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Ash clung to her eyelashes.
It didn't sting like smoke, nor fall like snow. It drifted—soft and silent—as though mourning a world long lost. Rin moved through it slowly, her steps careful, deliberate. Beside her, Kael's sword was unsheathed, his eyes scanning the shifting terrain ahead.
The garden had vanished.
In its place stretched a long, narrow corridor of cracked stone and roots. The sky above had blackened entirely, not with night, but with something heavier—like a shroud. Each breath felt like inhaling memory.
"Is this still part of my mind?" Rin asked, voice hushed.
Kael glanced at her. "Feels too real for a dream. But too warped for reality."
Their boots echoed against the stone, though no walls enclosed them. Only the vague impression of movement forward, as if the path existed solely because they walked it. The ash began to thin, revealing something ahead.
A gate.
Twisted iron and thorns. The symbol of the violet bloomed at its center—familiar now, pulsing with faint light. Just like the key in Rin's hand.
She reached out without thinking.
The key shimmered, dissolved into light, and passed through the gate. Metal groaned, vines withered. Slowly, it opened.
Beyond it lay a chamber that took Rin's breath away.
It was circular, vast, and quiet—like the hollowed-out heart of a cathedral. Dozens of timepieces hung suspended in midair, their glass cracked and their hands frozen at different hours. Some ticked. Others whispered. And beneath them, on the floor, were names carved into stone.
"Memory anchors," Kael said softly. "This… this must be where they're stored."
Rin knelt, running her fingers over one of the names.
"Reika Noctis."
She sucked in a sharp breath. "She's here. A part of her, at least."
Kael pointed to another.
"Elias Faelan."
And another.
"Daizen Mikado."
Rin stood, unease curling in her chest. "These are the ones who remember what the world wants us to forget."
"They're not just names," Kael murmured. "They're fragments. Echoes."
A soft hum vibrated through the chamber. One of the timepieces cracked open, light spilling from within. A voice emerged—whisper-thin, yet clear.
"You are not the first to descend."
Rin turned sharply.
From the center of the chamber, a figure began to coalesce.
White robes. A veil across their eyes. Skin translucent, glowing faintly—like starlight dipped in shadow.
A Watcher.
"You remember me," the figure said. "But you have not met me. Not in this form."
Kael stepped forward. "What is this place?"
"A cradle for what was lost," the Watcher said. "You've unlocked the first thread. Now the weave will begin to pull. Time here does not flow as yours does. Your soul will be tested."
Rin's throat was dry. "What test?"
"To remember… or to forget. Both are dangerous. One is final."
Rin's hand instinctively found Kael's. Their fingers entwined, a steadying presence.
The Watcher turned toward her. "You hold a fragment of her—Reika. And with it, the choice to find her."
"I want to," Rin said. "I need to."
"Then descend," the Watcher said. "Through the mirror that doesn't reflect. But beware. What you see may not be yours to claim."
The ground trembled. One of the timepieces shattered completely, the echo ringing like a scream. A wall behind the Watcher split open—revealing a staircase winding downward, impossibly narrow.
Kael tightened his grip on Rin's hand. "This is your memory. But I'm not letting you walk through it alone."
"I wouldn't let you even if you tried," she replied, giving a small smile.
As they stepped toward the staircase, the Watcher's voice followed them one last time.
"He waits for you at the end. But so do you. Be ready to face both."
The descent began.
Each step downward seemed to stretch, folding memory into memory. Time broke and rewound. For a moment, Rin swore she saw herself—twelve years old—running past them on the steps, laughter echoing.
Then a flash.
Kael in different armor, blood on his cheek, yelling her name.
Another flash.
Hands reaching for her through fire.
The staircase ended in a small circular room, filled with violet light. And in the center—
—a mirror.
Its surface was dull, almost liquid. But it didn't show their reflections.
Instead, it showed possibilities.
Rin leaned in.
And saw herself—eyes cold, hair longer, draped in robes of white and gold. Standing atop a ruined city, alone. Behind her, a thousand shadows bowed.
Kael stared. "That's not—"
"It's a version," Rin whispered. "Of what I become if I forget why I started."
Another ripple.
Now she stood in a field of graves. Hands stained with blood, tears running down her face. Alone again.
She looked away.
Kael stepped between her and the mirror. "No more ghosts. Whatever this place wants to show you—it's trying to shake you. But you're not alone anymore."
She met his eyes, heart steady. "Then let's burn through the lies together."
The mirror cracked.
Light surged outward, blinding.
When it faded, they stood not in a room—
—but in a garden of silver trees, beneath a sky that shimmered like broken glass.
Waiting for them at the edge of the garden…
…was a girl with long black hair, eyes sharp as obsidian, and a blade carved from soulsteel.
Reika Noctis.
She smiled faintly.
"You took your time."
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