Chapter 14 - 11: Echoes of the Mind and Frost Awakening
Exhaustion was beginning to take its toll on Ellen. She and Mira had been moving through Hollow Zero for what felt like an eternity. After finding a relatively safe spot to rest—a building half-submerged in the chaotic terrain of the Hollow—they settled down for the night.
Ellen propped her back against a crumbling wall, her upgraded scissors resting beside her. Mira curled up close, clutching Ellen's scarf like a security blanket. The child's breathing eventually evened out, a small comfort in the oppressive silence of the Hollow. Ellen, however, found sleep elusive. Her mind raced with thoughts of their predicament and Mira's inexplicable immunity to corruption.
Eventually, fatigue overcame her. But as she drifted into unconsciousness, a strange sensation washed over her—a pull, as though something was tugging her deeper into the etheric currents of the Hollow.
Ellen's eyes snapped open, and she found herself in an unfamiliar place. It was a surreal landscape, shifting between vibrant hues of blue and violet, with threads of shimmering light weaving through the air. The environment felt alive, pulsating faintly as though it had a heartbeat.
"What the hell is this?" Ellen muttered, clutching her scissors instinctively. Her voice echoed, distorted and strange.
Then she saw her. Standing in the center of the surreal expanse was Mira—but not the timid, crying girl Ellen had come to know. This Mira was different. Her form was taller, more ethereal. Her skin had a pale, almost translucent quality, and her hands to her elbows were jet black, resembling obsidian. Her eyes were pitch-black voids, and a faint glow emanated from a core embedded in her chest, pulsating in sync with the landscape.
Ellen took a cautious step forward. "Mira?" she called, her voice soft but firm.
The girl turned, her ethereal gaze locking onto Ellen. For a moment, there was no recognition—only an otherworldly intensity. Then Mira's expression softened, and her lips moved, though no sound came out. Ellen felt the words rather than heard them, as though they were resonating directly within her mind.
"This... isn't me," Mira's voice echoed faintly, layered with both fear and confusion.
The surroundings began to shift. Images flickered around them, like fragments of a broken mirror. Ellen saw glimpses of Mira's life: laughing with a kind-looking couple, running through a sunny field, sitting by a fireplace as the woman combed her hair. But then the scenes grew darker. Screams, the glow of Etheric corruption, the woman and man shielding Mira with their bodies as Ethereal's swarmed them.
"They're not my real parents," Mira's voice said, trembling. "But they loved me. I didn't know... I didn't know they weren't mine."