The moment the Runic Grave completed the reassignment line, Lina felt it in her bones like a hook catching.
LINA VERIS → KAI RHEN
Her ribs burned.
Not from flame.
From labeling.
Like the academy had slapped a new tag on her soul and expected the universe to scan it without question.
Kai's grip tightened around her hand so hard it hurt. "No," he said—quiet, brutal.
Mirror Kai smiled, almost tender.
"Of course," he murmured. "That's the cleanest correction."
Seren stared at the wall, eyes wide, glowing. "It's binding her identity slot to Kai's."
Reyon whispered, voice shaking, "So… she's being filed under 'Kai' in the universe's paperwork."
Mira clung to Lina's arm, trembling like she could feel the change too.
Then the underwing's runes pulsed.
A Guardian statue turned its head sharply—toward Lina—
and bowed.
Not to Lina.
To what it thought Lina was.
Kai.
Lina's stomach dropped.
The statue's voice scraped out of stone, low and hollow:
"Recognized."
Seren's breath hitched. "The wards are reading her as him."
Kai's jaw clenched, eyes dark. "That means if the mirror replaces me—"
Reyon finished shakily, "—it gets her too."
Mirror Kai stepped closer, calm as a promise.
"Your tether is already pulling," he murmured to Lina, voice soft. "It will feel natural soon."
Lina's flame hissed under her skin.
"I'd rather feel pain," she snapped, "than natural lies."
Mirror Kai's eyes flicked—tiny glitch—then smoothed again.
Reyon's sticky residue was still catching.
Good.
Let it crack.
Kai shifted slightly—placing his body between Lina and Mirror Kai.
And Lina felt it.
A strange, wrong alignment in her bones.
Her instincts tried to stand where Kai stood.
Her spine wanted to straighten the way his did.
Her breath wanted to slow like his.
It wasn't imitation.
It was the Quill pushing her identity into his shape.
Lina clenched her fists. "Stop," she whispered to herself. "I'm not him. I'm not—"
Kai's voice cut in. "Say your name."
Lina swallowed hard. "Lina Veris."
Kai's eyes sharpened. "Again."
"Lina Veris."
"Stay real."
"I'm here," Lina whispered, but the words tasted like she was arguing with the world.
Mira stared at Lina's face, eyes glassy.
And then Mira whispered, trembling:
"Kai…?"
Lina froze.
Kai's head snapped toward Mira.
Mira blinked rapidly, panic rising. "I'm sorry. I—I saw you and—"
🕯️
The memory burn was eating labels first. Names. Identifiers.
Lina's chest cracked. "Mira, no—"
Mira's tears spilled. "I don't know why I said it. I know you. I do. I just—" Her voice broke. "Your name keeps sliding."
Seren whispered, voice shaking, "The reassignment is infecting witness memory."
The Veilbound whisper drifted again, pleased:
"Yes," it murmured. "Let them forget the difference."
Kai's shadow flared faintly, anger controlled. "We leave. Now."
He pulled them away from the wall, but the corridor they came from… didn't look the same anymore.
The runes on the floor had subtly rearranged, like the underwing had rewritten the map.
Reyon's voice cracked. "It's changing routes again."
Seren stared down the hallway, eyes glowing. "This place doesn't want us to reach the exit. It wants us to reach a choice moment."
"A what?" Lina whispered.
Seren swallowed hard. "The Quill can't finalize reassignment unless the target chooses something under pressure. A decision point. A moment where your heart commits."
Lina's stomach turned. "So it's forcing us into one."
Mirror Kai's voice drifted behind them, calm as a lullaby:
"She'll choose. She always chooses with her heart."
Kai's jaw clenched. "Don't listen."
Then the air pressure shifted.
A deep hum rolled through the underwing.
And from somewhere above—through runes, through stone, through the academy's throat—the Councilor's voice echoed again:
"By Founder's law… swear obedience."
Kai went rigid.
His Oathbreaker mark flared violently.
He staggered, breath ripping from his lungs.
Lina caught him instinctively—hands on his arms, anchoring.
The underwing pulsed, pleased.
Because it had created the perfect trap:
Kai in pain.
Lina holding him.
Identity slot shifting.
Choice moment brewing.
Kai's voice came out strained. "Don't—let them—use me—"
Mirror Kai stepped closer. "Why suffer?" he murmured. "Accept the vow. Let the pain stop."
Kai's teeth clenched. "Never."
The mark flared brighter, punishing refusal.
Seren's eyes widened in panic. "If it keeps triggering, it could break him. Or force acceptance."
