## Chapter 26: *"The Letter From Tomorrow"*
> _"If you read your own words from the future… do they still come true?"_
---
Rana didn't sleep that night.
She sat alone in the monastery's ruined chapel, staring at the letter she had found on the cold stone floor — just after the Echoes of the Spiral vanished.
It was sealed with black wax.
And written in her own handwriting.
She broke the seal slowly.
The paper smelled like old rain and burning wood.
Inside, only a few lines:
> _"Do not trust the one who wears your friend's face."_
> _"The sixth gate is not a door. It is a mirror."_
> _"You will open it tomorrow."_
> _"— Rana."_
She read it three times.
Then folded it carefully.
And waited.
For what, she wasn't sure.
---
### 🔮 Part II: The Mirror Strikes Back
In the morning, Fatima made her move.
She had watched Majid change.
She had heard the knocking behind the wall.
She had seen the figure step through the stone.
And she knew one thing:
— That mirror has to go.
She stood before it now.
The same mirror that screamed.
That changed faces.
That showed things no one wanted to see.
She raised a hammer.
Her hands shook.
— This is for all of us.
She swung.
The mirror cracked.
But didn't break.
Instead, it bled.
Dark, thick liquid dripped down its surface, pooling on the floor.
Then came the voice.
Not screaming this time.
Whispering.
In her own voice.
— You want to destroy me?
Fatima froze.
— I know what you fear, Fatima.
— I know what you want.
— And I know what you'll become.
The reflection shifted.
Suddenly, it wasn't her looking back.
It was someone else.
A version of her.
Wearing a crown of fire.
Standing beside the Sleeper Beneath Storms.
The whisper grew louder.
— You don't want to stop this.
— You want to *rule* it.
Fatima dropped the hammer.
Backed away.
Shaking.
Because for a moment…
She believed it.
---
### 🧩 Part III: The Debate
Later, they gathered around the obsidian eye left behind by the Echoes.
Layla turned it over in her hands.
— We have to decide.
— Do we open the sixth gate?
— Or do we seal it… forever?
Samir looked at Majid.
Or what was left of him.
— He's not himself.
— If we open another gate, what comes through might not be human.
Rana spoke quietly.
— But if we don't… what happens to him?
Majid sat silently between them.
His eyes were closed.
Breathing slow.
Then he opened his mouth.
And said:
— I already opened it.
Silence.
— What do you mean? asked Layla.
He looked at her.
Black eyes gleaming.
— I read the letter.
— I saw what Rana wrote.
— And I walked through.
Everyone stared.
Rana's breath caught.
— When?
Majid smiled.
Cold.
Empty.
— Tomorrow...