Arios stood at the edge of the pond, breathing heavily, his eyes fixed on the doppelgänger before him.
He finally raised his head, his voice faltering:
"Who are you? And why do you look so much like me?"
The doppelgänger wore a strange smile—calm yet enigmatic—and said:
"Ah... in truth, I am but a passerby, abandoned by time."
Confused by his words, Arios asked in a low voice:
"What do you mean?"
The doppelgänger chuckled lightly, then added:
"Don't worry, I was merely reciting an old saying... sometimes ancient words are clearer than any truth."
Silence hung for a minute, then the doppelgänger tilted his head slowly, his eyes gleaming with a hint of mystery, and asked:
"Tell me, what are you doing here?"
Arios, flustered and uncertain, replied:
"I don't know... I am lost here."
The doppelgänger let out a short, cold laugh and said:
"A good trick... but I know everything. You were chasing someone, weren't you?"
Arios started, a chill creeping into his core, and he stepped back quickly, falling into a defensive combat stance.
The doppelgänger smiled calmly:
"Do not worry... I am not your enemy. You should be happy that I am here to help you, not to harm you."
The doppelgänger took cold steps toward Arios without hesitation, then said quietly:
"Come... come with me now."
Arios stood for a moment, a strange feeling creeping over him, a mix of dread and curiosity, as if resisting this being were pointless.
In the end, instinctively, he reached out his hand to the doppelgänger, who grabbed it firmly and pulled Arios with him into the dark void—a place of nothingness, boundlessness, and darkness that seemed alive, breathing around them.
As they walked, the void gradually changed until they reached a place that the mind could not easily describe: walls of broken light, a floor glowing with unfamiliar colors, and space itself vibrating like a breathing dream. Arios felt that words were insufficient to explain this strange scene.
The doppelgänger approached quietly, pointing to a small table in the middle of this nothingness, and said in a cold voice:
"Sit."
Arios sat cautiously, observing every movement. The doppelgänger sat opposite him, his eyes shining with a strange coldness, then smiled and said:
"Tell me... do you want sweet tea or bitter tea?"
Arios stared at him in surprise, then replied calmly:
"Bitter tea... please."
The doppelgänger smiled enigmatically, then tapped his finger on the table; suddenly, a teapot and cups appeared before them as if manifested from nothing.
Arios froze for a moment in surprise, but he composed himself and hid his astonishment. The doppelgänger poured the tea quietly, offered the cup to Arios, and took his own.
The doppelgänger said in a low voice while watching Arios:
"Tell me... why did you choose the bitter one, even though you like it sweet?"
Arios looked up, his eyes holding a shadow of sadness:
"Bitter tea reminds me of my life... the one I lived. For a long time, I knew nothing of my past until I regained my memory somehow, and since then, everything has changed."
The doppelgänger tilted his head slightly and said with deep coldness:
"A person should not run from their past... they should face it."
Arios laughed cynically, a tired look on his face:
"In reality, I am not running from the past... but I do not wish to live it again. Remembering it brings me back to times I wished had ended forever."
The doppelgänger said in a calm yet heavy tone:
"Sometimes the past can be an opportunity to change what may happen in the future... or even rewrite it."
Arios raised his eyebrows slowly, looked into his tea cup, then said in a hoarse voice:
"If time had gone back then... I would have buried myself alive. I am someone whom life hates to the point that I wasn't good at anything. I committed follies and actions beyond imagination... and you will never understand that... because you haven't lived what I have, you stranger."
The doppelgänger stopped sipping his tea, a calm yet burning look in his depths appearing on his face, then said slowly:
"Oh... but I have lived more than you think, Arios."
Arios said in a tense voice, staring at the doppelgänger:
"How do you know my name?"
The doppelgänger smiled a cold smile, his eyes shining with an indescribable mystery, then replied calmly:
"Oh my dear... I know more about you than you know about yourself."
Arios felt an internal anxiety rising; he stood slightly, trying to leave the chair... but suddenly discovered he was completely unable to move. He couldn't even move his fingers.
He said in a shaky voice:
"Why... why can't I move?!"
The doppelgänger approached, still smiling:
"Don't worry. I didn't do anything physical to you... I just canceled movement in this place. A kind of freezing, nothing more."
Arios's heart trembled for a moment; he tried to gather his composure but felt his voice break:
"Who are you... stranger? And what do you want from me?"
The doppelgänger now stood, placing his hands behind his back as if holding time itself, his voice becoming more mysterious:
"Don't worry, my dear. I don't want to hurt you. All I want is for us to talk a little... don't I have the right?"
Arios said stubbornly, still unable to move:
"Who are you really?!"
