The valley was quiet now, but Rizz wasn't.
He stood still, breathing deeply, both arms lowered. His body ached—not from the battle, but from the pull of something deeper. Something the Soul Seal was suppressing… or trying to.
He looked at his palms.
For a moment, just before the rift closed, he had seen his reflection twist. Two versions of himself—one cloaked in radiant fire, the other drowned in silent darkness—stood back to back inside the mirror world.
Then it was gone.
> "That thing knew me. No—it knew the seal," Rizz muttered.
His wings dimmed as he activated the recall glyph. A circle of light formed beneath him, whisking him away from the corrupted field and returning him to the sky sanctuary near the edge of Seraphis territory.
Within moments, he appeared inside a sealed chamber with transparent runes and a cold silver floor. Elena, Safa, and Raze were already there, their faces drawn with concern.
Elena ran to him, placing her hands on his chest. "You're safe… thank the stars."
Safa narrowed her eyes. "You're not injured. But something isn't right. Speak."
Rizz hesitated. He looked at each of them—his father, his aunt, his mother. These were his pillars. His protectors. But something had changed.
"I saw... someone," he finally said. "Two people. A girl, silver hair, and a boy with a mirrored eye. They weren't in this world."
Safa stiffened.
"Mirror Eye?" she repeated slowly. "Are you sure?"
Rizz nodded.
"And they saw you?"
"I think… I think they were reaching for me."
A long silence filled the chamber.
Raze stepped forward. "We need to talk about the Soul Seal. Not its strength. Its origin."
Elena's hands trembled. "Not yet. He's too young—"
"He's no longer just our child," Raze interrupted. "He's becoming the bridge. If we hide it now, it will tear him apart."
Safa approached and touched Rizz's shoulder. "Your Soul Seal wasn't born in you, Rizz. It was placed."
He blinked. "What?"
Elena finally spoke. "You were born with an unstable divine-demonic soul. The world rejected you. You couldn't breathe, couldn't live. We… we made a desperate decision."
Rizz took a step back.
"You sealed my soul."
"Yes," Elena whispered. "But the seal… it wasn't made by this world."
Safa continued. "It came from a mirror world. An alternate plane of balance. Aetheric and Chronal signatures. The seal itself is living—it binds more than power. It binds connection."
Rizz sat down.
"What am I then?"
"You," Raze said softly, "are the one who can walk between the divine and the broken. Light and void. Mirror and flame."
"You are not a child with two wings, Rizz."
"You are the balance of three."
Suddenly, a searing light blinked across the wall. A warning glyph ignited.
> "An unknown awakening has been detected near the outer capital. Forbidden tier. Containment breach risk."
Safa's eyes went wide. "Another child… just awakened."
Rizz's eyes burned green and silver.
"The boy with the mirrored eye."
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