We are not reflections

It started again after midnight.

The hallway was dark, silent in a way that made even the air feel suspicious. Kael had just finished a solo cooldown after training—mostly lying on his back staring at the cracked ceiling tiles—and was dragging himself back to his room, hoodie pulled tight, head low.

He passed the long wall mirror near the old stairwell.

And stopped.

His reflection didn't.

Kael's legs locked. A sick chill slid down his spine.

"Not again," he breathed.

His reflection tilted its head.

But Kael hadn't moved.

A cold sweat prickled at the base of his neck. He took one step back. The reflection didn't follow.

It just stared.

Kael's throat tightened.

"Nope. Nope nope—"

The reflection smiled.

He turned and sprinted.

His heart banged like it was trying to escape. The walls seemed to shift, lengthening as he ran. The overhead lights flickered—buzzing in strange pulses.

He took a sharp left and ducked into the boiler room, panting.

The door slammed shut behind him with a force that rattled the old pipes.

Kael backed up until his shoulder hit a rusted wall. His breath came in shallow gasps. The shadows in the room were wrong. Too long. Too still.

The cracked metal surface across from him shimmered like water.

And there it was.

His reflection.

But it wasn't mimicking him anymore. It stepped forward. Like it had peeled free of the surface and brought the darkness with it.

Kael's chest constricted. "Why... why are you doing this?"

The reflection didn't answer.

Kael's voice cracked. "What do you want from me?"

Still silence.

He took a shaky step forward. "I don't remember anything—okay? You're saying I locked something away? That I sealed you? I didn't even know I could do that!"

His voice grew louder, sharper, hysterical.

"Why me?! What the hell did I do to deserve this?"

The reflection watched, blank-eyed.

Kael's fists clenched. His body trembled.

"Am I even human? Or was I... am I some monster they had to hide? Was I dangerous? Did I try to destroy the world?"

His voice broke.

"Am I from somewhere else? Am I some broken leftover from something I don't even remember?!"

He stumbled back, eyes wide. "What am I?!"

Still no answer.

"Say something!"

The reflection tilted its head again. This time slowly. Mocking.

And whispered:

"You left me behind."

Kael's breath hitched. His vision swam.

"I didn't mean to," he whispered, voice cracking. "I swear I didn't mean to. I didn't know…"

The reflection took another step.

"You sealed the truth. Buried it so deep, even you forgot. But now... the gate is weak."

The lights buzzed louder, warped. Kael covered his ears, shaking. The weight in his chest was suffocating. Every breath was too loud. Every thought spiraled.

"No," he whispered. "No, please. I don't want this."

The reflection lifted its hand—and Kael flinched.

But this time, something inside him pushed back.

A crack of light split the air between them.

Kael doubled over, gasping. A hot surge pulsed through his spine, his limbs, his bones. Not pain—pressure. Like his very being was unfolding.

His shadow stretched across the room, split down the middle. Another version of him rose beside it, not separate—but layered. Superimposed.

Glass across the walls shattered inward.

Silver veins raced along his arms. His skin shimmered with hairline fractures of light. His pupils dilated into swirling black mirrors.

Kael screamed—but not from pain.

From realization.

Memories bled in.

— Standing in a hall of mirrors, hundreds bowing before him.

— "I am the barrier. And the breach."

— "Seal it. Seal him—"

He dropped to his knees, clutching his head.

The other him—the reflection—watched, expression unreadable.

"I don't want to be you," Kael rasped, chest heaving. "I'm not... I'm not this."

"You always were," the reflection said.

"No!"

He clenched his fist—and the room fractured.

Light burst from every pipe, every crack in the walls. His voice boomed, layered with something older.

"I'm not who I was," he said. "But I will find out. On my own terms."

The reflection faded—melting into the floor like mist.

Kael collapsed, chest rising and falling in ragged bursts. His hands were glowing, but the light was calming now. Soft. Controlled.

He sat there for what felt like hours.

And then the door creaked open.

Noelle stood there, wide-eyed.

Her gaze swept the room—shattered pipes, flickering lights, the silver lines still fading from Kael's skin.

"Kael?" she whispered.

He looked up slowly.

"I think... I think I'm not who I thought I was."

She stepped forward, kneeling beside him.

"You awakened."

Kael laughed bitterly. "Feels more like I broke."

She didn't argue. Just offered her hand.

He took it.

"I don't know who I was," he said quietly. "But I'm going to find out. And I'm not running anymore."