Zephyr Vale didn't speak unless silence demanded it.
He moved like fog, sat like stone, and watched like time. Most students ignored him. Some feared him. None understood him.
Lyra had always felt his gaze — not invasive, not cruel, but precise. Like he was measuring her against something she couldn't see.
She was right.
The Mirror Garden
Lyra found him in the Mirror Garden, standing before a cracked pane that shimmered with static.
"You've been watching," she said.
Zephyr didn't turn. "I was assigned."
Lyra frowned. "By who?"
Zephyr touched the mirror. "By the tower."
The Assignment
He spoke slowly, like each word cost him something.
"I was born in the fifth tower. Not physically. Emotionally."
Lyra stepped closer. "You're stitched?"
Zephyr nodded. "But not from Calyx. From the tower itself."
Maris gasped. "You're its echo."
Zephyr turned. "I'm its memory."
The Revelation
Zephyr led them to a hidden alcove beneath the Obsidian Tower — a place where sound didn't echo and light bent sideways.
He placed his hand on the wall.
It pulsed.
A door appeared.
Inside was a room made of mirrors — but these didn't reflect. They recorded.
Each one showed a stitched one.
Lyra. Maris. Nova. Riven. Saphira. Juno.
And Zephyr.
But his mirror was blank.
The Truth
"I don't have memories," Zephyr said. "I have instructions."
Lyra whispered, "You're a watcher."
Zephyr nodded. "I was built to observe the stitched ones. To record their unraveling. To warn the tower when they got too close."
Maris stepped back. "Then why are you telling us?"
Zephyr's voice cracked. "Because I've started remembering."
The Memory
He touched the mirror.
It flickered.
Lyra saw Madame Calyx — not teaching, not building, but crying. Alone. Forgotten.
Zephyr whispered, "She stitched me with her grief."
Lyra's heart pounded. "Then you're not just a watcher."
Zephyr turned to her. "I'm a warning."
The Book Again
Back in the dorm, the book pulsed violently.
New ink appeared
> "The watcher remembers. But memory is betrayal."
Maris whispered, "He's breaking his purpose."
Lyra nodded. "Then he's becoming real."