The Enemy Within

With those terrifying words—"You cease to exist"—echoing like the finality of a funeral gong, Mami Wata vanished into a glittering cloud of bubbles, leaving Amanse utterly alone.

He floated before the obsidian gateway, deep beneath the astral ocean—far from time, far beyond time and consequence. He stood still for a moment, suspended in the supernatural silence. No fish. No current. No gods. Just him and the vast, ancient gate.

Taking a shuddering breath, Amanse began to move toward the colossal structure. With each measured glide, the gate grew larger, stretching into infinity. Its presence became overwhelming, like a mountain pressing against his chest. The closer he drew, the smaller he felt—until he was reduced to something ant-like, crawling before a monolith of unknowable design.

And then he felt it.

Power.

Ancient, oppressive, raw. A power older than stars, older than the gods, older than thought. The gate radiated authority like a bonfire belching heat. Instinctively, Amanse knew: not even the Alusi held dominion here. Whatever governed this threshold predated divine memory.

Suddenly, he understood why Mami Wata had turned back.

This place did not recognize rank. It answered only to trial and truth.

Still, Amanse approached. He hovered a few paces away, peering around, searching for any sign of the gate's guardian. But there was no movement. No voice. No signal. The sea around him was still, like the hush before a final breath.

Finally, he reached out with a trembling finger and touched the smooth black surface.

Everything exploded.

Pain lanced through him like lightning wrapped in fire. It felt as though a thousand bees stung his soul, as if his skin had been flayed open by flame and thunder. He screamed, or tried to—but no sound escaped. His vision blanked out as he was flung backward through the water, tumbling twenty meters away like a ragdoll in a cyclone.

His body slammed to a halt, floating in stunned agony.

Then he saw it.

A figure materialized.

It stood calmly between him and the gate. Not tall. Not terrifying. But terribly familiar.

It was him.

Not just a reflection—but a perfect duplicate. Same face. Same scars. Same hair. Even the same haunted look in the eyes.

Amanse staggered upright, blood pounding in his ears.

"Wh-who... are you?"

The being didn't speak. It simply pointed.

At Amanse.

Then at itself.

 I AM YOU.

Before Amanse could respond, a thunderous growl echoed through the watery darkness. Something vast stirred beyond the shadowed expanse. A figure moved—and kept moving. The gloom pulled back like a curtain to reveal a colossal guardian rising from the darkness.

A titan.

He was carved from stone, or seemed to be—his body massive and ridged with rocky muscle. Two immense horns curled from his forehead, one broken at the tip. His face was studded with gemstones that shimmered with ancient fire, and from his nostrils hung a gold ring thick as Amanse's thigh. In his right hand, he cradled a swirling orb—inside it, cities lived and died.

And then, the guardian spoke.

 "THIS IS YOUR TEST, AMANSE."

The words dropped like huge rocks, reverberating through the sea.

Amanse trembled. The voice did not just echo—it vibrated his bones.

 "I AM THE FIRST GUARDIAN OF THE SEVEN REALMS," the titan continued. "YOU SEEK ENTRY INTO THE SANCTUM OF THE SKY GOD. TO REACH IT, YOU MUST PASS THROUGH THIS GATE. AND TO PASS, YOU MUST CONQUER YOUR MORTAL ENEMY."

Amanse swallowed, heart thudding.

 "And... who is that?"

The guardian lifted one massive hand and pointed at the twin.

 "YOURSELF."

The twin grinned—a wide, bone-deep grin that stretched impossibly across its face.

Amanse took a slow step back.

 "He has... my powers?"

"HE IS YOU. EVERY BIT OF YOU—STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES, SHADOWS."

Before Amanse could ask another question, the twin attacked.

A blinding flash surged above him. A monstrous sea-beast dive-bombed from the watery sky, aiming straight for Amanse. He twisted mid-water, barely avoiding the gnashing fangs. The creature vanished—an illusion, a feint.

Amanse turned—just in time to see his doppelgänger's foot slam into his chest.

Crack!

He flew backward again, the water bubbling with the force of the impact.

 "This is madness," Amanse spat, clutching his ribs.

His twin said nothing. But his eyes glittered with cruel pleasure.

Amanse gathered himself. Energy flared in his palms. The same ancestral flame that the astral plane had stirred now danced at his fingertips. He stared at it in shock. That's new.

The twin copied him—perfectly.

Amanse threw the wave of fire. The twin answered with one of his own.

The flames collided and cancelled out.

They circled one another, two halves of the same soul, each trying to find a crack, a weakness.

Then it struck Amanse—this wasn't about power.

He remembered something his father had always told him as a boy:

 "You must not just fight for survival. You must fight for dominion."

Amanse stopped attacking.

He stood still, hands lowered, heart open.

The twin blinked, confused.

 "You are the part of me that I must accept," Amanse whispered. "Not destroy."

The twin hesitated.

"I know why you hate. Why you rage. You are every wound I ever buried. Every scream I never let out. Every shame and ridicule I endured. But I see you now. And I do not run."

Something shifted.

The twin stepped forward. His grin faded. His fists lowered.

And then, the doppelgänger nodded.

They reached out—and touched palms.

A blinding light erupted between them.

The guardian watched in silence. When the light faded, only one Amanse remained—whole. Changed. Stronger.

The obsidian gate began to open.

 "YOU HAVE PASSED," the guardian rumbled. "MAY YOU HOLD TOGETHER WHAT YOU HAVE CLAIMED. COME, YOUR ALUSI AWAIT!"

And with that, the Gate of Sky swallowed him in white fire.