The world came back to him as a heartbeat.
Steady. Relentless. Real.
Eren gasped as air rushed into his lungs — sharp, electric, alive. His vision swam with violet light before settling on a face above him — Kael's.
Sweat streaked his temple, eyes wide and burning with both fear and relief.
"Eren," he breathed, voice cracking around the name. "You're back—"
Eren blinked. His body felt weightless, like he was still half inside the mirror's storm. Kael's arms were around him, grounding him in a world that still trembled from the aftermath of his return. The air reeked faintly of ozone and blood.
"I saw her," Eren whispered. His throat felt raw. "The Observer. She said—"
He faltered.
Because now that he was here, words felt too fragile for what he'd seen.
Kael cupped the side of his face, thumb brushing over the edge of a cut that hadn't been there before. "You were gone for minutes," he murmured, though his tone betrayed how long it felt. "The Pulse— it nearly tore itself apart trying to pull you back."
"I didn't fight it," Eren said quietly. "Not this time."
Kael's hand stilled. "That's why it listened."
For a moment, they just breathed — the space between them thrumming with warmth and something unspoken. The Pulse beneath Eren's skin pulsed in sync with Kael's heartbeat, as if the two had become one rhythm again.
Then the air shifted.
A faint echo rippled through the chamber — smooth, mocking, familiar.
Draven's voice.
"Touching. Truly. But every return demands a cost, doesn't it, Pulseworn?"
Kael's head snapped up, fire igniting in his palms. "You don't get to say his name."
Draven stepped from the shadows, coat dusted with mirror shards, smile calm as ever. "I don't need to. The Pulse already knows it." His eyes flicked to Eren, sharp and searching. "Tell me, Eren… when you saw the Observer, did she tell you what you are yet?"
Eren pushed himself up, Kael's arm steadying him. The lightning beneath his skin flared faintly violet. "She told me I'm what the Pulse chose to become."
Draven's smile deepened — equal parts admiration and threat. "Then you're something even more dangerous than I hoped."
Kael moved before Eren could respond — a flash of fire, a crack of light.
Draven barely flinched as the flames scattered off an invisible barrier. "Still protecting your creation, Kael? How noble. How predictable."
Eren felt the Pulse stir violently again — reacting not to Draven, but to his voice. The word creation struck deep, twisting in his chest.
He steadied his breathing, forced his voice calm. "You said I could rewrite my origin. Maybe I'll start by erasing you from it."
Draven's grin thinned. "Then I look forward to being the first story you burn."
The mirror light flared — and he was gone.
The silence that followed felt heavier than before. Kael turned to Eren, eyes shadowed. "He's not done with you."
Eren's reply was quiet but certain. "Then neither am I."
The Pulse beneath his skin hummed in agreement — alive, aware, almost… listening.
And somewhere deep within that hum, Eren could feel something new stirring — not chaos, not pain, but a strange, steady warmth.
For the first time, the Pulse wasn't fighting him.
It was breathing with him.