The training hall echoed with the rhythmic thud of wood on wood. Kaito and Eryo moved across the floor like two halves of a single memory, each step and pivot precise, instinctive.
"You're improving faster than I thought," Kaito said, lowering his spear briefly. "But there's more to it than muscle memory. You have to feel it—the past, the bond."
Eryo's grip on the staff tightened, his body already moving ahead of thought. Then—something snapped.
A flash of light, sudden and bright, filled the edges of his vision. The hall seemed to dissolve, replaced by a memory that wasn't entirely his present life:
He was soaring over the ocean, scales glinting beneath the sun. Kaito flew beside him, wings slicing the wind, laughter on the air. Below, a sea serpent arched through waves, and other companions—names long forgotten—fought alongside them. Battles, victories, and losses played across his mind like fragments of a forgotten dream.
A hand reached out instinctively, and there was Kaito, real, present, grounded in the hall. "Eryo?" Kaito's voice cut through the memory-flash like a tether.
"I… I remember," Eryo breathed, voice shaky. "Everything. You… we… the others… we fought together. I—" His eyes shone with an intense light, a mixture of awe and recognition.
Kaito's grip on his spear tightened, not in defense, but in affirmation. "I felt it too. That bond—it's never gone. It's alive, Eryo. And now… you're remembering it fully."
Eryo's body moved before he could even process it. He mirrored Kaito's strikes perfectly, anticipating movements, parrying and countering with precision born of centuries of shared combat. Every instinct, every memory of teamwork, surged forward, creating a seamless connection that even Kaito hadn't felt since before the previous life.
"I… I can feel them," Eryo whispered, voice catching. "Our friends… the ones we lost… they're still with us. Their memory… it's part of me now."
Kaito nodded slowly, awe in his gaze. "Then we continue. Together. Every move we make, every fight… we rebuild the bond. And soon, the rest will follow."
Dex barked excitedly, sensing the surge of energy and recognition between them, circling their feet as if urging them on.
Eryo's movements became sharper, more fluid, almost like water bending to his will. Each strike carried weight and precision, and Kaito adjusted his own stance to match, their connection seamless.
The sun dipped lower outside the high windows, shadows stretching across the hall. Inside, spear and staff clashed in perfect rhythm—not just training, but the echo of a bond that had survived time, loss, and reincarnation.
And in that moment, for the first time since their reunion, Eryo's memories were whole, alive, and fully connected to Kaito—ready to face whatever the future held.