Chapter 23: The Fractured Self

They made it out.

But something was wrong.

Riven stepped through the rusted doorway back into the open air, but the moment his boots hit solid ground, a sharp, piercing static rang through his skull. His vision split—like he was seeing two different realities at once.

One where everything was as it should be.

And another—

Where it was already gone.

He staggered.

Vera caught him, her grip tight on his arm. "Hey—hey, stay with me."

Riven clenched his teeth. Stay grounded. Stay real.

But the world was shifting at the edges, stretching like fabric about to tear.

And somewhere deep inside—something was slipping.

---

They didn't stop moving.

Couldn't.

The streets of the Hollow City stretched out around them, empty and decayed. The buildings stood like gravestones, remnants of a place that had already been forgotten.

Vex led the way, his shoulders tense. Vera kept to Riven's side, watching him carefully.

They didn't talk about what had happened back there.

Not yet.

Not when the air still felt wrong.

---

Five blocks in, Riven started noticing it.

At first, it was just flickers—shapes in the corner of his eye, movement that vanished the moment he looked at it.

Then—

He saw himself.

Standing at the end of the street.

Not moving. Not speaking. Just watching.

A perfect copy—except for the way its body seemed to glitch, distorting at the edges, like a video struggling to load.

Riven stopped cold.

Vera followed his gaze—but she saw nothing.

"Riven?"

He swallowed, his pulse hammering. "You don't see it?"

She frowned. "See what?"

His copy smiled.

Then—it turned and walked away.

Riven took a step forward—

And suddenly—

He was somewhere else.

---

A mirror.

That's what it looked like.

Riven stood in front of himself—but the reflection wasn't right.

It was delayed.

He lifted his hand. His reflection lifted a second later.

His heart slammed in his chest.

The reflection tilted its head. Then it smiled.

"You're falling apart."

The voice wasn't just his.

It was layered. Distorted. Like an echo of himself that didn't quite fit.

Riven took a step back. The reflection stepped forward.

"How much longer do you think you have?"

Then—

The mirror shattered.

And—

---

He was back.

Gasping. Kneeling on the street. Vera and Vex over him, shouting his name.

He didn't remember falling.

Vera's grip was tight on his shoulders. "What the hell just happened?"

Riven blinked. His head throbbed. He felt—disconnected. Like his body was still catching up to him.

Vex's face was pale. "We lost you for a full minute."

A minute?

To Riven, it had felt like seconds.

But the worst part?

He wasn't sure if he was the same Riven who had left.

---

They couldn't stay here.

Riven forced himself up, pushing down the rising nausea, the cold emptiness clawing at his chest.

They moved fast, weaving through the abandoned streets, heading toward the nearest safehouse.

But the further they went—

The worse it got.

The flickers in the air. The phantom footsteps that didn't match theirs. The distant, distorted echoes of conversations they had never had.

And Riven—

Riven felt it growing.

The part of him that wasn't him anymore.

It was like the Monarch had left a mark on him.

And that mark was spreading.

---

Four blocks later, they reached the safehouse.

It was an old underground facility, long abandoned, buried beneath layers of the city's forgotten past. Vex worked the keypad, his fingers moving quickly, punching in codes. The door hissed, releasing a stale breath of air.

Inside, it was dark. Cold. Too quiet.

Vex checked the perimeter, making sure they were alone. Vera locked the entrance behind them.

Riven stood in the middle of the room, his hands pressed against the table, his breath coming too fast.

His reflection wasn't in the glass.

He felt his stomach drop.

Slowly, he turned to Vera.

"...Tell me you see me right now."

Her brow furrowed. "What?"

"Tell me you see me."

A flicker of concern crossed her face. "Of course I see you, what the hell are you—"

Then she stopped.

Her expression shifted.

Vex looked up from his work, glancing between them. "What's going on?"

Vera's fingers twitched toward her gun.

She wasn't looking at him anymore.

She was looking past him.

Riven's throat went dry.

"...Vera."

She inhaled sharply. Her voice was low.

"There are two of you."

---

Silence.

Cold. Heavy. Suffocating.

Riven turned.

And—

There it was.

His copy.

Standing at the other end of the room.

Still. Watching. Smiling.

Vex cursed. "Nope. Nope. Absolutely not." He reached for his weapon. "We're not doing this."

Vera didn't move. She was waiting.

Because they all knew—

If they made the wrong move, they wouldn't be able to tell which one of them was real.

And the worst part?

Riven wasn't sure he knew either.