*Echoes Don't Die***
*Some rhythms fade. Others wait.*
The second rhythm did not speak.
It didn't shout or surge like Soulbeat Resonance.
It simply **stayed**.
Aru stood frozen in the Hollow, the world dimming around him as the faint pulse brushed against his senses—soft, imperfect, unmistakably familiar.
**Thum—tak… thum.**
Off-beat. Human.
Kairo's beat.
Maera noticed first.
"…You hear it too, don't you?"
Eidolon's eyes narrowed. "That rhythm shouldn't exist."
Aru's hands trembled.
"It's not him," Aru said slowly. "Not alive."
He placed a palm over his chest.
"But it's not a memory either."
The Second Beat adjusted—making space.
---
## **WHAT THE CROWN HID**
Far above, the Conservatory burned with chaos.
Archivists fled as sealed vaults unlocked themselves, ancient mechanisms responding to the fracture in the judgment network.
One file surfaced across restricted screens:
> **PROJECT EIDOLON-CHORD**
> Status: TERMINATED
> Addendum: *Residual Aural Imprints may persist post-mortem.*
A senior judge whispered, "They told us it was impossible…"
Another answered, pale:
"They lied. Or they failed."
---
## **A VOICE IN THE STATIC**
That night, as Aru slept, the rhythm returned.
Not in dreams—
—but in the space **between** them.
Aru opened his eyes to darkness.
Then—
A sound.
Not spoken words.
Not music.
A pattern.
Three taps. A pause. Two taps.
The signal Kairo used when they were kids.
*You awake?*
Aru's breath hitched.
"Kairo…?" he whispered.
The rhythm hesitated.
Then responded.
Faster.
Messier.
*Dummy. Of course I am.*
Aru sat up, tears spilling freely.
"You're dead," he said.
The rhythm softened.
*Yeah. I noticed.*
Aru laughed and sobbed at the same time, clutching his chest.
"What are you?" he asked.
The answer came slowly.
*An echo. Not a soul. Not a ghost.*
*Left behind because someone hit the rhythm too hard when I died.*
Aru understood.
Soren hadn't just murdered Kairo.
He had **overwritten reality**—forcing resonance where none should exist.
And something had snapped back.
---
## **EIDOLON'S FEAR**
Eidolon listened in silence as Aru told him.
When Aru finished, Eidolon looked… shaken.
"This is dangerous," he said.
"More than Break?"
"Yes."
Eidolon knelt so they were eye-level.
"If that echo merges fully with Soulbeat Resonance, you won't just amplify power."
Aru swallowed.
"What happens?"
"You'll become a **convergence point**," Eidolon said.
"Living and dead rhythms intersecting through you."
Maera crossed her arms.
"Or," she said quietly, "he becomes proof the Crown can't erase us."
Eidolon didn't answer.
Because both were true.
---
## **THE BROTHER'S MOVE**
Soren fled the Conservatory before dawn.
Not in shame.
In rage.
Black feathers wrapped him like armor as he descended into the lower districts.
"They turned you into a symbol," he snarled to the empty air.
"But symbols can be destroyed."
He raised his hand.
A hunting rhythm pulsed outward.
Not toward Aru—
—but toward the echo.
Soren smiled.
"If you're still screaming, little brother…"
"…I'll silence you properly."
---
## **THE WARNING**
Aru staggered as pain tore through his chest.
The second rhythm faltered.
*He's coming,* Kairo's echo warned.
*Not for you.*
Aru's eyes widened.
"For you," he whispered.
The Second Beat surged—protective, furious.
Eidolon stood.
"Then we don't wait," he said.
Maera nodded.
"The Circle is ready."
Aru wiped his tears and stood tall.
"No," he said.
This time, his voice did not shake.
"This isn't a rebellion move."
He faced the east—toward Soren.
"This is personal."
The two rhythms aligned.
Not merged.
Not fused.
**Side by side.**