The air inside the tower changed when the echoes of the Silence's voice faded. The stillness that followed felt heavier than sound — like the city itself had paused to listen.
Eren's amber-hazel eyes flickered as he stepped closer to the mirrored wall. The surface shimmered, faintly breathing. His reflection stared back, half-lit by the ghost-blue pulse crawling under his skin.
Kael moved behind him, quiet as always. "It reacts to you more each time," he said. His voice was low, edged with something that wasn't fear — something closer to recognition.
Eren's pulse matched the faint hum in the walls. "It feels like it's waiting," he murmured.
"For what?"
"For me to break."
Kael's reflection appeared beside his, tall and still. Gray eyes that once looked like storm glass now carried the same glow as the city veins outside. "It doesn't want you to break, Eren. It wants you to choose."
"Choose what?"
"The side of yourself that survives."
The elevator's cables rattled somewhere below, a metallic reminder that the world outside still moved. Lyra lingered near the doorway, her coat darkened by rain. "We shouldn't stay here long. The Signal lines are fluctuating again — someone's tracing the Pulse."
Eren turned. "Who?"
Lyra's expression tightened. "A man called Draven Sol."
The name rippled through the silence like a shard of sound. Kael's jaw flexed; for the first time since Eren met him, his calm cracked.
"He was one of the first Watchers," Kael said at last. "But he didn't stay loyal to the city. He learned how to bend the Pulse into something personal. Dangerous."
"And now he's tracking me."
Kael didn't deny it. "He thinks if he finds you, he can wake what the city buried."
The rain outside thickened into a gray veil.
Eren faced the mirror again. For an instant, the reflection changed — his face blurred into another's. A stranger's. Dark hair swept back, eyes pale gold, smiling as if he already knew him.
He staggered back. "Kael … "
"I see it," Kael said. His hand almost reached for Eren's arm before stopping midway. "The mirror's reacting to him."
Lyra stepped closer. "Then Draven's closer than we thought."
The hum inside Eren's chest deepened into a pulse that wasn't his own. It whispered through his mind like a memory trying to speak: You knew him once.
Kael noticed the tremor in Eren's breathing. "What did you see?"
Eren's voice came out thin. "His eyes. They looked … familiar."
Kael's silence stretched. He turned away, facing the flickering lights beyond the window. "He'll come for you," he said quietly.
"But he won't take you."
"Is that a promise?"
"It's a warning."
The tower shuddered as thunder rolled above Vareth. The Pulse beneath the streets answered with its own muted echo, a deep-earth resonance that made every pane of glass vibrate.
Eren pressed a hand against his chest, feeling the rhythm sync with his heartbeat. "It's getting stronger."
Lyra checked her wrist console. "We need to leave now. The frequency's spiking. If he locks on, we'll have the entire lower grid swarming within minutes."
Kael nodded. "The old transit tunnels. They still shield against the mirrors."
As they moved, Eren caught the faintest reflection on the elevator wall — a silhouette watching from the far end of the hall, gold eyes gleaming through static haze. When he blinked, it was gone.
The elevator groaned as it descended. Sparks danced along the cables.
Eren leaned back, voice quiet. "Who was he to you?"
Kael didn't answer at first. "Someone who once believed silence was enough."
"And now?"
"Now he wants to make noise."
The elevator doors slid open to an undercity drowned in electric mist. Signs flickered, languages half-forgotten glimmering on holo-panels. The scent of ozone and rust filled the air.
Lyra moved ahead, scanning the corridor. "I'll secure the route."
When she disappeared around the corner, Eren turned to Kael. "You're not telling me everything."
Kael's expression was unreadable. "Would you believe it if I did?"
"Try me."
Kael stepped closer. The glow of the Pulse reflected in his gray eyes, making them almost silver. "Draven isn't just another Watcher. He's what happens when the city's reflection looks back too long."
Eren swallowed hard. "And me?"
Kael's voice softened, nearly human. "You're what happens when it looks away."
The air between them thickened with unspoken tension — not quite fear, not yet longing, but something that could become both.
Before either could move, the floor vibrated. A deep mechanical hum surged through the corridor, followed by a shriek of metal.
"Contact," Lyra shouted from ahead. "He's found us!"
The lights dimmed to crimson. From the far end of the tunnel, shapes emerged — holographic distortions bending into human form, each one bearing the mark of the Pulse.
Kael's hands flared with pale light. "Stay behind me."
Eren shook his head. "No. It's reacting to me. I can stop them."
"You don't know how yet."
"Then teach me."
The corridor flashed white as energy burst from the walls. Eren's veins lit like molten silver, his outline merging with the Pulse's glow. The figures hesitated — as if recognizing him.
Then, through the haze, a voice — smooth, amused, dangerously close.
"Beautiful, isn't it? How the city always remembers its favorite son."
Draven Sol stepped from the light. His smile was calm, almost tender. "Hello again, Eren."
Eren's heart stopped for a beat. The Pulse answered in kind.
Kael moved between them instantly, light gathering around his arm like a blade. "You're not touching him."
Draven tilted his head, eyes gleaming gold. "Still possessive, I see." He looked past Kael to Eren, voice lower now, intimate. "Tell me — did he ever mention what you were before he found you?"
Eren froze. "What I was?"
Kael's jaw tightened. "Enough."
Draven smiled wider, the Pulse behind him throbbing in rhythm with his words. "The truth has a way of bleeding through silence, Kael. And you've kept him quiet far too long."
The corridor shuddered. Light cracked the walls. For a moment, Eren saw both men outlined by the same pulse — one of flame-gray, one of gold.
Then everything exploded into white.