Falling Into Someone Else's Memory
Wind screamed past them as they plummeted.
The abyss wasn't dark — it was blinding, filled with shredded fragments of memories drifting like glowing paper strips.
Aziya clung to Kai's arm.
"Kai! Slow us down!"
"I'm trying!"
Kai summoned memory-light the way he had earlier — but it flickered uncontrollably. The Devourer's presence pulsed within him, making his magic unstable.
Aria focused, crossing both hands.
"Junshin, hold them! I'll cast a cushion—"
Junshin wrapped his arms around Kai and Aziya.
"Hurry up! I don't want to end my life inside someone's diary!"
Aria's magic burst downward—
A glowing circle formed below them.
They slammed into it, bouncing once — twice — before they collapsed onto a stable platform of marble-like memory.
Kai gasped for air.
The echo inside his chest pulsed again — a reminder it was still there.
Aziya immediately cupped his face.
"Kai, are you okay? Did the fall trigger anything?"
He forced a smile.
"No… still me. Just shaken."
Aria stood, scanning the shimmering landscape around them.
Junshin whistled low.
"Well… this ain't normal."
And it wasn't.
---
The Memory World
They stood inside a vast endless field — not grass, but glowing silver blades. Above them, floating islands of shattered memories drifted like broken glass.
In the far distance, an enormous silhouette of a woman's form — made entirely of light — flickered.
Kai's heart lurched.
"That shape…!"
Aziya swallowed.
"Your mother…?"
Aria frowned.
"No. That's not a person. It's a memory construct."
Junshin tilted his head.
"You're saying Kai's mom might be a hologram? An echo?"
Aria nodded.
"Memory echoes often take the shape of people we've lost or forgotten."
Kai stepped forward.
"But I heard her voice."
Aria hesitated.
"…That part worries me."
Aziya held Kai's hand painfully tight.
"Let's just be careful, okay?"
But the silver grass parted by itself — forming a path.
Leading directly toward the memory-woman.
---
The Voice That Knew His Name
As they walked, the environment shifted.
Landscapes morphed between different eras:
• A ruined kingdom.
• A collapsed tower.
• A quiet domestic home.
• A battlefield covered in white fire.
All blending and bleeding together like an unstable dream.
Aziya shivered.
"It's like someone mixed a hundred lives together."
Junshin nodded.
"Or someone tried to hide a real memory inside fake ones."
Aria stopped suddenly.
"Wait."
She turned to Kai.
"…Do you remember what your mother even looks like?"
Kai hesitated.
"I… I think so. I have fragments."
Aria studied him closely.
"Be careful. Your memories may not be your own.
The Devourer's seed could be rewriting them."
Kai's stomach twisted.
Aziya snapped, glaring at Aria.
"Aria! Why would you say that now—?!"
Junshin stepped between them.
"Hey. Calm down. Kai needs clarity, not fighting."
Kai exhaled shakily.
"It's okay. She's right.
If I'm going to face what's inside me… I need the truth."
The memory-woman's voice echoed again.
Soft. Warm. Terribly familiar.
"Kai… come to me…"
Kai's entire body tensed.
"That's her voice. I know it."
Aziya whispered,
"…I hope you're right."
---
The Mother's Image
They reached a circular altar made of white stone, floating gently above the silver grass.
The woman of light stood at its center.
She was tall, graceful — her hair long and flowing like silver mist.
Her face was blurred, like a painting someone had smeared.
Kai stepped onto the altar.
Aziya grabbed his sleeve.
"Kai—!"
He touched her hand gently.
"It's okay. I'll stay close."
The memory-woman turned slowly.
When she spoke, her voice echoed with layered tones.
"Kai… my son."
Kai felt tears prickle unexpectedly.
"I… I've missed you."
The woman reached out a hand — but she wavered, glitching.
"You must not fear the truth."
Kai stepped closer.
"What truth?"
Her body flickered more violently.
"I was devoured.
But not erased."
Kai froze.
Aria's eyes widened.
Junshin drew his sword.
Aziya whispered, horrified:
"So she is dead…?"
The woman continued.
"A piece of me survived… because of you."
Kai blinked, stunned.
"Me?"
"You were chosen as a vessel…
because you carry the strongest potential.
Stronger than your father.
Stronger than the Devourer itself."
Kai stepped back.
"No… that can't be true. I'm barely controlling myself."
The memory-woman's face rippled like water.
"You have more power than you know.
And there is a way to save yourself."
Aziya frowned.
"What way?"
The woman turned her half-blurred face toward her.
"By severing the bond.
Removing the seed."
Aria tensed.
"How? What's the price?"
The woman's voice darkened.
"A vessel cannot hold two souls.
One must be erased."
Kai felt his blood turn cold.
"Are you saying—
You or me?"
The woman shook her head.
"No.
Not you.
Your Devourer-seed must be cut away."
Aria narrowed her eyes.
"That sounds too easy."
The woman turned toward Kai.
Her voice softened again.
"Come closer.
Let me show you how."
Kai felt an instinctive dread.
Aziya stepped in front of him.
"No. Something's wrong about her — look at how she keeps glitching—"
Junshin raised his blade.
"Kai. Don't move yet."
Aria took a stance.
"Kai…
Ask her something only your mother would know."
Kai swallowed hard.
His voice trembled.
"What's the last thing you told me before you died?"
The woman flickered violently—
Static tearing through her.
The world trembled.
Kai's heart dropped.
She couldn't answer.
Not because she didn't know—
But because she wasn't real.
The woman of light split open.
Cracking.
Distorting.
Her form peeled apart, revealing a hollow void inside.
The voice that emerged was no longer warm—
It was layered.
Twisted.
Hungry.
> "Little king…
Did you really think your mother survived?"
A crack tore through the memory world.
Aziya screamed.
Junshin pulled Kai back.
Aria shouted—
"Kai! It's a TRAP!"
The memory-woman twisted and stretched—
Turning into a long, pale limb of void, reaching for Kai.
Kai whispered, voice breaking:
"Mom…"
A hollow laugh echoed through the collapsing world.
> "Your mother is gone.
What stands before you…
is the echo the Devourer left behind to lure you."
Kai's breath shattered.
"…Why…?"
The void-hand lunged for him—
> "So you would come willingly."
The Hunter's porcelain mask emerged from the tear in space.
It had never left.
It had been inside the memory the entire time.
Kai's chest erupted with pain — the Devourer's seed reacting violently.
Aziya screamed his name.
"KAAAAI!"
The Hunter reached him—
And the memory-world exploded into blinding white.