Chapter 9, Part 3: The Mockingglass Marches
❖ Eastern Market District – Dusk
They came barefoot.
Their clothes didn't match. Their eyes didn't move.
Dozens of them.
Some had once been informants. Some, low-tier mages. Others—just commoners who got too close.
Now they moved in perfect synchronicity.
Not like soldiers.
Like echoes.
Every gesture was slightly wrong. Heads tilted too far. Arms moved a beat late. Each smile too wide, or too still.
At the center of them—Envy.
He didn't wear armor.
He wore a long coat of pieced-together robes—shreds of Temple white, Red Sigil gray, and one strip of gold-threaded Council sash.
His hair was short, uneven. His hands never stopped twitching.
And his eyes—green-black and reflecting too much light—were fixed on the horizon.
On the dome.
"You made fire holy," he said aloud.
"You made silence sacred."
"So I will become what you fear."
He stopped in front of a Council broadcast pillar.
Citizens nearby paused—unwillingly.
He touched the base of the stone.
Whispers spread.
Not words.
Mimic. Mock. Replace.
The glyphs twisted.
And the tower showed his image.
Not just his face.
But him—as Brix.Then Lio.Then Mav.Then Kairon.
A thousand projections played their steps, their kills, their silence.
One woman screamed.
Too late.
She had already mirrored.
[System Alert: ENVY Aura Projection Radius – Expanding.]
[Mimicry-Level Threat: Level A+]
[Distortion Count: 78 civilians. 4 agents. 3 priests. 2 mercenaries. 1 scribe.]
Inside the Archive, the light dimmed.
Kairon stood before the inner wall, eyes narrowed.
"He's not trying to breach us."
"He's rewriting the outside."
Mav stared at a System panel.
"People are echoing."
Brix growled. "Say the word."
Kairon shook his head.
"Not yet."
Nair whimpered. "He's stealing shapes…"
Kairon's voice dropped.
"He's not stealing."
"He's reflecting what they already feared."
❖ Western Tower Bridge
Commander Jeska saw it before most.
One of her scouts—pale, bleeding, limping—made it to the tower edge and collapsed.
"They're not human anymore," she whispered.
Jeska raised a spyglass.
Saw the mirrored crowd.
And Envy at the center.
He wasn't smiling.
Just walking.
Jeska spoke only once.
"Call every captain."
"Do not engage."
"Watch."
❖ Mage Council War Chamber
Relvan watched the projections glitch.
Envy's broadcast had infected four scrying pillars.
And every viewing spell returned something false.
"Terminate all scans," he ordered. "His field's feeding on observation."
Thirel hissed, "We can't stop watching—"
Relvan looked at her.
"Then you'll become one of them."
❖ The Archive – Exterior Line
The dome flickered.
Not because it weakened.
But because the space around it had been saturated with copying.
Not attack.
Imitation.
And the System couldn't block what wasn't aimed directly at the host.
[Warning: Proximity Illusions Confusing Barrier Logic]
[Environmental Loop Construct Detected – Envy Aura Manifestation]
Then, finally—
Knock.
It wasn't loud.
But it echoed.
Three times.
Inside, Kairon looked toward the wall.
He said nothing.
But the System pinged.
[Permission Required: Response.]
[Engage? Y/N]
He looked to his students.
Brix: fists clenched.
Lio: utterly still.
Mav: lips curled, but eyes unreadable.
Nair: shaking, but no longer hiding.
Kairon nodded once.
"Yes."
The wall peeled back like silk burned by candlelight.
Envy stood outside.
Alone.
The mirrors behind him stopped.
No longer needed.
He stepped forward.
"You left me behind."
Kairon answered:
"I didn't see you."
Envy smiled.
But it didn't reach his eyes.
"Then I'll become everything you can't look away from."