When Eva said the name aloud for the first time, the world didn't react.
This was wrong.
"Mettik," she said again.
Slower. More deliberate.
Still nothing.
Noah looked at her.
"Why are you saying this name now?" he asked.
"At a time like this?"
Eva didn't look up.
"Because," she said,
"I can't remember him."
Mara flinched.
"What do you mean?"
Eva rubbed her forehead.
"I know I knew him," she said.
"I know he was important. But there's no face. No voice. Just… an emptiness."
Noah's face tensed.
"Some names," he said slowly,
"are not forgotten. They are erased."
Eva turned to Noah.
"You know."
Noah fell silent.
This was another way of saying yes.
The portal opened this time not at Eva's behest, but from a void in her memory.
It wasn't cold. It wasn't warm either.
It was indefinable.
"Is Mettik here?" Eva asked.
Noah nodded.
"He was," he said.
"Then…it was decided he shouldn't be."
Mara interrupted.
"Who decided?"
Noah looked at Eva.
"You."
Eva froze.
"No," she said.
"I didn't erase anyone."
Noah took a deep breath.
"When you're still a hero," he said,
"some decisions…are forgotten."
Eva's voice trembled.
"What was he to me?"
Noah didn't answer.
Mara approached Eva.
"Why are you looking for him?" she asked.
"Now, when everything is so broken?"
Eva closed her eyes.
"Because before I confront Ekrech," he said,
"I need to know the first mistake I made."
The space narrowed.
There was no wall, but the distance was short.
A figure appeared. Faint. Hesitant.
"Mettik?" Eva said.
The figure stirred.
"That name," said the figure,
"no longer belongs to me."
Eva took a step.
"Was it my fault?"
The figure laughed. It wasn't cheerful.
"You didn't save me, Eva," he said.
"You balanced me."
Mara whispered:
"What does that mean?"
The figure looked at Eva.
"I," he said,
"was the first sacrifice."
Eva's knees buckled.
"No…"
"Before Ekrech," the figure continued,
"you chose someone for the sake of order.
That someone was me."
Eva clutched her head in both hands.
"I don't remember."
"Because," said the figure,
"if you remembered… you wouldn't be able to do it again."
Noah said sharply:
"That's enough."
Eva stood up.
"No," she said.
"This is just the beginning."
The figure began to disappear.
"Mettik!" Eva screamed.
"Tell me who you are!"
The last words were a whisper:
"I… was your boundary."
And it vanished.
The silence was long.
Mara spoke.
"Eva," she said,
"if you remember him… what will change?"
Eva fixed her eyes on the horizon.
"Nothing," she said.
"And everything."
Noah sighed.
"Ekrech knows this."
Eva nodded.
"Yes," she said.
"That's why he erased him before me."
Mara shuddered.
"So Ekrech—"
"—he knows me better than I know myself," Eva finished. "From the very beginning."
Eva clenched her fists.
"I'm going to find Mettik," she said. "Exactly what he's become."
Noah frowned.
"If you do that," he said,
"you'll confront yourself."
Eva replied with calm determination:
"There's no other way now."