The gate to Layer Thirteen didn't roar.It sighed—like an old secret breathing out after being buried too long.
Raen knew danger. He had faced blades, beasts, betrayals. But the quiet—the welcome—that came from this place? It chilled him in a way no scream could.
They crossed the threshold.
Fog swallowed them whole.
It wasn't mist. It was memory, heavy and cloying. The kind that curled into your lungs and whispered things you thought you'd forgotten.
Hollowfang stalked forward, low to the ground. His teeth bared not in rage but wariness.
Even Jester Wyrm, the ever-jesting, circled slower than usual. "Something here… doesn't want to be remembered," it muttered.
And Despair Maw didn't move at all.
That's when the laughter came.Not cruel. Not haunting.
Childish.
High. Clear. Impossible.
Raen stopped.
Then it came again—from behind. Then ahead. Then... inside.
"Did you hear that?" he asked.
"It's not a child," Ember Vow answered, hand on her blade.
"I know," Raen said. And walked toward it anyway.
The fog thinned. A path formed just for him. And at the end—swinging slowly from a gnarled iron frame—was a little girl.
She wore a cracked porcelain mask.
Her bare feet didn't quite touch the ground. Her white dress hung limp, like something forgotten at the bottom of a drawer. Her long hair fell like smoke.
She turned.
Raen didn't see her eyes, but he felt them. Watching. Knowing.
"You're late," she said, voice soft as snowfall.
Raen's throat dried. "Do… do you know me?"
"I know you better than you do."
The swing creaked to a halt. She hopped off soundlessly, and the fog recoiled around her like it feared her touch.
[System Alert: Entity Classification Error][Alias: The Masked One][True Identity: ???][Bond Status: Forbidden | Emotional Key: Unresolved Grief]
Raen's hands curled unconsciously. "Who are you?"
She tilted her head. "A promise. One you broke."
The words sliced through him.
"I waited," she continued. "You held my hand once. Told me you'd protect me. Then you let go."
A memory broke through. A fire. A temple. A child's scream swallowed by smoke.
His voice cracked. "Kaelyn...?"
The Masked One smiled beneath the porcelain. "You're starting to remember."
And the world—shifted.
Suddenly he was small again.A boy standing outside the Temple of Ash.
A little girl clutched his hand tightly, eyes too wide, dress too new.
"If the fire comes," she whispered, "you'll protect me, right?"
"I swear," he had promised.
Then the fire came.
And he had let go.
Raen gasped, falling to his knees.
Fog swirled like water around him, and the Masked One stepped forward.
"It's not your fault," she said. "But it's still your memory."
[Memory Fragment Identified: Soul Remnant – Kaelyn][Bond Type: Grief Echo | Status: Locked]
"You brought me here," she said. "Not the System. Not the Abyss. You. Because you weren't ready to let go."
"I was just a child," Raen whispered.
"So was I."
She reached up and touched the mask with tiny fingers. "Will you set me free this time?"
He hesitated.
Ember Vow knelt beside him. "It's yours to decide."
Raen reached forward, trembling, and placed his palm over hers.
The mask cracked.
And Kaelyn—what remained of her—began to fade.
But not into pain.
Into light.
[Bond Partially Formed – Emotional Stabilization +12%][Memory Unlocked: Guilt Transmuted to Grace]
Raen stood slowly. "I didn't save her then. But I can carry her now."
The fog lifted. The others approached in silence.
Jester Wyrm was the first to break it. "Childhood trauma manifested as a masked ghost girl? Honestly, I'm surprised it took this long."
Despair Maw gave a low groan of empathy.
They moved forward together, the corridor behind them sealing shut. The swing was gone.
But Raen could still feel her hand in his.