Gunmage-Chapter 28: Doppelgänger

Someone was coming.

No, Something was coming.

A shadow first moved, then a voice echoed.

"Lugh"

He recognized it—it was his own voice.

The footsteps immediately came to a halt, and right there in front of him stood an identical version of himself.

"Are you really that weak?"

The doppelgänger smiled, it was an eerie, wide, and unnatural grin that stretched too far. The expression most definitely did not belong to him.

"Lugh von Heim, the bastard"

It spat, its voice warping with hate.

"Bastard. Bastard. Bastard."

The whispers in his head multiplied.

"Shut up!"

Lugh screamed.

Then there was laughter. Not his own, but the layered voices in his head. It cascaded into an uproar.

He turned toward the walls. Looking through the left, they appeared normal. But through his right eye, he saw something else. Their mouths were open, gaping, mocking, laughing.

The walls were laughing at him.

Lugh staggered back.

His doppelgänger took a step forward, he took two steps back.

"Oh? Are you not just a bastard, but also a coward?"

Its grin widened.

"What will you do now?"

It advanced again.

Lugh retreated

"Will you run away?"

Lugh stopped dead in his tracks.

"Run run run run run—"

The voices chanted.

The walls were closing in, shrinking, twisting like the throat of a great beast. If he reached out, he could touch both ends.

"No, no—I have to leave this place!"

He turned—and froze.

Another version of himself stood there. But this one was different.

It did not sneer. It did not rage.

It only stared.

Cold. Empty. Hollow.

No emotion. No weakness. Just silent calculation.

It was a mirror.

Lugh's breath hitched. Was this... what he looked like?

"Yes."

The doppelgänger had arrived. Wrapping its hand around his throat. It leaned in, whispering.

"This is what you've become. This is what happens when you keep running away."

The wrong smile never left its face.

The voice distorted, breaking into static.

"Weakness shall not go unpunished."

"Weakness shall not go unpunished!"

The whispers spiraled into a feverish pitch.

The walls pressed tighter—his shoulders crushed between them.

Lugh fell to his knees, his hands clutching his head, trying to block out the noise. But the voices didn't stop.

"Help!" His own voice fractured. "Somebody, help me!"

There was no response. Nobody was coming.

"Lugh!"

A different voice.

"Snap out of it, kid!"

The world around him shattered.

Lugh gasped.

The maze had returned to normal. No doppelgängers. No voices.

In front of him stood Lieutenant Dain, gripping his shoulders and shaking him.

His face was twisted with exhaustion, but his eyes were sharp and observant.

Lugh wiped at his face. His hand coming away wet with tears.

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"Oh, you're back"

Dain muttered, letting go.

Lugh exhaled sharply.

"Lieutenant, why are you here? What... happened?"

Dain scratched the back of his head.

"I heard someone screaming for help. Found you standing there like a statue, yelling at nothing. You can guess the rest."

Lugh studied him. They weren't close—just allies out of necessity. His gaze flicked to the second enchanted dagger on Dain's belt.

How much could he trust him?

Even so, the words slipped out.

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

Dain shifted, clearly uncomfortable with sentiment.

"Never mind that"

He continued.

"Where the hell are we?"

Lugh shook his head.

"No idea."

Throughout the conversation Lugh could notice him subconsciously avoiding his gaze.

He realized—his right eye.

It unsettled people.

They kept walking. Lugh listened as Dain explained what happened while he was 'possessed'—from the strange symbols to Lyra's transformation, the silent glowing forest, and the unnatural hush in the air.

The more he heard, the grimmer his expression became.

"So, do you have any idea what... changed you?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

Lugh muttered.

"It has to be—"

"—it"

Dain completed his sentence for him.

They walked in silence.

And walked.

And walked.

Lugh's felt his legs growing weak.

"I'm—"

"Tired?"

Dain had spoken his exact thoughts, again.

The lieutenant didn't even seem to notice.

"Let's stop here. You rest up, I'll take first watch."

Lugh hesitated. Then,

"Alright."

Lugh closed his eyes.

And saw.

A boy, a noble's son, stood stiffly before a towering figure.

"Dain, the only thing I expect from you is the full support of your brother. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, father."

...

A teenager sat at a dining table. His sister, brilliant and charming, laughed alongside their parents.

A sneering voice whispered in his ear.

"Why can't you be more like her?"

A hand slammed against the table.

The boy clenched his fists under it.

...

A young officer introduced himself to his new unit.

"My name is Dain Varcus."

Snickers. Mutters.

"Nepotism."

"Spineless."

His grip on his sword tightened.

...

A battlefield.

He watched comrades die.

He could have saved them.

But he didn't.

He chose to live instead.

...

"You're nothing without your family name."

"You don't deserve your rank."

"A fraud."

The whispers became his own.

...

Obsession.

Prove them wrong.

Prove them wrong.

...

Lugh gasped awake. His left eye gleamed ominously. Dain still sat a few meters away, constantly scanning the area.

Lugh's pulse pounded and his mouth felt dry.

'Was that real?'

"Was that real?"

Lugh's breath caught. Just what was happening?

He turned slowly to the lieutenant.

"Why did you say that?"

Dain frowned.

"I... don't know."

A long creeping silence settled between them

Lugh forced himself to his feet.

"I'm awake now. You should sleep."

Dain paused.

"No. Let's just keep walking. I'm not tired yet"

"...alright"

And so, they went back to navigating the maze in unsettling silence.

The lieutenant didn't initiate a conversation, and neither did Lugh.

Something felt wrong. But none of them acknowledged it.

The silence twisted between them—an unspoken awareness.

Lugh's mind lingered on the memories. The emotions. The experiences that were not his, yet felt like his.

Then—

A growl.

It was low, deep, near.

Dain tensed, hand on his dagger.

Lugh did the same, scanning the shadows. A presence loomed, and the lieutenant exhaled.

"They're here."