The campfire crackled, but no one moved.
Akari stood just beyond the circle of light—her black flame blade humming, her long silver hair caught in the wind like a banner of war. Her eyes, once human, now burned violet with Echo corruption.
Azazel stepped forward.
> "Turn around. You won't touch her."
Akari tilted her head. "Still playing the knight, Azazel? But even you can't guard her mind."
She raised a hand—and a pulse of Echo energy rippled through the air.
Yui gasped as her vision blurred—swept up into a memory she didn't choose.
---
Memory Realm: The Final Day
Yui stood in her old school uniform.
Rain fell.
Her hands trembled as she clutched a soaked umbrella in front of the crosswalk.
> "Hey. Move, introvert. You're blocking the street."
She turned—her classmates were there. Laughing. Not cruel, not kind. Just… indifferent.
She remembered now. The ache of being invisible. The weight of never mattering.
Then a screech of tires.
A scream.
And—
> Impact.
Yui flew backward. The world turned red. Then white.
In the distance, someone wept.
Not for her. But for the man who tried to save her and died instead.
> "I wasn't supposed to live," Yui whispered. "Why… why was it me?"
---
Reality: Azazel vs. Akari
Steel and flame clashed.
Azazel's glaive met Akari's blade in bursts of black and crimson light.
> "She's not yours," Azazel snarled, fury sharpening his voice. "She chose this world."
Akari's eyes narrowed.
> "Did she?" she hissed. "Or was she taken, like the rest of us?"
She surged forward, blade cutting through shadows. Azazel blocked, but the force sent him skidding.
Akari's hand shot out—
And Echo fire pierced Azazel's side.
He grunted but didn't fall.
> "You're strong," she whispered, staring at the wound. "No wonder she clings to you."
Then she turned her gaze to Yui—still trapped in memory.
> "But she belongs to me."
---
System Update
> [Warning: Yui is trapped in a suppressed memory loop]
[Azazel – Status: Wounded (15% HP)]
[Akari – Echo Sync: 74% and rising]
[Condition: If Yui does not awaken, mind fracture may occur]
---
Inside the memory, Yui stood before the crosswalk again.
This time, someone else stood beside her.
Elion.
No—not Elion. A shade of him.
He looked at her with sad, knowing eyes.
> "You're not weak because you ran, Yui," he said. "You're strong because you remembered."
She reached out.
And broke the memory.
---
Reality Returns
Yui's eyes snapped open—flames crackling in her palms.
Akari turned toward her, triumphant—until Yui said her name.
> "Akari," Yui whispered. "I'm sorry."
Akari's expression faltered.
> "You remember?"
Yui nodded, tears and fire mingling.
> "I remember everything."