The Driftways bent again—this time with a gentler pull.
Leo stepped through the rift with practiced caution, the echo of the last memory still etched into his bones. His brother's shade… the flames… the regret. It had cost him, but it had also awakened something deeper.
Now, the system pulsed again.
"⟪Memory Realm Detected: Stillwake Garden⟫
Emotion Signature: Hesitation | Stability: 62%⟫"
He blinked.
Gone were the flames and smoke. In their place stretched a surreal, dreamlike forest—trees grew upside down, their roots suspended in the sky, while leaves shimmered beneath a perfectly still sheet of water that defied gravity and sense. The whole world seemed flipped, as if even truth had to question itself here.
The path before him wasn't stone or soil—it was made of floating lily pads stitched together by translucent threads of silver light.
Everything was quiet. Too quiet.
Leo stepped onto the first pad. It didn't sink. Instead, it pulsed softly beneath his boot.
A whisper echoed—not from the world, but from within his chest.
"You should've told her," the voice said.
He stiffened.
The mist thickened slightly, and up ahead, a flickering silhouette appeared on the largest pad in the center of the clearing.
Aerin.
No… not her. Just another echo. She sat, back turned, legs crossed, watching the inverted sky ripple.
Leo approached slowly.
"Aerin," he said. "Is this… another test?"
The figure didn't answer. Instead, the system chimed.
"⟪Echo Puzzle Initiated: Speak Your Truth⟫
Objective: Stabilize the memory by vocalizing the unspoken.
Warning: Falsehoods will destabilize the realm⟫"
Leo swallowed hard.
He understood. The memory this realm drew from wasn't battle—it was hesitation. A moment where he had stood on the edge of something vulnerable, real... and stayed silent.
He stepped forward, voice low.
"I should've told you how I felt that night. Before the tide fell. Before the chaos. I thought I had time."
The figure stirred slightly, but did not respond.
The system blinked again.
"⟪Signal Weak⟫ Attempt Incomplete⟫"
Leo clenched his jaw.
"Truth, huh?" he muttered. "Fine."
He drew in a breath and stepped closer. The air here didn't taste like ash—it tasted like memory. Raw, and sweet, and terrifying.
"I didn't tell you because I was afraid. Afraid that if I said it out loud… it would make losing you real. That if I let myself want something, the world would rip it away."
The figure turned.
Her eyes were soft—Aerin's, but not. They shimmered with layered realities. Not one version of her, but all the ones that could've been.
The system pulsed again.
"⟪Resonance Spike Detected⟫
Emotional Truth Registered⟫"
Suddenly, the realm convulsed.
The water flashed like lightning, and shadows emerged from the forest—small, swirling masses of doubt, their voices sharp and taunting.
"Coward."
"You hesitated."
"You always wait too long."
"⟪Entity Detected: Echo Wraiths⟫
Type: Memory Aberration
HP: 300 each | Threat Level: Low⟫"
Leo snarled. "Let's settle this."
"⟪Skill Activated: Verdant Pulse⟫"
Green energy rippled outward, tearing through the fragile shadows. The Fang glowed in his hand, responding to the purity of the moment.
Each strike became easier—faster. The realm seemed to favor honesty, and his blade obeyed that law.
Three wraiths fell. Then four. Then silence returned.
The Aerin-echo stood fully now, a subtle smile playing on her lips.
"You said it, didn't you?" she asked. "Even if I never heard it."
Leo lowered his weapon. "I'll say it again. For real. When I find you."
She stepped forward and placed a shimmering object in his hand.
"⟪Memory Echo Acquired: Hesitation⟫
Signal Strength Increased: +15%
Current Resonance: 60%⟫"
A ripple ran through the garden, and a bloom of silver-petaled flowers unfurled around him.
"⟪Item Acquired: Whispering Petal⟫
Type: Memory Token
Effect: +10% clarity in puzzle or illusion-based realms⟫"
Leo tucked it away carefully.
The garden began to fade—the silver threads unraveling, the lily pads vanishing beneath his feet. A new rift opened behind him, the pathway to the next trial calling.
As he turned to leave, the Aerin-echo called out one last time.
"Next time... don't wait so long."
Leo didn't respond.
He simply walked forward, the mist swallowing him.
But this time, he didn't carry hesitation.
Only resolve.