Haruki led the Haven across the bridge toward the floating temple.
The two stone giants beneath them slowly stood once more, the sanctuary rising back into the clouds.
Nobody spoke for a while.
The only sound was the wind.
Ryosen finally broke the silence.
"...The Blessed One told me something."
Haruki glanced at him.
"'The river has changed.'"
Haruki stopped walking.
"..."
"...He said that?"
Ryosen nodded.
"He also told me to seek the ones who remained."
Haruki slowly turned around.
For the first time...
His smile had disappeared.
"...Then it truly has begun."
Katsu folded his arms.
"You know what it means."
Haruki took a slow breath.
"...I know what the river is."
Everyone listened.
Haruki looked beyond the clouds.
"As every river flows toward the sea..."
"So too does history."
"The lives of every creature..."
"Every victory."
"Every loss."
"Every memory."
"They all become part of one great current."
He pointed toward the horizon.
"Imagine throwing a single leaf into a river."
"It drifts."
"It changes direction."
"But eventually..."
"It follows the current."
Ryosen listened carefully.
Haruki continued.
"Reality is no different."
"It possesses its own current."
"Its own flow."
"Its own history."
Katsu's eyes narrowed.
"...And someone changed it."
Haruki nodded.
"Not merely changed."
"...Forced."
Silence.
"The river hesitated."
"It questioned itself."
"And then..."
"It accepted a different path."
Ryosen lowered his head.
"...Bellerophon."
Haruki blinked.
"...Who?"
The Haven stared.
Haruki scratched the back of his head.
"...Heck..."
"I don't even know who Bellerophon is."
"...But judging from your faces..."
"...He must've done something really terrible."
Kentaro threw both hands into the air.
"SEE?!"
"I TOLD YOU!"
"THIS IS GETTING RIDICULOUS!"
Haruki laughed awkwardly.
"...Sorry."
"I wish I could help."
Ryosen frowned.
"...Then why do you know about the river..."
"...but not the man who changed it?"
Haruki's expression softened.
"Because..."
"I remember the wound."
"...Not what caused it."
Silence.
That line hit.
Katsu quietly repeated it to himself.
"...You remember the wound..."
"...Not the blade."
Haruki nodded.
"Exactly."
"The river still carries scars."
"Even if it no longer remembers how it received them."
Nobody spoke.
The wind passed through the temple.
White feathers drifted into the sky.
Haruki looked toward Shichiro.
"...Your dream."
Shichiro looked up.
"...That wasn't me."
Everyone froze.
"I never entered your dream."
"...Then who did?"
Haruki slowly shook his head.
"...I don't know."
"But..."
"...Whatever reached you..."
"...It knew my face."