Yorktun

A liminal space-Retsuki's mind fractured and adrift. He stands in a surreal landscape, the ground made of fragmented memories, shimmering like shattered glass. The sky is a roiling storm of emotions, where every thunderclap echoes with voices, laughter, and screams. The farther Retsuki walks, the less the world makes sense, as memories twist and contort like living things.

Retsuki walks through this shifting terrain, his steps unsteady. His form flickers-light surges across his body, but cracks crawl along his skin like spiderwebs. His thoughts are fragmented and disjointed.

Retsuki (thinking):

"His name. Paragus's son. Why don't I know it? Why can't I even remember if he told me?"

A memory surfaces-Paragus standing over a small grave, his face a mask of sorrow. The memory fractures before Retsuki can focus on it, the shards falling away like ash.

Retsuki finds himself before a massive wall of mirrors. Each one shows a different version of himself, distorted by cracks and smears of light. Some mirrors are clear, reflecting moments he recognizes: his battles, creation, and the faces of Alitha and Verena. Others are warped, showing things that shouldn't exist-images of him kneeling before Paragus, begging, though he can't remember ever doing so.

One mirror shows Paragus's laughing boy son running in a field. His face is clear, his joy palpable-but when Retsuki reaches out to touch the image, it shatters.

Voice of Pride (disembodied):

"Why do you think you can't remember him, Retsuki? Do you think it was an accident? A flaw in your design?"

Retsuki spins around, his hands crackling with unstable energy. A mocking and sharp voice surrounds him.

Retsuki:

"Show yourself, Pride!"

The shattered mirrors begin to melt, pooling on the ground and rising into a humanoid form. Pride emerges, his golden eyes glinting with cruel amusement.

Pride:

"Paragus made sure you'd never remember. That boy was the foundation of your existence, but his name? His identity? Paragus erased it and sealed it away. You think you're his creation, his savior, but you're only a husk."

The scene shifts again. Retsuki is in a dimly lit workshop. Paragus stands at a table, surrounded by diagrams of circuitry and notes scrawled with frenzied handwriting. In the center of the room is a device glowing with faint blue light-Retsuki's core, still incomplete.

On the wall hangs a picture of a young boy. His face is familiar, but where his name should be scrawled beneath it, the letters are blurred, unreadable.

Paragus (in memory):

"You're not him. You'll never be him. But you can carry his memory. His hope. His light."

Paragus's voice breaks as he clutches the photo. He sets it down and turns to the core, his face hardening.

Paragus:

"No one can know. Not even you. If you knew his name, it would destroy you. You're not ready to bear that burden."

The workshop dissolves into smoke. Retsuki stumbles, the cracks in his body deepening. He clutches his chest, his energy flickering dangerously. Pride looms over him, his grin widening.

Pride:

"You see it now, don't you? Paragus didn't create you out of love. He created you out of grief. You're a monument to his failure, a way for him to pretend he wasn't responsible for the boy's death. And yet, he couldn't bear to let you remember him. Because if you did, you'd realize the truth."

Retsuki (weakly):

"What... truth?"

Pride leans in, his voice whispering like a blade.

Pride:

"You aren't just a replacement. You're a prison. His sins, his regrets, his darkest thoughts-he locked them inside you. That's why you crack. That's why you flicker. The boy's name, Retsuki, is the key to everything. And you'll never know it."

The storm above rages, the ground splitting beneath Retsuki's feet. He falls to his knees, his body breaking apart as memories pour out of him-Paragus's laughter, his rage, the boy's fleeting smiles.

Retsuki (thinking):

"I'm not him. I'll never be him. But if I'm not him... who am I?"

A sudden calm washes over him. Retsuki looks up at Pride, his eyes burning with determination.

Retsuki:

"Maybe I'll never know his name. Maybe I'll never be whole. But that doesn't matter. What matters is what I choose to do now."

Pride snarls, his form flickering. The storm intensifies, but Retsuki rises, his cracks glowing fiercely.

Retsuki:

"I'm not a prison. I'm not a replacement. I'm not Paragus's grief. I'm something new. And I'll use what I've been given to make things right."

The storm shatters like glass, and Retsuki returns to the real world. He's kneeling in the ruins of Yorktun, his body weak but steady. In the distance, he hears the voices of the people rising, their courage reigniting.

Though the cracks in his body remain, Retsuki stands tall. The boy's name may remain a mystery, but his purpose is clear: to fight, heal, and ensure that past sins never define the future.