That night, Ash wandered into the forbidden wing beneath the academy.
He walked past ancient vaults. Past arcane beasts locked in crystal. Past the bones of gods.
He came to a sealed door. It opened at his touch.
Inside: a mirror.
But not a normal one.
> A Memory Mirror—forged by the First Magic, said to contain fragments of dead souls.
Ash stood before it.
And saw… himself.
Not as he was now—but as Kaelith, moments before his betrayal.
He was holding her.
The woman he had loved.
Her name was Elira. A seer. A pacifist. The only one who had asked him to stop.
And in the memory, Ash—Kaelith—had refused.
> "They fear me now. But soon, they'll understand."
> "You're becoming something monstrous," she whispered, tears in her eyes.
> "I have to. To survive."
She'd smiled bitterly.
> "Then I hope you never return. Because if you do… the world won't survive you."
And then she'd stabbed him.
Ash—standing in the present—stumbled back.
His hand trembled.
"Even she… turned on me."
The mirror cracked.
A voice whispered behind him.
> "Do you regret it?"
Ash turned. No one was there.
Just his own reflection, now smiling.
> "Because I don't."