The First Pulse*
The stage at the center of Lybren pulsed with light—
not flickering lamps,
not magical torches,
but *sound* made visible.
Bands of color rippled across the floor like tidal waves: crimson beats, emerald melodies, sapphire harmonies that twisted and weaved around each other. Overhead, floating platforms formed spirals of illuminated glyphs—ancient musical symbols older than the kingdom itself.
The crowd leaned forward in collective breath.
Children on shoulders.
Merchants pressing against stalls.
Aural Artisans whispering predictions.
And Bungo, standing between Kairo, Rell, and Lumi, felt his heart slam against his ribs like it wanted out.
Kairo nudged him. "You okay?"
Bungo swallowed. "I don't know. Something about this place…"
He pressed a hand to his chest.
His heartbeat throbbed in perfect sync with the stage's glowing rhythm—
as if the floor was breathing with him.
Rell pointed excitedly toward the performers assembling at the center podium.
"Look! That's the Arcs' First Cadence Squad!"
Five older students stepped onto the stage, instruments glimmering under the rising aura lights.
A tall girl with glass violin strings pulled her bow.
A boy carrying twin drums etched with gold sigils tightened their skins.
A harpist whose long hair floated unnaturally, swept by invisible wind.
And in front—
Soren Blackfall.
He held his midnight flute like a blade carved from heaven's shadow.
His presence bent the air around him.
People hushed as whispers spread:
"That's the Blackfall heir."
"They say he awakened at age seven…"
"He can split a mountain ridge with a single breath."
Bungo watched him with a strange, instinctive discomfort—
like his soul flinched before his mind did.
Soren raised the flute to his lips.
The world stopped.
Even the wind held its breath.
Then—
**FWWWWOOOOM.**
A long, chilling note erupted—deep as thunder, sharp as a scream. It punched through the air like a blade of sound. The stage ignited in swirling spirals of black and silver, rising like tornado funnels.
Spectators staggered back.
Some shielded their ears.
Others cried out in awe.
"This is insane…" Kairo whispered.
But Bungo didn't step back.
He stepped forward.
Because while the rest of the crowd felt blasted by the sound—
Bungo felt pulled by it.
It wasn't attacking him.
It was *calling* him.
Inviting.
Resonating.
The note grew louder, vibrating the ground.
The marble beneath Bungo's feet began to glow softly, reacting to him.
At first, he didn't notice.
Then Lumi grabbed his hand, eyes wide.
"B-Bungo… your feet!"
He looked down.
Light shimmered beneath his toes—matching the same color, the same pattern, as the pulsing stage.
His resonance was responding.
Kairo stared. "Bro… what is happening to you?"
Bungo didn't know.
But he felt something rising inside—a rhythm both familiar and foreign.
Like distant drumming echoing through memory.
**KA-THUM. KA-THUM. KA-THUM.**
His heartbeat.
And something else:
**Kairo's rhythm.**
Old.
Comforting.
Impossible.
Bungo stumbled back, clutching his chest. "I hear it again."
"What?" Kairo asked.
"The heartbeat. The rhythm from… before. From when we died."
Kairo froze, eyes wide with fear and awe.
Rell looked between them. "What do you mean *when you died?*"
But before Bungo could answer—
Another note burst from Soren's flute.
This one was sharper.
Crueler.
It sliced through the air like a spear.
And for the first time, Bungo felt pain.
His head throbbed.
His vision blurred.
His whole body vibrated with the force of the sound—
as if Soren's melody was trying to tear something loose inside him.
The stage trembled.
Cracks formed near the edge.
Spectators gasped and retreated.
Soren lowered his flute slightly, puzzled.
He looked directly at Bungo.
Not at the crowd.
Not at the other children.
At *him.*
Their eyes locked.
And in that moment, Soren looked—
confused.
Startled.
And then, suddenly…
afraid.
He recognized something in Bungo's aura.
Something Bungo didn't yet understand.
Soren's fingers tightened around his flute.
He ended the performance abruptly.
The tornadoes dissolved.
The lights dimmed.
Silence dropped like a curtain.
People murmured in confusion.
Bungo collapsed to one knee, panting, his entire body buzzing with the aftermath of the resonance.
Mother Lyra pushed through the crowd, rushing to him.
"Bungo!"
Her hands cupped his face. "Did the sound hurt you?"
Bungo shook his head weakly. "No. It… awakened something."
Mother Lyra's expression tightened—fear flickering beneath her calm smile.
"Come," she whispered urgently. "We must get you away from here. Now."
But before she could pull him away—
A shadow fell over them.
Soren Blackfall stood at the edge of the platform, staring down at Bungo with eyes that had turned cold and unreadable.
He spoke one sentence, voice low enough only Bungo and those beside him could hear:
**"Why does your soul… carry a forbidden rhythm?"**
Bungo froze.
Kairo's heart dropped.
Mother Lyra inhaled sharply.
Soren continued, his tone sharpening:
**"What are you?"**
The world held its breath.
The answer would one day shake Ardenia.
But today—
Bungo had none.
Only the rhythm pounding in his chest.
Growing louder.
Awakening.
Waiting.