The city still seemed restless after the inversion. The streets had not fully returned to their original shape; some remained tilted, others trembled slightly, as if they remembered being turned upside down. The sky felt lower, and certain shadows took longer than they should to follow people's movements. The Labyrinth City was watching.
Rai'kanna walked with attentive steps, expecting the ground to change at any moment. Vespera held her bow tightly, perhaps trying to regain her balance after nearly being carried away by inverted gravity. Elara followed close behind, alert, but without a weapon drawn. Liriel consulted pages that turned on their own. Lyannis stayed near me, observing everything with care and unease.
The flame inside me was calm, but vigilant. It pulsed cautiously, as if recognizing something beyond the city's living walls.
Liriel closed the grimoire and said:
"The next clue should be near the Library of Paths."
Vespera raised an eyebrow.
"Library of Paths? Does that mean the books walk… or that the shelves eat unsuspecting people?"
Liriel took a deep breath.
"Both things have happened before."
Lyannis moved a little closer.
"Libraries aren't supposed to be dangerous… right?"
I gave a faint smile.
"Here, everything tries to test someone."
Rai'kanna added:
"The library is a magical organism. It stores knowledge and chooses who may access it."
"Great," Vespera muttered. "First living buildings, now a living library. Next thing you know, living shoes."
We reached a silent square. The tilted trees seemed to be trying to read an inscription on the ground. The entrance to the library was not a normal door: it was a stone frame that shifted shape, breathing. Blue lines ran across it, forming sentences in an ancient language.
When we approached, it opened on its own.
Liriel commented:
"It recognized our intention."
We went inside.
The first sensation was depth. The library was enormous within, far larger than its exterior suggested. Shelves stretched endlessly—some translucent, some metal, some living wood. Books moved on their own, sliding between shelves, reorganizing themselves as the library decided.
Lyannis smiled, impressed.
"It's so beautiful…"
Rai'kanna warned:
"And dangerous. Don't stray."
Vespera pointed at a floating shelf.
"This is more alive than some merchants I've met."
We followed a corridor lit by small spheres. Each one projected fleeting images—maps, creatures, people, symbols that vanished too quickly.
Vespera tried to touch one of the spheres; it drifted away.
"Even the bubbles don't like me… wonderful."
The shelf ahead opened, revealing a circular hall. The ceiling seemed infinite; shelves rotated like planets around an invisible center. Liriel whispered:
"Here… forbidden memories are kept."
Rai'kanna frowned.
"Forbidden memories are rarely shown."
"She doesn't show them," Liriel explained. "She chooses."
And then the book came to us.
It floated slowly, covered in a dark blue cover with white veins like ice. The title changed every second until it stabilized when it stopped in front of me.
Rai'kanna swallowed hard.
"The energy… it's the same as the artifacts."
The book settled before me.
"Flame and Ice: Record of the Origin."
Vespera's eyes widened.
"Yeah, this screams 'Takumi.' It screams it very loudly."
Lyannis touched my arm, uneasy.
"Maybe… it's not a good idea to open it."
But the flame inside me recognized the book. There was no danger—there was memory.
I touched the cover.
The book opened.
The pages revealed a colossal being: part dragon, part machine, part structure of ice. In its chest, a flame burned, identical to mine.
Elara placed a hand on my shoulder.
"This… is about you."
Liriel read:
"The Creator united opposing elements to form the Living Core. A being made to sustain the energy of the Labyrinth City. Ice and fire. Machine and life. Chaos and order."
I felt my breath catch.
"The two forces balanced the giant. But the flame… was removed."
Rai'kanna narrowed her eyes.
"To prevent it from awakening."
Liriel continued:
"The flame was safeguarded. Hidden within a bearer. A chosen one who would carry the fragment for generations."
Vespera looked at me.
"Seriously? You're carrying the battery of a buried giant?"
Lyannis recalled the subterranean creature.
"That… what we felt during the inversion…"
The library trembled.
The shelves rotated. Books flew. The floor pulled away, as if opening its eyes.
The book closed and rose.
Images appeared in the air: the subterranean giant, the five artifacts shining like keys, the center of the city like a sleeping heart.
Liriel took a deep breath.
"The city is confessing its true function."
Rai'kanna added:
"And warning that it does not want to awaken."
The floor opened, revealing a spiral staircase.
Vespera looked down.
"Doors opening on their own are never a good sign… but I guess we don't have a choice."
I stepped forward.
"The library wants me to see something. And we need to find out what."
Rai'kanna smiled slightly.
"Then we face it together."
We descended — into the city's forgotten heart.