We are not reflections

It's been a month.....

The bunker felt different now. Not because the walls had changed, but because Kael had.

Glass cracked beneath his feet as he spun through the air, vanishing and reappearing behind a stunned Ziv. The boy barely had time to dodge before Kael's palm smacked into his back.

"Tag," Kael grinned, stepping out of the mirror shard with all the ease of breathing.

Ziv groaned, rubbing his spine. "You're getting cocky."

"Correction: I've earned the right to be cocky," Kael replied, twirling the mirror blade he'd summoned between his fingers like it was second nature. His eyes had sharpened over the month — calmer, more focused. Sarcasm still laced his every word, but now it came from confidence, not confusion.

Training with Echo had changed him.

Kael no longer flinched at shifting space or flickering reflections. He no longer panicked when glass bent reality around him. Now, he controlled it. Now, he bent it to him.

"Again," he called.

But before they could reset, the temperature in the room dropped. Not cold. Still. Like the air had suddenly become aware of itself.

Echo had entered.

He didn't walk like the others. He glided, movements so smooth it was hard to tell when he arrived. He wore a long dark coat, torn at the hem, fastened by mirrors instead of buttons. His hair was white , falling just over his eyes — one silver, one black — reflecting everything and nothing. His skin had the pallor of someone who didn't need warmth to survive.

But it was his presence that made people shut up.

He was beautiful in a way that felt wrong to look at for too long — like staring into a still lake and realizing something under it was staring back.

"Strategy room. Now."

The humor dropped from Kael's face. When Echo gave a command, you followed.

---

The Strategy Room...

The monitors glowed faintly in the dark. Maps, diagrams, pulses of mirror magic detected along the edges of the world. The rest of the Disconnected were already gathered.

Noelle stood with her back straight, arms folded, chin tilted in defiance. Ziv leaned against the far wall, eyes sharp, fingers twitching like he wanted to be doing something. Renji sat in front of the central console, goggles pushed to his forehead as he tapped in commands faster than thought. Juno perched on a low cabinet, legs swinging, expression unreadable beneath her hood. Mara stood beside her, stoic as always, but her eyes tracked Echo the moment he entered.

He said nothing at first. Just pointed to the flickering red dot on the screen.

"The Gate is waking."

Kael raised a brow. "What, is it a sentient door now? Do I say a password or do a dance?"

Echo didn't flinch. "This isn't a joke. That seal… you made it. You locked something powerful inside the Mirror Realm — and now it's clawing back."

Kael exhaled through his nose, posture tightening. He didn't remember sealing anything. But he believed it.

Echo turned toward them all, eyes unreadable.

"It needs only one more thing."

Kael tilted his head, already knowing. "Lemme guess. My sparkling personality?"

"Your blood."

The silence that followed wasn't heavy , it was sharp.

Mara blinked. "Wait... Kael's blood?"

Ziv pushed off the wall. "That's a hell of a thing to need."

Renji frowned, eyebrows pinched. "How exactly does that work?"

Echo's voice remained level. "Kael sealed the gate. His reflection bore the mark. Now that he's awakened, his blood is the only final component required to break it."

Juno clicked her tongue. "Of course it is."

Kael blinked. Then scoffed. "Of course. Of course they need my blood. Do they want a kidney too? Maybe a little hair for flavor?"

"This isn't a joke, Kael."

"I know." His voice rose. Then dropped. "I know… I just... I'm tired of being the damn key to every nightmare in this story."

Echo didn't comfort. He didn't scold. He simply stared with those too-knowing eyes. "That's why we don't let them take it."

Kael folded his arms. "So, what's the plan? You want me to lock myself in a vault and become bubble boy?"

"They won't come to you directly," Echo replied. "That would risk too much."

A second monitor flickered. A grainy photo. Security footage.

Kael leaned forward.

His heart dropped.

"...Arlen?"

The image showed Arlen — hands tied, bruised, but alive. A cultist in a mirror mask stood beside him.

Noelle inhaled sharply. Juno's eyes narrowed.

"They've taken him," Echo said quietly. "He's the bait. They think you'll come running."

Kael's fists clenched. The glass in the corner of the room cracked with a sharp ping.

He didn't speak for a long moment.

"I'm not running into their arms. I'm smarter than that."

Echo nodded. "Good. Then let's start a war on our terms."

Kael's eyes glinted.

"Let's make them bleed first."