Kael's knees pressed into the smooth, cold floor of the Vault. His chest heaved, each breath echoing through the chamber like thunder. The black glass pool in the center shimmered faintly, a heartbeat that pulsed in sync with his own.
Mira crouched beside him, her hands resting lightly on his shoulders. "Listen," she said, voice calm. "The Vault isn't done with you yet. It never is."
Kael's eyes, golden and raw, flicked toward the pool. The surface rippled. Shadows rose from its depths, forming vague humanoid shapes. Faces — not just memories but fragments of souls. The Pulsebearers. His own past selves.
"They're… waiting," he whispered. "For me?"
Mira's gaze hardened. "For all of us. But especially you, Kael. The first Origin always leaves a mark. The others — what remains of them — echoes of their souls, their failures — they remember you."
The shadows shifted, solidifying. Each figure bore Kael's features, identical yet twisted, like reflections in warped mirrors. Their eyes glowed faintly, some golden like his, others bleeding violet light.
One stepped forward, more defined than the rest. Kael felt it in his chest — a familiarity, a pull, a recognition.
"You remember us," the figure said, voice layered — young, old, bitter, and mocking all at once. "You left. You stole the Origin Sigil. You fled into the mortal world."
Kael's fists clenched. "I did what I had to!" he shouted. The echoes didn't flinch. They only tilted their heads, studying him, patience eternal.
"Did you?" one whispered, barely audible. "Or did you run from the truth? From what you were made to be?"
Kael felt the pulse in his chest flare violently, reacting to the echoes. Every fiber of his being screamed — they were not illusions. They were him. All of him. And yet, distorted. Fragmented.
Mira placed a hand over his. Her aura flared, gold and steady. "Kael, you can't face them with anger. Anchor yourself. This is the Vault testing you — probing you. Focus on your pulse. Focus on us."
He inhaled sharply, closing his eyes. The light within him responded. The echoes recoiled slightly, distorted by the warmth radiating from Mira.
"Good," she said softly. "Now… remember what binds you."
Kael's mind reached into the memories he'd tried to bury. He saw flashes of the battlefield centuries ago, the creation of the Sigils, the first time he drew the blood of another Pulsebearer — his own blood mixed with theirs. He remembered the power, the thrill, the fear, and the inevitable betrayal that had driven him into mortal exile.
The largest echo stepped closer, spectral blade raised. "Do you remember this?" it asked. In its hand, a blade of pure light pulsed with violet energy — the weapon Kael had wielded to sever his bond with the others.
Kael's teeth ground together. "Yes," he muttered. "I remember. And I'll do it again if I must."
The echo smiled, a cruel mirror. "Do you even know why you fled? Or do you think the gods abandoned you?"
"The gods?" Kael laughed bitterly. "They didn't abandon me. I abandoned them. I abandoned all of this to survive… and to protect her."
Mira's fingers tightened around his hand. "Kael… don't let the Vault twist your words. You're not here to prove yourself to them. You're here to understand yourself."
Kael's pulse roared, and the echoes wavered. For a brief moment, he saw the origin of his power — the first act of consuming a soul to save another, the first step down a path he could never return from. The memory burned brighter than the chamber, illuminating the twisted reflections.
"You see?" the echoes chorused, overlapping. "Your heart has always been divided. You are not one — but many."
Kael felt it. The truth pressing in — each life, each betrayal, each consumption of a soul, had left fragments. The Vault stored them all. He was not whole. He had never been.
"Then I'll make myself whole," Kael said, voice low but resolute. "Not by hiding. Not by fleeing. By facing what I am."
A silence fell. The echoes paused, watching him, considering. Then the largest one spoke, almost gently. "Then the test begins. Remember who you were… or who you will become."
The pool's black surface shimmered violently. A staircase of pure light spiraled upward from the depths, glowing with golden and violet streaks, beckoning. Kael and Mira exchanged a glance.
"Up?" Mira asked softly.
Kael nodded, gripping his sword. "Up."
As they ascended, the Vault reshaped itself. The pillars stretched higher, the sigils rotated into new patterns. Shadows flickered along the walls — glimpses of gods, mortals, and creatures that shouldn't exist. The air smelled of ozone and fire, and Kael could feel the pulse of his past selves growing stronger.
Every step was a memory. Every heartbeat echoed centuries of forgotten choices. He could hear the first Pulsebearers calling to him, accusing, questioning, demanding.
Mira's aura flared constantly beside him, her voice a steady anchor. "Don't lose yourself," she said. "They are echoes. You are here."
The spiral staircase ended at a platform floating in an endless void. Before them hovered a sphere — black at its core, with light spiraling outward like a galaxy trapped in glass. It throbbed with Kael's pulse.
"That," Mira whispered, "is the Origin Sigil. Not a relic… it's alive."
Kael stepped closer. The sphere pulsed, and he felt himself stretching across time — every life, every memory, every betrayal of the Pulsebearers resonating through him.
He saw himself consuming, fighting, protecting, and fleeing. All at once. He saw Mira's light reaching for him across ages, her pulse entwined with his, tethering him to reality.
The Sigil called to him, whispering in a language older than the world, older than gods. Remember. Become. Consume. Protect.
Kael's vision blurred. The echoes swirled around him, now not just whispers, but shapes — forms that reached out with glowing hands, imploring, threatening, begging.
Mira pressed a hand to his chest. "Focus on us. On me. On what is real."
He inhaled, centering himself on her warmth, the golden pulse intertwining with his own. For a moment, the echoes faltered. The Vault paused. The Sigil pulsed slowly, waiting.
Kael looked at Mira, determination blazing. "Then we face it… together."
Her eyes glimmered. "Together."
The black sphere pulsed brighter, the light surrounding them shifting — now infinite, alive, and aware. Kael felt the first true connection to the Origin Sigil, and he knew: what comes next will define not just him, but the fate of every Pulsebearer, every soul, every world.
The Vault breathed. The echoes moved. And Kael stepped forward, ready to meet what he had once been… and what he might yet become.