The next morning, Asterley feels colder. Not in temperature — in presence.
The trees don't move. The wind doesn't blow. And even the ravens on the chapel roof stay silent.
Something has shifted.
Haera avoids Cairos all day. Not out of fear — out of confusion. Her mind replays Kael's voice again and again.
"You chose me first."
But when?
---
In the library, she searches through every history book she can find on the founding of Asterley. All records end the same year — 1886 — the same date her dream written on the board showed. It's like the school doesn't exist before then.
Except in the journal she found tucked between the spines: no author, no stamp, no index.
Its first sentence:
"Lilienne was never supposed to wake first."
---
That night, Cairos slips a note beneath her door:
"Meet me in the chapel. Bring the dagger."
Haera considers ignoring it. But her soul aches too loudly.
The chapel is ancient, lit only by moonlight through stained glass. The colors spill like bruises across the floor. Cairos stands at the altar, his back to her.
She steps inside. He doesn't turn.
"I remember," she whispers.
"Do you?" he murmurs. "Then tell me what happened the night you died."
Haera swallows.
"I stabbed myself."
Cairos closes his eyes.
"You weren't meant to. The Echo Binding was made to keep you alive."
She steps closer. "What is the Echo Binding?"
He finally faces her. "It's when two souls are tied across lives. So even if the world resets, they find each other. You and I… we were bound."
"Then who was Kael?"
Cairos clenches his jaw. "A failed bond. One you were supposed to forget."
"But I didn't."
"No. And now he's trying to finish what he started — separate us forever."
---
He reaches into his coat and pulls out a scroll — brittle, sealed with the same crescent moon symbol.
He unrolls it between them.
Drawn in ink and blood: a spell. A ritual.
THE ECHO BINDING.
To complete it, both souls must willingly choose the other — again.
But the final line chills her:
"If one chooses, and the other hesitates — the cycle shatters."
---
Haera looks up. "You want me to do this again?"
He nods. "Only if you remember why you loved me. Across lifetimes. Despite Kael."
She hesitates.
Then reaches for the dagger.
And slices her palm.
Cairos does the same. Their blood touches the paper — and burns it clean through.
The chapel rumbles.
The stained glass shatters.
And their reflections vanish from the floor.
---
Outside, in the shadows of the trees, Kael watches the glow from the chapel with hollow eyes.
"Too soon," he says, voice dark. "You weren't ready, Lilienne. And now... you'll forget me all over again."
He places a black stone on the ground.
Whispers one word:
"Undo."
And the wind finally begins to howl.