The return walk to Brumdn Cove feels longer than it should.
The tunnels wind downward, walls slick with condensation, air heavy with the ever-present murmur of water. When I finally emerge, the Cove spreads before me — a vast hollow beneath the cliffs, where homes are carved into stone and strung together by bridges arching over canals.
Even from here, the Cove feels alive. Lanterns bob gently on water currents, their blue flames reflecting off faces streaked with glowing eyeliner. The eyeliner catches the dim light like lightning flashes, betraying every flare of emotion.
And all of them — all of them — turn their heads as I step into view.
Nia is the first to speak.
Her eyeliner is dim, but her smirk is razor-edged. "Well, well. Look who didn't drown."
"Nice to see you too," I mutter.
"You look like you got pounded to death by someone."
"She's not wrong," Foras pipes up.
"Shut up." I swat Foras before turning to Nia. "I got lost."
She looks sceptical. "Lost? We've been cutting reeds together ever since you dropped here. Isn't it a little too late to get lost now?"
I force a laugh like usual and straighten up. "Yet it is my first time at the Mistfall pools. Things happen."
Nia's eyes narrow. For just a second, her eyeliner flickers brighter with not anger, but curiosity. Distrust. I remember the way she looked at me before, when my hair betrayed me with its strange glow.
The System coils around my mind like a smug viper as she breathes down my neck. "Mirror Veil acquired. Outsider markers blurred."
"So the reward activates by itself?" My voice comes in a cautious whisper though everything is telepathic and none of the Covan people can hear us.
"Some. We'll go through this in a later time."
I swallow, grimacing. If not for the Veil fragment thrumming faintly at my heel, I wonder if they'd all see through me already.
The old lady steps forward then. Regal as ever, her pale hair gleams silver-blue in the lanternlight. Her eyeliner is steady, controlled, a glow she holds in check with iron discipline.
"Welcome back," she says simply. "We were preparing to look for you after the last streak of sun disappeared beneath the water. I'm glad you found your way back before sun down."
Her voice is calm, but it ripples through the gathered Covefolk like a stone dropped in water. They relax, if only slightly, as though her assurance alone keeps suspicion at bay.
I bow my head. "Thank you."
For a moment, we simply regard each other. Then she nods once, slow and deliberate, before turning away. "Come. You need food. And rest."
No argument there.
Inside her dwelling, the atmosphere changes.
The space is carved into the cliff wall, smooth stone walls polished by water and time. Shells hang from cords across the entrance, chiming faintly whenever a current of air stirs. I've only been to the indoor pool once because of my wounds when my brain was too fried to make one coherent thought. This time, I take in the crisp air of the room, looking around. The shallow pool glimmers at the room's center, its water perpetually refreshed by an unseen flow, reflecting ripples of blue across the ceiling.
I sink down against the wall, every muscle sighing with relief. Foras flops dramatically into the pool, wings spread like a drowned bat.
"I'm never going in there again," he groans.
"You didn't go in," I point out. "You just hid the second everything went south."
"Exactly," he says proudly. "And I'm keeping it that way."
After a while, sound footsteps sound around the corner. When I look back, Nia is already there, leaning against the doorway, arms crossed, expression sharp. "So. What happened in there?"
I open my mouth then shut it again. How am I supposed to explain mirror shards embedding themselves into my skin, or the fact that I had to anchor a memory to keep from losing it forever? I don't want to be strangled to almost death by The System again for letting someone into this whole fiasco.
"Therapy session," I say finally. "Three rounds. No co-pay."
"What does that mean?"
I splash some water in her direction, the drops barely touching her as I shoot my cheekiest smile. I hope it works. "It means, teenage girls shouldn't pry when adult men say they got lost."
With a smirk, I cast a quick eye at the thing between my legs from where I'm sitting in the pool hoping that is enough to keep her mouth and interest shut. Foam and mist hides everything below my waist, still Nia's face turns the brightest of reds I've ever seen.
"You creep!" she yells before stomping back to the doorway.
Pausing, she glances back, her eyes narrow. The eyeliner flickers faintly again. But she doesn't press, and without another word, she leaves me alone.
Foras floats to me confused. "Why did she leave like that?"
But kids need to be kids so I simply pat him on the head. "Beats me."
When we finally come out of the bath, the elder sets a steaming bowl before me — broth laced with herbs I don't recognize, fragrant and comforting. "Eat. Speak later."
I don't argue. Foras gets a smaller bowl.
"My very own bowl!" he croons, "With my very own spoon!"
Let's just say I've never seen him smile this big before. Which is a nightmare considering he does smile with all his teeth in view every single time.
As I eat, I catch glimpses of the Cove outside through the doorway. Lanterns bobbing on water currents, children leaping from stone ledges into canals with shrieks of laughter, older residents gliding past on narrow boats and their hair pale and glowing faintly under the lanterns.
Brumdn Cove isn't just a hiding place. It's alive. And for the first time since I woke up in this world, I feel the ache of being an intruder in someone else's home.
Foras hovers near my shoulder when both Nia and the old lady are bent over in small talk. "You gonna tell her?" he murmurs, glancing toward Nia.
I lower my spoon. "No. Why would I?"
When the bowl is empty, the old lady speaks again.
"Rest. Tomorrow, we will talk of what you saw while you lost your way."
My breath hitches but The System, who had been silent all this time, whispers in my ear with icy comfort. "Worry not, hero. The Veil is mighty effective. Come tomorrow, none of them will have strange questions to ask you."
I don't reply.
In front of me, the old lady's eyeliner glimmers faintly, just once, betraying curiosity she keeps tightly locked down.
"Sleep well, child," she murmurs. Then she leaves, her steps as quiet as flowing water. Maybe this is all according to the script. Maybe they are all simply NPCs with their stupid, unskippable dialogues.
Nia lingers in the doorway a moment longer, her smirk softer now but still edged. "Don't think you're off the hook. Whatever you're hiding — I'll find it." Then she's gone.
In a way, it makes me sad to lie to someone who clothed and fed me, someone who reminds me of my sister, annoyance and all but in a way, I'm filled with only relief. I can't wait for tomorrow to come.
Foras sighs. "She really likes you."
I give him a disgusted look. "She's a child. Remind me to never ask for your dating advice."
The night is quiet when I lay on my bed after dinner. When the room is finally still, I lean back against the wall, staring at the ceiling with its weeds and wood..
The shards pulse faintly beneath my skin: wrist, temple, heel, neck. A chorus of glass, each one throbbing its new claim on me.
Fragment of Self. Mirror of Echoes. Mirror Veil. Memory Anchor.
Power, yes. But also a reminder. Every reward is a chain, no matter how pretty it looks.
The System mumbles once, faint but unmistakable, "Prepare. This was only the beginning."
I want to ask her why she is lingering longer than usual this time. Isn't her style just dropping cryptic messages right and left and disappearing while I'm screaming for help? But my eyes betray me and they close. For the first time in days, I let exhaustion drag me under.
And the water dreams with me.
t o b e c o n t i n u e d