Kael descended, one step at a time, down the spiral staircase carved from obsidian and bone. Each footfall echoed like a whisper in an endless tomb. The air was colder here—so cold his breath came out in pale clouds, instantly devoured by the dark.
The deeper he went, the more the world seemed to warp.
Light no longer moved naturally. Shadows bent in the wrong directions. His own reflection flickered along the walls—sometimes facing him, sometimes turning its back and walking away.
Where are you, Bella?
He gripped his sword tighter.
The staircase finally ended in a vaulted chamber—a circular room lit by floating shards of shattered moonlight, hovering in midair like broken glass suspended in water.
And in the center—
A mirror.
But not just any mirror.
The frame was made of twisted iron vines, blooming with thorns instead of flowers. The glass was cracked in a perfect spiral, and at its core was a faint shimmer of movement.
Kael stepped forward, drawn to it.
Then he saw her.
Bella.
No—Lilith.
Not the girl he remembered.
Her face floated on the other side of the glass, her eyes blank, lips parted in a soundless scream. Her hair floated like it was underwater, and a black crown shimmered just above her brow—hovering, waiting, threatening to descend.
He reached out, palm flat against the mirror.
"Bella," he breathed.
Her eyes snapped open.
They bled silver light.
The chamber howled.
A wind rose out of nowhere, tearing through the room, slamming Kael against the wall. The mirror pulsed—once, twice—then cracked wider. A voice poured out, jagged and cruel, layered over itself in broken harmony.
"She doesn't belong to you anymore."
Kael staggered back to his feet, blood dripping from a fresh gash across his temple.
"Then I'll break through," he snarled.
He raised his blade and drove it forward.
The mirror screamed.
Crimson light burst from the cracks, spiraling outward like veins across the stone. Kael's sword shattered on contact—but he didn't stop. He pounded his fists against the glass, his voice raw, echoing through the chamber.
"You hear me, Bella? I'm coming for you. I don't care what they call you—I don't care what you've become."
He pressed his forehead against the mirror.
"I love you. And I'll love every version of you. Even the broken ones."
The wind stopped.
Silence returned.
Then, faintly, from the other side—her hand rose.
Small. Pale. Trembling.
She pressed her fingers to the glass, mirroring his.
"Kael…" she whispered.
Then the crown touched her head.
And her face twisted.
The glass exploded outward.
Kael was thrown back into darkness.
The mirror is destroyed. The boundary between their worlds is ruptured. Bella has accepted the crown.And Kael… may no longer be the one she remembers.