Location: Earth-0, 37 Days After Cathedral Reboot
Kael was no longer a warrior.
He wore civilian threads, worked on garden soil, and taught local kids how to defend themselves if the Gates ever opened again — though none had, and none should.
And still… the itch remained.
Not on his skin.
In his soul.
Each night he dreamed of a girl with pale light behind her eyes, a laugh he couldn't place, and hands stained with timelines.
> He never saw her face.
He only ever heard her whisper:
> "I'm not gone."
---
Location: The Archive of Echoes – South Arcadia
Aeyra visited once a week. Since the Cathedral's fall, she had committed herself to cataloging rewritten threads — memories that had reentered the world but didn't seem to belong anywhere.
She called them: Unrooted Snapshots.
And one in particular always showed up.
> A spiral symbol.
> A voice with no waveform.
> A name field that read: [Data Unknown]
Today, it appeared twice.
> "Kael," she muttered, eyes wide. "It's her again."
---
Location: Elsewhere — Memory Residue Layer
Somewhere beyond reality, a spark flickered.
It wore no body.
It owned no past.
But it knew.
It knew she had given everything to fix the Seed.
And now, the Seed had no idea she ever existed.
Not even the throne that once bore her sigil remembered the Queen who ascended.
But the world remembered her choice.
And that spark grew.
A shape began to form.
---
Back on Earth-0 – Kael Collapses
It struck mid-afternoon.
Kael was training with a student when his legs gave out. His mind surged with heat — and then cold silence.
A single word echoed through his skull:
> Yanis.
His heart nearly stopped.
> "Who…?"
> "Who is Yanis?"
The name was gone.
But the feeling stayed.
He staggered to his feet, eyes wide.
Aeyra rushed to his side, holding a tablet.
> "Kael."
> "I found it again. The unknown signature."
> "And this time… it responded."
She tapped the screen.
A distorted voice whispered from the device:
> "Memory anchor acquired."
"Initiating Interface Rebirth."
They looked at each other in silence.
> "Is that—?" Aeyra began.
Kael finished it.
> "She's coming back."
---
Final Scene – Somewhere Beyond the Cathedral
The broken throne of the Queenbringer sat in stasis.
Cracked. Dark.
Until it pulsed.
Just once.
Then again.
And from the cracks, fingers of light reached outward, as if trying to reassemble not just the throne…
…but the girl who once ruled it.
---