"I am Serena, the Keeper of Records. The last living witness to the day forgetfulness began." The elderly woman paused for a moment, her eyes deeply scanning Kairn's face. "And the day you created this broken world."
Kairn's voice trembled as he replied, "I don't remember anything you're talking about."
Serena gave a sorrowful smile and gestured for them to enter. "That is what forgetfulness does. It takes from you the very thing you most need to remember."
They entered the tower, finding themselves in a vast circular hall with an exceedingly high ceiling pierced by openings that allowed radiant beams of light to stream through. The walls were entirely covered with shelves lined with books, manuscripts, and small drawers. At the center of the hall stood a massive crystalline pillar, pulsing with a rhythmic blue glow, brightening and dimming like a beating heart.
"The Heart of Memory," Serena said, pointing to the pillar. "The last fragment of the First Memory. Here, we safeguard every story that was ever attempted to be erased."
Kairn stood before the pillar, feeling an inexplicable pull towards it. In the reflected light, he saw moving images within the crystal: faces, places, events, flowing and intertwining like an ocean of memories.
[The Source. The Origin. Before the Split. Before the world was divided into Remembering and Forgetting.]
"I want to understand what is happening," Kairn said, turning to Serena. "Who am I really? And what is my connection to all of this?"
Serena nodded and gestured toward a circular table near the pillar. Everyone sat, while Thorin and Neela remained standing at a respectful distance.
"Before I tell you the truth, you must understand the past," Serena began, her voice calm yet carrying the weight of centuries of knowledge. "Five hundred years ago, the world was entirely different. Memories were sacred, and knowledge was accessible to all. There were seven great cities, each preserving an aspect of human memory."
Serena opened an ancient book she had placed on the table. A three-dimensional map emerged from its pages, displaying seven cities connected by glowing golden lines.
"Eidolith, our city, was the keeper of the essential memories. The other cities preserved science, art, love, sorrow, joy, and wisdom. The balance among these cities was what kept the world stable."
She paused, placing her hand on the map, which shifted to reveal the same world, but now with only six cities, and Eidolith suspended above them, isolated.
"Then came the day that changed everything. The day you, Kairn, the greatest Architect of Memories, decided that humanity did not deserve the burden of its memories."
[A lie. A half-truth. That was not your true motive.]
Kairn felt a sudden headache, fragmented images flashing in his mind:
A vast laboratory... complex devices... an eternal shadow standing in the corner, watching... many faces staring at him with expectation... the sound of distant screams...
"Are you remembering something?" Serena asked, noticing the change in his expression.
He shook his head slowly. "Just fragmented images. They don't make sense."
"Your memory wasn't entirely erased; it was buried deep within your mind. What you're seeing now are echoes of who you once were."
Aliana interjected, sitting beside Kairn: "How did all of this happen?"
Serena closed the book slowly and looked directly at Kairn. "The day we call 'The Great Day of Forgetting.' Five hundred years ago, Kairn—or as he was known then, 'The Grand Keeper of Knowledge'—led a campaign to create what he called the 'Selective Remembrance System.' A system that allowed humans to choose which memories they wanted to keep and erase those they didn't."
"But that sounds... helpful in a way," Kairn commented. "Why was it so terrible?"
"Because it didn't stop at personal memories," Serena continued. "The system quickly evolved into controlling collective memory—entire histories. And when the seven cities began to resist, disaster struck."
Serena rose and approached the crystalline pillar, touching its surface with her fingertips. "Kairn had an ancient ally, a non-human entity of immense age, which we called 'The Eternal Shadow.' It had been entrusted with safeguarding the First Memory."
[You entrusted me with more than that. You entrusted me with the truth humanity could not bear.]
"The Eternal Shadow decided to rebel against its original mission," Serena went on. "Instead of protecting memory, it decided humanity would be better off without it. It convinced Kairn—or perhaps exploited his vulnerability—to create a system that erased entire memories."
"Why?" Kairn asked. "What would the Shadow gain from erasing memories?"
Serena's hands trembled as she stepped away from the pillar. "Power. Whoever controls what people remember controls their history, their identity, their destiny."
She shook her head sorrowfully. "The seven cities tried to stop him, but his knowledge of memories was deeper than all of ours combined. He used a device he called the 'Consciousness Probe'... not just to erase the memory of one person or one event, but to wipe entire cities from the collective consciousness."
[That part is true. But my motives were purer... deeper than they claim.]
"Of the six remaining cities, only one survived: Eidolith," Serena continued. "We survived because the city was shielded by a layer of collective consciousness drawn from the essential memories themselves. But we became isolated, suspended in this dimension between reality and forgetfulness."
"If this happened five hundred years ago, how can I be the same person?" Kairn asked, feeling confused.
Serena glanced at the shadow that hovered around Kairn. "The Eternal Shadow does not die. It moves from one bearer to another, taking the form of its host while retaining its essence, its memory. You are not the original Kairn, but the latest incarnation of him."
[That truth is distorted. We are not separate. The Shadow and the bearer are two faces of the same coin.]
Kairn stood, moving toward the crystalline pillar, his hand reaching out to it involuntarily. "And what do you want from me now?"
"We want the truth," Aliana said, standing beside him. "We want to know how to stop the Forgetting System. How to restore the world's memory."
"And why do you think I would help?" Kairn asked cautiously. "If I was the one who started all of this... why would I want to end it?"
