As Tokyo Bay's twilight turned lavender, the Reverse Scale Squad's hovercar headed for uncharted waters. The sea floated with shimmering fragments, like crushed stars—markers of the "Sea of Forgetting", where all erased memories were said to slumber.
"Navigation shows this was the birthplace of 'Glyph Civilization'." Ming Yuan's voice came from the comms, his figure on the screen, spiral glyphs on his ornament glowing deep blue. "Three thousand years ago, Glyph Masters built the first Glyph Sanctuary here, later erased by a great war. Now, its glyphs are awakening..."
Lanye's Reverse Scale Core warmed slightly. He sensed a faint familiarity in the sea breeze—his mother's lullaby, flowing on glyph waves.
"Here we are." Xiaotao's voice choked. Her star meteorite bracelet levitated above the sea, deep blue energy forming words: "Mom, I'm here."
The sea roiled. Glowing fish leaped, scales etched with Reverse Scale spirals, forming a silver ribbon guiding the hovercar to a coral-covered island.
At its center stood a ruined stone tower, its spiral glyphs eroded by waves. At the base: "Memories are the sea; glyphs are the boat."
"This is..." Sakura's Cherry Glyph glowed pink as she touched the tower. "My mother's diary mentioned this! She said it hides 'glyphs and memory's truth'."
A Jiu's shadow crows circled the tower, dark purple mist sketching a scene: three thousand years ago, seven Glyph Masters stood on the tower, cores resonating with stars during a ceremony. One guardian (like Xiaotao) clutched her chest, blood staining spirals—the start of the "memory curse".
"So that's why..." Su Li trembled as her Cherry Glyph resonated. "Xiaotao's mother wasn't human—she was the third guardian!"
Lanye's core vibrated violently. He sensed a sealed memory inside the tower—Xiaotao's mother's last words. Holding Xiaotao's hand, he pressed her bracelet to the base: "Let me see."
The tower rumbled. The ground cracked, releasing golden mist. A translucent figure appeared: a woman in a white coat (Xiaotao's mother) holding infant Xiaotao. Her core resonated with the Reverse Scale Core, dark gold glyphs appearing on the baby's wrist.
"Xiaotao," the woman's voice was gentle. "I'm not your birth mother. Three hundred years ago, I was Glyph Master 'Yue Kui', cursed while protecting the Glyph Origin. This is a 'memory vessel' made with my last power, hiding your true origin..."
The image distorted. Scratches appeared on lab glass, and a masked man's voice (like the berserk guardian) echoed: "Yue Kui, you created life with glyphs? It will destroy balance!"
"No," Yue Kui's voice firmed. "Glyphs connect, not control. Xiaotao will be new hope..."
The masked man fired black light. Yue Kui's core shattered, her body turning to starlight, leaving infant Xiaotao cast into the sea.
"Mom!" Xiaotao's tears fell, clarifying the image—Yue Kui had tucked a half Glyph Core into the swaddling, its spiral matching the Reverse Scale Core's gap.
"So..." Lanye's voice shook. "My Reverse Scale Core is Yue Kui's core merged with the berserk guardian's fragment?"
Ming Yuan's ornament shimmered silver. Touching the tower, another scene showed: five hundred years ago, during the ceremony, one guardian (like Wu Wang) went berserk. Yue Kui (third guardian) sealed him with her life, shattering the Origin into seven seeds, one taken by her daughter Xiaotao.
"Therefore..." A Jiu choked. "Our Glyph Cores are condensed from seven guardians' lives and love?"
Lanye gripped his core, its seven-color glyphs warm like beating hearts. He sensed forgotten love in each: Yue Kui's protection, the berserk guardian's yearning, Ming Yuan's dedication...
"The Sea of Forgetting weeps." Su Li's voice rose. Her Cherry Glyph merged with the Time Glyph cocoon, forming words: "Memories tampered; glyphs wail."
They looked up as glowing fish vanished, replaced by black vortices, each containing a distorted face—forgotten Glyph Masters' memories.
"These are the 'Forgotten'!" Ming Yuan urged. "Cursed Glyph Masters who erase memories to survive!"
A vortex lunged at Xiaotao, a charred hand grabbing her wrist: "Hand over the Glyph Core! It's ours!"
Lanye's Blazing Flame Glyph blazed gold, shattering the vortex but staggering from backlash. A Jiu's crows dove, dark purple mist corroding the fog but losing half their feathers.
"Use the Reverse Scale Core!" Yue Kui's image appeared behind Xiaotao. "It's the key to all memories!"
Xiaotao raised her bracelet, which resonated with the core, releasing deep blue energy that formed a mirror. It reflected all forgotten Glyph Masters: Yue Kui, the berserk guardian, sanctuary guardians... Their cores shimmered in the Reverse Scale Core like returning stars.
"So that's it..." Xiaotao's tears fell. "Glyph Cores aren't containers—they're home."
The core rumbled as seven lights flew out, merging with their glyphs. Lanye's flame turned warm orange, Su Li's Cherry Glyph silver-white, Xiaotao's star meteorite galaxy-blue, A Jiu's crows golden phoenixes, Sakura's glyph sun-gold, Wu Wang's ornament rainbow-hued, and Ming Yuan's silver bone ornament glowed with life.
"This is..." Wu Wang marveled. "Glyph Cores are evolving!"
Black vortices collapsed. Released Glyph Masters stepped out, cores glowing, resonating with the Reverse Scale Core as a sea of stars.
"Thank you," the berserk guardian's voice lost its madness. "I remember... I was the seventh guardian, who went berserk to protect Yue Kui..."
Yue Kui's image smiled, her core merging with the Reverse Scale Core, falling as moonlight on Xiaotao: "Xiaotao, you're my daughter and all Glyph Masters'. Remember, glyphs let every life remember love."
Morning light pierced the sea mist. Xiaotao's bracelet returned, now with Reverse Scale spirals. Yue Kui's image stood beside her, joining Lanye, A Jiu, Sakura as a new "Glyph Guardians" totem.
"Next," Lanye looked at the core, sensing a warm pulse in global glyph fluctuations—forgotten Glyph Masters' love and memories flowing through the core to all in need. "We'll go everywhere to show: glyphs aren't weapons—they're the heartbeat connecting us to the world."
As the hovercar started, its glyph trail stretched long. The squad's glyphs shone together—star meteorite blue, cherry pink, crow gold, time silver—weaving a star track to the future across heaven and earth.