The next morning was colder.
Not from the air. From the silence.
The group moved without words. Not out of fear — out of uncertainty. Something had shifted. Not in the world, but within them. They didn't know what it was yet. But they could feel it in their bones.
Tom walked near the front again, his steps slow but deliberate. He hadn't mentioned the glyph since last night. He didn't need to. Everyone knew it was still there, sitting under the skin, waiting. Jack walked in the middle of the group, his sleeve rolled down, his eyes darting toward the trees more often than usual. Lucy noticed the way he kept blinking, as if his thoughts were slipping and he was trying to pin them down before they vanished.
Susan kept checking her glyph scanner every ten minutes. "The frequencies are still bending," she muttered. "Whatever glyphs Velmorith planted, they're not dormant. They're rewriting."
Kitty walked quietly beside her. "What happens if they succeed?"
Susan didn't answer.
Because they all already knew.
They crested a hill covered in mist. Beyond it lay an abandoned village — one of the last trade routes once used by the old guardians of Triggsen. The buildings were mostly intact, their roofs lined with moss and silence. No smoke. No animals. Just empty windows staring back.
Frank raised a hand. "We check for food. Then we leave."
Peter and Lucy split off to scout the eastern side. Kitty and Susan went west.
Jack stayed behind.
He stood near the gate.
Just… staring.
Tom walked up beside him. "You okay?"
Jack blinked slowly.
Then looked at him.
"I… forgot where I was."
Tom frowned. "You've been walking with us since dawn."
Jack nodded. "I know. But for a moment, I didn't recognize your face."
Tom grabbed his shoulder. "Say your name."
Jack hesitated.
Then smiled weakly. "Jack."
Tom stared at him.
But Jack's eyes didn't hold certainty.
Just confusion.
"I know that's my name," Jack said. "I remember you. I remember Lucy. But…" He touched his chest. "I can't remember who I am."
Tom turned. "Frank!"
Frank ran over, followed by Kitty.
"Memory erosion," Susan said as she rejoined. "It's starting. The glyph has begun eating at identity layers."
Lucy stepped in. "We placed the override."
Susan shook her head. "It's not enough. The original glyph isn't attacking. It's replacing. Slowly. Thought by thought."
Jack sat down on a stone. "It's not like forgetting. It's like I'm reading about myself from someone else's book."
Kitty knelt in front of him. "You're not gone. You're here."
He looked at her. "Am I?"
Frank said nothing.
He just looked at the others, then at the sky.
"We push to the Spiral Ruins," he said. "Now. That's where the next anchor site is. If we make it there before sunset, we might be able to stabilize the glyph."
Lucy moved beside Jack and helped him up.
"Walk with me," she said.
He nodded, and for a brief moment, he smiled. "I think I remember the scarf."
She blinked. "What?"
He looked at her. "The one you wore in the garden. You said it smelled like honey and rain."
Lucy's heart twisted.
He still remembered something real.
They walked.
The path to the Spiral Ruins was steep — jagged cliffs lining the trail, with wild glyph vines etched along the stone. The light dimmed as clouds rolled over them, shadowing everything in a haze of grey.
Halfway through the pass, Susan stopped.
"Wait," she said. "The glyph patterns here… they're wrong."
Peter drew his blade. "Wrong how?"
"They're mimicking memory glyphs. But look—" She pointed to the symbols lining the stone. "They're broken. Not by accident. Intentionally corrupted."
Frank stepped closer. "Like traps?"
Susan nodded. "Velmorith's leaving dead memories. Like minefields."
Lucy looked up. "Can we pass?"
Susan traced the air. "I can try to mark a safe path through. But we'll need to go one at a time."
Jack spoke behind her. "I'll go first."
Everyone turned.
His voice was clear.
But his eyes weren't.
Tom stepped forward. "Jack, maybe let someone else—"
"No," Jack said. "I need to prove to myself that I'm still me."
Lucy stepped forward, placing a hand on his arm. "Then I'm going right after you."
He smiled again — weaker, but genuine.
He stepped into the corridor.
The moment he did, the glyphs on the stone lit up — pale red.
But he kept walking.
Susan guided him carefully. "Left. Right. Step over that one. Now stop."
Jack paused.
He looked around.
"Something's wrong," he said.
Everyone froze.
"What is it?" Susan asked.
Jack's hands trembled.
"I don't remember why we're here."
Lucy stepped forward. "Jack, you're okay. Keep talking."
But he didn't move.
He turned around.
And for a split second—
His eyes were blank.
No color.
No light.
Then they returned.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
And collapsed.
Lucy rushed forward.
Susan scanned him instantly. "His glyph override is fading. His identity field is fragmented."
Tom dropped beside them. "Can we restore it?"
Susan shook her head. "Not like this. We need the Spiral Ruins. The real ones."
Frank picked him up. "Then we run."
They did.
The rest of the path blurred in their memories — cliffs, dust, wind. They didn't stop. Didn't speak. Not until they reached the Ruins.
Massive spiraling towers of stone and shattered glyph rings circled the summit. The air buzzed with static memory energy — the last remaining Palecto-imbued site before the Edge of Origin.
Susan began the ritual immediately.
She placed Jack at the center of the spiral.
Drew a memory circle around him.
Lit it with Susan's own glyph blood.
Lucy stood beside her. "Will it work?"
Susan didn't look up. "It has to."
The glyphs flared.
Jack's body tensed.
His mouth opened — but no words came out.
Just a whisper.
One word.
Forgotten.
Then his breath caught.
His eyes opened.
And he whispered again.
"I remember… Lucy."
The light died down.
Jack sat up slowly.
"I'm still here."
Lucy exhaled, tears in her eyes. "Then don't ever leave."
Frank looked out across the summit.
He didn't smile.
Because something else was coming.
And the Spiral Ruins had just lit a signal…
that Velmorith could see.