Chapter 71 – Beneath the City Between Worlds
The roar echoed beneath Crosshaven.
It wasn't the sound of an explosion.
Nor was it the cry of a monster.
It sounded...
Ancient.
Like the earth itself had taken a deep breath after sleeping for countless ages.
The ground trembled once more.
Buildings swayed.
Lanterns hanging above the streets shattered, scattering glowing fragments across the stone roads.
People screamed and rushed toward open spaces.
Within moments, the peaceful city had fallen into chaos.
---
"Everyone, stay calm!"
Noah's voice carried across the plaza.
The former Outer King raised a hand, creating a shimmering barrier around the nearest civilians.
The Warden slammed the end of one of its chains into the ground.
BOOM!
The chains spread across the streets like roots, stabilizing nearby buildings before they could collapse.
Cr-Hook stared in amazement.
"...You could always do that?"
The Warden nodded.
"Yes."
"You never thought to mention it?"
"No."
Cr-Hook sighed.
"I keep forgetting all of you have hidden abilities."
The First Anomaly smirked.
"So do I."
Despite the danger, Kai couldn't help laughing.
---
Another tremor shook the city.
This one was stronger.
A long crack split the center of the plaza, stretching directly toward the glowing white doorway.
Golden light leaked from the fissure.
Not the warm light of the sun.
It felt... nostalgic.
Everyone who looked at it suddenly remembered something precious.
A birthday.
A loved one's smile.
A forgotten promise.
Even if only for a second.
Evetyl clutched her chest.
"...It's happening again."
---
The mysterious stranger looked at her.
"What do you hear?"
She closed her eyes.
The world around her slowly faded.
The screams.
The collapsing buildings.
The panic.
All of it became distant.
Then...
A voice.
Small.
Lonely.
Gentle.
"You're close..."
"I've waited..."
"For so long..."
Evetyl whispered,
"Who are you?"
The voice hesitated.
Then answered.
"I..."
Static filled her mind.
As if something was preventing it from speaking.
"I don't..."
Another pause.
"Remember my name."
Evetyl's heart sank.
---
She opened her eyes.
"It can't remember."
The stranger lowered his head.
"I feared that."
Kai looked between them.
"Someone explain."
The stranger finally faced everyone.
"Before worlds."
"Before timelines."
"Before history."
"There was only memory."
The plaza became silent.
"Memory existed before reality?"
The First Thought asked quietly.
The stranger nodded.
"Because reality cannot exist..."
"...unless something remembers it."
The Eye remained completely still.
It had never considered such a possibility.
---
The stranger continued.
"The first beings were not made of flesh."
"They weren't made of energy."
"They were made of memories."
"The memories of possibilities."
Cr-Hook scratched his head.
"I understood about three words."
Kai nodded.
"Same."
The stranger smiled slightly.
"Imagine writing a story."
"You imagine the characters."
"The places."
"The events."
He looked around.
"The story exists in your mind..."
"...before you write the first word."
Kai's eyes widened.
"So..."
"Memory came before creation."
"Exactly."
The First Thing, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke.
"And the child beneath Crosshaven..."
The stranger looked toward the crack in the plaza.
"...is the last memory that existed before creation began."
Silence fell over everyone.
---
The Forgotten One stepped forward.
"I tried to erase it."
Everyone turned toward the ancient being.
The Forgotten One rarely spoke about its past.
Now...
Its voice carried deep regret.
"I believed forgetting it..."
"...would protect existence."
Kai frowned.
"Protect it from what?"
The Forgotten One closed its eyes.
"From remembering."
Nobody understood.
Except the stranger.
He sighed.
"You told them half the truth."
The Forgotten One didn't argue.
---
The stranger looked at Kai.
"The Last Memory remembers everything."
"Every timeline."
"Every life."
"Every death."
"Every possibility."
His expression became solemn.
"If it wakes completely..."
"It will remember worlds that were erased."
"It will remember timelines that should never return."
The Eye suddenly understood.
"...Reality would begin restoring them."
The stranger nodded.
"And different histories would collide."
The Curator whispered,
"The end of causality..."
The First Thought finished the sentence.
"...The end of a single reality."
---
Kai rubbed his forehead.
"I was hoping for one peaceful week."
Cr-Hook laughed.
"You dream too big."
---
Another violent tremor shook the city.
The glowing crack widened.
Golden light burst into the sky like an enormous pillar.
Everyone instinctively shielded their eyes.
Then...
Something unexpected happened.
The pillar didn't spread destruction.
Instead...
Images appeared inside it.
Countless memories.
A mother holding her newborn child.
Friends laughing beside a campfire.
An old king placing his crown on the ground.
Children playing beneath stars that no longer existed.
Entire civilizations.
Entire worlds.
Millions upon millions of memories floated above Crosshaven like glowing stars.
People across the city stopped running.
They simply watched.
Many began crying without understanding why.
---
Kai looked up.
"...They're beautiful."
The stranger smiled sadly.
"They're lonely."
Kai looked at him.
"What do you mean?"
"Every memory wishes to be remembered."
---
Suddenly...
One memory drifted away from the others.
It floated directly toward Evetyl.
She reached out instinctively.
The glowing fragment gently landed in her hand.
The moment it touched her skin...
The world disappeared.
---
She stood inside a vast white field.
There was no sky.
No sun.
No horizon.
Only endless white flowers stretching farther than she could see.
A small child sat beneath the only tree in the entire field.
The child looked no older than eight.
Long silver hair.
Bare feet.
Simple white clothes.
Its face remained hidden.
It quietly hummed an unfamiliar melody.
Evetyl slowly approached.
"...Hello?"
The humming stopped.
The child looked up.
Its eyes were filled with tears.
"You came."
Evetyl knelt beside it.
"Who are you?"
The child smiled weakly.
"I've..."
"...been trying to remember."
It touched its own chest.
"But..."
"...I forgot myself first."
Evetyl felt tears forming in her own eyes.
"Why are you alone?"
The child looked across the endless field of flowers.
"They all left."
"Who?"
"My memories."
The wind gently moved through the flowers.
The child whispered,
"They became worlds."
---
Outside...
Kai watched as Evetyl suddenly froze.
Her eyes had become completely white.
"Evetyl!"
She didn't respond.
The stranger immediately stepped forward.
"Don't touch her."
Kai stopped.
"Why?"
"She's inside the Memory Field."
"The what?"
"The place where the Last Memory dreams."
Kai clenched his fists.
"Can she come back?"
The stranger hesitated.
"...Yes."
That hesitation was enough.
Kai immediately knew the full answer.
"...But?"
The stranger looked away.
"But if the Last Memory remembers who it truly is..."
"...it may never let her leave."
Silence.
---
Within the white field...
The child reached toward Evetyl.
"Will you..."
"...stay with me?"
Its small voice trembled.
"I don't want to be alone anymore."
Evetyl's heart ached.
She wanted to comfort the child.
She wanted to promise everything would be alright.
But before she could answer...
A familiar voice echoed across the endless field.
"Evetyl!"
Kai.
She turned.
Far in the distance...
A single doorway of white light had appeared.
Kai's voice echoed again.
"Come back!"
The child tightened its grip on Evetyl's hand.
Its smile slowly disappeared.
"If you leave..."
"...I'll be alone again."
Evetyl stood frozen between the lonely child...
And the doorway leading back to her friends.
Then the child quietly whispered something that made her blood run cold.
"...You promised last time..."
"...that you would never leave me again."
To Be Continued...