---
The river of memory carried them into light.
It began as a silver stream flowing through clouds, but the further they drifted, the wider it grew—until river became current, and current became ocean. The air thinned into mist; the world itself seemed to exhale. Beneath them stretched a boundless sea that glowed from within, waves rolling in colors that had no names.
Ria stood at the prow of the small skiff the current had shaped for them, her eyes wide with awe. The water reflected not the sky, but moments: every ripple showed faces, stars, the birth of worlds.
Ren leaned over the edge, tail flicking. "Is it just me, or did that wave have my baby picture in it?"
Ria laughed softly. "This is the Sea of Origins. It remembers everything that ever began."
> Quest Update — Entered the Sea of Origins.
Objective: Locate the Sixth Gate.
The ocean was silent, yet full of whispers—the sound of every soul that had ever drawn its first breath. In its reflections, Ria glimpsed the Mother creating the first flame, her nine tails weaving galaxies from sparks. But she also saw shadows at the edges of the waves—dark stains spreading slowly outward.
Ren followed her gaze. "That doesn't look like normal seaweed."
"No," she said quietly. "The Silence has been here."
---
Hours—or centuries—passed as they drifted. Time had no meaning here. The stars above and below mirrored each other perfectly, so it was impossible to tell which way was up. Then, in the distance, a shape rose from the horizon: a tower made of coral and crystal, half-submerged, humming with faint blue light.
Ria steered the skiff toward it. As they neared, the tower unfolded like a living shell, revealing a figure standing at its base. She was tall, her body formed from translucent water, her hair cascading into endless streams. Eyes like pearls turned toward them.
"Travelers," she said, her voice a tide. "You have reached the threshold of beginnings. I am Namiya, Keeper of this sea."
Ria bowed. "We seek the Sixth Gate."
Namiya's gaze lingered on Ria's flame, which flickered blue-white in reflection. "The Gate sleeps beneath the surface, where the first light was kindled. But beware—the Silence has poisoned the deep current. It turns memory against itself."
Ren crossed his paws. "Let me guess: another trial?"
Namiya smiled sadly. "To heal what has been tainted, one must remember why it mattered."
She extended a hand, and the ocean parted to reveal a descending spiral of water. "The Gate awaits below."
---
They dove.
The deeper they sank, the quieter the world became. Light faded into soft turquoise, then indigo. Strange shapes drifted around them—echoes of newborn spirits, tiny sparks wrapped in translucent shells. They pulsed faintly and vanished into the dark.
Ren's voice echoed faintly through the water. "It's beautiful… but kind of lonely."
Ria nodded, bubbles streaming from her muzzle. "Every birth begins alone."
As they reached the ocean floor, the water stilled completely. Beneath them stretched a plain of glassy sand. At its center lay a vast crater glowing faintly—a heart-shaped hollow where light and shadow intertwined. The current there pulsed irregularly, sickened.
> System Warning — Corruption Detected: Depth 100%.
The sand shifted. From the crater rose forms made of liquid night—distorted reflections of Ria herself. Each bore one of her flames: Spirit, Twilight, Solar, Equinox, and Eclipsed, but all twisted and dim. Their eyes were empty.
Ren drew close. "Oh great. Evil clones again."
"They're not evil," Ria whispered. "They're beginnings that never learned to end."
The shadows advanced, silent but relentless. When they struck, the impact shook the ocean floor. Ria's flames clashed against their corrupted versions—light against lightless memory. The water boiled around her, scattering shards of reflection.
Every hit echoed with a voice: You could have been more. You will fade again. All beginnings end.
Ria felt the pull—the temptation to drown in what-ifs. Then Ren's light burst beside her, golden and fierce. "Hey, reflections! You're looking at the real thing."
He struck through the nearest shadow, his energy splitting it into harmless motes. "Ria! You're not their past—you're their reason!"
Her heart steadied. She raised her tails, drawing on all her flames. Their colors spiraled together—violet, gold, silver, crimson—each hue balancing the next. The corrupted forms paused, hesitating as if recognizing themselves.
"I won't destroy you," she said softly. "You're still part of me."
> Resonance Detected — Flame Convergence Initiated.
The ocean trembled. The shadow forms merged with her light instead of shattering, their darkness softening into blue radiance. The crater's pulse steadied, changing from erratic to rhythmic. At its heart, a new flame ignited—a deep cerulean fire that shimmered like water under moonlight.
> New Flame Acquired — Oceanic Flame (Lv 1).
The sea brightened instantly. Coral bloomed from the sand; the dead currents began to move again. Above, Namiya's voice echoed through the water.
"You have healed the Source. The Sea remembers you."
Ria reached for Ren, smiling through exhaustion. "We did it."
He grinned. "I told you we'd make a splash."
The ocean's surface began to shimmer far above, opening like a window. Through it, a pillar of light extended upward—the Sixth Gate, born from the newly cleansed current. Within it glowed countless motes of life preparing to be born into the world.
---
They rose together, surrounded by glowing spirits that drifted like stars. Some brushed against Ria's fur, whispering tiny fragments of future lives: laughter, music, tears, and love. She realized these were unborn souls—echoes waiting for their first breath.
Ren watched, awed. "So this is where everything starts."
Ria nodded. "And where everything returns."
When they broke the surface, the tower of coral had transformed. It now blazed with silver light, every shell and crystal alive with motion. Namiya stood waiting, her eyes gleaming with pride.
"You have given the Sea its pulse," the Tidekeeper said. "But know this—creation remembers its shadow. The Silence stirs beneath all beginnings. It will not rest while light endures."
Ria bowed deeply. "Then we'll keep moving."
> Quest Complete — The Sea of Origins.
New Objective: Reach the Citadel of Echoes (Seventh Gate).
Namiya lifted her hand, summoning a wave that shaped itself into a bridge of liquid light stretching toward the horizon. "Follow this path," she said. "It leads to the place where voices of the past never fade."
Ren stepped onto the bridge first, tails glinting. "Voices of the past, huh? Sounds noisy already."
Ria smiled faintly, watching the sea swirl below. "Noise means life. Silence means forgetting."
They walked side by side along the glowing current. Behind them, the Sea of Origins sang—a low hum of rebirth and endless beginnings. Before them, clouds gathered like curtains of glass, within which faint shapes stirred: towers, echoes, memories waiting to speak again.
Ria's Oceanic Flame flickered on her tails, serene and deep, reflecting stars both above and below. The Mother's whisper returned, faint but clear:
"Six flames awaken. Three remain. The echoes remember you."
Ren tilted his head. "Did you hear that?"
Ria's eyes shone softly. "I did. And I think she's waiting."
Together they vanished into the rising light, the bridge dissolving behind them into ripples of infinite reflection.
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