What are you… when your fire forgets your name?"
---
Everything had stopped.
No sound.
No vibration.
Not even a flicker from my Spiral Rod.
I — Aren Kael — had stepped into a realm that felt exactly like my mind.
Empty, cracked… and quietly screaming.
---
Another layer of the Null Fracture.
Here, even the Spiral had turned against me.
Not offering power —
But draining it.
> "In this place, Spiral doesn't lend you energy.
It takes everything away."
---
Tomo (softly, glitching):
"Bro… the Spiral Rod's memories are corrupted.
This zone separates fire… from memory."
---
Ahead, a Spiral mirror gate pulsed open.
Inside burned a strange flame —
Not red, but silver-grey.
A fire that didn't burn.
It… forgot.
---
Yui approached in her flowing black-and-white Spiral attire.
Her eyes calm, but her voice… cold.
---
Yui (quietly):
> "I can't protect you, Aren.
I can only remember you…
when you forget yourself."
---
Me:
> "How can I forget who I am?"
She looked at the Spiral Rod.
It was beginning to… vanish.
---
Yui:
> "The moment you enter that gate,
your choices will no longer be yours."
---
[The Gate Opens]
Inside the Spiral…
A silhouette.
A child version of me — no older than six.
He looked up and asked:
> "Who are you?"
---
Tomo (alarmed):
"BRO—This is a Spiral Reflection Trap!
If you can't answer…
Spiral will overwrite your identity!"
---
I stepped forward.
The Spiral mirror beneath my feet shimmered with engraved memories:
> "Eira's first smile."
"Kuze's betrayal."
"Aika's scream from the Frosted Womb."
"Mother's last eye contact."
But then—
> "You let Aika burn."
I froze.
---
Me (internally):
"When… did that happen…?
Did I ever… leave her behind…?"
---
Then his voice came.
Echo_17.t (distant, echoing):
> "In the Spiral… memory isn't truth, Aren.
It's what you felt that matters."
---
Yui activated her Spiral chain.
It coiled in the air like a divine question.
---
Yui (firm):
> "The Spiral Flame demands an answer:
'Aren Kael — who are you, if your memories no longer belong to you?'"
---
I closed my eyes.
In the silence, I whispered:
> "I'm someone shaped by memories…
Even if they're lies…
they're still my story."
---
[FLASH]
The Spiral Rod blazed —
Silver flames bursting into gold cracks.
A new inscription etched itself into the Rod:
> "Flame of Identity: I forget, but I burn forward."
---
Tomo (screaming with joy):
"BROOOOO!! YOU RECOVERED THE FLAME!!
SPIRAL ACCEPTED YOU AGAIN!!"
---
Yui (softly, a rare smile):
> "You forgot yourself, Aren…
But you remembered why you live."
---
The mirror gate closed behind me.
The child version of me… faded.
But in his place—
a new reflection appeared.
Echo_17.t
Tears running down one cheek.
A Spiral-shaped tear glowing in his hollow eye.
---
> "I used to remember too…
Until Spiral taught me how to forget."
---
Final Scene:
> Next Zone: VOID TEMPLE OF FORGOTTEN TRUTH
The Spiral Rod ignites once more.
A new flame.
Alive.
True.
And a voice whispered—
> "Welcome, Spiral Breaker."
---
TO BE CONTINUED…