Chapter 57: Shattered Echoes and Blooming Resolve
The wind had shifted.
Not just around them—but inside them. Every breath the group took felt heavier, as if they were inhaling the weight of what they had just witnessed in the Garden's core.
They had faced one of the Nine. Touched the truths that shattered what they thought they knew about the Bloom. And although the Remnant had vanished, its warning still echoed in their minds.
> "You carry the same seeds that once doomed us."
---
Riku's Perspective
Riku stood near the edge of a jagged cliff carved into the Garden's outer walls, his pendant dim but steady against his chest. The horizon shimmered in shades of gold and violet, petals sweeping in slow spirals through the air like fallen memories.
His hand gripped the stone ledge.
> We survived. But… at what cost?
He thought about Airi, who had quietly walked off after the battle—without a word, without a glance back. Haru had tried calling out to her, but she disappeared into the tunnels like a phantom.
> Was she… afraid of what's inside me?
"Riku," a soft voice called.
He turned. It was Kohana. Her expression was calm, but her eyes were red-rimmed.
"You should rest," she said. "We all should."
"I don't think rest is going to fix this," he said, voice dry.
There was a pause. The wind moved around them, brushing their hair.
"I saw it too," Kohana said. "What that thing said. The way it looked at us… like we were repeating history."
Riku hesitated.
"Do you think… we're going to become the enemy?"
Kohana didn't answer right away. Instead, she sat down beside him.
"I don't know," she whispered. "But maybe that's why we need to remember who we are now. Before the Bloom changes us."
---
Airi's Solitude – Flashback
Airi leaned against the cold, damp wall of an abandoned corridor, far from the others. She stared at her hands, stained with the faint golden glow from her Bloom resonance.
> The vision I saw…
Her younger self. Crying. Screaming. Surrounded by petals and smoke.
> I wasn't strong back then. And I'm still not strong now.
Her fists clenched.
"I thought I was over this," she muttered.
"But you're not," said a voice from the shadows.
Airi jumped. It was Lina, arms crossed, gaze soft but sharp.
"I followed you. Sorry," Lina said. "You ran off looking like you saw a ghost."
Airi turned away. "I didn't ask for company."
"No. But maybe you need it," Lina replied.
There was a long silence.
Then, slowly, Airi said, "When I touched the Seed… I didn't just see a memory. I saw what I could become. What I was trying to run from."
Lina stepped forward. "And?"
"I was a monster," Airi whispered.
"No," Lina said firmly. "You were human. You are human. And maybe the Bloom is trying to test that."
---
Kaoru and Rei – Strategy and Guilt
Back in the chamber where they'd all regrouped, Kaoru was examining his blade. The steel looked dull now, despite the battle they had just survived.
Rei approached him, silent for a while before speaking.
"Do you regret coming here?" Rei asked.
Kaoru didn't look up. "No."
"But you blame yourself."
A pause.
"…Yes."
Rei sat beside him. "You're not the only one who lost something. I saw them too. The soldiers I couldn't save. The ones who trusted me."
Kaoru turned toward him. "What do you do with that guilt?"
Rei stared into the candlelight.
"You carry it. Like a sheath around your resolve. It'll cut you, but it reminds you why you draw your blade."
---
The Campfire Meeting – Tension Builds
Night fell. The group built a small fire in a safe hollow of the Garden's stone basin. The stars above shimmered unnaturally bright—almost too perfect, like the sky was remembering an old painting.
Toma stood, addressing the others.
"I don't think that Remnant was lying. About the past. About the Seeds," he said.
Sera leaned forward, brows furrowed. "But what are we supposed to do? We've already accepted the Bloom. It's a part of us now."
"We can't undo what's been done," Haru added. "But maybe we can choose how we go forward."
Kohana looked at Riku.
"Do you still want to find your brother?" she asked.
Riku's hand gripped his pendant.
"Yes," he said. "But not just to find him. I want to understand what happened. Why the Bloom exists. Why people like us were chosen."
Airi finally spoke from the edge of the circle.
"Then we need to go deeper," she said. "We need to find the Origin Tree."
The words fell like stones into a quiet lake.
"The Origin Tree?" Lina asked.
Airi nodded. "It's not just a legend. It's real. And I think… my family knew about it."
Everyone stared.
And then, almost in unison, they said—
"Then we go."
---
Mini Flashback: The Origin Tree
> Airi's memory:
She was a child, curled in her mother's lap. Her mother was reading from a thick, ancient book. On the page was an illustration—an enormous tree with petals that reached the sky.
"The Origin Tree," her mother whispered. "Where all Bloom began."
"Can it grant wishes?" Airi asked.
"No," her mother said. "But it remembers. Everything."
---
The Next Morning – Resolve and the Path Forward
The next day, the group packed up and stood before a new corridor—the final one left untraveled.
It glowed faintly, not with danger—but invitation.
Riku looked at each of them.
"Whatever's ahead… we face it together," he said.
Airi stepped beside him. "No more running."
Kaoru smiled. "About time."
Sera nodded. "Let's see what the past tried to hide."
Toma extended his arm, and a subtle harmony of light pulsed between them—a symbol of unity.
They stepped into the corridor.
---
Far Away – A New Threat Awakens
In a place untouched by petals or memory, a cold laboratory thrummed with energy.
A figure in a white cloak examined a floating crystal—inside it, a vision of the group walking into the tunnel.
"So they've made it this far," the voice said. "The Ninth failed to stop them."
Another voice replied from the darkness.
"Then it's time to awaken the Echo Seed."
A second crystal flared to life.
And somewhere in the Garden, a forgotten chamber opened… dripping with black vines and withered flowers.