The sanctuary's warmth lingered on their skin long after they left its glowing heart.
The air outside the clearing felt different now lighter, softer, as if the world had taken a deep breath and finally exhaled.
The path the sanctuary revealed was narrow at first, a thin ribbon of shimmering dust winding between new-grown trees.
Solance held onto Aurelianth's sleeve, his silver light glimmering in the dim forest shade.
"…It feels like something is waiting,"
he whispered.
Lioren moved closer, amber glow warming.
"Do you think the world is trying to show us… more memories?"
Aurelianth shook his head gently.
"No.
This isn't a memory.
This feels… alive."
The path brightened slightly under his boot.
Solance swallowed.
"…Then someone is waiting."
The three of them exchanged a look.
They walked on.
As they moved, the forest changed around them.
Not abruptly.
Not violently.
But with intention.
Trees repositioned themselves subtly whenever Solance brushed them with his light.
Leaves shifted to let sunlight through the moment Lioren looked upward.
And when Aurelianth stepped near a dying plant, the soil shimmered and the plant straightened, as if embarrassed to have drooped in front of him.
"This world…" Lioren murmured,
"…it wants to please us."
Aurelianth shook his head gently.
"No.
It wants to understand us."
Solance blinked softly.
"…There's a difference?"
Aurelianth cupped his cheek with a smile.
"A big one.
One is obedience.
The other is connection."
Solance's silver glow warmed.
"…I like connection better."
Lioren's amber light flickered in gentle agreement.
"I think the world does too."
Aurelianth squeezed their hands.
"Then let's keep showing it how to connect."
The path ahead pulsed lightly, like an excited heartbeat.
They walked deeper.
After some time, the trees parted into a clearing far smaller than the sanctuary....
A circle of soft soil with a single object resting in the center :
A stone.
Not like the sanctuary's seed-stone.
Not polished.
Not glowing.
This one was old.
Worn by something ancient.
Cracked in small places.
Edges weathered.
Yet as soon as Aurelianth approached it, the stone stirred.
A faint shimmer ran across its base.
Lioren inhaled sharply.
"Something's inside."
Solance stepped closer cautiously.
"…It feels… sad."
Aurelianth placed one hand on the stone.
Warm.
Alive.
The stone trembled just once as if startled by his touch.
Lioren knelt beside him, amber glow illuminating the faint carvings hidden beneath dust.
"Aurelianth… look."
He brushed away the soil.
Underneath were symbols curved lines, soft spirals, almost gentle.
"Not Arbiter script," he murmured.
Solance's eyes widened.
"…It's older than Arbiter script."
Aurelianth's heart skipped.
"Then this… might be from the same being the sanctuary memory showed us."
The world around them held its breath.
The stone pulsed again.
And then...
A voice echoed faintly, not spoken aloud, not heard by ears...
remember… me…?
Lioren gasped, clutching Aurelianth's arm.
"Did you...did you hear that?"
Solance trembled, silver light flickering.
"…It's inside the stone… something trapped…"
Aurelianth leaned closer.
His breath touched the stone.
The voice drifted again so soft, so fragile...
I… tried… to… stay… for… you…
Aurelianth's chest tightened.
This wasn't the Architect.
This wasn't the Arbiter.
This wasn't any entity they had met.
This was something else.
Something gentle.
Something wounded.
Something forgotten by time itself.
"Who are you?"
Aurelianth whispered.
The stone quivered.
A faint outline of light escaped through the cracks a silhouette of a hand, trembling, reaching outward.
Lioren's eyes filled with emotion.
"It's trying… to reach us."
Solance stepped forward, placing his hand over Aurelianth's.
His light met the outline.
The forest stilled.
Light surged gently not bright, not painful, but warm.
Aurelianth felt a memory that wasn't his rush into him like a soft wind.
A shape in a blank sky.
Hands forming the first soil.
A voice humming to the newborn world.
A presence kneeling to guide light into existence.
And then...
A mask of cold metal descending.
Rules replacing warmth.
The Arbiter system taking control.
The gentle presence being pushed out…
lost…
erased…
Silenced.
Aurelianth staggered back, breath trembling.
Lioren caught him.
Solance steadied him.
"My love what did you see?"
Aurelianth swallowed hard.
"A being that… helped create the world before the Architect."
Solance's glow dimmed with shock.
"…Before the Architect…?"
Lioren pressed closer.
"But why is it here?
Why trapped in stone?"
Aurelianth knelt, touching the cracked surface carefully.
"Because someone or something...didn't want it to be found."
The stone trembled softly, as if agreeing.
The voice returned, barely a whisper:
I… am not gone… please… help… me…
Solance's light broke into a bright, trembling pulse.
"…We have to free them."
Aurelianth nodded.
"Yes.
But carefully."
He placed both hands on the stone one glowing gold, one steady with purpose.
Lioren and Solance mirrored him.
Their lights intertwined, forming a tri-colored glow that sank into the stone's cracks.
For a moment, the forest brightened.
The world held its breath.
And the stone split cleanly, gently, like petals opening.
Inside…
A faint, flickering wisp of light drifted upward.
Small.
Weak.
Barely formed.
Barely alive.
Lioren whispered:
"Is that… them?"
Solance cupped his hands softly.
"…It's a fragment of what they once were."
The wisp drifted into Solance's palms.
Aurelianth felt it a soul fragment.
Ancient.
Lonely.
Full of longing.
Full of love.
"We'll protect you," he said softly.
The wisp pulsed weakly.
thank… you… children… of… light…
Lioren covered her mouth, eyes stinging.
"My god… they're so… gentle."
Aurelianth closed his hands around Solance's softly.
"You're not alone anymore."
The forest glowed faintly in response, as if acknowledging the reawakening of something sacred.
Solance looked up at Aurelianth and Lioren.
"…They're too weak to speak.
But they're trying."
Lioren leaned close.
"What do they want to tell us?"
Solance listened.
His expression softened.
"…'I remember you.'"
Aurelianth stared.
"Remember… us?"
Solance nodded.
"…They don't mean us specifically.
They mean… the bond we carry.
The tri-light."
The wisp pulsed, resting against Solance's heart.
And in that moment, Aurelianth understood:
This was not just a fragment.
This was Echo...a remnant of the first caretaker of the world.
Forgotten.
Suppressed.
Erased by the Arbiter's rise.
But not gone.
And now… found.
Aurelianth stood tall.
"We take them with us."
Lioren nodded fiercely.
"Yes."
Solance held the wisp close.
"….We won't let anyone hurt you again."
Behind them, the forest shimmered.
The world exhaled long, slow, relieved.
The path ahead brightened.
The next journey had begun.