Cherreads

Chapter 35 - Memory is a lie You Loved Once

Some memories melt quietly. Others scream as they fade."

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Everything was silent.

But not the silence that calms you —

This was Spiral silence… the kind that screams from the inside.

It puts a fake mask of peace over burning memories.

I — Aren Kael — had stepped into a new Spiral zone.

The Memory Furnace.

A place where memories didn't burn…

They melted.

And Spiral shaped that melted truth however it wanted.

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Tomo (flickering nervously):

> "Bro… you rejected the contract.

Now Spiral's retaliating… it wants to replace you —

With a new 'peaceful' Aren."

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Me (in my heart):

> "Peaceful… or fake?"

"Do you want to make me into something I never was?"

---

Suddenly, a flare erupted.

A black Spiral sigil glowed across the floor.

And then… he appeared.

A version of me in white Spiral robes.

Emotionless eyes.

Expression dead.

Hollow Aren.

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Hollow Aren (calmly):

> "You are filled with pain. That's why your decisions are flawed."

"I am the Aren without pain. I follow Spiral's rules — perfectly."

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Tomo (warning, panicked):

> "Bro… every hit from him will force you to forget one memory!"

"Even if you win… something will be lost forever!"

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[SPIRAL MEMORY BATTLE START]

I raised my Spiral Rod.

Its flame flickered — dancing between red and golden.

Hollow Aren summoned a Spiral blade —

And when it touched me—

> FLASH:

My mother's face blurred.

For a moment, I couldn't remember her eyes.

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I staggered backward.

Breathing heavy.

Me (thinking):

> "No… without my memories… I'm nothing…"

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Hollow Aren (yelling):

> "Accept it. Pain is inefficient. Burn it."

---

Suddenly —

A faint glitch in the Spiral zone.

A soft voice emerged.

Familiar.

Broken.

Real.

---

> "I had forgotten everything…

But forgetting you hurt the most…"

---

EIRA.

Half-real. Half Spiral flame.

She stepped forward — her presence flickering.

But her eyes… finally held emotion.

---

Eira (reaching out her hand):

> "I'm remembering again, Aren.

Spiral tried to delete me.

But every time I vanished…

You kept showing up in my mind — like a spark that refused to die."

---

She grabbed a Spiral Rod clone.

And cast "Memory Flame Bind" on Hollow Aren.

He froze.

Cracks splintered through his body like glass.

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Me (shocked):

> "Eira… how… how did you return?"

---

Eira (smiling faintly):

> "I had forgotten everything."

"But you didn't forget me."

---

Hollow Aren shattered in a silent burst.

The Spiral zone began to collapse.

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Tomo (relieved, shouting):

> "BROOOOO — YOU DID IT!!

The fake version is down — Spiral can't overwrite you anymore!"

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Final Scene:

Eira knelt beside me.

Her hands were burnt from Spiral flame.

But she smiled — like the memory of pain finally made sense.

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Me (softly):

> "You came back… whole."

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Eira (gently):

> "No, Aren.

I'm still rebuilding myself —

from the flame of forgotten memories."

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TO BE CONTINUED…

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