The forest was not supposed to breathe.
And yet Aerin could swear she felt it — a slow, ancient exhale rolling across the undergrowth as she stepped deeper beneath the arching branches. The moonlight struggled to reach her, tangled high above in the web of leaves, but every once in a while a silver shard broke through and slid across her skin like a whisper.
She walked carefully, not because she feared the dark, but because every time she thought about the Queen's warning, a strange pressure coiled in her chest.
"When the forest remembers, it chooses who must remember with it."
Aerin didn't understand it. Not truly.But tonight, something had woken her. A quiet presence brushing against her thoughts. A pulse that didn't belong to her.
It had led her here.
Behind her, Liora followed in silence — unusually quiet for someone who usually filled the world with small, bright sounds. Even Liora's light was dimmer tonight, flickering softly beside Aerin's shoulder like a tired star.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Liora whispered, voice light but edged with caution. "You're barely healed from the last time the forest pulled you in."
Aerin didn't answer immediately.Because the truth was: she wasn't sure of anything anymore.
Ever since the encounter at the riverbank, memories that did not belong to her had been surfacing — flashes of an ancient crown, a voice humming her name long before she was born, a hand reaching out in the dark. She told no one, not even Kael.
Especially not Kael.
He was distant these days. Guarded. Like he was carrying something heavy and didn't know how to set it down. When Aerin looked at him, she felt the words he wasn't saying. Felt the walls he kept building.
And yet, the small, childish part of her wondered why it hurt — why she missed the way he used to stand beside her like he belonged there.
The ache pushed her forward.
"I need to see it," Aerin finally murmured, turning slightly so Liora could see her determined expression. "Whatever called me… it won't stop until I answer."
Liora's glow fluttered, uncertain."But what if it's dangerous?"
Aerin gave a small smile — tired, almost rueful."It's me. Everything's dangerous."
Liora puffed indignantly, but Aerin kept walking before she could respond.
The deeper they went, the heavier the air grew. Sounds faded. Even the usual night insects fell silent. And then — the trees shifted. Not physically, but in a way Aerin felt in her bones.
Almost… respectfully.
The path cleared.
And at the very center of the newly revealed clearing stood a stone archway, draped in blue-gold vines that shimmered in a light that wasn't truly light. It hummed quietly, like a melody too old to be sung anymore.
Aerin froze.
"I've been here," she whispered.
Liora blinked. "Impossible. This place is older than—"
"I know," Aerin interrupted. "But I still… have."
And she had. In memories that weren't hers. In dreams that felt too vivid. This archway had been there each time — a doorway to something more, something forgotten.
She stepped forward.
The moment her fingertips brushed the stone, the vines blazed to life.
A burst of images slammed into her mind — a girl with her face but not her name, a forest burning, a crown shattering into light, a hand gripping hers as if saving her from drowning in time—
Aerin cried out, falling to her knees as the memories tore through her like a storm.
"Aerin!" Liora darted forward, brightening in panic.
But she couldn't answer.Because suddenly, she wasn't in the clearing anymore.
She was standing in the past.
The sky above her was red with smoke. The forest roared with flames. But at the heart of the chaos stood a woman — tall, fierce, draped in midnight-blue robes — her hair whipping in the wind like a banner of darkness.
Her face…
Aerin gasped.
It was her own.Older. Sharper. Wiser.Like a reflection in a broken mirror.
The woman extended her hand toward someone Aerin could not see.
"Find me when the world begins again," the woman said — voice deep enough to shake stars loose."Find me… even if you become someone else."
Aerin stumbled back as the vision cracked apart like glass struck by lightning.
Then — darkness.
Then — her own breath, ragged and real.
The forest returned around her, Liora pressing against her cheek in panic.
"Aerin! Aerin, talk to me!"
Aerin swallowed hard.
"I… I saw her again."
Her voice trembled.Not from fear — but from recognition.
"The woman who looks like me," she whispered. "The one from the broken memories."
Liora went still.
"You mean… the First Heir?"
Aerin blinked. "What?"
Liora's glow dimmed."I didn't want to tell you until I was sure…"
"Tell me what?"
Liora hesitated only a heartbeat — and then:
"Aerin… the forest has seen your face before. Centuries ago. In the stories about the First Heir — the one who was born to protect the Heart of Wishes. The one who vanished the night the forest fell silent."
Aerin's pulse slammed in her ears.
"I think," Liora whispered softly, "you are her reincarnation."
Aerin felt the world tilt.Not violently — but with a finality that settled deep in her chest.
Because a part of her had known for a long time. She had felt it, like an old promise pressed into her bones.
But hearing it…
Hearing it made everything real.
She closed her eyes.When she opened them again, the archway was pulsing with light — waiting.
"Aerin," Liora pleaded, "don't touch it again. It's rewriting your memories. It could— it could take you away."
Aerin stood slowly.
"I think that's exactly what it wants."
Liora shook with fear.
Aerin stepped toward the archway, voice almost too soft for the forest to hear.
"And I think it's time I learned who I used to be."
The archway flared, filling the clearing with blinding radiance—
—and the forest, for the first time in centuries, remembered.