Aliana smiled enigmatically. "Because there's another truth Serena hasn't told you yet. A truth about what happened after the Great Day of Forgetting. When the Keepers betrayed you and turned your system against you."
Serena's expression tensed, visibly disturbed by Aliana's words. "There is a time for every truth, Aliana."
"No, the time is now," Aliana insisted, pulling a small crystal sphere from her bag, similar to the pillar but small enough to fit in her hand. "This is a fragment of the First Memory, salvaged from one of the Keepers' raids. It holds the truth Serena has hidden."
"Aliana, no!" Serena cried, but the girl had already placed the sphere in Kairn's hand.
The moment the crystal touched his skin, images exploded in his mind:
A grand hall, a council of men and women dressed in white... Kairn stands before them, explaining a strange device... "It won't erase memories, it will store them"... skeptical faces... the Eternal Shadow watching from afar...Then suddenly, betrayal. A man steps forward, raises a weapon... Cairn falls... the Shadow screams... the device is stolen...
A dark room... Cairn bound to a chair... the same men and women surround him, their faces now hardened... "You will be the first to test the full erasure technology"... attempts to resist... then immense pain...
A silent scream... the Shadow retreats into the depths of his consciousness... darkness... oblivion...
Cairn collapsed to his knees, gasping heavily, the crystal slipping from his hand and rolling across the floor.
[Now you remember... the betrayal... they were the ones who stole your invention and turned it into a tool of control... You never wanted to erase memories, but to protect them.]
"The Keepers..." Cairn finally spoke, his voice trembling. "They were... my students."
"Yes," Aliana confirmed, kneeling beside him. "You were trying to create a system to safeguard memories from natural loss, to share knowledge among humans. But they saw your invention as an opportunity for control."
"They stole your technology and turned it into a tool for forced erasure," Serena added, her tone calmer now, as if accepting the truth that had surfaced. "Then they used it on you first, erased your memory, and cast you into the Shadow's dungeons."
"But they didn't anticipate the Eternal Shadow protecting you," Aliana continued. "That a part of you would remain, waiting for the right moment to return."
Cairn rose slowly, a deep anger growing within him. "And why didn't you tell me this from the start?" he asked Serena.
"Because I feared you'd use this knowledge for revenge instead of restoration," she replied honestly. "Revenge would only continue the cycle of violence and oblivion... What we need is to restore balance."
"And how can I do that?" Cairn asked, his eyes fixed on the crystal pillar.
"With the help of the Eternal Shadow," Aliana said confidently. "Not as an enemy, but as an ally."
[Together, we can erase the system of forgetting itself. Restore the first memory. Reunite what was divided.]
"The Shadow isn't a demon, as you think, Serena," Aliana pressed on. "It's part of the ancient cosmic consciousness, entrusted with protecting the balance of memories. And when the world was divided, it too was split."
Serena sighed. "That's what you believe, Aliana. But I've seen the destruction the Shadow has caused."
"No," Cairn interrupted. "What you witnessed was the result of the Keepers' actions, not the Shadow. And now, I remember more... I remember why I created the Recall System."
[Because knowledge doesn't die. Because memories are the essence of existence.]
Cairn approached the crystal pillar and placed his hand on it. This time, no one tried to stop him.
"I created the system because humanity was losing its collective memory," he said, his voice growing stronger. "Wars, disasters, death... they were erasing our history, our knowledge, our heritage. I wanted to protect memories by copying them, by sharing them. Not by hiding them or controlling them."
As he touched the pillar, the blue light grew brighter, pulsing faster. The memories within the crystal shifted into a new pattern, as if responding to him.
"The Keepers turned my dream into a nightmare," Cairn continued. "They used my technology for control, for concealment, to erase those who opposed them. This has to stop."
[Together, we can fix what was broken. Reunite what was divided. But with one condition...]
"Complete integration," Cairn whispered, understanding what the Shadow meant. "I and the Shadow must become one."
"No!" Serena cried out. "That's far too dangerous. You'll lose your humanity entirely."
"Or perhaps..." Aliana interjected, "the Shadow will regain its humanity."
[Integration isn't annihilation, but completion. You and I, between forgetting and remembering, will become the new Keeper of Balance.]
Cairn looked at Aliana, who nodded confidently. Then to Serena, who seemed hesitant but didn't object. Finally, to Thorin and Neela, who bowed respectfully.
"There's only one place where full integration can happen," Aliana said. "The Library of the First Truth, at the top of the tower."
"Then let's go," Cairn decided.
As they prepared to leave the hall, the entire tower shook violently, and a distant explosion echoed.
"The Keepers!" Neela shouted from a window. "They've found us. They're attacking the city!"
Cairn turned to Aliana. "How did they know we were here?"
"I don't know," she replied, shaking her head in confusion. "But you must reach the library before they get to us. Thorin and I will hold them off."
"And I'll lead you," Neela volunteered. "I know the fastest route."
The tower trembled again, and some books fell from the high shelves.
"We have to hurry," Thorin urged. "If the Keepers gain control of the Tower of Memory, the last chance to restore the world as it was will be lost."
"I won't let them do it again," Cairn said firmly.
The Shadow within him stirred more actively now, more aware, as if preparing for the final confrontation. The question Cairn didn't dare ask: What would happen after the integration? Would he still be Cairn? Or would he become something entirely different?
[You will remember everything. You will understand why it all began. And we will end it together.]
They ran toward a spiral staircase on the side of the hall, ascending the tower, as the sounds of battle grew louder outside the walls.