Ken's eyes snapped open.
Cold metal touched his cheek, and the Citadel's white ceiling swam into focus. For a second, he didn't recognize the room. Then the world rush-synced like someone pressed "unpause" on reality.
He sat up.
Tojo and Ozaru were already at his side, breathless.
"Bro, you good?" Tojo asked, gripping Ken's shoulder.
Ken blinked. "Yeah. I think so."
But Tojo felt it instantly—something was off. Ken wasn't tense or dizzy… he was just too calm. Too aware.
And the weirdest part?
Ken's eyes followed Ozaru's hand before Ozaru actually moved it.
Like Ken already remembered the second that was about to happen.
Ozaru froze.
Tojo's stomach dropped.
Behind them, Nina stepped back without realizing she had. Her Crimson Stone vibrated faintly, not in danger mode… in curiosity. Like it was sniffing something unfamiliar in the room. Though she's a carless captain she
Alkhaz stood near the wall with his hands in his pockets, watching silently. His expression stayed neutral, but Tojo caught one detail:
Alkhaz didn't blink once.
That only happened when he sensed something reality-deep.
Before anyone could ask questions, three Citadel Council members strode in—Archivist Lume, Elder Cavin, and Diviner Raal.
But instead of worry, their faces were strangely calm.
Archivist Lume scanned Ken with her glowing irises.
"Stabilized."
Diviner Raal nodded.
"No distortion."
Elder Cavin clasped his hands.
"He is synchronized."
Tojo frowned. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
None of them answered directly. They just shared tiny looks—like they'd all been waiting for this exact scenario.
Ozaru stepped forward, jaw tight. "You were expecting this?"
The room went quiet.
Ken sat there, silent, almost like he wasn't fully in the conversation. But his eyes kept flicking to empty corners, like he was tracking invisible footsteps.
Alkhaz finally spoke.
"Council… at least pretend to explain. They deserve to know what's happening to their teammate."
But before the Council could respond—
The chamber lights glitched.
Not flickered.
Glitched.
Like two frames overlapped, and one got deleted.
A faint residue floated around Ken like dust—silver-ish particles drifting off him before dissolving.
Ozaru whispered, "That's not Genesis residue."
"It isn't," Alkhaz said quietly. "It's Echo dust."
Nina's eyes widened.
"The Echo Chamber…?"
Tojo stiffened. The chamber was a place only veteran wielders were allowed to enter—a memory-well that showed their past through their Genesis bond. It never, ever affected reality.
Something about Ken dragged the Echo Chamber out with him.
A low alarm sounded for half a second, then instantly stopped.
Ken exhaled once.
"Sorry… everything feels loud."
The Council ordered him to the Genesis Scan Platform.
He stepped on it.
The scanners hummed.
And then—to everyone's shock—Azure didn't sync to the chamber.
The chamber synced to Azure.
The platform itself realigned, blue circuits shifting like they were bowing.
The tech running the monitor flinched as the screen glitched—showing, for a split beat, a cracked porcelain mask… staring straight back at him.
He collapsed to his knees and threw up.
Ozaru grabbed Tojo's arm.
"Bro… this is not normal CDC stuff anymore."
Tojo didn't argue. For once, he didn't have a snappy comeback. His fists curled. He hated this feeling—this "you can't punch the problem" type of fear.
Nina stepped closer, Crimson Stone brightening.
"Ken. Look at me."
He did.
She didn't step back this time. "Do you feel like yourself?"
Ken nodded slowly. "Yeah. But everything feels like… someone turned up the clarity."
"Clarity of what?" Ozaru asked.
Ken looked him dead in the eyes.
"…memories that aren't mine."
Silence.
Even the chamber seemed to hold its breath.
"Ken." Alkhaz's voice turned sharp. "What did you see?"
Ken rubbed his temples.
"It's hard to explain. I wasn't watching memories.
The memory was watching me."
The Council went stiff.
