It started with the twitching.
Mistral—usually composed, smug, and radiating "I'm smarter than you" energy—had begun pacing nonstop, occasionally muttering in a language that made the walls sweat.
Kazuki noticed when the mirror cracked just from the sound of his meow.
"Mistral?" he asked. "You good, buddy?"
Mistral looked up, eyes glowing faint gold, and said in a voice that was not his:
"The Vessel has not yet chosen, and the echoes unravel. You should not exist."
Kazuki blinked. "Okay! Awesome! Love when my cat starts speaking in ancient death grammar!"
[System Warning: Familiar Possessed – Origin Thread Accessed]Entity Detected: Fragment of Mistral Prime]Do Not Attempt Exorcism Without Holy Gloves (You do not have Holy Gloves)]
Vera ran in. "Something's wrong with the cat."
Kazuki: "You think? He just told me I shouldn't exist!"
Kaelith grabbed a warding charm. "Back up. This could spread."
Darin was already halfway up a tree yelling, "If the cat explodes, I'm not cleaning it!"
Then Mistral spoke again, fully levitating now like a furry oracle of doom:
"The False Vessel walks. He bears your face. He bleeds what you denied. He corrupts what you spared."
Kazuki felt like he'd been slapped by prophecy.
"You mean the rooftop edgelord?"
Mistral's body pulsed.
"No. A third. A vessel unknown. A fragment left behind. He is rewriting you."
[System Notice: Identity Conflict Detected]Another entity is accessing your Echo Signature. You are no longer the only Kazuki.]
Kazuki screamed into his hands. "AM I BEING HACKED?!"
Mistral dropped from the air like a furry potato and groaned.
"Ow. Okay. That was not consensual. Someone is messing with your echo. Possibly… you."
Vera narrowed her eyes. "So someone out there is pretending to be Kazuki."
Kaelith: "Or... is Kazuki."
Darin gasped. "He has a clone?"
Kazuki stood up. "I'm going to punch myself in the face, and I better win."
The system pinged again.
[New Bounty Issued: Soul-Level Warrant – Subject: Vessel (Unstable)]Reward: Ascension Points, Divine Favor, One Free Resurrection Token (Limited Offer)]
Kazuki collapsed onto the ground.
"I just got bounty posted by the gods. Like I'm a seasonal raid boss."
Mistral licked his paw. "You're trending in heaven. Congrats."
Then Vera pulled out a scroll.
"There's a place. A town on the fracture line. They say the Vessel passed through two days ago. He... blessed people. Healed them. Left them with holy marks."
Kazuki looked down at his corrupted system panel.
"I can't do that."
Kaelith stepped forward.
"But someone pretending to be you can. And the people love him."
Kazuki clenched his fists. "Then it's time to meet this impostor."