Chapter 36: The Shattering of Selves

The silence after the glass shattered was profound. Caelum stood amidst the fragments, each shard catching the faint, ethereal glow of the Hall of Echoes. The air was charged, the kind of quiet that carried weight—waiting, listening, alive. He could feel the mansion's presence intensify, its consciousness pressing against his own, urging him forward yet suffocating him under its gaze.

Before him, the largest mirror had fractured into countless pieces, yet its surface still rippled like water. In its reflection, he saw not himself, but Elias, standing still with his blade lowered, watching with an expression that was both inscrutable and heavy with expectation.

“Step through,” the voice urged, the familiar whisper now a crescendo of temptation and warning. “It is time to see.”

Caelum hesitated at the edge of the mirror, the blade trembling in his hand. The fractured surface called to him, the pieces shifting to reveal glimpses of something beyond—a dark expanse where light flickered like dying stars.

“What’s on the other side?” Caelum asked, his voice steady despite the tumult inside him.

Elias approached slowly, his boots crunching on the glass-strewn floor. “The question isn’t what’s there,” he said. “It’s who.”

“Me?” Caelum asked, the word almost bitter.

“Not just you,” Elias replied. “Every version of you this mansion has ever shown. Every failure. Every triumph. Every fragment of yourself you’ve left behind.”

Caelum’s grip on the blade tightened. “And if I don’t go?”

Elias smiled faintly, but there was no warmth in it. “Then you’ll stay here. Forever. The mansion doesn’t let go of those who refuse to face themselves.”

Caelum took a deep breath and stepped into the mirror.

The world warped instantly, the sensation like plunging into icy water. The Hall of Echoes dissolved into darkness, and Caelum found himself standing in an endless void. Shards of mirrors floated around him, each reflecting a different version of himself:

The shards rotated slowly, their edges sharp and jagged. They whispered as they moved, voices overlapping in an unintelligible cacophony.

“You cannot escape us,” one reflection hissed.
“We are you.”

“Then why do you haunt me?” Caelum demanded, his voice echoing in the void.

The reflections didn’t answer, but the shards began to coalesce, merging into a larger figure. Slowly, the amalgamation took shape—a monstrous, distorted version of Caelum, its body made entirely of mirror shards. Its face was a grotesque mosaic of his features, each expression fragmented and mismatched.

“You’ve been running,” the creature said, its voice layered and echoing, as if a thousand versions of Caelum spoke at once. “From us. From yourself.”

Caelum raised the blade, the weight of it grounding him. “I’m not running now.”

The creature laughed, a sound that vibrated through the void. “No. You’re here to fight. But do you even know what you’re fighting for?”

“I’m fighting to be free,” Caelum said.

“Free?” the creature sneered. “From what? The mansion? Me? Yourself?” It lunged forward, faster than Caelum anticipated, its jagged form slicing through the air.

Caelum barely managed to block the attack, the force of the impact sending him staggering back. The creature pressed its advantage, its blows relentless and precise. Each strike seemed to resonate within him, dredging up memories and emotions he had long buried: guilt, rage, fear.

As the fight continued, the void around them began to shift. The darkness gave way to scenes from Caelum’s life, projected like ghostly images onto the void’s surface. He saw his mother’s face, her smile tinged with sadness. He saw the moment he first stepped into the mansion, his eyes filled with a mix of determination and dread.

The creature’s voice cut through the chaos. “Every choice you’ve made has led you here. Every failure, every betrayal. Do you truly believe you can change?”

Caelum gritted his teeth, his grip on the blade tightening. “Maybe I can’t,” he said. “But I can try.”

With a surge of determination, he pressed forward, his blade slicing through the creature’s form. Shards of it shattered and reformed, but Caelum didn’t stop. He fought with everything he had, each strike a declaration of his will to move forward.

With a final, powerful blow, Caelum drove the blade into the creature’s chest. The void erupted in light, and the creature let out a deafening roar as it disintegrated into countless shards.

Caelum fell to his knees, his breath ragged. Around him, the shards floated in the air, their surfaces now smooth and clear. Each one reflected a different version of himself, but they no longer felt oppressive. Instead, they seemed... at peace.

Elias’s voice echoed in the void. “You’ve faced yourself, but the journey isn’t over. The mansion isn’t done with you yet.”

As the light faded, Caelum found himself back in the Hall of Echoes. Elias stood nearby, watching him with an inscrutable expression.

“What now?” Caelum asked, his voice quiet but steady.

Elias smiled faintly. “Now, we see what kind of man you’ve chosen to become.”