Chapter 1 – Part Two: The Girl in the Dark
Kael froze.
Ten shattered shards of the mirror floated in the air before him, each reflecting a different version of himself — a warrior, a rogue, a man with eyes like galaxies… one of them holding a girl's hand.
A girl he didn't recognize.
But something inside him did.
Then—
click... click... click...
The sharp, rhythmic sound of heels on metal echoed from behind him.
Each step deliberate. Clean. Deadly.
He turned.
And there she was.
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💫 Mira's Entrance
She walked out of the shadows like she owned the space — like this entire glitch in reality bent to her presence.
Tall. Confident. Deadly.
She wore a dark trench coat that split mid-thigh, revealing a tight black bodysuit underneath, cut just enough to distract, designed just enough to kill. A high-tech brace glowed faintly on her left wrist, pulsing with unreadable energy.
Every movement she made was calculated — slow, sensual, powerful.
Her boots stopped a few feet from Kael, and her coat fluttered from the static in the air.
The light from the floating mirror danced over her skin — warm copper and shadows.
Her lips curved into something between a smirk and a dare.
And her eyes…
Kael had never seen eyes like those.
Golden with flecks of electric blue.
Not just beautiful — unsettlingly familiar. Like they had looked at him before, in another life, in another universe.
He said nothing.
He couldn't.
---
"You're late, Kael."
She said it like they'd known each other for years. Like she had been waiting.
Kael's mind raced. He hadn't told her his name.
She was a stranger — but somehow, when she said it, it felt right. Too right.
"Who… the hell are you?"
Her gaze slid slowly across his face, tracing the tension in his jaw, the tightness in his shoulders.
"I'm Mira," she said, voice smooth like liquid silver. "And you… you're the fracture point."
Kael took a step back. "How do you know my name?"
"I've known you across five timelines," she said. "In four, you die. In one, you break everything."
She stepped closer. Inches away now.
The air between them charged — like static before a lightning strike.
Kael's breath hitched.
He wanted to ask questions — who she was, what this mirror was, how she knew him — but all he could do was stare.
Mira tilted her head slightly, looking amused. Her voice lowered.
> "Don't fall in love with me, Kael. Not yet."
He blinked. "Excuse me?"
> "Too early," she whispered, her breath brushing his ear like fire and ice.
"You don't even know what you're about to become."
The mirror behind them cracked. One shard twitched — and began spinning faster.
Kael turned instinctively.
When he looked back—
She was gone.
No footsteps.
No door.
No sound.
Only a faint scent of smoke and voltage in the air.
And a single blue feather drifting down from nowhere, landing in Kael's open palm.
---
He stared at it.
Not understanding. Not breathing.
His pulse hammered.
The mirror pulsed.
The city above was still blacked out.
And Kael knew something inside him had changed forever.
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> To be continued...
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