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The soft, faint sound of a bell chiming caused Stefan's eyes to shoot open.
"A—AH!" he gasped, clutching at his neck, the phantom pain of his head being severed still fresh in his memory. He scrambled upright, his eyes darting around.
He was surrounded by darkness.
"Am... am I dead?" Stefan muttered. He staggered forward, trying to make sense of where he was—only to trip over something and hit the ground with a painful thud.
"—Ow!" he groaned. Pushing himself up, he turned to see what had caught his foot: a gnarled root embedded in the ground, strange and thick.
"Are these... roots?" he asked aloud, as a faint golden glow pulsed along them, trailing off into the surrounding void.
Another chime echoed.
This time, Stefan could tell—it was coming from the direction the roots led.
He hesitated only for a moment before taking a final glance at the suffocating black around him and began following the roots, guided by the soft glow.
The air grew colder with every step. Goosebumps formed on his arms as he rubbed his hands together, trying to keep the numbness at bay. Each breath curled into a mist that hung in the still air.
The bell chimed again—closer now.
"H-Hello?!" Stefan called. "Is anyone there?"
Silence.
The roots around him thickened, twisting into elaborate patterns. More of them emerged from the blackness, some curling overhead like a canopy.
"Ozai?" he called out, looking around.
Still, no response.
Vines began to bloom along the roots, adorned with glowing, otherworldly flowers. Tiny specks of light—like fireflies or floating stars—sparkled and drifted around him, lighting the space in a soft, surreal haze.
Stefan suddenly heard rustling, his eyes immediately shot toward the source---
a small, lush bush nearby.
"W-Who's there?" he called out, his voice tentative.
The rustling continued.
Then, from the bush, a small dark brown mouse ran out, startling Stefan as it scurried toward him on it's frantic little legs.
"What the hell...?" he muttered, backing up a step.
But the mouse didn't stop—it hopped onto his pant leg and began crawling upward.
"H-Hey—!" Stefan yelped, frantically shaking his leg. The mouse wriggled its way up to his hoodie, disappearing into the folds of fabric. He patted himself down in a panic, trying to find and swat it away.
Then—stillness.
The skittering stopped. Stefan froze.
He glanced over his shoulder—and there it was. The mouse sat calmly, squeaking, its beady black eyes locked onto his.
"AH!" Stefan swatted at it, but in a blink, the mouse vanished—only to reappear on his other shoulder.
He raised his hand again, but the mouse lifted its tiny paws in the air.
"Huh...?" Stefan blinked, lowering his hand slightly.
The mouse pointed at itself. Then gave a tiny thumbs up.
Baffled, Stefan slowly extended his palm. The mouse hopped into it, scanning the area like a tiny scout.
Then it pointed—toward the darkness ahead—and looked up at Stefan.
"…Okay," he whispered, nodding, still unsure what was happening.
But he stepped forward.
Together, Stefan and the mouse continued deeper into the dreamlike world.
The undergrowth thickened around them. Glowing roots stretched across the forest floor, and loose, drifting lights floated through the air with a ghostly shimmer.
Eventually, the trees gave way to a clearing.
And there it was.
A towering tree stood before them, ancient and magnificent.
Its leaves shimmered with stark white light, a few drifting down and piling softly around glowing bushes below.
Its roots coiled like great tendrils, its branches twisting skyward into the stars, a large bell constantly swaying back and forth near the tree's center, chiming insistently.
"Whoa…" Stefan breathed.
The mouse squeaked excitedly, bouncing in his hand.
They stepped into the shade of the tree's glowing canopy.
Then—a low hiss.
"Fassscinating," a voice slithered through the still air.
Stefan froze. "Hello?" he called out, eyes searching the shadows.
His gaze eventually fell on it.
Perched on one of the thick, winding branches—was himself.
But not quite.
This version had stark white hair, and snake-like eyes with narrow slits for pupils. His grin was too wide, too sharp.
"And here I thought this day would never come..." the figure murmured.
He stepped forward and glided down the trunk as if gravity didn't fully apply to him, landing without a sound in front of Stefan.
"Greetings... Sssstefan," he said.
The mouse squeaked in terror, darting up to perch on Stefan's head, tugging at his hair.
"W–Who are you?" Stefan asked, backing away instinctively.
The figure grinned wider. His voice was deep and raspy.
"Me?" he said, drifting closer. "Isn't it obvious...?"
The mouse pulled harder, urgently warning him.
"I'm you."
"I must be dreaming..." Stefan muttered.
"Even after everything that just happened, you're still trying to convince yourself that?"
The clone snickered. "If so, then when do you plan on waking up?"
"What do you mean?" Stefan asked.
The clone sighed, then snapped his fingers.
In an instant, the dark expanse around them shifted—erupting into a hellish vision of fire and ash.
Flames roared across the space, and in the distance, barely visible through the heat haze, were two figures fiercely locked in combat: Ozai and Aquila.
"Thisss is your vision," the clone hissed. "What's visible through your eyes. As we speak, your head is lying five feet from your body. And by the minute, more and more blood oozes out."
"So I'm... dead?" Stefan asked as the scene faded, the fire collapsing back into the shadowed void.
"Technically, yes. But no, at the same time," the clone replied.
"As of now, you're suspended in the liminal space between life and death—a kind of limbo. I've temporarily stabilized the essssence of our being to prevent it from fading away. So that I could speak with you... face to face."
"Speak to me? So you're like... my subconscious?" Stefan asked, the mouse still trembling atop his head.
"You could say that, aha..." the clone said with a sly grin. "More specifically, I am the conscious part of your soul. Some may refer to me as a Signature--- I am your true desires, hopes, dreams. Your rage. Your strength."
He paused.
"I am all of it, personified. Locked away, sssubconsciously, within the confinement of your body."
The clone lowered himself to the roots of the glowing tree, patting the bark beside him gently.
"Right here... in this little purgatory I call Eden."