At first, nothing changed.The Hidden Realms swayed gently in their eternal forgetting.Ari stood by the reflectionless lake,listening to the faint echo that remained where Kael had dissolved.
But echoes fade.And one day,there was only silence.
Ari frowned.Not ordinary silence—a broken silence,as though something that should be there was missing.
She reached toward the Heart of Mystery.The lake rippled—but not in recognition.Its awareness was dimmer now,struggling to hold shape.
Ari whispered:"Why are you weakening?"
The lake answered only with stillness.
She froze.The Heart of Mystery had begun to forget itself.
The Forgetting Spreads
Across the cosmos, subtle distortions appeared.Not tearing—thinning.
• Thinkers paused mid-theory, unable to recall why they'd begun.• Artists reached for inspiration and found only empty air.• Even the Sleeper's dreams wavered,their rhythm faltering like a skipped heartbeat.