Reyon swallowed hard, then did something reckless—useful reckless.
He snapped his fingers and threw a sticky illusion at Mirror Kai.
Not fireworks.
Not fear.
A simple distortion: Mirror Kai's reflection lagging.
For half a second, Mirror Kai's body moved before his shadow did.
For half a second, his smile didn't match his eyes.
For half a second, the mask's edge flickered like it wasn't fully anchored.
Mirror Kai's head tilted sharply.
Annoyed.
Real Kai gasped through pain, eyes narrowing. "He's—desynced."
Seren whispered, "That's proof."
Reyon's voice shook. "You're welcome."
Mirror Kai's gaze slid to Reyon, voice soft as threat. "Illusions don't belong here, Reyon Vale."
Reyon flinched. "Oh. Great. It knows my government name."
The underwing shuddered.
The Runic Grave wall pulsed again—writing faster now, as if the Quill was impatient.
A new line appeared beneath the reassignment:
CHOICE MOMENT REQUIRED
Then three options carved themselves into the stone like menu selections.
Lina's blood ran cold as she read:
SEVER TETHER NOW — 🧵 (prevent replacement)
ACCEPT REASSIGNMENT — 🖋️ (stabilize identity)
ERASE KAI RHEN — 🕯️ (remove conflict)
Mira made a small, broken sound. "No…"
Seren's voice cracked. "It's offering you a bargain."
Reyon whispered, horrified, "Option three is literally 'delete boyfriend.'"
Kai's breath went ragged. "Don't—look—at that—"
Lina stared at the options, heart hammering.
🧵 sever tether now—prevent replacement… but that meant cutting the bone-tether she'd burned into herself. Cutting the only anchor keeping Kai real.
🖋️ accept reassignment—stabilize identity… but that meant letting her name be rewritten into Kai's slot, making her easier to steal.
🕯️ erase Kai—remove conflict… the cruelest, simplest option. End the tug-of-war by deleting the person.
Lina's flame trembled under her skin.
This was the choice moment.
The Quill wanted her heart.
Wanted her to commit.
Wanted her to make the decision that would define the rewrite.
Kai's eyes—pained, furious, desperate—locked on Lina's. "Lina… don't."
Lina swallowed hard, voice shaking. "They're forcing me to pick how I lose you."
Mirror Kai stepped closer, voice gentle.
"You can stop suffering," he murmured to Lina. "Choose stability."
The Veilbound whisper echoed, delighted:
"Choose. Choose. Choose."
Lina's flame rose.
Gold edged black.
Not wild.
Controlled.
She stepped toward the wall.
Not to pick.
To write.
"Seventh Flame," Lina whispered—not like a spell, but like a promise.
Kai's breath hitched. "Lina—Mirror Tax—"
"I know," Lina whispered, eyes burning. "But I'm done letting stone decide my love."
Her flame thinned into a pen again.
And Lina wrote across the carved options in fierce, messy fire:
NO CONTRACT WITHOUT CONSENT.
The underwing screamed.
Runes flared.
Guardian statues jerked like they wanted to strike.
Mirror Tax hit Lina instantly—
a memory slipped, vanished—something small, harmless, warm.
For a heartbeat, Lina couldn't remember the taste of Mira's favorite candy.
Gone.
Another tiny piece of life.
Lina gasped, but kept her flame steady.
She wrote a second line beneath it—hard, burning:
I CHOOSE MY OWN NAME.
The Quill symbol beside her name flickered violently.
The reassignment line glitched.
For one breath, the arrow stuttered.
Kai's fading steadied slightly, like truth had slapped the wall.
Seren whispered, awed and terrified, "You're resisting the ledger."
Mirror Kai's mask tilted, voice colder now. "Then you'll pay more."
The Runic Grave wall pulsed again.
And a final line carved itself beneath Lina's defiant flame-writing:
IF YOU REFUSE TO CHOOSE, THE ACADEMY WILL CHOOSE FOR YOU.
Then, slowly, the stone wrote one new offer—simpler, cleaner, crueler:
ERASE KAI RHEN — 🕯️ — IMMEDIATE
Lina's breath stopped.
Immediate.
Not seven days.
Not later.
Now.
Kai's hand tightened around hers, voice rough and breaking:
"Lina… please."
The underwing held its breath.
The Quill scratched behind Lina's eyes like it was waiting for her hand to slip.
And in the shadows, Mirror Kai smiled gently—like he already knew the academy would get what it wanted.
To be Continued© Kishtika., 2025
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