The Soul Gate swallowed them whole.
Not with violence—but silence. The kind that bends time. That stretches moments into echoes.
Ethan blinked.
They weren't standing anymore. They were floating—weightless—in an infinite hall of mirrors. Each one shimmered with a different shade of their past. There was Ethan as a child, painting stars in his notebook. Noel sitting alone in a candlelit room, tears streaking his face. A reflection of their first touch. First fight. First spark of love.
But it wasn't a memory lane.
It was a courtroom.
Above them stood a massive reflection of the mirror god Velmir—his face now formed, his eyes open. Cold. Watching.
"You are not welcome here," Velmir said, his voice echoing like thunder through the chamber.
Noel stepped forward, defiant. "This curse was born here. We came to end it."
"Only the marked soul can pass judgment," Velmir replied. "You are fractured, Noel Ardent. And he—" His eyes turned to Ethan. "—he is the reason."
Ethan looked at Noel. "What's he talking about?"
Noel didn't answer at first.
Then: "You were never meant to enter Reverie. I pulled you in… because I couldn't bear to forget you."
The truth rippled.
"I fractured my soul to make a bridge," Noel whispered. "That's what Reverie is. My brokenness… my guilt. You weren't the first one I loved, Ethan."
The air grew colder.
"I had a brother. A twin. Seren."
Ethan froze.
"He's not just cursed," Noel said. "He was cursed because of me. I betrayed him. I chose someone else—once. And he tried to protect me. He fell because of me."
Velmir raised his hand. One of the mirrors cracked—revealing Seren's screaming face.
Ethan's voice was hoarse. "And Zevian?"
"He was the one I chose," Noel said bitterly. "And he never forgave me for choosing you now."
Suddenly the walls of glass began to tremble. Shatter lines raced across them. A great surge of power was building beneath their feet.
"You have a choice," Velmir said, his voice final. "Sacrifice your love, restore the mirror. Or let Reverie collapse."
Ethan stepped forward. "No."
The god tilted his head. "No?"
"I won't let him choose between us and healing. There has to be another way."
"There is none."
"There is us," Ethan said. "And that's enough."
He gripped Noel's hand again.
And for the first time, the mirror god blinked.
The mirrors stopped shaking.
Light poured from their clasped hands—two souls, one truth. Their love wasn't the crack. It was the glue. The very thing Reverie needed to survive.
And somewhere in the distance, Seren screamed.
But it wasn't anger anymore.
It was grief.
The Soul Gate began to close—not in fury, but in understanding.
They had passed the trial.