The road eastward was broken.
Pale earth cracked like old scars.
Dead trees clawed at the gray sky, their branches empty and reaching.
Even the birds had abandoned this place.
Only the wind spoke, whispering secrets in a language only the forgotten could hear.
---
Lucius walked first now.
The girls behind him.
No words.
No need.
Every step forward was a fight against the past trying to drag him back.
And he was tired of losing.
---
Claire clutched her staff tightly.
She watched Lucius's back like it was the only thing anchoring her to the world.
Every time he stumbled, her fingers twitched.
Every time he hesitated, she whispered a prayer she wasn't sure anyone heard.
---
Zara walked with her blades unsheathed.
Not for protection.
For comfort.
The weight of steel steadied her more than the weight of grief.
She would fight monsters.
She would fight gods.
She would even fight fate itself.
But she didn't know how to fight the crack forming in Lucius's soul.
---
Velda recorded everything.
Every step.
Every word left unsaid.
She burned new runes into her scrolls, desperate to trap these moments before they slipped away.
Because deep down, she knew—
Some memories had to be caged, or they would devour the ones who carried them.
---
Lilith walked in silence.
Her wings dragged along the dirt.
She didn't bother hiding the broken feathers anymore.
Because Lucius had seen them now.
And somehow,
that hurt less than pretending they weren't there.
---
By midday, the ruins appeared.
Not ruins built by men.
But by time.
---
A shattered temple.
Ancient.
Crumbling.
Covered in vines so thick they looked like veins trying to strangle the stones.
At its center stood a single obelisk.
Black.
Smooth.
Untouched by weather or rot.
---
Lucius froze.
The girls stopped behind him.
The obelisk pulsed.
Softly.
Like a heartbeat.
And Lucius felt it.
Deep in the marrow of his bones.
---
> [Hidden Memory Structure Detected – Origin: Pre-Sovarion Era]
Warning: Interaction May Result in Unstable Recall.
Proceed? Y/N
---
Lucius didn't hesitate.
He stepped forward.
The girls tensed.
But none tried to stop him.
Because they understood something now.
He wasn't just chasing memories anymore.
He was reclaiming them.
---
As his fingers brushed the obelisk, the world shuddered.
Colors inverted.
The ground cracked.
The sky tore open in silent screams.
---
And the memories that spilled out?
They weren't just his.
---
Scenes flashed:
A boy, barely ten, standing alone at a funeral no one attended.
A girl laughing in the rain, twirling in a tattered dress.
A promise whispered under broken stars: "Even if the world forgets me... you won't, right?"
---
Lucius gasped.
Fell to one knee.
Velda sprinted forward, stabilizing runes flooding her palms.
Zara and Claire drew close, weapons ready.
Lilith knelt beside him, her wings curling around his shivering frame.
---
The obelisk pulsed harder.
A voice—
not Arielle's.
Not Velda's.
Not the gods'.
A voice from before it all.
Soft.
Broken.
> "Lucien… you promised you wouldn't forget me."
> "Don't forget."
> "Please."
---
Lucius slammed his hand into the earth.
Fire erupted around him.
Not destructive.
Protective.
Carving a new boundary between the memories that ruled him and the man he was trying to become.
---
When the world stopped spinning—
when the echoes faded—
Lucius stood.
Taller.
Heavier.
More real.
Not just Sovarion's shadow.
Not just Lucius Nachtveil.
But the boy who was once Lucien Vale.
And the man who would remember.
---
He turned to the girls.
Eyes burning silver and crimson.
Voice low.
Steady.
---
> "Let's move."
---
They didn't question.
They just followed.
Because they understood:
Lucius wasn't fighting to survive anymore.
He was fighting to live.
---
And somewhere deep in the ruins—
something ancient stirred.
Something that had been waiting.
Smiling.
Watching.
And it whispered:
> "The heir of the forgotten flame has awakened."