The inner rings of the Memory Forest felt different from anything Solance had experienced so far not alive in a gentle, welcoming way but alive in the way old wounds stay in the bones of a world.
The temperature dropped slightly as they crossed the boundary.
Not cold…but careful.
Like the forest itself was watching.
The trees here were older.....their trunks spiraled with streaks of gold and violet like veins of emotion trapped in bark.
Each leaf carried a faint shimmer as if reflecting not light but recollection.
The guide...their deer-like guardian of starlight and wind walked more slowly now, its antlers dimmer, its posture solemn.
Solance touched Aurelianth's sleeve gently.
"Auri…
Something here feels sad."
Aurelianth nodded quietly.
"This ring holds the deepest memories.
Ariasen's earliest pains.
And the first moment they realized the Architect…was not their friend."
Lioren glanced around uneasily.
"So this is basically trauma-forest."
Solance frowned softly.
"…Be kind."
Lioren sighed and nodded.
"Sorry.
You're right."
The path narrowed, lined with twisted roots that pulsed with faint light.
The air hummed in Solance's ears.....not a sound,but a feeling.
Something waited here.
Something old.
Something longing.
Something lonely.
Aurelianth's wings rustled faintly.
"Stay close."
Solance did.
After several minutes of walking,the guide suddenly halted.Its body rippled like a candle flame in wind.
Solance froze.
"Is something wrong…?"
The creature turned toward him and bowed its head deeply.
A gesture of respect.
Or surrender.
Or warning.
Then its body scattered....breaking apart into a swirl of shimmering particles that drifted into the branches above and vanished.
Solance gasped.
"It… left us?"
Aurelianth stepped forward, inspecting the air.
"No.....It gave us back the path.We must continue alone now."
Lioren raised a brow.
"So this is where the trial starts."
Solance swallowed.
"…Trial?"
Aurelianth nodded grimly.
"Every purpose beyond the first four requires understanding loss."
Solance hugged his arms closer to his chest.
"…I don't want to see more of Ariasen's pain."
Aurelianth knelt in front of him,hands on Solance's shoulders.
His voice was softer than dawn.
"You don't have to.
We face it together."
Lioren knelt next to them,smiling gently.
"And if any memory tries to mess with you,I'll smack it out of existence."
Solance giggled....but only slightly.
He took a breath and stepped forward.
The forest reacted immediately.
A low vibration rippled through the ground.
Leaves lifted into the air like drifting feathers.
Roots uncoiled beneath their feet and rearranged themselves,forming a circular shape around the trio.
Solance whispered:
"Ariasen stood here once…"
The world answered.
A beam of soft silver light shone down from between the branches,illuminating the circle.
Then.....
The light twisted.
Sharpened.
Solidified.
A scene formed within the ring.
Not like the earlier memories....this one was clearer.
Stronger.
Too real.
Ariasen stood in the center of the clearing.
Not broken.
Not cracked.
Young.
Hopeful.
Bright beyond words.
Solance's breath caught.
"Ariasen before the fracture…"
Aurelianth placed a hand over his heart.
"They were… beautiful."
Lioren whispered in awe:
"They glowed like stars lived inside them."
Ariasen smiled at something unseen in the memory,hands weaving a small creature out of swirling creation-light.
A soft, winged thing.
Fragile.
Beautiful.
Full of curiosity.
Ariasen released it gently and laughed when it fluttered weakly into the sky.
The forest around them brightened with that laughter.
Solance smiled, tears lining his eyes.
"I've never seen them so…alive."
But then.....
The memory dimmed.
Shadows gathered behind Ariasen.
The Architect entered the clearing.
Not as a figure,but a presence....geometry, sharp and empty,stepping in patterns too precise to be natural.
Ariasen's smile faded instantly.
"Ah… you're here."
Their voice was soft.....too soft.
The Architect said nothing at first.
Then....
"You are deviating."
Ariasen's shoulders stiffened.
"I'm… adjusting.
The creature was weak.
It needed gentleness."
"Unnecessary."
Ariasen turned toward them fully.
"It's not unnecessary.
It's joy.
Joy is part of growth."
The Architect tilted their head.
"Joy disrupts design."
Ariasen flinched.
Solance grabbed Aurelianth's sleeve instinctively.
"Auri…
This feels worse than the last memories."
Aurelianth held him close.
"Because this is where the split began."
Lioren muttered,
"Architect needs therapy."
Ariasen stepped forward in the memory,voice trembling.
"Why must everything be perfect?
Why can't things be… free?"
The Architect responded immediately:
"Freedom introduces variance.
Variance leads to instability.
Instability destroys worlds."
Ariasen whispered:
"But so does… loneliness."
The forest dimmed.
The Architect reacted not with anger,but dismissal.
"Your emotional state continues to hinder creation.
You must erase it."
Ariasen's eyes widened in horror.
"Erase… what?"
"Emotion."
Solance gasped.
"No.....you can't.....that's....!!"
Aurelianth hugged him tighter.
Lioren cursed under her breath.
The memory froze then...mid-breath, mid-light, mid-heartbreak.
And the forest spoke.
Not with voice.
With impact.
Pain surged through Solance's chest....sharp, unexpected.
He dropped to his knees with a cry.
"Solance!" Aurelianth shouted.
Lioren flared her amber aura.
Solance clutched his heart wildly.
"It.....it's reacting....the shard....!!"
The four purposes burned inside him....not in pain but in resistance.
Gold.
Violet.
Blue-pink.
White-gold.
The forest pulsed back.
The memory resumed.....
But changed.
Ariasen turned toward Solance.
Not memory-Ariasen.
Not past-Ariasen.
Ariasen turned and looked directly at Solance.
Solance froze.
"That's… not possible…"
Ariasen walked toward the edge of the memory circle and spoke.....
Not to the Architect.
To him.
"Little dawn…you see my hurt because you must understand it."
Solance trembled.
"Ariasen… you.....you were so alone…"
Ariasen smiled sadly.
"I was not alone.
I had the world.
But the world had no voice yet."
The Architect's presence darkened behind them.
Ariasen whispered:
"You must carry what I could not.
But you must carry it differently."
Solance stared.
"What do you mean…?"
Ariasen extended a glowing hand.
"You must not carry the world alone."
The memory shattered.
Light exploded outward.
The forest hummed with sudden, vibrant energy.
The path ahead lit up with new, warm light...a color none of them had seen before.
Lioren stepped back, stunned.
"What… is that?"
Aurelianth inhaled sharply.
"That…is the Fifth Purpose waking."
Solance trembled,hand pressed over his glowing heart.
"It heard everything…all of Ariasen's pain…all of the Architect's coldness…"
The path forward opened like a blooming flower.
Aurelianth touched Solance's cheek gently.
"This trial…accepts you."
Lioren smirked.
"Well then.....time to pass it."
Solance nodded,breath trembling,but eyes shining with resolve.
"Let's find the Fifth Purpose."
They stepped forward.
The forest closed behind them....not trapping them, but committing their footsteps to memory.