The crowd was still murmuring long after the Silent One vanished.But Mizu didn't hear any of it.
He stood at the center of the arena, unmoving. The damp ground beneath him steamed slightly from his last attack. His heartbeat had settled, but his mind raced.
Those eyes.
That movement.
The way his water techniques were mirrored—not copied, but instinctive, as if the Silent One had known how to counter them before Mizu even moved.
"He knew me," Mizu whispered under his breath.
But how?
He turned slowly and walked back through the gate, where Rika and Sayos were already waiting.
Sayos tried to speak first.
"Okay, what in the name of flying fireballs was—"
"Not now," Mizu cut in gently.
Sayos went silent.
Rika studied him closely, noticing something strange. Mizu didn't look frustrated or tired. He looked... haunted.
Back at the inn, the evening light painted golden lines across the wooden floor. Lucy rested by the door, her ears occasionally twitching.
Mizu sat alone near the window, the blue crystal around his neck lying still against his chest.
Rika entered quietly and stood beside him.
"You've been staring at nothing for the last hour."
"It wasn't nothing," he replied.
He didn't elaborate, but Rika didn't push—yet.
Instead, she sat beside him.
"He fought like you," she finally said. "Same water flow. Same body movements."
"Almost," Mizu replied. "But his was... heavier. More forced. Like someone was controlling a version of me with different instincts."
"You think it's some kind of mimic?" Rika asked.
Mizu didn't answer right away.
Then he leaned forward.
"No. It was real. His energy felt too close. His reaction to my strikes wasn't trained—it was born. Like a memory I forgot was hitting me back."
He hesitated.
Then lowered his voice.
"His eyes looked like mine."
Rika stiffened.
That... wasn't something to brush off.
"Do you think he's... related?"
Mizu didn't respond.
Lucy opened one eye from across the room but said nothing.
The silence was loud.
Later that night, Mizu wandered outside.
The stars above Copaeyris shimmered faintly, filtered through drifting mist. The streets were quiet. Merchants asleep. Torches flickering.
But Mizu's thoughts weren't quiet.
He stood at the edge of a stone bridge and stared down at the slow-moving water beneath.
His reflection wavered.It was almost peaceful—until it wasn't.
For a brief second, the water rippled... and the face looking back was not his own.
The mask.
The eyes.
"Who are you?" he whispered again.
The ripple faded.
His own reflection returned.
But the chill stayed.
"You are the flow, Mizu."
The voice came again—not from the outside, but from within.
It wasn't the same voice as before. This one was sharper, colder. Still familiar.
Mizu's grip on the railing tightened.
Was this what the crystal had warned him about?
Was the Silent One... the beginning?
Back inside, Rika waited by the window.
She saw him return, his eyes still lost in thought.
"We'll figure it out," she said softly.
Mizu gave a small nod.
But he wasn't sure he believed it.
Because deep down, something told him...
This wasn't the end of that fight.
>> Someone carries Mizu's shadow – but what if it's more than just resemblance?Drop your theories below, and follow for Chapter 11 – where forgotten gates begin to open...