Power is only freedom if you can control it.
Otherwise, it becomes a cage made of your own choices.
Kael stood in the ruins of the old tram station, half-shadowed by rusted beams and cracked synthetic glass. Below, the ground was uneven—chunks of city devoured by time and war. Dust drifted lazily through columns of light pouring from the broken ceiling.
It had been two days since the Threadfall. Two days since the Watcher—his primordial self—spoke to him in the Loom.
Since then, Kael hadn't slept.
Not really.
How could he?
His mind never quieted. Threads moved through everything. Buildings. Memories. Emotions. People.
And himself.
They pulsed when he walked. Whispered when he breathed.
[Soul Loom Status: Active]
[Thread Count: 3 / 7]
[Domain: Echo / Subdomain: Memoryline]
`> Skill: Echo Recall (I)
Skill: Shadow Severance (I)
Skill: Self-Refract (New)`
Kael stood at the edge of the station floor, staring at a shattered mirror panel propped against a steel beam.
His reflection looked strange.
Tired, yes—but deeper than that.
Eyes no longer dull, but threaded with faint blue lines like broken glass healing from the inside.
He held out his hand.
A thread formed—thin, glowing, trembling.
He focused.
"Echo Recall," he whispered.
A memory surfaced—not from him.
But from the mirror.
A girl, maybe fifteen, once stood here laughing. Kael could hear her voice echo faintly in his mind.
She was smiling.
And then… a scream. Smoke. Blood.
The memory fractured.
The Remnant was born from it.
Kael stumbled back, blinking.
[Warning: Unstable Memory Echo—Entity Detected]
The air went cold.
The threads around him twisted.
From the shadows behind a pillar, something stepped out.
Wrong.
Too tall. Skin stretched over angular joints. No eyes—only weeping threadmarks down its face. It twitched, limbs moving like a marionette strung by invisible hands.
A Fractured Remnant.
Kael's Loom screamed warnings.
[Remnant Class: Memory-Warped Wraith]
[Thread Stability: Corrupted]
[Aggression Level: Lethal]
The creature opened its mouth—not to roar, but to mimic the girl's laugh from the echo.
Kael flinched. "You're not her…"
It lunged.
Kael reacted without thinking.
[Thread Skill: Shadow Severance]
He slashed through the air. A line of blue fire cracked out—cutting the creature's arm. It screamed—not in pain, but like a string being plucked wrong.
It came faster now—blurring forward.
Kael activated Echo Recall, trying to predict the next move.
Too late.
The creature phased, dodging the attack completely. A claw raked across his shoulder. Sparks exploded as his Loom deflected the blow—but not all of it.
Kael crashed into the wall.
[Thread Instability: Surging]
[Loom Sync: 17%]
He gritted his teeth, holding his bleeding side.
This wasn't like before. The Hollow Zone fight had been instinct. This needed something else—
Not strength.
Clarity.
He closed his eyes and reached inward.
"Watcher—if you're still there—I need help."
The voice came immediately, quiet but steel-sharp.
"The thread you seek is buried. Deeper than memory. Below the fear."
"You must pull your own pain."
Kael's breath hitched.
He reached inward again.
And pulled.
Suddenly, he was nine again.
Cold. Alone. Locked in a shipping crate with just a broken inhaler. No mother. No name. Just the echo of his own cries.
He reached into that moment.
Clutched the pain.
And wove it.
[New Skill: Threadbind - Grief Weave (Tier I)]
[Effect: Trap a Remnant using its own echo as an anchor]
[Cooldown: 24s]
Kael lifted his arm. "Grief Weave."
Threads pulsed outward—gray and blue, like thunderclouds after dusk.
They wrapped around the Remnant's legs, chest, arms—its own echo-thread fused with Kael's sorrow.
It froze, twitching, unable to move.
Kael whispered: "You were never real."
And severed the echo.
The creature shattered into a burst of dull light.
Its threads unraveled, spinning upward like smoke.
[Remnant Neutralized]
[Memoryline Stability +5%]
[Thread Count: 4 / 7]
[Soul Loom Sync: 21%]
Kael dropped to his knees, gasping.
His hands were shaking—but he was alive.
He looked down at the fading remnants of the creature, one last echo flashing across his Loom.
The girl's voice again. But this time, she whispered:
"Thank you."
He wasn't alone.
From the shadows of the ruined tram station, a second presence stirred.
Cloaked in black. Face hidden beneath a reflective mask. Silent as the grave.
A soft chime on their wristband blinked:
[Conduit 00001: Thread Pulse Detected]
[Target: Kael Iroh]
[Order: Observe. Do not engage.]
The figure stood unmoving as Kael limped toward the exit, unaware he was being watched.
"So…"
"The Weaver lives."