Darkness had never felt so heavy.
Renji opened his eyes, but saw nothing. No floor beneath his feet, no sky above his head. He stood suspended in a void so vast and quiet that even his heartbeat sounded like a drumbeat from the end of the world.
Then came the whispers. Low at first, like winds rustling through dead leaves. Then louder. Fiercer.
"You let her die."
"You hesitated."
"You enjoyed the power, didn't you?"
Renji turned around—only to find mirrors floating mid-air. Dozens. Hundreds. Each showing twisted reflections of himself: one smiling as a girl bled in his arms, another slaughtering without mercy, and one… one kneeling before Queen Velahza, craving her touch.
"No—no, this isn't real," he whispered.
"Oh, but it is."
