Round 185

Jeane's crimson eyes narrow as she stares at this...thing. "Seraphine's reflection," she mutters darkly, "confronting deepest fears indeed." Her gaze sweeps across the chamber, taking in every detail—every potential threat or escape route. The runes on her skin pulse with warning but also with barely contained power. She can feel it humming beneath her flesh, responding to this impossible doppelganger. "Listen carefully," she says softly but firmly, "we don't have time for whatever...

I watch Jeane’s display of power with a mix of admiration and cold, hard calculation. She looks magnificent like this—all fire and fury wrapped in steel—but I know that brute force alone won't solve every problem here. This place seems to feed on raw emotion, on the things we try to bury deep within ourselves. My own hand tightens around the box containing the strange artifact. It pulses warmly against my palm, a constant reminder of what we came for. I take a slow step forward, positioning myself beside Jeane rather than confronting the reflection directly. "You're right," I say, voice low and controlled, "we need to move quickly. But this... creature... it knows things about me that even I don't fully understand." The box pulses again, almost as if in agreement or warning.