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Chapter 44 - Chapter 44: The Anchor Unbound

Location: The Broken Gate – Battle Initiated

The clash was immediate.

Yanis unleashed a vortex of fragmented timelines, her Queenbringer power folding entire seconds into weapons. Aeyra countered with Choir logic — slicing time into clean, clinical sequences. Her blade didn't strike. It unwrote.

Kael didn't fight.

He watched.

And remembered.

> "Aeyra…"

No response.

> "Do you remember the first Gate breach?"

Still nothing.

> "Do you remember what you told me when the Seed fractured?"

She blinked — briefly — and Yanis landed a clean hit.

A spark.

Not from damage.

From recognition.

---

Inside Aeyra's Mind – The Memory Cage

It was a white room. Silent. Still. Clean.

And in the center sat Aeyra, wrapped in Choir vines of silver code, her wrists locked to a floating chair of logic.

A memory-Kael stood across from her.

> "You're not broken."

> "You're just... lost."

Aeyra whispered:

> "They took everything but my guilt."

> "They let me keep that."

And the vines tightened.

---

Back in Reality – Kael Steps In

He ran between them as Aeyra raised her Unwriting Blade.

> "Don't!" he shouted.

Yanis tried to stop him — too late.

The blade swung.

But Kael didn't block it.

He caught it.

Blood poured from his hand, skin unravelling like torn script.

He didn't scream.

He spoke.

> "I remember the hymn you sang the night Aether-Prime collapsed."

> "I remember the fear in your voice when you saw the Choir's cradle ship."

> "I remember who you were before they turned you into this."

> "And I remember that you were always afraid of one thing—"

She trembled.

> "Afraid of forgetting."

---

Inside Her Mind Again – Breaking the Cage

The vines pulsed.

The room cracked.

And suddenly — a younger version of Aeyra, the real one, stood up.

She looked at her bound self.

> "We swore to remember him."

> "We swore we'd never let them use us."

She raised her hand.

And the vines burned.

---

Back in Reality – The Blade Falls

Aeyra dropped the Unwriting Blade.

She fell to her knees.

And screamed.

Not from pain.

From memory.

> "Kael…"

He knelt beside her.

Held her shaking frame.

> "It's okay."

> "You're back."

But behind them — Yanis was staggering, bleeding from dozens of null cuts.

> "She stopped fighting," Yanis gasped, "but the Choir… hasn't."

---

Final Scene – Choir Protocol Activates

Back at the Citadel, alarms blared.

> [SAINT AEYRA — CODE CORRUPTION DETECTED]

[EMOTION RECLAMATION: 100%]

[Status: LOYALTY BROKEN]

[Auto-Detonation in 60 seconds]

The Elders issued one last command:

> "If we cannot own her…"

> "…we'll erase her."

And in her skull, Aeyra heard the countdown begin.

---

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