As Yurim ran deeper into the woods, Mira stayed hidden behind a thick tree.
Not too close.
Just close enough.
The Great Tree loomed ahead—silent, breathing, watching.
Mira pressed her back to the bark, peeking through trembling leaves.
She saw Yurim stumbling, calling her name, fear breaking her voice.
Her chest tightened.
"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry, Yurim," Mira whispered, tears spilling freely.
"I swear… this is the only way."
Her shoulders shook as she cried quietly, forcing herself not to move.
Then—
"Mira!!"
Yurim's scream cut through the forest.
Mira clenched her fist over her mouth.
"Don't worry," she whispered, voice breaking.
"I'm here… you'll go home safely."
She lowered her gaze, unable to watch anymore.
Suddenly—
"Ahhh—!"
Yurim cried out.
Her body froze.
Her hand twisted sharply—not broken, but wrong—and she collapsed onto the forest floor.
Mira's breath caught.
"Yurim!!" she screamed.
---
Back at the house, the porch stood empty.
"Why is the door open?" Grandfather murmured.
Rian frowned. "Where are they?"
They stepped inside.
"Mira?" Grandfather called.
"Yurim?"
Silence.
Rian's eyes widened. He looked at Grandfather. Both grew confused and worried.
---
Mira's heart pounded violently.
She watched in horror as Yurim's body convulsed—
not pain, not struggle—
but as if lightning had trapped her inside.
Her limbs trembled uncontrollably.
Her body vibrated, frozen in place.
"Y-Yurim…" Mira whispered to herself.
Her legs refused to move closer.
Fear rooted her to the ground.
"I'm sorry!!" Mira screamed suddenly.
She turned and ran—
back the way they had come.
---
Yurim's body lay beneath the Tree—
spine arched, fingers twitching, teeth clenched as her whole body vibrated violently.
Her eyes were rolled upward, unseeing.
But inside—
She was somewhere else.
Her soul stood barefoot in cold mud.
Rain fell endlessly from a blackened sky, soaking her hair, her skin—clothes that were not hers. The air smelled of rot and iron.
Before her knelt a man.
His hands were bleeding as he shoved pieces of gold into the tangled roots of the Great Tree.
"Please," the man sobbed. "I didn't mean to steal it. I'll give it all back. Just—just let me live."
The Tree did not answer.
Its roots shifted.
Wrapped around his legs.
Pain exploded.
The man screamed as something was torn from his chest—not flesh, not blood—
his soul.
Yurim staggered back.
"That's not me," she whispered, horror choking her voice. "That's not my memory."
The man's scream stretched unnaturally long as his soul was ripped free and thrown aside—discarded.
Rejected.
The memory shattered.
Then—
A shadow peeled itself from the Tree's bark.
It rushed toward her.
Her body convulsed harder as the darkness forced itself inside her—
"AHHH—!!"
Her scream ripped through the forest.
---
"Grandfather—! Rian—!!"
Mira's scream broke the quiet as she ran toward the house.
Rian and Grandfather stood on the porch.
Mira collapsed in front of them, shaking, tears pouring.
"Where's Yurim?" Rian asked instantly.
Mira sobbed.
"I thought… I thought the Tree would help her go home," she cried.
"I was wrong… it hurt her too."
Rian's face drained of color.
"Where is she?"
Mira swallowed hard.
"She's unconscious," she whispered.
"Her body… it's shaking… in front of the Tree."
Rian didn't think.
He ran.
"Rian—!" Mira screamed.
Grandfather's eyes burned as he looked at her.
"You've made a terrible mistake," he said quietly.
Then he turned—
and ran after Rian.