Kai stared at the crystal people frozen in the clearing. Their faces showed the moment they had forgotten who they were completely. Some looked confused, others terrified, and a few seemed almost peaceful, as if losing themselves had been a relief.
"They came here looking for memories they had lost," Echo explained softly. "But instead of finding what they were looking for, they found other people's memories. And once you take on too many foreign memories, you forget which ones are really yours."
Maya shuddered. "How horrible. They're trapped forever?"
"Unless someone can help them remember their true selves," Echo said, looking meaningfully at Kai. "But that would require touching their minds directly. Very dangerous for someone who already carries multiple sets of memories."
Kai felt the weight of the ancient being's memories in his mind, along with the knowledge from the First Memory. He was already walking a thin line between his own identity and the foreign memories he carried.
"I have to risk it," he said. "The Fourth Crystal is calling, and we don't have much time."
Echo nodded sadly. "Then remember this: your name is Kai Thorne. You are seventeen years old. You became a Memory Merchant to help people, not for money. Hold onto those truths no matter what you see or feel."
Kai stepped into the clearing. Immediately, whispers filled his mind. The crystal people began to glow, and suddenly he could hear their thoughts. Hundreds of voices spoke at once, each claiming to be the real person, each insisting that their memories were the true ones.
"I'm Sarah, and I had a dog named Whiskers," one voice said.
"No, I'm Sarah, and I was afraid of dogs," another voice argued.
"My name is Thomas, and I loved to paint," a third voice claimed.
"You're wrong, Thomas hated art. I know because I am Thomas."
Kai pressed his hands to his head as the conflicting memories tried to force their way into his mind. Each crystal person had absorbed so many forgotten memories that they no longer knew which thoughts belonged to them.
He took another step forward, and the whispers grew louder. Maya's voice seemed to come from far away. "Kai, are you okay?"
"I'm... I'm Kai Thorne," he said aloud, fighting to hold onto his identity. "I'm seventeen. I help people with their memories."
But even as he said it, other memories tried to overwrite his words. He saw flashes of childhoods that weren't his, love stories he had never lived, deaths he had never experienced. The memories of hundreds of lost souls swirled around him like a storm.
Another step forward. The Fourth Crystal was only fifty feet away now, but it might as well have been on another world. Each step made the mental assault worse.
Sudenly, a new voice cut through the chaos. It was clearer than the others, more focused.
"Help me," it said. "I remember who I am, but I can't get free."
Kai looked toward the voice and saw a crystal figure near the edge of the clearing. Unlike the others, this person's face wasn't frozen in confusion. Instead, he looked determined, as if he was fighting the crystal transformation.
"Who are you?" Kai asked.
"My name is Alex Chen," the figure replied. "I'm Maya's brother. I came here six months ago looking for memories of our parents. But I got trapped like the others."
Maya gasped behind him. "Alex? Alex, is that really you?"
"Maya?" The crystal figure turned toward her voice. "You found me. But don't come any closer. The memory storms in here will trap you too."
Kai realized this was his chance. If Alex could remember who he was, maybe he could help navigate through the garden without losing himself completely.
"Alex," Kai called out, "I need to reach the Fourth Crystal. Can you help me find a safe path?"
"The memories are strongest in the center," Alex replied. "But there's a pattern to them. They cycle through different emotional states. Wait for the calm moments between the storms."
Kai closed his eyes and felt the rhythm of the memory storms. Like Alex said, there were brief moments when the conflicting voices quieted down. During those moments, he could take a few more steps forward.
Step by step, he made his way toward the center of the clearing. Each calm moment lasted only seconds, but it was enough. Behind him, he could hear Maya crying as she spoke to her crystallized brother.
"I'm going to find a way to save you," she promised.
"Don't try," Alex warned. "Just help Kai get what he came for. The reset is more important than saving one person."
Kai was close to the Fourth Crystal now. It pulsed with warm white light, and he could feel its power calling to his other crystals. But as he reached out to touch it, the memory storm hit him with full force.
Sudenly, he wasn't Kai anymore. He was a little girl playing in a garden. Then he was an old man watching the sunset. Then he was a soldier in a war, a mother holding her baby, a teacher writing on a blackboard. The memories came so fast and so strong that he lost track of which thoughts were his.
"My name is..." he started to say, but couldn't remember.
"Kai!" Maya's voice cut through the confusion. "Your name is Kai Thorne! You're seventeen! You help people!"
The familiar words anchored him. Yes, he was Kai. He was here to collect the crystal. He was trying to save the multiverse.
With a supreme effort, he grabbed the Fourth Crystal. The moment his fingers touched it, all the conflicting memories stopped. The crystal people in the clearing began to glow brighter, and one by one, they started to move.
"What's happening?" Maya asked.
Echo smiled for the first time since they'd met her. "The Fourth Crystal contains the memory of true identity. When activated, it helps people remember who they really are."
Alex's crystal shell began to crack, and real flesh showed through the gaps. "Maya," he said in his normal voice, "I remember everything now."
All around the clearing, the other crystal people were breaking free of their crystalline prisons. They looked confused but human again, each one restored to their true self.
Kai held the Fourth Crystal, feeling its power merge with his other memory crystals. Four down, three to go. But as he looked at the freed people celebrating their return to themselves, he wondered if he would still be Kai by the time he found all seven crystals.