Chapter 95: Reflection
Sasha didn’t sleep.
She remained standing before the bathroom mirror long after midnight.
The apartment was silent.
Only the ticking of the wall clock disturbed the stillness.
Her reflection stared back exactly as it should.
Same crimson eyes.
Same long black hair.
Same gentle expression.
Normal.
"...I’m imagining things."
She whispered.
She reached toward the mirror.
Cold glass met her fingertips.
"...You’re tired."
She forced herself to smile.
The reflection smiled too.
Perfectly.
"...See?"
She exhaled.
"...I’m fine."
She turned away.
The bathroom light clicked off.
Darkness swallowed the room.
For one heartbeat...
The reflection remained standing.
Still smiling.
Watching the doorway.
Then...
It slowly walked backward into the darkness.
The following morning...
Guardian Network Headquarters.
The atmosphere felt unusually light.
At least...
On the surface.
Dana threw a training towel over Dillan’s face.
"C’mon."
"We’re running drills."
Dillan pulled the towel away.
"...You’re really enjoying this."
"Absolutely."
"You’ve been distracted all week."
"So today..."
She grinned.
"I’m going to beat the distraction out of you."
Commander Yuna sighed from across the room.
"...Try not to break him."
"No promises."
Training lasted nearly two hours.
Dillan improved.
Slowly.
His reactions had become sharper.
His instincts faster.
Each recovered memory seemed to strengthen him in subtle ways.
Commander Yuna noticed immediately.
"...Again."
Dana attacked.
This time...
Dillan sidestepped.
Caught her wrist.
Redirected her momentum.
Dana landed on the mat with a surprised laugh.
"...Okay."
She looked genuinely impressed.
"...That was new."
Dillan blinked.
"...I don’t remember learning that."
Lyra quietly watched from the corner.
"...You didn’t."
"...Your body does."
Elsewhere...
Sera quietly prepared tea.
She noticed Sasha entering the cafeteria.
"...Morning."
"...Morning."
Sasha smiled as always.
Gentle.
Kind.
Warm.
Yet...
Sera noticed tiny details.
Dark circles beneath her eyes.
Her smile lingered half a second too long.
Her fingers trembled slightly while pouring tea.
"...Didn’t sleep?"
Sera asked.
"...Not much."
"...Nightmares?"
Sasha hesitated.
"...Something like that."
It wasn’t entirely a lie.
Hours later...
Dr. Yeon burst into Commander Yuna’s office.
"...We’ve got another anomaly."
Commander Yuna immediately stood.
"What happened?"
"The security mirrors."
"...Mirrors?"
"Every reflective surface inside headquarters recorded..."
She hesitated.
"...An extra frame."
Silence.
Within minutes...
Everyone gathered inside the surveillance room.
Mira replayed the footage.
Normal hallway.
Researchers walking.
Dana passing by.
Sera carrying flowers.
Everything looked ordinary.
Until...
Frame 13,442.
Everyone walking...
Stopped.
Only their reflections continued moving.
One frame.
Exactly one.
Then reality corrected itself.
Dana frowned.
"...Please tell me I’m seeing things."
"...You’re not."
Mira answered quietly.
Another recording.
Different hallway.
Same result.
Another.
Another.
Every reflective surface.
Every mirror.
Every window.
Every polished floor.
One extra frame.
As though...
Something inside the reflections moved independently.
Lyra slowly whispered,
"...The Boundary is thinning."
Commander Yuna looked toward her.
"...Boundary?"
"...Between thought..."
She paused.
"...And reality."
Across the city...
The Third Seat stood inside an abandoned observatory.
Ancient star charts covered the walls.
He quietly watched dozens of floating mirrors surrounding him.
Each reflected a different place.
Guardian Headquarters.
Dillan’s apartment.
The greenhouse.
The oak tree.
Finally...
One mirror showed Sasha.
Standing quietly before another mirror.
The Third Seat smiled.
"...Excellent."
He murmured.
"...She’s resisting."
A hooded figure stepped from the shadows.
