The path sloped downward until even sound seemed to lag behind them.
Their footsteps made no echo. Their breaths felt swallowed before they could travel. The stone walls were close here, not pressing, but intimate… like the inside of a held hand.
Sol did not know how long they walked.
Time loosened in places like this.
The Mirrorborn stayed close, its fingers brushing her sleeve as if to confirm she was still there. Its glow had returned to a faint, steady warmth, no longer strained… but not entirely at rest either.
It was thinking.
She could feel it in the subtle shifts of its presence, the way its light pulsed irregularly now, not in fear or exertion, but curiosity.
Ji Ming noticed too. He slowed slightly, keeping his pace even so Ya Zhen wouldn't stumble.
"It's unsettled," he murmured.
"Yes," Sol said softly. "But not the way it was before."
Ya Zhen glanced back over her shoulder. "It's not hurting?"
The Mirrorborn shook its head quickly. "…no… just… full…"
Sol crouched, bringing herself level with it. "Full of what?"
The Mirrorborn hesitated.
Words came slower now, chosen rather than echoed.
"…seeing… many ways…" it said. "…not just hide…"
Her breath caught.
Ji Ming's gaze sharpened. "You're imagining outcomes."
The Mirrorborn nodded once. "…if go… left… safe… if stay… different… if loud… break… if quiet… fade…"
Ya Zhen let out a low whistle. "That's new."
"It's reasoning," Sol whispered. "Not just reacting."
The Mirrorborn looked at her then, light brightening faintly. "…want…?"
The word landed between them, small and devastating.
Sol swallowed. "Want what?"
The Mirrorborn searched its chest, as if the answer might be stored there. Its hand pressed lightly over its glow.
"…to choose…"
The corridor seemed to pause.
Even Ji Ming's breath stilled for half a beat.
Ya Zhen straightened slowly. "Oh. That's… not good."
Sol frowned. "Why?"
"Because," Ya Zhen said carefully, "mirror constructs aren't supposed to want anything. Desire introduces deviation. Deviation introduces unpredictability. And unpredictability—"
"—is exactly what the Empire fears," Ji Ming finished.
The Mirrorborn looked between them, unsettled now by the tension it had caused.
"…bad…?"
Sol shook her head immediately. "No. Not bad."
"But dangerous," Ya Zhen said. "To them."
Sol reached out, resting her palm lightly over the Mirrorborn's chest. The warmth beneath her hand steadied, responding to the contact.
"Wanting doesn't make you dangerous," she said. "It makes you alive."
The Mirrorborn absorbed this slowly. "…alive… means…?"
"It means," Ji Ming said quietly, "you are not a thing to be used."
Its glow flared gently, then settled.
"…then… I want… stay…"
Sol's heart clenched. "Stay where?"
The Mirrorborn looked around the narrow corridor, the stone walls, the deep quiet. Its light dimmed slightly.
"…with… you…"
The words were simple.
The weight was not.
Ji Ming closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again, resolve clear. "Then we have to be honest with it."
Ya Zhen grimaced. "About the part where staying with us means being hunted across half the Empire?"
"Yes," he said. "And about the part where we may not survive that."
Sol inhaled slowly, steadying herself. She met the Mirrorborn's gaze.
"Staying with us won't be easy," she said gently. "You will be frightened. You will be hurt sometimes. You will have to keep choosing, even when it's hard."
The Mirrorborn listened intently.
"…but… not alone…?"
"No," Sol promised. "Not alone."
Its light brightened, warmer than before. Not flaring. Content.
"…then… stay…"
Ya Zhen let out a shaky laugh. "Congratulations. It's official. You've been chosen."
Ji Ming exhaled. "So have we."
The corridor curved sharply, then widened without warning.
They stepped into a chamber unlike any they had seen in Salt Fell.
The ceiling arched high, supported by thick stone ribs etched with old markings. The walls bore remnants of murals long since faded, their pigments eaten by salt and time. At the chamber's center lay a wide basin… empty, cracked, but unmistakably shaped to hold water.
An old reservoir.
But something about it felt… settled.
Not abandoned.
Waiting.
Sol's breath softened as she stepped forward. "This place…"
Ji Ming scanned the perimeter. "Defensible. Few entrances."
"And forgotten," Ya Zhen added. "The best kind."
The Mirrorborn moved toward the basin, drawn as if by instinct. It knelt, placing its hands on the dry stone.
The basin responded.
Not with illusion.
With memory.
A faint coolness spread across the stone, not moisture, but the idea of it. The air shifted, less harsh here, the salt vapor thinning just enough to breathe without pain.
Sol felt tears prick her eyes. "The city remembers how to hold."
Ji Ming frowned thoughtfully. "And it's letting this place do it."
The Mirrorborn looked up, eyes bright. "…here… quiet… good…"
Ya Zhen lowered herself carefully onto a fallen block, exhaustion finally catching up. "Then we rest. Briefly. Before the Division realizes the city has opinions."
Sol smiled faintly. "It's had them for a long time."
They settled into the chamber, tension easing but not vanishing. Ji Ming kept watch near one entrance, blades within reach. Ya Zhen tended her injuries with practiced efficiency, muttering to herself.
Sol sat beside the Mirrorborn at the basin's edge.
It traced the cracks in the stone thoughtfully.
"…water… was here…" it said.
"Yes," Sol replied. "Long ago."
"…people… came…?"
"They did."
"…and left…"
Sol nodded. "Most of them."
The Mirrorborn was quiet for a long moment.
"…I don't want… to be left…"
The words hurt more than they should have.
Sol reached out, brushing her thumb gently along the edge of its glow. "Then we won't leave you. Not without telling you. Not without choosing it together."
Ji Ming glanced over, expression unreadable but intent.
The Mirrorborn's light pulsed softly. "…promise…?"
Sol met its gaze. "Promise."
Something shifted then… not outward, but inward.
The Mirrorborn's posture straightened. Its presence felt heavier, more anchored.
"…then… I will… learn… faster…"
Ji Ming stiffened slightly. "That sounds like a bargain."
"…choice…" the Mirrorborn corrected. "…mine…"
Ya Zhen looked up sharply. "It's accelerating."
Sol frowned. "Because it wants to?"
"Yes," Ya Zhen said slowly. "Not because it's being forced."
The implications settled over them.
A mirror entity that chose growth.
That wanted to remain.
That learned faster when motivated by attachment.
Ji Ming's voice was low. "The Empire will not tolerate that."
Sol's answer was immediate. "Neither will I tolerate them taking it."
The Mirrorborn looked between them, sensing the shift.
"…protect… each other…?" it asked.
Ji Ming sheathed one blade deliberately. "That's the plan."
Ya Zhen snorted. "Terrible plan. Absolutely catastrophic. I'm in."
Sol laughed softly, the sound fragile but real.
The basin seemed to hum faintly, as if acknowledging the choice.
Above them, far away, Salt Fell shifted again… rearranging its bones, preparing its next misdirection.
And somewhere beyond the city's reach, the Mirror Division recalculated, struggling to account for something no archive had prepared them for.
Not a weapon.
Not a reflection.
But a will.