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Chapter 24 - The Crooked Reflection

Adam had no idea how much the truth had toyed with him. The wind blowing through the glass palace windows sounded like a whisper, and the echo of his footsteps down the long corridor could only be heard by him… or so he thought.

"Adam," came a voice from behind.

He turned quickly—and there stood **Zera**, on the threshold of an old door he didn't remember ever seeing. She looked different—calmer, yet more dangerous. She wasn't smiling, but her eyes held something mysterious, as if she knew a truth he wasn't yet ready to bear.

She approached and said softly:

> "It's time you learned who you are… or at least, who you think you are."

He froze in place.

— "Zera, what do you mean?"

She pointed to the door behind her.

> "The answer lies here. But you won't come out the same."

He followed her in...

The room was circular, windowless, with a large mirror in the center, covered by a black cloth.

Zera stepped forward and lifted the cloth. The mirror didn't reflect Adam… but someone else: a small child, no older than ten, standing in an abandoned garden, with a burned doll at his feet.

— "Who is that child?" Adam whispered, stepping back.

Zera didn't answer.

The mirror began to shift on its own, like it was playing a reel of memories that weren't his… or maybe ones that belonged to him more than he realized.

He saw a woman who looked like his grandmother, but younger, holding the crying child.

There was no sound—only oppressive silence and a flood of images.

Suddenly, an image appeared: a necklace just like Adam's—but around the neck of a young woman with eyes the color of midnight.

— "That's my mother…" Adam uttered with difficulty.

Zera nodded.

> "And not in the way you thought. The woman who raised you—she's not your mother. Not even your grandmother."

The words caught in his throat.

— "What are you saying?"

Zera looked him dead in the eye and said slowly:

> "You're a project, Adam. Placed in this world not to live… but to be watched."

His heart trembled. But before he could speak, the mirror flared again.

An image of **Lapopo** appeared—but in his true size.

He wasn't the cute creature Adam remembered.

He was towering, monstrous, with dark wings and cold, piercing eyes fixed on Adam.

— "Lapopo…?"

But the voice that came from the mirror wasn't Lapopo's.

It was another voice—deep and heavy:

> **"Welcome, Heir of the False Light."**

Adam screamed—but the room vanished.

He awoke suddenly on a bed of black stone.

Zera was nowhere to be seen.

But this wasn't Nimora. And it wasn't Earth.

It was… something else. A place between shadow and truth.

And before his bed…

A man who looked exactly like him—but older, and with a single gray eye.

The man said:

> "You've passed the first test… but can you survive the next?"

Adam stood, teetering between madness and clarity.

— "Who are you?!"

> "I'm you… if you had chosen the other side."

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### **🧠 Human Test – Consciousness Proof:**

Can you tell truth from reflection?

Copy and paste this link in your browser to prove you're not just another shadow in this world:

https://unlockcontent.net/cp/i/q8320?preview=1#

*If you pass, perhaps the gates to Part Twenty-Five will open.*

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### **📌 Engage with the story:**

Do you believe Adam is the *true heir*, or merely a vessel to unlock something greater?

Share your thoughts:

If you were in his place, would you face the truth… or run from it?

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