The scent of wet stone and steam bread clung to the morning.
Yaya trailed behind Ye Han, her boots kicking up little puffs of flour dust with each step. A grocer had knocked over a bag of rice and swept most of it into a corner, but the smell still hung like someone had cooked hope and forgotten to serve it.
They were late for the tea stall.
Again.
Granny Wen had warned him—"You miss another morning, I'm giving your stool to someone who doesn't walk like a haunted fence post."
Yaya had repeated that line twice on the way over, mimicking Granny's crooked squint and gravelly voice both times.
Ye Han hadn't corrected her.
---
When they arrived, Granny was already pouring boiling water over the copper mesh strainer, muttering about the price of mint leaves and the laziness of city sweepers.
"You're late," she said without looking up. "And that coat looks like it lost a fight with a moth."
Ye Han hung it on the same rusted hook beside the door.
Yaya hopped up onto the spare crate beside the counter, swinging her legs.
"Granny, do shards smell like anything?"
That made the old woman pause.
She gave Ye Han a side-eye like he'd been leaking secrets in his sleep.
"Some do," she said. "Depends on the shard. Violet bloom smells like rain on glass. Crimson smells like copper and regrets."
Yaya blinked. "Is regret a smell?"
Granny Wen poured tea for herself and shrugged. "Only if you've earned it."
---
Ye Han said nothing. But the word *crimson* caught in his throat.
He remembered the traveler—Lian. She'd said her name quietly, once, only to Yaya.
He hadn't seen what color her shard was. Not clearly. But later, when the page formed, he'd smelled burning cloth and something sharp beneath it.
Not copper exactly.
More like blood left out in the sun too long.
---
[Warden's Ledger – Passive Diagnostic Update]
Pages Held: 3
— Yaya (Stabilized)
— Ren (Stabilized)
— Lian (Harmonizing...)
Echoes Active: 2 / 3
Passives Equipped: 3 / 3
System Load: 74% [Stable]
Notice: Echo Interference Level Rising. Reinforcement Suggested.
Yaya leaned toward him, squinting.
"Is the book talking again?"
"It's not a book," he muttered.
"Then why do you stare at it like it owes you lunch?"
He didn't respond.
But her fingers slipped into his sleeve cuff again—same place, same grip as always.
"Was the lady with the sad eyes one of your pages now?"
Ye Han nodded once.
"What did she smell like?"
He hesitated. "Lavender. And heat."
Yaya considered that.
"I like lavender," she said. "But heat sounds painful."
---
Granny Wen returned with a paper-wrapped package—two flat breads with green onion and egg.
She slid one to Ye Han. "Eat. You look like someone's been draining you from the feet up."
He took it.
Yaya grabbed her own and immediately tried to fold it like a dumpling.
It didn't go well.
After a few seconds of internal argument, she declared it a "flat-pling" and tried again.
Ye Han let the corner of his mouth lift—barely.
---
A shout echoed across the market square.
An ISA field agent sprinted past, helmet askew, chasing a black rooster with a crimson ribbon tied around its leg.
No one seemed particularly surprised.
One of the tailors clapped once and muttered, "Third time this week."
Yaya leaned forward on the crate.
"That bird is winning."
Ye Han watched the agent give up after three more turns, panting against the bakery wall.
The rooster strutted in slow victory around a puddle and vanished down a side street.
---
The Ledger flickered again—no visual this time, only pressure behind his eyes.
[System Note: Passive Aura – Soften]
Trigger: Emotional Stabilization Field (Child Proximity)
Effect: Echo Displacement reduced by 12%
System Load now 62% [Stable]
Memory Feedback normalized
He let out a breath.
It wasn't the rooster. It was the girl beside him.
Yaya's presence wasn't incidental.
It was stabilizing.
---
That night, as they passed the old bakery and headed for the alley they now called home, Yaya tilted her head at the darkened windows above them.
"Do you think dungeons sleep?"
Ye Han paused.
"I don't know."
She held his hand tighter.
"Sometimes I think the buildings do," she whispered. "They get tired of holding people."
He didn't answer.
But the alley light flickered overhead as they turned the corner.
And somewhere, behind his ribs, a page stirred.
---
[Warden's Ledger – Passive Integrity Alert]
Third Page Stabilization Incomplete
Harmonization required before system unlock
Warning: External contact may trigger page clash