"Found you."
The voice came from the sky.
Ayan slowly raised his head.
Nothing was there.
No figure.
No creature.
Only the black clouds gathering above the mountain.
Yet the words had been clear.
Too clear.
They hadn't come from the air.
They had come from everywhere.
Mira immediately drew her weapon.
"Everyone stay together."
Maren stood beside her.
"Something followed us."
Doctor Rowan looked toward the mountain.
"Not something."
He swallowed.
"Someone."
Seraphine remained completely still.
Ayan noticed her expression.
"What is it?"
She was staring at the sky.
"I know that voice."
Ayan's eyes narrowed.
"From where?"
She shook her head.
"I don't know."
"Try."
"I can't."
She pressed a hand against her chest.
"The moment I heard it, something inside me reacted."
The silver glow beneath her skin began spreading.
Ayan immediately stepped toward her.
"Seraphine."
"I'm fine."
The glow intensified.
Then a symbol appeared over her heart.
The same open eye from the Seventh Door.
Ayan's expression changed.
"The symbol."
Seraphine looked down.
"What?"
"That's the seventh symbol."
Doctor Rowan moved closer.
"Don't touch it."
"I wasn't planning to."
The symbol pulsed.
A voice whispered inside Seraphine's mind.
Not through her ears.
Directly into her thoughts.
**You came back.**
Seraphine closed her eyes.
Ayan grabbed her shoulders.
"What's happening?"
She opened her eyes.
"Someone is talking to me."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
The voice returned.
**Not yet.**
Seraphine's breathing became heavier.
Ayan looked toward the sky.
"Show yourself."
Nothing happened.
Then the clouds separated.
A single eye appeared above the mountain.
It was enormous.
Golden.
But unlike the First Heart's eye, this one had no hatred.
No hunger.
It simply watched.
Ayan felt the Bridge tremble.
The silver notebook appeared.
Its pages turned by themselves.
**OBSERVATION DETECTED.**
Ayan's face became serious.
Another line appeared.
**ENTITY: UNKNOWN.**
Then:
**THREAT LEVEL: UNMEASURABLE.**
Maren stared at the notebook.
"That's not very helpful."
Ayan closed it.
The eye above them disappeared.
The clouds returned to normal.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Seraphine whispered,
"It wants us to go somewhere."
Ayan looked at her.
"Where?"
"North."
"How do you know?"
"I don't."
She looked toward the distant horizon.
"But I can feel it."
Doctor Rowan frowned.
"Could it be another connection?"
Ayan nodded.
"Probably."
"Then shouldn't we avoid it?"
Ayan looked at the mountain.
"Yes."
Mira sighed.
"But we won't."
Ayan gave her a tired smile.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because if we ignore it, it will come to us."
Maren nodded.
"Fair point."
Ayan looked toward the monastery.
"We need supplies."
---
The old monk was gone.
They found his room empty.
The bed was untouched.
His belongings were still there.
But the man himself had disappeared.
Mira searched the building.
"Nothing."
Ayan looked at the desk.
A single piece of parchment rested there.
He picked it up.
There was only one sentence.
**The door opens both ways.**
Ayan stared at it.
Seraphine walked closer.
"Did he know?"
"Probably."
"Then where did he go?"
Ayan looked toward the mountain.
"Maybe he went through."
Seraphine frowned.
"The Seventh Door?"
"Maybe."
"But it closed."
Ayan shook his head.
"The door closed for us."
He turned the parchment over.
Nothing.
Then the paper began changing.
Black ink spread across its surface.
A map appeared.
Ayan recognized the western mountain range.
But there was something else.
A path.
It started at the monastery.
Then moved north.
Beyond the known territories.
And ended at a place marked with the symbol of an eye.
Seraphine stared.
"That's where it wants us to go."
"Yes."
Mira frowned.
"Do we have to?"
Ayan looked at the map.
"No."
Everyone waited.
Ayan folded the parchment.
"But we're going anyway."
---
They left the monastery before noon.
The journey north began quietly.
For several hours, nothing happened.
No monsters.
No strange voices.
No supernatural events.
That almost made Ayan more nervous.
After everything they had experienced, normal silence felt unnatural.
Seraphine walked beside him.
"You haven't asked."
"Asked what?"
"About the voice."
"I was waiting."
"For what?"
"For you to tell me when you're ready."
She looked at him.
"You've changed."
