The old man sipped the coffee I hadn't noticed he ordered. His presence radiated pressure, but he didn't feel hostile — just... inevitable.
"You carry it well," he said finally. "The madness. The hunger. The lie."
I frowned. "You came here to be cryptic, or...?"
"To remember," he said. "Because you can't yet."
He leaned forward, tapping a bony finger on my chest.
"The Echo inside you — it isn't just power. It's memory. It's a soul stitched back together from things this world buried."
I froze.
"You know its name, don't you?" he asked.
The shadows quivered.
I did.
I didn't know how, but I did.
It rose beside me then — uncalled, unforced — a shadow-armored figure, tall and silent, cloaked in night.
For the first time, I didn't see a weapon.
I saw a companion.
No, not quite.
A reflection.
Its voice, for the first time, was not mine.
But its own.
"I am Nocturne. You are the last of us."
The ground trembled beneath my feet.
Even the old man leaned back slightly.
"Then it's true," he whispered.
"What is?" I demanded.
But he only smiled. Sadly. Kindly.
And said the last thing I expected:
"Good luck, child. When the First Gate opens again… pray your sister never hears its song."
He stood.
The moment he left the chair, the shadows snapped back into motion. Time breathed again. Color returned to the world.
But something else had shifted.
A crack in the veil.
A name burned beneath my skin.
Nocturne.
[System Update]
Echo Identified: NOCTURNE
Bond Strength: 41%
Skill Tree Unlocked: Ashborn Path — Hidden Tier I
Warning: You are no longer invisible.
Back home, I stood in the mirror again.
Nocturne stood behind me.
But now, it nodded.
And for the first time...
I nodded back.