Gaia Chronicles: The Integral Saga

Location: Northern Reaches – Frostveil Forest

The trees whispered secrets as snow fell in gentle spirals through the canopy. The silence here was heavy—not serene, but watchful.

Cyg Synthesis 11 adjusted his scarf, glancing toward the nearby rift scar pulsing faintly with Abyssal energy. His gunblade, Aetheron, gleamed with frost from the surrounding chill.

Beside him walked Hikari Synthesis 26, wrapped in a long black coat, her pale skin nearly blending into the snowy terrain. Her eyes, amethyst and ever-watchful, flicked toward the shadows between trees.

"You're sure this is where the signal came from?" she asked quietly.

"Yes," Cyg replied without turning. "A signal with my spectral signature... sent from this region three hours before the Council summoned us."

Hikari's brow furrowed.

"But you were with me... in Ilyssan."

"Exactly."

They stepped into a small glade—a silent basin of broken stone and ether-tainted roots. This place was cold in more than temperature. It felt dead.

Flashback – 8 Hours Ago: Gaia HQ Briefing Room

Thea had called them in private.

Only them.

"This mission is unofficial. No records, no broadcast," she had said. "Something or someone is mimicking our energy signatures."

"You think it's Orion?" Hikari asked.

"I think it's worse," Irene had added. "If Abyssal forces can replicate our identities, Gaia's internal surveillance systems are compromised. We won't know who to trust."

Cyg had looked over the transmission logs, silent for a long while before saying:

"Send us."

Location: Frostveil Forest – Subterranean Vault

Now, inside the glade, Hikari paused before a partially buried structure. A temple of old Gaia design—one used during the first Abyssal War.

"This is a Mirror Vault," she said, tracing a glyph near the door. "They were used to test illusion prototypes... and to hide them."

Cyg scanned it with Aetheron's interface.

"Someone recently activated the inner relay. This vault's been re-opened."

The door groaned, sliding open with ancient reluctance.

Inside, the air was thick. Like breathing through soaked cloth.

They descended.

Location: Vault Chamber – Hall of Echoes

As they stepped deeper, they saw them.

Projections.

Of themselves.

Hikari stopped first.

Standing in the center of the chamber, bathed in spectral light, was another Hikari—sobbing and bloodstained, arms wrapped around a figure in red mist.

"Please… don't leave me…"

Cyg aimed instinctively—but she vanished, like smoke.

"They're not real," he muttered.

But his voice lacked conviction.

Another flicker—this time of him, standing on a battlefield surrounded by burning allies. His blade dripping with blood.

"Strategist?" the vision echoed mockingly. "Or executioner?"

Cyg stepped forward and swung his blade through the image—disrupting it with a snarl of static.

"These are memory mimics," he said. "Drawn from trauma. Orion tech modified by Abyssal corruption."

Hikari was shaking.

"Then they know us."

"They do," a voice echoed from the dark.

And the shadows birthed a new figure.

Kaien Rhyst. Chaos General of Orion. Codename: Judicant Breaker.

His white cloak fluttered behind him, and his Divine Artifact, Veylnir, crackled in his hands—half-sword, half-scepter.

"I've been waiting."

Combat Initiated – Hall of Echoes

Kaien moved like a storm. Hikari barely raised Sanguira in time, parrying a bolt of chaotic energy. Cyg leapt back, calculating angles, issuing quickfire commands.

"Hikari—backward dive, then flank!"

She obeyed, her scythe cutting arcs of crimson ether, but Kaien predicted her motion, slamming her into a wall of echo-light.

"You're both haunted," Kaien said. "And in your weakness, you left a perfect trail."

Cyg activated his Mystic Eye—time slowed.

He saw Kaien's next ten movements before they happened.

"I'm not haunted," Cyg muttered. "I'm prepared."

He fired, each bullet bending mid-air under his Artifact's power.

Kaien hissed—two grazed his shoulder, but the third was stopped midair.

"Nice eye, tactician. Let me show you mine."

Kaien activated Mirror Loop, and suddenly a dozen Kaien illusions filled the room—each mimicking his combat style and weapon. The air turned into chaos.

Climax – Vault Core

Amid the mirrored mayhem, Cyg was hit—slammed against a pillar, bleeding from the side. Hikari dashed to shield him, deflecting another barrage.

"I'm not letting you die here," she said, eyes glowing with power.

"We need... a double strike. I'll open the gap."

"No—we open it," she said, and offered her hand.

Cyg took it.

Their Artifacts responded—Sanguira and Aetheron pulsing in resonance.

Duo Sequence: Eclipse Bullet.

They moved as one.

Cyg fired a charged bolt through Hikari's swing. The energy scythe sliced the air, catching the real Kaien in mid-step. He was thrown backward into the memory crystal behind him.

It cracked.

"This isn't over," Kaien hissed, vanishing into a Rift portal.

The mimicry began to collapse. The Vault shook violently.

Location: Forest Surface – Later

The two emerged from the vault as the sun finally broke through the snow clouds.

They were bruised, bloodied… but alive.

Hikari looked at Cyg, her voice soft.

"You trusted me."

"You've always been better than you think," he replied. "I just helped you see it."

For the first time in a long while… she smiled.

And Cyg… didn't look away.

Location: Orion Base – Riftwatch Chamber

Kaien knelt before Erebus, breathing heavily.

"The test is complete."

"And the traitor?" Erebus asked.

"Still sleeping... but awakening soon."

Erebus turned to the Rift window, where a sliver of Gaia's capital shimmered in the voidlight.

"Let them bond. The tighter the thread, the deeper it cuts when severed."