The room went quiet the second Takeshi stepped through the mirror.
No breeze.
No sound.
Not even his heartbeat.
He stood on stone—black and smooth, like it had been carved by time itself.
A long tunnel stretched ahead. Narrow. Cold.
The walls breathed.
---
Takeshi held the map tight. One word pulsed at the bottom: Below.
He took a step.
Then another.
The sound of his shoes was swallowed whole.
This place didn't echo.
It absorbed.
---
A light flickered ahead.
Not fire. Not electric.
Just a soft, white glow hovering above a strange shape.
As he got closer, the shape turned into someone.
Waiting.
> "You came," Asami said.
She wasn't wearing her school uniform.
She wore a dark cloak, its edge marked with silver thread.
A weapon glinted at her hip.
> "Where are we?" Takeshi asked.
> "The Hollow," she said. "A place forgotten by Nehvarra. Not erased. Just… buried."
> "Why bring me here?"
> "Because your Drift won't survive in the open sky. Not yet. But here—"
She touched the wall.
> "Here, your power can breathe."
---
Takeshi's hand twitched. The mark on his wrist started to glow again.
But it didn't hurt this time.
It shivered.
---
> "My Drift," he whispered. "What even is it?"
> "It's rare," she said. "A Seeker-type. It finds truth. Breaks illusion. But there's a catch."
> "Of course there is."
She smiled. Just barely.
> "The more you use it… the less you can lie to yourself."
> "So I go crazy?"
> "If you're lucky. Some burn out. Others forget who they were."
---
They kept walking.
The air grew thicker.
Symbols were carved into the walls. Old ones. Some were glowing faintly.
Asami stopped.
Held out her hand.
> "Close your eyes."
> "Why?"
> "Because if you see this with fear, it'll twist."
> "Twist into what?"
> "What you're most afraid of."
---
Takeshi hesitated.
Then slowly shut his eyes.
He felt her fingers wrap around his.
Warm. Steady.
> "Don't let go," she said.
---
The wind picked up.
But not from around them.
From within.
It pushed against his thoughts.
His memories.
His doubts.
---
> "You're not special."
"You're not ready."
"You're lying to yourself."
The voices came from inside.
He gritted his teeth.
Held tighter to Asami's hand.
---
Then—silence.
And when he opened his eyes, he was standing in a new place.
A vast cavern.
The sky was below him, like a pool of stars flipped upside down.
Floating stones drifted like broken moons.
In the center, a giant door stood—made of bone and ink and shadow.
And it was open just a crack.
---
> "What's behind that?" he asked.
> "The first Drift," Asami said. "The one that made all the others."
> "Are we going in?"
She shook her head.
> "No. We're just here to listen."
> "To what?"
> "To what's trying to get out."
---
End of Chapter 21