

Vex nodded, his eyes dark with understanding. "There's been more. This Monarch, this thing... It's been rewriting reality for as long as we can track. Your name, Steele, it's not a coincidence. It's a mark. You're not the first version of the Sentinel. But you might be the last."

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The Weight of the Truth

Riven sank back against the wall, trying to breathe. He had felt it before, in the pit of his stomach—the feeling that something was wrong. But hearing it out loud, seeing the names of others who had vanished, it shattered him.

Was he even real anymore?

What if he wasn't the true Riven Steele? What if he had been replaced just like the others?

The hollow reflection of the copy in the alley haunted him. Had that been him, or something else? A twisted version that had taken his place?

Vera stood at the edge of the room, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. "So what now?"

Riven couldn't meet her gaze. "Now... I find out who I really am."

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The Monarch's Hand

As Riven spiraled into a labyrinth of thoughts, a voice—not his own—cut through the fog of his mind.

"You were never meant to be here."

Riven's eyes widened. He shot up, hand clutching at his head. It was the Monarch's voice. It had slipped into his thoughts again, like a poison.

The room shifted.

The walls seemed to breathe, pulse with a rhythm that wasn't human.

Vera snapped her head around. "What the hell is happening?"

"I... I don't know." Riven staggered back, his breath coming in shallow gasps.

The world trembled. The reality they stood in felt fragile—like it was about to snap.

"You're already gone."

The voice came from everywhere. Inside. Outside. It wrapped around him like a suffocating shroud.

And then, in a flash of blinding light, the walls began to crack. The reality around them began to bend.

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The Final Stand

Vera cursed under her breath, stepping forward, pulse rifle raised. "We're not done yet, Steele. Whatever this is, we're taking it down."

Vex stepped back, his fingers working furiously at his wrist console. "The Monarch is trying to rewrite everything. Erase us all."

The ground shifted beneath their feet, and Riven felt it again. The presence of the Monarch—closer than before, stronger. It wasn't just a whisper anymore. It was a full-on assault.

Riven turned to Vera. "You still trust me?"

Vera hesitated for a moment. Her face was hard, unreadable. Then, with a slow nod, she said, "You're all I've got left."

She raised her rifle, aiming at the growing distortion in the air. "So let's make sure this isn't the last version of you."