Age: Sakamoto – 4.5
Location: The heart of the Whispering Woods
Time: Unknown. The sun stopped rising here.
Condition: Sakamoto is swordless. The party is scattered.
---
The boy looked like me.
But sharper.
Thinner.
Hungrier.
Like he'd been waiting to be remembered.
---
The Confrontation
> "You died," I said.
> "No," he whispered. "You did. I just stayed behind."
He walked toward me. Barefoot. Calm.
Behind him, the Eye-Beast loomed, silent.
> "Why are you here?"
> "To ask you something."
> "What?"
> "If you had the chance again… would you leave me behind?"
I didn't answer.
He smiled. Sadly.
> "That's what I thought."
---
Aelira's Temptation
Far to the west, Aelira wandered alone through a maze of roots that pulsed like veins.
Every direction led back to where she started.
That's when it spoke.
A voice that sounded like her mother.
Only… not quite.
> "You'll never be strong enough for him."
> "Shut up."
> "You tried to save him, and he still broke you."
> "I SAID SHUT UP."
> "I can give you power," the voice said.
"Real power. Just say yes."
Her fingers burned.
Magic swirled.
Her heart cracked—
And then—
> "No," she whispered. "Not like this."
The forest hissed.
And shrank away from her.
---
Ravian's Realization
Ravian wasn't lost.
He'd been watching.
The woods tried to confuse him, but he carried a relic — an eye-pendant from the capital, blessed to reject illusion.
He saw what the others didn't.
The entire forest was a memory prison.
Not natural.
Not ancient.
Planted.
---
Back to Sakamoto
The boy — the Echo — stepped forward.
> "One of us needs to vanish."
> "I'm not ready to die again," I said.
> "Then take it back."
He reached out — and pressed two fingers to my chest.
The forest exploded into white.
---
Reunited
When I woke — Aelira was standing over me, burned and bruised but alive.
Ravian arrived seconds later.
Ireina was next, breathless, magic residue trailing behind her.
> "You okay?" Aelira asked.
> "I think… I remembered something I wasn't supposed to," I said.
> "Like what?"
> "My other self… he knew Niris before I picked her up."
Silence.
Then the sky cracked.
---
Final Scene – The Eye Beast Speaks
It hovered above the trees, watching.
And in a voice that shook the roots, it whispered:
> "Welcome back… Aevum Valtaris."
Everyone turned to me.
I didn't know the name.
But Niris screamed in my mind.
> "That was your true name… before everything broke."