The rooftop offered silence. Far above the noise of Greyhollow's late-night hum, Seren Vale sat cross-legged, his eyes scanning the lights below. People moved like ants. Cars blinked. Distant music thumped. But none of it touched him.
He wasn't here to admire the view.
"You still think you're normal?" the Shadow's voice echoed beside him.
Seren didn't answer.
Shadow took form beside him, mimicking his posture, but the grin on his face was far from identical. It was sharper, amused. Mocking—yet knowing.
"You never were," the Shadow continued. "Even before the awakening, you were always... watching and observing."
Seren's brows furrowed slightly. "I've always felt out of place."
"You're not 'out of place.' You're just aware," the Shadow said. "That's rarer than you think."
Seren turned his head slowly. "Aware of what?"
"The way people lie when they smile. The twitch in their eyes when they're afraid. The things they never say, but scream in silence. You've seen it your whole life, haven't you?"
Seren's throat tightened. He had. Since he was young, he noticed things others ignored. Felt things they shrugged off. When people laughed, he sensed if it was hollow. When they praised, he heard the quiet envy underneath.
It made him quiet. Distant. Always... observing.
"You think that's normal?" Shadow asked, reading his silence. "You think most people even look anymore? They drift, Seren. They follow, they obey, they avoid. You—you dissect. You peel people open without touching them."
Seren looked back down at the glowing city.
"Then why do I feel lost?" he asked.
Shadow smirked. "Because you're not done becoming."
A cold wind brushed the rooftop. The shadow stood, stretching its limbs.
"I didn't wake up because of luck, Seren," it said. "I exist because you forced me into the world. You cracked open your own soul."
Seren stood too. "So what are you?"
"I'm you. But clearer. Colder. Sharper. Everything you buried to survive this world—I am that."
Seren stepped forward, looking into the city lights. "What now?"
"You walk your own path," the Shadow replied. "There's no manual for this. No master. No chosen one crap. Only choice. Your cultivation path—the shadow path—is as unique as your perception. You'll have to explore it. Bend it. Shape it."
"Alone?" Seren asked.
Shadow's grin widened. "You'll have me. But I'm not your guide. I'm your mirror."
They stood together for a moment in the quiet, the city breathing beneath them.
"You're different, Seren," Shadow said. "And difference scares people. But it also frees you."
Seren nodded slowly. "Then I'll walk it."
He stepped off the rooftop, silent as fog. Below, the city waited—unaware that something had changed. That someone now walked among them who didn't see the world as it was, but as it truly wasn't.
Shadow faded behind him, whispering:
"Good. Let's begin."