The doppelgänger answered with a cunning smile and a voice dripping with secrets:
"I... am who I am."
Arios's eyebrows raised in astonishment; he understood nothing of what he said, but the doppelgänger continued in a calm tone:
"Listen to me carefully, Arios... look at that screen over there."
The surrounding walls suddenly turned into a huge screen of shimmering light, through which Arios saw Arlen and Wang stuck in their memories, spinning in an endless vortex.
Arios said, gritting his teeth:
"What do you want from them?!"
The doppelgänger laughed quietly:
"Nothing... I don't want anything from them. It's just that I wanted only you. But I brought them here to see your reaction."
Arios looked at the screen, anger mixing with helplessness in his eyes. His voice was broken when he said:
"Free them... please."
The doppelgänger raised an eyebrow, approaching until he was just a few steps away:
"Is this your true wish, Arios?"
Arios said in a hoarse voice, staring at him with wild eyes:
"Yes... free them. And I will do whatever you want."
The doppelgänger smiled, then tapped his finger lightly. At the same moment, the screen disappeared, and the images collapsed like vanishing ashes. Arlen and Wang were returned to their world without a trace of what happened.
The doppelgänger smiled a cold smile and said:
"You see? I have done what you wanted. And now... it's time for you and me to chat, without any interruptions."
Arios said in a tense voice, trying to hold it together:
"What do you want from me... stranger?"
The doppelgänger sat on the chair opposite with arrogance and pride, rested his arm on the table, and smiled:
"I just want us to talk together."
Arios frowned and said sharply:
"Talk? And what do you want us to talk about?"
The doppelgänger bowed his head slightly, then raised his eyes with a cunning smile:
"About... hmmm, you know? Actually, I myself don't know what we were going to talk about."
Arios's features froze for a moment; he didn't understand if the doppelgänger was mocking him or testing him. He said in a strict tone:
"Were you the one who brought us here from the beginning?"
The doppelgänger answered in a confident tone, crossing one leg over the other:
"Yes. Everything was my plan from the first moment. I just wanted to drag you to this place... and I could have shortened the path and brought you immediately, but I chose to increase the pleasure. I wanted them to see your situation... to understand part of what you are."
Arios narrowed his eyes and said suspiciously:
"Understand? Who do you mean?"
A mysterious smile appeared on the doppelgänger's face as he waved his hand as if brushing away dust:
"Don't bother. It's more complicated than you think, and you won't understand now."
He leaned his body forward, his voice becoming more serious:
"What matters is one thing... you, Arios. Something important will happen to you soon, and I want to be there when it does."
Arios became suspicious, looked directly into his eyes, and said:
"And why? And why me specifically?"
The doppelgänger said, smiling a narrow, almost terrifying smile:
"Listen to me carefully, Arios... do you trust me or not?"
Silence reigned for heavy seconds. Then Arios said slowly, his voice mixed with anger and suspicion:
"How can I trust someone who lured me, got me into all this... and I don't even know who he is?"
The doppelgänger laughed a short laugh, then tilted his head slightly and said:
"Exactly... that's what I want to hear."
He leaned in closer, stared directly into Arios's eyes, and whispered:
"But tell me... why then did you trust *him*?"
Arios opened his eyes in shock:
"Huh?! Who? ...What do you mean?"
The doppelgänger did not answer, but kept smiling a mysterious smile, leaving a heavy question echoing in Arios's mind. The atmosphere was filled with confusion, and questions multiplied like thorns between them, no clear answer... only mystery growing deeper.
Arios said, sweating from the tension:
"Please... let me move at least."
The doppelgänger smiled a small smile, then closed his eyes calmly and said:
"Fine... go ahead."
In an instant, sensation returned to Arios's body. He rose violently from the chair and jumped back, then unleashed his anger. He stretched out his hands, and blue and fiery energies began to explode from his palms, turning into devastating energy blasts that swept through the whole place. The walls of the void shook, the table was smashed, and the floor crumbled under the force of the successive blows.
Arios kept screaming as he attacked incessantly, until the whole place was drowned in thick dust and flashes of explosive energies.
He breathed heavily, staring at the chaos he had created, thinking that everything was over.
But... when the dust cleared, his eyes widened in shock.
The doppelgänger was sitting in his same place, on the same chair, without a single scratch.
He was crossing his legs, tapping the table coldly, as if nothing had happened at all.
Arios gasped and said:
"Impossible..."
He couldn't control himself, so he screamed, unleashing his aura.
One moment, and he transformed into the Highsphere... a glowing blue aura covered the atmosphere, as if a sun had lit up the entire void. His hair vibrated with energy, and the floor cracked under his feet from the intensity of the pressure.
