The air inside the Threadfall Memory Nexus shimmered like broken glass held in sunlight. Every step forward echoed — not in sound, but in memory. Riven could feel it threading through his thoughts, unspoken and sharp, dragging up moments he hadn't agreed to remember.
Kaia's paws made no noise on the tile. Her golden eyes glowed faintly in the unnatural dark, tail swishing behind her in time with her breathing. She stayed close. Closer than usual.
Kalix broke the silence first. "Smells like rusted time in here."
"It's a memory zone," Nilo muttered. "One of the deeper ones. Close to whatever the System doesn't want recalled."
Brenn raised his blade, which hummed faintly. "Then we're in the right place."
The hallway ahead pulsed once — not in light, but in signal. Like a heartbeat made from frayed wire.
> [Zone Designation: Bloodglass Archive – Anchor Class II]
Status: Dormant / Resonance Unstable
Echo Density: Critical
Risk Level: High
The corridor branched. Stone twisted into mirrored archways. Riven reached out and touched one. It rippled beneath his palm like water, and he saw himself — older, worn, standing alone on a rooftop with Kaia curled at his feet, no one else in sight.
He jerked back. The image shattered without sound.
"Echoforms are likely here," Nilo warned. "Reflections that bite."
Kaia's fur bristled. Riven reached down to steady her, but she was already walking forward — careful, brave.
She's changed, he thought. Since the orchard. Since the Warden. Since she'd linked to his thread.
So have I.
The Bloodglass Archive opened into a chamber shaped like a cathedral spire turned inside out. Glass walls shimmered with moving memories. Names hovered in the air like static — half-recognized, half-faded.
The ceiling was endless, or maybe just reflective. It was hard to tell what was up and what was a memory trying to pose as sky.
Kaia halted beside him. Her hackles raised.
A low hum vibrated through the floor. Riven took one step and the world around him twisted.
Suddenly, he was alone.
He stood in a street he hadn't seen since before the System fell. Cracked pavement. A broken sign swinging overhead. A smell in the air — burnt almonds and rain.
He heard a voice.
"Why didn't you save me, Riven?"
He turned. It wasn't Aya.
It was Kaia. Not as the Phasekin pup, but as the little girl from the ripple — the memory he'd bonded with.
"I did," he said. "I tried. I never meant to leave you."
She looked at him — sad, soft-eyed, and unreal.
"Do you remember who I really was?" she asked.
Riven clenched his fists. "I don't need to. You're Kaia. That's who you are now."
> [Thread Sync: Stabilizing…]
[Echoform Disruption – False Anchor Rejected]
[Kaia Loyalty Link: Strengthened]
The world snapped back.
Riven gasped. Kaia was beside him again, her ears pinned. She looked up at him, then pressed her head to his leg. He could feel the connection between them pulse — warmer now. Stronger.
The others had staggered too.
Kalix leaned on her knees, breathing hard. "Got caught in one," she muttered. "Mirror tried to show me a past that wasn't mine."
Nilo looked shaken. "It tried to bring back a version of me that never joined you. One that kept walking."
Brenn stood still, knuckles white on his relic blade. "It said I was meant to die back then. That I shouldn't exist here."
"This place is testing us," Riven said. "One by one. Through our bonds. Through guilt."
They moved slower after that.
No one said much. The mirrors whispered anyway — not in language, but with flickers of selves that could have been. Kaia stayed close to Riven's heel, never straying more than a few paces.
They passed a hallway where the floor was made of names. Dozens. Hundreds. All people Riven didn't remember knowing — but each sparked a flicker of loss, as if he should've.
Nilo paused there, staring down. "One of them was mine," he said quietly.
Kalix put a hand on his shoulder. No words.
Brenn didn't stop walking. "Don't let them slow you down. They're not real anymore."
"Maybe not," Riven murmured. "But they mattered to someone."
At the center of the archive, a great glass heart floated, spinning slowly. Lines of memory fed into it like veins. Red light pulsed from its center, each beat carrying pressure that made Riven's skull ache.
The heart knew them.
> [Anchor Core – Access Denied]
Reason: Emotional Instability / Fragment Interference
Suggestion: Resolve Echo Bonds – Minimum 3
Kaia barked once, sharp and alert.
The space around the heart darkened — and something stepped forward.
A mirrorform, taller than any of them. Its body was a stitched blend of all their shapes — Kalix's blades, Brenn's armor, Nilo's eyes, Riven's stance. Its face was empty. It radiated pressure.
"Consequence," it spoke. "Of union."
It charged.
Kaia moved first — launching herself straight at it with a growl that sounded more like a war cry. Her form shimmered mid-leap, then flared with golden light.
She struck the mirrorform's shoulder — and bounced back with a yelp.
"Kaia!" Riven surged forward, catching her before she hit the wall. She whimpered once, more surprised than hurt.
The others engaged instantly. Kalix blurred behind it with her twin blades. Nilo threw a thread-snare. Brenn's hammer smashed into its flank, cracking the glass with a shuddering noise like laughter.
Riven knelt beside Kaia, gripping her gently. "You okay?"
She whined, then licked his hand — a quick, loyal gesture.
Then she glowed.
> [Phasekin Bond Progression Detected]
New Trait Available: Echo Shield I
Description: Forms a reflexive memory barrier to protect bonded allies when loyalty is confirmed under duress.
Her body shimmered again — not transforming, but stabilizing. A ripple passed from her form to Riven's hand. The glass heart pulsed.
She'd earned her evolution through protection, not power.
Riven stood slowly, holding Kaia close. "You did good," he whispered.
Then he turned.
The mirrorform screamed.
Kalix's blade was in its gut. Brenn had it pinned. Nilo's threads held it suspended like a marionette.
Riven stepped forward. Rage, clarity, and sorrow spun inside him in equal weight.
"You aren't us," he said to the hollow thing. "You're what we could've become if we gave up."
And he punched his reflection in the chest.
Glass cracked. Light burst.
The thing exploded into shards of memory — scenes, voices, regrets — and vanished.
The archive went still.
> [Core Access: Approved]
[Thread Fragment: Located – Aya Vale]
Status: Encrypted / Stabilizing
Warden Presence: Imminent
Riven looked at the others.
They were breathing hard, but alive. Present. Whole.
"Grab the thread," Kalix said.
"I already have," Riven answered. "It's part of me now."
> [Thread Sync – Aya Vale: 58%]
[Zone Collapse: Delayed – 3 Minutes]
[Warning: Class II Warden Approaching]
No one flinched.
They had their bond. They had each other.
And they had just enough time to keep moving.