Jaden didn't remember walking back to his apartment.
He remembered Lisa's hand gripping his wrist, trembling with fear she was trying not to show. He remembered Kane watching, letting them go with that soft, unreadable smile that felt more like a warning than permission.
But the walk itself?
Gone.
Blurred.
Static.
He blinked, and suddenly he was home.
The silence inside felt heavier than usual. His room was small — a half-broken desk, a worn mattress, a window cracked from last year's monster raid. He'd always hated this place.
Tonight, it felt like it hated him back.
Lisa paced the tiny room, hands in her hair. "Jaden… what happened back there? Your eyes—your arm—the flame—"
Jaden sat on the edge of his bed, staring at his hands.
They looked normal.
Human.
"Lisa," he whispered, "I felt like something else was moving inside me. Like… someone else."
Her pacing stopped.
He didn't look up, but he felt her stare like a physical weight.
"What do you mean… someone else?"
"I saw a world burning," Jaden murmured. "I heard a heartbeat that wasn't mine. I felt wings—wings—"
His voice cracked.
Lisa sat beside him, gripping his arm. "Hey. Hey. Listen to me. You're Jaden. Just Jaden."
He wanted to believe that.
But he couldn't.
The ember pulsed.
He flinched.
Lisa noticed. "Does it hurt?"
Jaden shook his head. "It's not pain. It's like… pressure. Like it wants out."
Lisa swallowed hard. "Then don't let it."
He almost laughed. "I don't think I have a choice."
Suddenly—
The room temperature dropped.
Lisa tensed. "Not again…"
The shadows lengthened across the floor, stretching toward Jaden like reaching fingers. When they touched the base of his bed, the boards creaked.
Jaden's breath hitched.
"No… no, not now—"
The shadows rose.
A face appeared in the darkness.
Not the First Shadow.
Not the hallway echo.
This one was smaller.
Twitching.
Incomplete.
Like a half-finished sketch of a monster wearing his outline.
Lisa stepped in front of Jaden immediately. "Leave him alone!"
The creature flickered violently, then —
"Weak…"
The voice glitched.
"Too weak… to survive…"
Jaden grabbed Lisa's wrist. "Run—!"
But before either of them could move—
The ember ignited.
A red flare erupted from Jaden's chest, blasting outward like a pulse wave. The entire apartment shuddered. The lightbulb overhead burst. The window cracked further, spiderwebbing out from the center.
Lisa was thrown across the room.
"LISA!" Jaden lunged toward her — too late.
The incomplete Shadow screamed, dissolving into static and smoke.
The flare vanished as quickly as it came.
Jaden stood frozen, panting, staring at his hands.
They were burning.
Not literally — but beneath the skin, red light pulsed through faint lines like molten veins.
Lisa groaned from the floor. "Jaden… you… you just—"
Jaden backed away from her, horrified. "I didn't mean to—I didn't—"
He hit the wall, sliding down it.
"I almost killed you."
Lisa crawled to him despite her shaking limbs. She cupped his face with both hands. "No. That wasn't you. That was—"
She stopped.
Because she saw something.
Something behind his eyes.
Something that wasn't human.
Jaden whispered, "Lisa… what do you see?"
Her voice trembled. "For a second… I didn't recognize you."
His chest tightened. The ember pulsed in agreement — as if pleased.
He shoved her hands away instinctively. "Don't look at me like that."
Lisa flinched. "Jaden—"
"DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT!"
His voice echoed with a second voice layered beneath it — older, deeper, regal.
Lisa's breath froze.
"J-Jaden… your voice—"
He clutched his head, choking out, "Get out… get out of my body… get OUT!"
A knock echoed through the apartment.
Lisa nearly screamed.
Kane opened the door calmly — it hadn't even been locked — and stepped inside like he'd been waiting outside the whole time.
"Good," he murmured, surveying the ruined room. "The second flare manifested."
Lisa staggered to her feet, furious and terrified. "Did you follow us?!"
"Yes," Kane said without hesitation.
"Why?!"
"Because this always happens after an Echo Scar awakens."
Jaden looked up slowly. "Always…?"
Kane kneeled beside him. "Your flame responds to emotional rupture. Fear, shame, despair — all perfect catalysts."
"Catalysts!? I almost killed her!"
Kane smiled thinly. "If you wanted her dead, she would be ash."
Lisa stepped between them. "Enough. He's not training with you anymore."
Kane stood. "Then he will die."
Jaden and Lisa froze.
Kane continued gently, "The Shadows are forming faster. The Harrowing is pulling him at random. The flame is awakening prematurely. And the first Demon King has already taken notice."
Jaden blinked. "Demon… King?"
A cold wind blew through the shattered window.
Kane exhaled slowly, as if speaking a truth that tasted ancient.
"Valgros," he whispered. "A projection. Very faint. But present. He saw your flare."
Lisa's face drained of color. "Demon King… projections don't appear until deep A-rank breaches."
"Yes," Kane said. "Which is why this is very, very concerning."
Jaden trembled. "Why me?"
Kane crouched again, gently placing a gloved hand on Jaden's shoulder.
"Because you are waking up."
Jaden's breath shook.
Lisa grabbed his other arm. "And because he knows how to manipulate you!"
Kane didn't deny it.
He simply smiled.
"Fear accelerates awakening. But so does trust. And he trusts me — whether he realizes it or not."
Jaden pulled away from both of them. "Stop… stop talking like I'm an experiment."
"You're not," Kane said softly.
"You're a miracle."
Lisa's voice cracked. "You're lying."
Kane's smile deepened. "Only about my intentions."
Jaden stared at him, shaken. "Why me?"
Kane's eyes softened.
"Because," he whispered,
"you remind me of someone I failed to save."
A silence fell over the room — heavy, suffocating, filled with unspoken truths.
The ember pulsed again — as if listening.
Kane stood, dusting off his gloves.
"Training resumes tomorrow at dawn."
Lisa shouted, "NO!"
Kane didn't look back.
"It wasn't a request."
He stepped out, closing the door gently behind him.
Lisa sank to the floor.
Jaden stared at his glowing hands until the light slowly faded.
He whispered into the broken darkness:
"Is something… inside me… trying to get out?"
And for the first time—
The ember answered.
A whisper.
A memory.
A voice older than stars.
"Yes."