He dashed with lightning speed toward the doppelgänger, his energy enough to tear entire worlds apart. But... when he got close, he suddenly fell to the ground.
His body slammed into the ground with force, right at the doppelgänger's feet. He was unable to move, as if an invisible weight had shackled him completely.
The doppelgänger looked at him coldly, then said in a tone dead of any emotion:
"Ah, Arios... you truly do not change."
He raised his hand slightly, and pointed at him indifferently:
"Stop your transformation."
And immediately... the blue aura went out, and the Highsphere transformation disappeared completely, as if Arios's own power was wiped away with just one word.
Arios trembled from within, trying to resist, but his body moved on its own, without his will.
He heard the doppelgänger order him coldly:
"Stand before me."
Suddenly, as if the commands were carved into his blood, Arios stood up against his will.
An inner voice screamed at him: *This is my body... why can't I control it?!*
The doppelgänger smiled a faint smile and said, waving his hand as if shooing a fly:
"Stop resisting. You won't gain anything... your body won't obey you here."
The doppelgänger sat again on the chair, then signaled to him:
"Come... sit. And let's forget what happened. As if nothing happened."
Arios found himself forced to walk to the chair, sitting before him again. His hands were trembling, his eyes full of amazement, but helplessness surrounded him completely.
For the first time in a long time... Arios felt he was not the master of himself.
The doppelgänger said in a calm voice, as if laying facts on the table:
"Do not try to resist, Arios... for I am not against you."
Arios raised his trembling eyes, his voice broken:
"You... you are not a normal person. Please... let me be. I promise... I will not stand in your way, and I will not try to stand before you again."
The doppelgänger smiled, a cold smile, and said:
"But I don't want you to stay out of my way... I always want you in front of me, Arios."
Arios became more confused, he shouted in a desperate voice:
"What do you want from me then?! Tell me... just tell me!"
And suddenly... the system screen popped up before him.
The system he knows well, which never deceived him... its phrases appeared in glowing font:
"Warning: Do not resist this being. Listening to his commands is necessary."
Arios froze in his place, his breath quickening. The system had never said that about any enemy or opponent... why this person specifically?
His eyes lowered hesitantly, then he clenched his fist. If the system is warning me, it must be right... the system always leads me to the correct path.
He raised his head slowly and said in a low voice:
"I will listen to you..."
The doppelgänger laughed lightly, as if the matter were an amusement:
"Amazing... you are truly obedient. Fully committed to the commands of your system."
But the biggest shock happened when Arios heard the following sentence:
"Even though I see that system as clearly as you do."
Arios's eyes widened until his heart almost stopped.
His voice trembled as he shouted:
"Impossible... how... how do you see the system?! No one... no one sees it but me!"
The doppelgänger tilted his head slightly, his eyes shining with cunning, and said:
"Ah... you mean this game?"
He smiled a mocking smile and completed:
"Something very simple."
His words fell like a thunderbolt on Arios.
*The game...? Did he just describe the system as a game?!*
His heartbeats began to quicken more and more.
The system that no creature dares to understand... this person describes it as ridiculous... a game?!
Arios thought to himself, his features pale:
"If he is capable of seeing the system... and on top of that describes it as a game... then what is the power of this being? And what is his true status?"
The doppelgänger was silent for moments, his stillness was deeper than the void of the place itself, even the air around them stopped. Then he raised his head slowly, his shining eyes as if they were probing the layers of the universe and the void together, and said in a calm but sharp-as-a-sword voice:
> "Now, Arios... I will grant you three answers only. After that, I will be the one asking you three questions, and you are forced to answer them. Three chances, three keywords to your truth."
>
Arios was slightly confused, his breathing became heavier. This was not just a dialogue; it was like a pact.
> "Whatever question you ask, no matter how impossible, I will answer you with absolute truth or relative truth."
>
The doppelgänger raised his finger as if setting a cosmic rule:
> "Absolute Truth: Will happen inevitably, no matter how time and space change.
> Relative Truth: May happen or may not happen, a balance between possibility and impossibility.
> Beware, Arios... do not tamper with what is beyond your perception."
>
Arios felt cold sweat running on his forehead. The system before him flashed with a red screen, as if it were warning him: *(Warning: Proceed with caution. These truths are binding to the universe.)*
Arios lowered his head slowly and said in a shaky voice:
> "I understood... I am ready for anything, no matter what it is."
>
The doppelgänger smiled that smile that mixes mystery and mockery:
> "Then let's begin... my first question will be very difficult, Arios."
>
And suddenly a suffocating silence prevailed. Even the system stopped flashing.
