The metal ladder shrieked. The thick black water was climbing higher, wrapping around the iron bars like dark snakes.
The diving platform tilted. It was rusting instantly, eaten away by the heavy, memory-soaked water.
"Move!" Lina yelled. She pushed Seren toward the edge of the platform, where the roof hatch was just out of reach.
But the platform gave a loud, sharp crack. The metal bent.
Mira lost her footing. She slipped. Her hand splashed into the thick black water.
"Mira!" Lina screamed. She lunged forward and grabbed Mira's wrist.
The water did not just wet Mira's skin. It grabbed her mind. Mira's eyes rolled back. Her face went completely blank. The water was pulling her into the memory of the drowning boy. She stopped fighting. She just started to sink toward the dark surface.
Lina pulled with all her strength, but the water was too heavy. It was pulling Mira down into the past.
From the dry tiles near the door, the False Kai watched them. He did not blink.
"The water only takes what is real," he said. His voice was calm and polite. "It is hungry for a true memory. Feed it, Lina. Give it a piece of your past. Or she drowns in his."
Lina looked at her arm. The 🖋️ mark was burning hot. The Mirror Tax. Every truth cost something. Every magic had a price.
She looked at Mira's blank, sinking face. She had no choice.
Lina closed her eyes. She reached deep into her mind. She thought of the real Kai. Not the fake boy in the hallway. The real one. She thought of the day they sat under the old stone bridge. She remembered his laugh. It was loud, messy, and warm. She remembered the exact sound of it echoing in the trees. She held onto that sound tightly in her mind.
Then, she pushed it out. She pushed the memory down her arm, into the burning mark, and into the black water.
She felt a sharp, tearing pain in her head. It felt like a piece of her brain was being ripped out.
The black water suddenly turned clear. It let go of Mira.
Mira gasped, sucking in a huge breath of air. Lina pulled her up onto the tilting metal platform. Seren grabbed Mira's other arm, and together they dragged her up.
"Go!" Lina cried.
They scrambled up the last few bars and pushed the heavy roof hatch open. They tumbled out onto the cold, dry roof of the academy. Lina slammed the hatch shut and locked it.
They lay on the cold shingles, gasping for air. The sky above them was dark and starry. The wind was freezing, but it was real. It was dry.
Mira was crying softly, hugging her knees. Seren was shaking, staring at the closed hatch.
Lina sat up. Her head was pounding. The burning in her arm had stopped.
She tried to catch her breath. She tried to comfort herself by thinking of the real Kai. She tried to remember his laugh under the stone bridge.
She closed her eyes and searched her mind.
Nothing.
She knew they had sat under the bridge. She knew they had buried the metal box. But she could not hear his laugh. The sound was completely gone. The memory was erased. The water had taken it as payment.
Lina opened her eyes and looked at the glowing numbers in the dark sky.
Lina 🖋️ — 5.
She had saved Mira. But she was losing herself. And the boy with the wrong smile was still down there, waiting.
To be Continued
© Kishtika., 2026
All rights reserved.
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Next Chapter Summary for Chapter 115: Lina struggles with the missing memory, while Nia brings a dangerous clue from the forbidden archives, revealing that the Founder's cage has a hidden key.