Elder Cavin whispered, "The Chamber initiated reverse-observation."
Tojo grabbed the elder by the collar. "English, old man."
Before Alkhaz intervened, Cavin answered, quietly:
"It means something inside that Chamber… acknowledged him."
Nina's breath hitched.
Ozaru's Stone reacted with a faint pulse—Creation sensing foreign interference.
Tojo stepped back, shaking with anger. "So what, he's cursed now? Marked? What the hell do we do?"
Ozaru's voice was low but steady. "We figure it out. Starting from what followed him back.
Alkhaz said smiling
"before that you gotta atleast have your admission into CDC officially!? Did you forget you both were sentenced? But Ken sent both to me"
Ozaru- tojo both surprised because now they also have to go through admission process to be part of CDC Officially!
But on other side,
Ken looked down at his hands like he expected them to belong to someone else.
Before they could continue, Nina turned sharply.
"I'm not leaving."
Diviner Raal frowned. "You were scheduled for Crimson Division operations."
"I'm staying," Nina repeated. "Something is wrong in the Citadel, and all of you are pretending it's fine."
Her Crimson Stone flared—not in rebellion, but in support.
Tojo smirked despite the tension. "For once, we agree."
The Council exchanged frustrated looks, but none dared challenge Crimson Division authority.
Alkhaz let out a tiny exhale.
"Alright then."
He turned to Ken.
"Tell us everything."
Ken hesitated, as if searching for words.
"When I reached the Riftfall… it wasn't a space tear." His voice dropped. "It was like a throat. Something whispering inside it."
Ozaru tensed.
"The Voidspawn?" he asked quietly.
"No. This wasn't a voidspawn," Ken said. "This thing wasn't alive. It wasn't dead either. It… knew me."
Nina swallowed hard.
"How?"
Ken shook his head. "I don't know."
He stood slowly from the platform.
Everyone unconsciously relaxed—
Until Ken suddenly turned toward a sealed wall on the far left.
A wall none of them were looking at.
A wall he had never been told anything about.
He stared at it.
Quiet.
Still.
Listening.
Then he whispered:
"…someone's crying in there."
Tojo's heart dropped.
Ozaru felt his skin crawl.
Nina's Stone dimmed like it sensed grief.
Alkhaz's eyes widened—an actual reaction.
"That room," he said softly, "has been sealed for twenty-two years."
Archivist Lume looked horrified.
"It's Zarion Kael's memory vault."
Ozaru froze.
Ken shouldn't even know that vault existed.
Council panic rose, voices overlapping.
But Ken didn't move. He just kept staring at that silent chamber like he could hear a heartbeat behind its walls.
Finally Alkhaz stepped forward and snapped his fingers in front of Ken's face.
Ken blinked. Reality reattached.
"…sorry."
"You didn't do anything wrong," Alkhaz said quietly. "Let's move."
The group walked toward the corridor, tension thick.
And as Ken stepped through the door, the hallway lights dimmed by a fraction.
Not flickering.
Adjusting.
Like the Citadel recalibrated itself around his presence.
Nina noticed.
Ozaru clenched his jaw.
Tojo cracked his knuckles.
Alkhaz watched, whispering under his breath:
"Azure didn't bring him back alone."
Ken stopped mid-walk.
Everyone paused.
He turned slightly, his voice low.
"I think… someone else remembers us too."
And somewhere far beyond the Citadel, beyond Nullspace, beyond the Riftfall...
A pair of pale, fractured eyes opened.
Nexarius lifted his head slowly, like a puppet remembering it had strings.
A faint crack ran down his mask, glowing with the same silver dust that clung to Ken.
He smiled-not wide, not evil-just knowingly.
"As expected... he's begun remembering me."
The COSMIC DEFENSE CORPSE Citadel had no idea.
Zarion's vault wasn't the only memory that got discovered today in Echo space.
Why's he behind ken-alkhaz-oazaru-tojo.
We'll get answered in next chapter-
In the memories of Zarion