The doppelgänger stood firmly, his eyes piercing as a sword's edge, and the silence in the place became a weight pressing on the chest. Then he said in a cold, calculated tone:
— My first question, my dear Arios: Who are you? And what is your goal?
The air around the table trembled when Arios turned to him. A brief look, a rigid voice:
— My name is Arios Mira. I am — simply — a Celestin; I seek revenge for my people, and for myself, from everyone who has wronged us.
The words had barely left his lips when a small glowing red aura appeared above his head, as if the universe itself had hung a tag on his answer. The doppelgänger whispered with a smile that did not subside:
— Relative truth. So... it is possible that it happens, and it is possible that nothing is achieved.
The doppelgänger moved immediately, without mercy for time to think:
— The second question: Tell me quickly — what is the desire you long for most?
Arios did not hesitate this time. The voice was harsher and faster:
— Power. Nothing but power.
Suddenly, a clear green glow exploded above his head — a signal from the system itself:
— Absolute truth. Well... then this desire has been destined for you to come true, inevitably.
The doppelgänger finally dared to ask the third question; he drew in air slowly as if preparing to issue a cosmic judgment:
— The third and last question: If you were gifted the power you aspire to, what is your true intention in using it? And on which side will you stand? Good or evil?
Time stopped for a little while — as if the glass walls were holding their breath — while Arios thought, and his depths burned with sorrows and broken promises. Then he said without falsification:
— First: I destroy those who wronged me.
— Second: I protect those I love.
— Third: I do not care about the label of good or evil; the matter for me is just a tool to achieve my will. All that matters to me is that I carry out what is in my head.
A short silence followed, then a cold black glow erupted above his head — a shadow that swallowed the colors around it. Arios trembled:
— What is this...? Why this color...?
The doppelgänger replied in a low voice carrying the cruelty of truth:
— This indicates a completely unknown answer — one that cannot be booked in a box of yes or no; a possibility where realization intersects with mystery. There are intentions that are not easily classified, and endings that are not measured by simple standards.
A short pause followed; the doppelgänger leaned slightly, like someone placing a conclusion to a chapter in an old book, then announced with lethal calm:
— My questions are over. Now it is your turn — ask what you want, and choose your words with complete care, Arios. Three questions for you... so answer me, and I will answer you with the same revelation.
The doppelgänger sat relaxed on the chair, his eyes fixed on Arios, like a ruler before the defendant, and as if the table turned into a platform of cosmic trial. The red, then green, then black glow was still waving with its images above Arios's head — a reminder that every answer here is not just words, but punishments and destinies carved into the fabric of our story now.
The room, stripped of everything, was becoming heavier with every word, as if the air itself had become a vessel for the truth that could not be endured. Arios raised his head slowly, his eyes wide with frank confusion, and his voice came broken:
— Do... do I really have the right to ask you anything, no matter what it is?
The doppelgänger smiled a cold but suspicious smile, like the smile of one who knows that the word with him is capable of creating a reality:
— Yes, anything, Arios. I will answer you truthfully, without any distortion or manipulation.
Arios's heart trembled for a moment. *Damn... what do I ask him? I didn't think... it must be precise questions, questions that reveal something that is not said...*
He bowed his head, clenched his fist on his knee, then raised his gaze again and said slowly:
— My first question... who are you really? And what is your relationship to me specifically?
A heavy silence reigned for moments, then the doppelgänger raised his head slightly, stared at Arios as if time stopped around them. His voice when it came out was as if it were coming from another dimension:
— Fine, I will answer you... I am... ***
(A garbled word, as if the system itself is blocking it with a sharp tone)
— ...And I am the one who created you, Arios.
As if a lightning bolt struck the place; Arios's body trembled, his feet took half a step back, and his eyes almost came out of their sockets. Suddenly, a bright green light exploded above the doppelgänger's head — the system signal: Absolute truth.
Arios muttered, his voice becoming too weak to be heard:
— Wait... how... why didn't I hear your name? I heard a garble... and how are you the one who created me? What is this nonsense...
The doppelgänger smiled a deep smile, but without warmth:
— I really am the one who created you, Arios. And also, just so you know... if you had heard my real name now, you would have evaporated from existence immediately.
Therefore, it is better that this remains for a later time... when you are ready to bear what my name means.
Arios froze in his place, swallowing his saliva very slowly. What he hears is not a joke; the green light itself testifies that what was said is completely true. The hands that created him... are sitting now before him. Fear, anger, and confusion — all were struggling in his eyes as he felt for the first time that everything he knew about himself might be erased by a single sentence from this being.
> This is not a normal dialogue anymore; this is the beginning of the revelation of the true axis of the story.