Echoes Beneath the Marble***
*Power never announces itself. It listens first.*
The Conservatory changed after Soren Blackfall arrived.
Not visibly.
Not loudly.
But in the way silence stretched too long.
In the way instructors watched Aru and Kairo a second more than necessary.
In the way noble students whispered behind perfect smiles.
Aru felt it in his bones.
They were being measured.
---
## **THE HIDDEN HALL**
That evening, Kairo dragged Aru away from the dorms.
"Trust me," he said, tapping a rhythm on the wall—soft, quick, old.
"The place I'm taking you? No nobles. No instructors. Just echoes."
They slipped through a forgotten service corridor, down worn stone steps, until the air grew cooler and the walls shifted from polished marble to ancient rock.
They entered a circular chamber beneath the Conservatory.
The **Sub-Aural Hall**.
Aru's breath caught.
The walls were carved with faded sigils—raw, imperfect, emotional. Nothing like the pristine designs above.
"This place predates the Conservatory," Kairo said quietly.
"Street rhythms. Folk chants. The stuff nobles pretend never existed."
Kairo dropped his bag, pulled out two battered drumsticks.
Aru stared.
"You brought those here?"
Kairo grinned.
"Always do."
---
## **THE UNCONTROLLED RHYTHM**
Kairo tapped once.
The sound didn't echo.
It **answered**.
The chamber hummed, low and warm.
Aru's pulse quickened.
Kairo started slow—heartbeat tempo.
Then faster.
Layered.
Complex.
Aru felt his feet move before his mind caught up.
Step.
Turn.
Slide.
The floor responded.
Light bled from the carvings, reacting not to sound—but to *connection*.
"Aru," Kairo breathed, eyes wide.
"You feel that too, right?"
Aru nodded.
Their rhythms overlapped.
Not forced.
Not trained.
Natural.
The Observer's words surfaced:
*You were designed to synchronize.*
The air thickened.
Power gathered.
And then—
A sharp, discordant **snap** cut through the chamber.
The light shattered.
Kairo staggered back.
"Aru—!"
Aru cried out as pain exploded behind his eyes.
The chamber twisted.
And suddenly—
He wasn't there anymore.
---
## **SOREN'S GAZE**
Aru stood in a marble corridor he didn't recognize.
Footsteps echoed.
Measured.
Unhurried.
Soren Blackfall emerged from the shadows.
Not physically.
This was a **projection**.
A rhythm imprint.
"You really are dangerous," Soren said calmly.
"Even without realizing it."
Aru clenched his teeth.
"Get out of my head."
Soren smiled.
"Oh, I'm not *in* your head," he replied.
"I'm in the resonance you and that boy keep leaking."
He circled Aru like a predator.
"You don't belong here," Soren continued.
"You don't belong in Ardenia's future."
Aru's chest burned.
"What are you afraid of?" Aru snapped.
"Us?"
Soren stopped.
For the first time—his mask cracked.
"Of what you represent," Soren said quietly.
"A bond that doesn't bow. A rhythm that doesn't obey."
His eyes darkened.
"And a brother who should never have existed."
The word **brother** slammed into Aru like a hammer.
Before Aru could speak—
The vision shattered.
---
## **BACK TO BLOOD AND STONE**
Aru collapsed to his knees in the Sub-Aural Hall.
Kairo dropped beside him instantly.
"Hey—hey—look at me!" Kairo said, gripping his shoulders.
"What did you see!?"
Aru shook, breath ragged.
"Soren…" he whispered.
"He knows. About us. About the bond."
Kairo's jaw tightened.
"Let him know," he said fiercely.
"I'm not scared of some noble psycho."
Aru grabbed Kairo's wrist.
"Kairo… listen to me."
His voice cracked.
"If anything happens—"
Kairo interrupted, smiling softly.
"Bro. We survived death once already."
He tapped his chest.
"We're not breaking now."
Aru wanted to believe him.
But deep underground…
The carvings had gone dark.
And somewhere above, Soren Blackfall stood alone at a balcony, fingers tapping a slow, deliberate rhythm.
A rhythm of decision.