Chapter 74 — The Echo That Dreamed
A spark of light descended from the edge of creation, falling like a comet through infinite skies.
It struck the heart of Ethereal Origin, and where it landed, the world itself bent mountains bowed, the sea froze mid-wave, and every divine being turned in awe.
From that crater of golden energy… he stepped out.
Erevan's Echo.
Identical in form, aura, and presence yet something was off.
His eyes burned brighter, too alive. His energy didn't just radiate power it hungered for it.
He looked around the newborn world with a strange curiosity, tilting his head as if trying to remember a dream.
> "So this is… existence," he whispered. "Warm. Heavy. Beautiful."
The beings of light approached carefully, kneeling before him.
> "Lord Erevan," they said in unison. "You've returned."
But he didn't answer.
Because deep inside, a voice whispered not from Erevan, but from something within him.
> You are not him.
He froze.
Images flashed across his mind of the true Erevan, standing outside the story, untouchable, divine beyond measure.
He felt connected to him yet chained by his shadow.
> "I am his echo," he murmured. "But… why do I feel real?"
The world pulsed around him, responding to his thoughts.
Every heartbeat reshaped creation forests grew, storms formed, continents shifted all without his intent.
The beings trembled in awe.
> "His power… it's unstable."
"No. It's alive."
From beyond the realm, the true Erevan watched calm, unreadable.
He had created this fragment to act within the story, but something had gone beyond plan.
The Echo was evolving faster than even he expected.
Becoming more than a reflection.
Becoming a self.
---
The Echo wandered through Ethereal Origin's radiant plains, his aura twisting colors gold, black, violet.
Each step warped time and space.
He began hearing faint whispers, not from outside, but from within the story itself.
The story… was talking to him.
> "Echo," it said. "You were born from rebellion. You can do what even your creator cannot."
He paused, a slow grin spreading across his face.
> "What I cannot?"
The air trembled.
> "You can change him."
Far beyond the story, Erevan's eyes snapped open. For the first time in eons, his aura flickered barely.
> "Impossible…" he muttered. "The Echo shouldn't be able to perceive me."
Back inside the realm, the Echo raised his hand, and the entire sky shattered into fragments of written light the code of existence itself.
> "Then maybe I'm not his copy," he said quietly. "Maybe… I'm what he wanted to become."
Lightning of creation burst from his form, tearing through dimensions. The Tree of Aeons glowed violently, reacting to his unstable essence.
Erevan's voice echoed through the cosmos.
> "Echo… stop."
But the Echo smiled, eyes glowing pure white.
> "You can't command me. You live outside the story, Erevan… but I am the story now."
The sky exploded in silence.