(Mirabel's POV)
The first syllable left its mouth.
Reality broke.
Not around us.
Inside us.
I felt something tear through my mind.
Through memory.
Through identity.
Through every version of myself that had ever existed.
The sound wasn't a word.
It only pretended to be one.
A shape disguised as language.
A truth disguised as sound.
The instant it touched existence—
The universe screamed.
Then another voice interrupted.
"No."
The word exploded across eternity.
The figure stopped.
Everyone stopped.
Even the fracture paused.
I blinked.
The voice had come from me.
Except—
It hadn't.
My mouth was open.
But I hadn't spoken.
The second voice came again.
"No."
Calm.
Absolute.
Ancient.
The thing beyond the fracture narrowed its eyes.
For the first time—
The smile we
