The cinder of the Warden was still warm behind them as they picked a narrow path through the dead trees. The Grievous Hollow had changed; it no longer whispered; instead, it listened. Almost as if the world itself noticed the flicker kindling to life within them.
Before the two stood a stone arch, cracked and encrusted with gnarly silver moss. A glowing glyph with a shape that morphed with each blink pulsed across the arch.
[ZONE SYSTEM: Hollow Crossroads—Choice Gate Detected]
Status: Emotion Checkpoint
Requirement: Emotional Capacity ≥ 5% for gate activation
Choose Your Path: TRIAL OF REMEMBRANCE or TRIAL OF SACRIFICE
"Two paths," Lyra said. "One to remember. One to give something up."
"We can split," Alistair said.
"No," Yumi said with conviction. "We stay by each other."
[SYSTEM VOTE INITIATED – Party Decision Required]
Majority Vote: TRIAL OF REMEMBRANCE
The gate shimmered and exploded in a light. A vortex sucked them in toward its mouth.
They landed in a sprawling field of white flowers swaying under a red sky. The ancient smell was heavy in the air: dusty, tender, and fragile.
A message announced itself:
"This trial draws upon your deepest truths. To remember, you must first learn what it means to forget the safety of forgetting."
The fog closed in as they were drawn away from each other, one after another.
________________________________________
Yumi's Memory
She stood in a small, sunlit kitchen, alone. The burnt rice smelled bad. Outside the door, a younger Ren paced, muttering something frantically.
This was a memory she barely touched. Their second week after getting married. She had tried to make lunch and completely failed at it.
But the memory felt much stronger this time: flustered love, quiet laughs, eating the ruined food anyway.
She did not notice the tears that streamed down her face.
[Emotion Surge: +6%—Nostalgia, Affection]
[System Skill Unlocked: Warmth Field—A passive aura boosting emotional growth nearby]
________________________________________
Ren's Memory
He stood by a hospital bed. Yumi was asleep. The machines beeped softly behind her.
She had collapsed that winter in their real world.
He read poetry to her every day until she woke up.
And he was doing it once again.
[Emotion Surge: +5%—Devotion]
[Memory Restored: First Vow Recalled]
[New Passive: Heartbound – Increases combat synergy with Mei]
________________________________________
Alistair's Memory
He was in a workshop, building a rickety crib.
Lyra watched with her normal deadpan, but he remembered she was fighting a laugh back. Then the tears. The baby was gone.
Tears of pain and warmth surged.
[Emotion Surge: +7% – Love, Loss]
[New Skill: Echo Barrier – A shield that strengthens when protecting loved ones]
________________________________________
Lyra's Memory
Alone on a park bench, the very image of the fragility of life, her hands shook. The letter was crumbling in her palm: "Alistair has been drafted."
She remembered sitting there for hours until he came striding down the road, alive.
She had never told him how afraid she was.
Now she whispered it aloud to the heavens.
[Emotion Surge: +6% - Fear, Relief]
[Skill: Pulse of Return - Revive a fallen ally with a shared memory]
They appeared again at the crossroads, breathless. Each blinked back emotion like it was sunlight in their eyes after too long in the dark.
[Emotion Levels Updated]
Ren: 9%
Yumi: 12%
Alistair: 10%
Lyra: 11%
Group Perk Unlocked: Memory Link – Allows shared memories in moments of crisis.
For one moment longer, they held their silent vigil upon one another.
Something was different.
They were no longer empty pilgrims.
They were lovers, again. Fighters, once more.