One of the Seven Watchers.
"...Resistance delays the inevitable."
The Third Seat chuckled.
"...That’s what makes humans beautiful."
"...And tragic."
Late that evening...
Dillan received a text message.
From Sasha.
Are you busy?
He smiled.
Not really. Everything okay?
Three dots appeared.
Disappeared.
Appeared again.
Nearly a full minute passed.
Finally...
Would you mind walking with me tonight?
He replied almost immediately.
Sure. Same park?
Another pause.
Yeah.
Thank you.
An hour later...
The park was nearly empty.
Streetlights reflected across the damp paths.
Neither spoke for the first few minutes.
Finally...
Sasha stopped beneath the old oak tree.
"...Can I ask you something?"
"You can ask me anything."
She looked down at the ground.
"...If..."
She struggled to finish.
"...If one day..."
"...I became someone you didn’t recognize..."
Dillan frowned.
"What do you mean?"
She forced a tiny smile.
"...Just pretend."
Silence.
"...Would you..."
"...Still believe me..."
"...If I told you I wasn’t trying to hurt anyone?"
The question caught him off guard.
He looked at her for a long moment.
Then answered honestly.
"...I’d listen first."
"...Even if everyone else said not to?"
"...Yeah."
"...Why?"
Dillan smiled softly.
"...Because you waited for me."
"...For years."
"...Someone who can do that..."
He shook his head.
"...Deserves to be heard."
Sasha lowered her face.
A single tear fell onto the wet grass.
"...Thank you..."
She whispered.
For the first time in days...
The voice inside her became quiet.
Just for a little while.
Hidden beyond the trees...
The Third Seat watched silently.
His smile slowly disappeared.
"...So..."
He whispered.
"...The bond is stronger than expected."
He turned toward the darkness.
"...We’ll need another approach."
A second figure stepped beside him.
Unlike the elegant woman...
Unlike Kellan...
This figure wore a featureless white mask.
"...Permission?"
The Third Seat nodded once.
"...Begin Phase Two."
The masked figure disappeared without a sound.
Far away...
Inside her apartment...
One of Sasha’s childhood photographs quietly slid from the table...
And fell face-down onto the floor.
The photograph hit the floor.
Tap.
Inside Sasha’s apartment...
Nothing else moved.
She had already left for the night.
The apartment sat empty.
Silent.
Yet...
The photograph slowly turned over by itself.
The picture showed two children beneath the old oak tree.
Young Dillan.
Young Sasha.
Someone unseen gently placed a fingertip over Dillan’s smiling face.
Then...
The photograph stopped moving.
Guardian Network Headquarters.
8:13 A.M.
Commander Yuna entered the operations room carrying a stack of reports.
"...We have another problem."
Dana groaned.
"...Can we have one normal day?"
"No."
Commander Yuna answered immediately.
"I’d like one too."
Several tired laughs echoed around the room.
Only briefly.
Mira projected a city map.
"This started three hours ago."
Red dots appeared throughout Seoul.
Not Gate activity.
Not monster sightings.
People.
Ordinary civilians.
"...What’s this?"
Dillan asked.
Dr. Yeon answered.
"They’re reporting..."
She hesitated.
"...The same person."
Commander Yuna enlarged one of the reports.
A young woman asking strange questions.
Another.
Woman showing an old childhood photograph.
Another.
Woman asking if anyone knows Dillan Ruren.
Silence filled the room.
Dillan slowly looked up.
"...Someone’s looking for me."
Mira nodded.
"...Not someone."
She tapped another key.
Seven locations connected together.
"Seven women."
"They appeared at exactly the same time."
Dana frowned.
"...Copies?"
"...Maybe."
Lyra quietly whispered,
"...No."
"They’re reflections."
Nobody understood.
Meanwhile...
Sasha walked toward headquarters carrying breakfast.
Sweet bread.
Coffee.
The same small routine she had unconsciously fallen into over the past week.
Halfway there...
Someone called her name.
"...Miss Gamilo."
