The girls huddled in the dusty hallway, trying to catch their breath. Seren was still crying softly, and Mira was rubbing her arms to stay warm.
Nia leaned against the wall, her chest heaving. "His shadow," she panted. "Did you see it? The monster in the lake is controlling him. But a shadow always points away from the light. If we can see his shadow, it will point directly to the thing it wants most."
"The key," Lina whispered.
"Yes," Nia said. "The lake monster wants the silver pin to break the cage. If we find the False Kai and look at his shadow, it will show us where the key is hidden."
They crept to the nearest window and looked out into the courtyard. The moon was bright, casting long, pale light across the grass.
Down below, the False Kai was walking slowly near the fountain. He looked perfectly normal. But on the grass behind him, his shadow was wrong. It was tall and dripping, with long, thin arms.
The shadow was not walking. It was standing completely still. And its long, watery finger was pointing straight up. It was pointing directly at the old clock tower at the very top of the academy.
"The tower," Lina said. "The key is in the clock tower. It is the highest, driest place in the school. The water cannot reach it."
"Let's go," Nia said.
They turned to run toward the stairs. But before they could take a single step, the floor jumped beneath their feet.
A deep, terrible rumble echoed through the walls. It did not sound like the basement water. It sounded like the earth itself was groaning in pain. Dust rained down from the ceiling. The stone walls cracked with a loud, sharp snap.
The whole academy was shaking.
"An earthquake?" Mira cried, grabbing Lina's hand.
"No," Nia said, her eyes wide with fear. "The foundation. Something is pushing up from underneath."
The shaking stopped as suddenly as it began. But a new sound filled the air. It was a low, heavy humming. It was coming from the medical wing.
"Jax," Lina gasped.
They ran down the hall. The door to the infirmary was blown completely off its hinges. It lay splintered on the floor.
Inside, the school nurse was hiding under a desk, her hands clamped over her ears. The glass windows of the infirmary were vibrating so hard they looked blurry.
Jax was sitting up in his bed.
The black cracks on his neck were glowing with a blinding, harsh white light. His back was arched, and his head was thrown back. His mouth was open wide.
"Jax!" Lina yelled, running to his side.
When Jax spoke, the sound did not just fill the room. It hit them like a physical wall.
Lina fell to her knees. Her ears rang with a high, painful whine. The voice was so loud it vibrated in her teeth and shook her bones. It was not just the deep thing beneath the stone. It was the voice of the academy itself, speaking through the boy.
"THE CAGE IS NOT MADE OF STONE," the voice boomed. The glass in the windows shattered, raining tiny diamonds onto the floor.
Mira screamed and covered her head. Seren curled into a ball, sobbing.
Lina forced herself to look at Jax. She pressed her hands over her ears, but the voice was inside her head.
"THE SILVER PIN IS A LIE," the massive voice roared. The bed frame bent under the pressure of the sound. "THE KEY IS NOT METAL. THE KEY IS BLOOD. THE KEY IS THE BOY IN THE GLASS."
The glowing light in Jax's neck suddenly snapped off.
He collapsed backward onto the pillow, completely unconscious.
The room went dead silent, except for the sound of broken glass shifting on the floor.
Lina stayed on her knees, her heart pounding wildly. The ringing in her ears slowly faded. She looked at her friends, who were slowly peeking out from under their arms.
There was no silver pin. There was no hidden machine.
The Founder's cage was not locked with a piece of metal. It was locked with a life.
To seal the monster in the lake forever, they did not need to find a key in a clock tower. They needed the real Kai. And he was trapped inside the mirror.
To be Continued
© Kishtika., 2026
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Next Chapter Summary for Chapter 119: Lina realizes the only way to save the academy is to break into the Mirror World, but the False Kai blocks the only entrance, demanding a terrible trade.