We're both bloodied. The ground around us is stained with red.

So much fucking blood.

Immediately, my arms go slack, the memories of that day too powerful. They immobilize me as tears stab at the corners of my eyes.

God, I don't even want to see this, for it means reliving the worst moment of my entire life.

But the image zooms out.

The glint of a sword is the next thing I make out—but it's a sword I'm familiar with. Down the middle ridge, black blood pours from its owner, dripping down the groove and onto the ground.

The image zooms out more.

There he is.

Dressed in his typical black, a contrast to the white of the sword. His eyes are as they were before—black and unfeeling. And his tattoos...they're moving somehow, shifting on his face as if they had a life of their own.

He's just standing there, his expression cold. He's staring into the distance, ignoring the people behind him. Slowly, he blinks.

In the next second, he's gone.

What...

I inhale sharply as I feel a panic attack about to sink its claws into me.

What was he doing there? Why was he at the scene of the accident?

My knees hit the hard ground. There's suddenly a dearth of air. I gasp and gasp in an attempt to fill my lungs with oxygen, but it's all in vain.

Was Anami right? Did Ze have anything to do with our accident?

Somehow, I refuse to believe this.

Come on, Luce! Think about it logically! Anami also mentioned that his sword can obliterate a soul. It's not the case with Nikki since he's been by my side all along—from the moment I woke up in the hospital. He's still with me, so Ze can't have killed him...right?

Unless... No. It cannot be. He wouldn't betray me in such a way.

With trembling hands, I turn the mirror toward me once more.

The third question. The one that can confirm or deny everything.

"Show me the identity of the man I was with in my room on the day I arrived in Aperion."

The image changes to my room at Thea's house. The door to the bathroom opens and I come out, naked. Particles of dust materialize in front of me and my heart lurches in my chest.

My breathing intensifies just as the shimmery black smoke takes the form of a man.

A sigh of relief escapes me. It's him. Nikki. It's his ghost.

Anami lied.

I don't know if my heart could have taken it should it have not been my husband.

The scene continues as he caresses me, the sight odd from an outsider's point of view.

But just as I'm about to put the mirror aside, the black smoke changes again. From a mass of chaotic particles, they turn opaque, gaining life-like features.

"No," I whisper.

A fissure appears in my heart the moment I see his face.