Auren stood frozen.
"You… what do you mean 'someone you shouldn't'?"
Ethan didn't answer. His gaze drifted past Auren's shoulder again, toward the mirror behind him.
Not just any mirror. The mirror.
Auren turned slowly, eyes narrowing at the object that had started this whole descent. "Ethan, if this is some kind of—"
"I'm not crazy," Ethan interrupted softly. "I know how it sounds, Auren. But he's real. His name is Noel."
"Noel?" Auren asked, stepping cautiously into the room. "Is he... in the mirror?"
Ethan nodded.
For a second, neither spoke. The air was tense, fragile like the surface of the glass.
Then Auren whispered, "Show me."
Ethan hesitated. "He doesn't always come when I call."
Auren folded his arms. "Try."
Ethan approached the mirror and placed his hand against it. "Noel," he whispered. "Please. I need you."
Nothing happened.
Ethan's chest tightened. "Please," he said again, softer, his voice cracking.
Then... the mirror shimmered.
Noel stepped into view.
Auren gasped.
Noel looked different—faint, like a ghost underwater. His eyes held an ancient sorrow, and something fierce burned beneath his calm expression.
"Hello," he said, voice echoing like it had crossed centuries.
Auren staggered back. "This… this isn't possible."
Ethan turned to Auren, finally. "You believe me now?"
---
Later that night, when the house was quiet, Ethan sat alone again.
Noel appeared slowly, emerging through silver mist. "You shouldn't have shown him," Noel said. "It's dangerous."
"I had to," Ethan replied. "He's my best friend. He deserves to know what's happening to me."
Noel's jaw tensed. "The more people know, the more cracks appear. The boundary weakens."
"And if it breaks?" Ethan asked.
Noel looked down. "Then I might be free."
"You want that?"
Noel didn't answer at first.
"I want to touch you," he finally whispered. "Without glass between us."
Ethan's heart pounded.
"But if I cross over," Noel added, "I'm not sure I'll be me anymore. Reverie will take something from me. Something I may never get back."
Silence wrapped around them.
Ethan reached for the mirror anyway. "Then let's find another way. Together."
Noel's eyes burned, glass shimmering where their hands met.
"I'm scared," he admitted.
"I'm not," Ethan said. "Not if it's you."
---
Meanwhile, in Reverie…
Seren sat on a throne made of fractured reflections. Mirrors orbited him like planets, each one whispering secrets.
He watched his brother in silence.
"He's falling for the human," Seren murmured, a smirk tugging at his lips. "How sweet. How foolish."
Then he turned his gaze directly toward one of the mirrors.
"Soon," he whispered. "You'll both belong to me."