— Age Six —
Sunlight spilled across Halewood the next morning, warm and golden after a full day of rain.
The earth smelled like wet grass and blooming jasmine. Raindrops still clung to leaves, catching the morning light like little pieces of crystal.
Inside the kitchen of Caelum's house, the quiet clink of spoons in bowls filled the air.
Breakfast
"Want more honey?" Caelum asked, holding up the jar.
Lysia nodded. "Just a little."
He poured carefully into her oatmeal, precise as always.
She watched his hands.
The way his fingers curled gently around the spoon.The way he stirred his own bowl three exact times before eating.
He hasn't changed at all.
Not from the first world… not from the last life… not even from the day he held my hand and promised to save me.
She smiled.
"Thanks, Cael."
School Like Always
They walked to school together like they always had.
Same sidewalk.Same streetlights.Same rhythm of shoes tapping gently against cobblestone.
Except now—
Lysia remembered everything.
Not in pieces. Not in dreams.Fully. Completely.
The empire.The day she was framed.His scream when he found her corpse.
And the one memory that haunted her the most:
The moment he begged the god of all things to bring her back.And then chose to live forever in pain just to find her again.
She glanced sideways at him.
He walked beside her, humming softly, squinting at the morning sun.
He doesn't know I remember.
And I won't tell him.
Not ever.
Because if he knew the pain he went through reached me… he'd blame himself again.
In the Classroom
As usual, they sat side by side.
Caelum solved his math worksheet with near-perfect precision. Lysia finished hers in under two minutes, as always, but didn't hand it in.
Instead, she leaned her head on her palm and just… watched him.
Not intensely. Not like she was staring.
Just… softly.
With the kind of gaze only someone who had waited ten thousand years could give.
When he noticed and looked up, she smiled and stuck her tongue out at him.
He rolled his eyes in return.
"You're staring again."
"So?" she whispered. "I like your face."
"Why?"
She leaned in and tapped her nose against his.
"Because it's my favorite in every lifetime."
He blinked.
"…Huh?"
She giggled and went back to her worksheet, leaving him baffled and pink-eared.
Lunch on the Roof
They ate alone on the school rooftop, like they always did on sunny days.
Lysia had brought extra food and casually passed him his favorite: soy-glazed potatoes.
"Wait," he mumbled, chewing, "how did you know I wanted these?"
She shrugged. "You told me in another dream."
"…I did?"
"Maybe."
He narrowed his eyes at her.
She just sipped her juice innocently.
After School
Walking home together, Caelum reached into his pocket.
A tiny purple flower. Awkwardly folded from paper.
He handed it to her without looking.
"I… tried making you something. It's kinda bad."
Lysia took it, heart thudding quietly.
He doesn't remember. But his soul does.
She held it like a treasure.
"It's perfect."
System Log – Full Memory Management Active
[GENESIS CORE SYSTEM – OBSERVER MODE]— Subject: LYSIA GREY— Memory Recall: Concealed— Emotional Discharge: Controlled— Risk of Discovery: 0%— Protective Instinct: High— Comment: "She remembers what was. But she chooses what is. And she will guard his peace, even from himself."