She stopped.
The masked figure stood beneath a bus stop across the street.
White porcelain mask.
Black coat.
Hands folded behind his back.
"...Who are you?"
"...A messenger."
"...For whom?"
"...Phase Two."
Before Sasha could react...
He tossed something toward her.
She caught it instinctively.
A photograph.
Her eyes widened.
It showed Dillan.
Sleeping inside his apartment.
Taken through his bedroom window.
The date...
Was yesterday.
Sasha’s heartbeat stopped.
"...Who took this?"
The masked man tilted his head.
"...Does it matter?"
Her hands trembled.
"...Answer me."
"...No."
He replied calmly.
"...Because tomorrow..."
He reached into his coat.
Removing another photograph.
Dillan eating lunch.
Another.
Dillan training.
Another.
Dillan talking with Dana.
Another.
Dillan laughing beside Sera.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
Every moment.
Every smile.
Every step.
Someone had been watching him constantly.
Long before Sasha had returned.
"...Impossible..."
She whispered.
"...Who’s doing this?"
The masked figure spoke only one sentence.
"...Not everyone who watches him..."
"...Loves him."
Then...
He vanished into the passing crowd.
Guardian Headquarters.
Dillan was laughing.
Dana had just beaten him for the fourth time in training.
"...Again?"
He groaned.
"...Again."
She grinned.
"...Until you actually beat me."
Commander Yuna watched quietly.
"...He’s improving."
Lyra nodded.
"...Faster."
"...Much faster."
The memories weren’t simply returning anymore.
They were becoming instinct.
Suddenly...
The training hall doors slammed open.
BANG!
Sasha rushed inside.
Completely out of breath.
"Dillan!"
Everyone immediately turned.
Commander Yuna frowned.
"...What happened?"
Sasha placed the photographs onto the floor.
One after another.
The room slowly fell silent.
Hundreds.
Everyday moments.
Taken secretly.
Over weeks.
Some...
Over months.
Dana’s smile disappeared.
"...Who..."
"...Took these?"
Sasha looked directly at Commander Yuna.
"...Someone has been stalking him."
Silence.
Then...
Mira picked up one photograph.
She froze.
"...Commander."
"What?"
"This one..."
She turned it over.
The timestamp read...
Eight months ago.
Everyone stared.
Eight months.
Sasha had only returned recently.
Which meant...
Whoever had taken these photographs...
Had begun long before she came back.
Commander Yuna slowly looked toward Dillan.
"...You were being watched..."
"...Before any of us knew."
Dillan quietly picked up another photograph.
It showed him leaving Ironspire Guild.
The day he lost his job.
Rain.
Head lowered.
Completely alone.
He didn’t remember anyone being nearby.
Yet...
Someone had been there.
Watching.
Recording.
Waiting.
A chill ran down his spine.
That evening...
The mysterious notebook opened once again.
No one touched it.
Fresh ink spread across the page.
Faster than ever.
Almost frantic.
DON’T LOOK FOR THE PHOTOGRAPHER.
Another sentence immediately appeared.
THE PHOTOGRAPHER WANTS TO BE FOUND.
Another.
THEY AREN’T THE HUNTER.
The room became cold.
One final line slowly formed.
THEY ARE THE BAIT.
The notebook snapped shut violently.
SLAM!
Every light inside headquarters flickered.
Outside...
Rain poured harder.
Standing beneath a streetlight across from Guardian Headquarters...
The Third Seat quietly watched the building.
The masked figure stood beside him.
"...Everything is prepared."
The Third Seat smiled faintly.
"...Good."
"...How long until she breaks?"
The masked figure asked.
The Third Seat looked toward the lit window where Sasha stood speaking with Dillan.
"...Not long."
"...Love..."
He whispered.
"...Always breaks before hatred."
High above the storm clouds...
One of the Seven Watchers slowly opened his ancient book.
A new sentence appeared across an empty page.
The heart has begun to divide.
He quietly closed the book.
"...The third lock..."
He murmured.
"...Approaches."