Ayan smiled.
"How?"
"You used to ask everything."
"I still do."
"But now you know when not to."
Ayan looked ahead.
"Experience."
She smiled.
"Maybe."
They walked another hour.
Then Seraphine stopped.
Ayan stopped too.
"What?"
She pointed toward the trees.
"Someone is following us."
Mira immediately turned.
Nothing.
Maren searched the forest.
"Nobody."
Seraphine shook her head.
"Someone."
Ayan activated the Bridge.
The world changed.
Invisible connections appeared.
There were dozens of animals nearby.
Birds.
Insects.
Small creatures.
But no humans.
Then he noticed something.
A thread.
Very thin.
Almost invisible.
It stretched between the trees.
Ayan followed it with his eyes.
"There's something here."
Mira raised her weapon.
"Where?"
Ayan pointed.
The thread disappeared into the forest.
They followed.
After several minutes, they found a clearing.
At its center stood a tree.
A single tree.
Unlike everything around it, the tree was alive.
Green leaves.
Bright flowers.
A silver trunk.
Seraphine approached slowly.
"I've seen this."
Ayan looked at her.
"Where?"
"In Mother's memories."
The tree's branches moved despite the lack of wind.
A single flower fell.
Seraphine caught it.
The moment she touched it, the world changed.
She was no longer in the forest.
She stood inside a room.
Elena was there.
Younger.
Much younger.
Standing beside a man Ayan had never seen before.
The man wore a dark cloak.
His face was hidden.
Elena looked worried.
"We cannot let the Key awaken."
The man nodded.
"Then remove his memories."
"I already did."
"And the girl?"
Elena looked down.
Seraphine saw herself.
A baby.
"She must never know what she is."
The man was silent.
Then he asked,
"What happens if they meet?"
Elena's expression became cold.
"Then the worlds will begin collapsing."
The vision ended.
Seraphine returned to the forest.
The flower fell from her hand.
Ayan caught her.
"What did you see?"
She looked at him.
"You."
"What?"
"You were there."
Ayan froze.
"Where?"
"With my mother."
The others gathered around.
Seraphine continued.
"You were younger."
"How young?"
"I don't know."
"Did you recognize me?"
"Yes."
Ayan stared at her.
"What did we say?"
"You didn't speak."
"What did Mother say?"
Seraphine hesitated.
"She said..."
She looked frightened.
"...we must never meet."
Ayan's expression darkened.
"Why?"
"Because if we did..."
She looked toward the silver tree.
"...the worlds would collapse."
Silence.
Ayan looked at the tree.
Then the Bridge activated by itself.
The tree disappeared.
In its place stood a doorway.
Not the Seventh Door.
A different one.
This one was white.
And above it was the symbol of the open eye.
The notebook appeared.
A single sentence formed.
**MEMORY RESTORED: 7%.**
Ayan stared.
Seven percent.
He suddenly remembered a voice from long ago.
Elena.
She had been standing in front of him.
She had looked terrified.
And she had said:
"Forgive me."
Then she had placed her hand against his forehead.
Darkness.
Ayan staggered backward.
Seraphine caught him.
"What happened?"
"I remember."
"What?"
"Your mother didn't erase my memories."
Seraphine frowned.
"Then who did?"
Ayan looked toward the white door.
"I did."
Everyone became silent.
"What?"
Ayan's voice was quiet.
"I asked her to."
Seraphine stared at him.
"Why?"
"I don't know."
The door opened.
A cold wind came through.
And a familiar voice spoke from the darkness.
Ayan's own voice.
"Because you were afraid of what you would become."
Ayan froze.
The figure stepped out.
It looked exactly like him.
Same face.
Same eyes.
Same body.
But the eyes were completely silver.
Seraphine raised her weapon.
The copy smiled.
"Don't worry."
He looked at Ayan.
"I am not your enemy."
Ayan stared at himself.
"Then what are you?"
The copy's smile disappeared.
"I am the part of you that you forgot."
He pointed toward the north.
"And I'm the reason the Seventh Door opened."
Ayan's heart began pounding.
The copy continued.
"You wanted to know who was watching."
The sky darkened.
The open-eye symbol appeared above the forest.
The copy looked upward.
"Now you know."
Ayan stared at the sky.
The enormous eye opened.
And this time...
It was looking directly at him.
The copy whispered:
"Welcome back, Key."