"To remember is to bleed. To forget is to vanish. What will you choose—pain or silence?"
The sky was falling apart.
Shards of constellations shattered and rained down across the meadow like burning glass. The moon, cracked and bleeding silver light, loomed larger than ever before—as if it were collapsing in slow motion.
And the serpent—the Hollowed—watched.
Aarav stood rigid, his hand still glowing with the burn of the memory seal. Selene crouched behind him, trembling, her face pale with dread.
Zahir turned, his face grim. "We have no time. The Hollowed has awakened, and the longer he remains bound to the broken moon, the more unstable the Rift becomes."
Aarav stared at the sky. "What does he want?"
Zahir's reply was a whisper.
"Selene."
🌒 The Forgotten Celestial
Selene slowly stood, her voice tight. "The Hollowed… was once a celestial being like me. But long ago, before I even awakened, the stars banished him. He was in love—with something forbidden. The moon's shadow."
Aarav turned to her. "The moon's… what?"
Zahir stepped in. "A love so dangerous it could fracture the balance between light and dark. When the celestials intervened, the Hollowed refused to forget. He broke the first rule of cosmic memory: Never anchor love beyond your cycle."
Aarav's voice was hoarse. "So they erased him."
Selene nodded. "And he's been waiting ever since."
🚪 The Path to the Gate
Zahir flicked his fingers, drawing a glowing symbol in the air—a triangle of stars.
The meadow rippled.
A doorway formed between two ancient trees: black wood, silver vines, a keyhole in the shape of a crescent moon.
The Gate of Remembrance.
"Beyond that gate," Zahir said, "lies the Archive Between Worlds. If Aarav enters, he can retrieve the missing fragments of his memory. Piece by piece."
Selene frowned. "What's the catch?"
Zahir glanced away. "Someone must remain outside to guard the seal. And the one who enters… might not return whole."
🧠 Aarav's Resolve
Aarav didn't hesitate.
"I'll go."
Selene stepped forward, grabbing his hand. "No. You're already burning up. If the Rift feeds on your memories—"
"I need to know," he said firmly. "The Hollowed remembers you. He knows something about us… something we've forgotten. If I don't go, he'll find a way to break you."
She stared at him, tears shimmering in her silver eyes. "And what if you forget me again?"
Aarav reached out, gently touching her cheek. The scar on his hand glowed softly.
"I won't. Not this time."
⛓ Binding the Seal
Zahir placed his hands on Selene's shoulders.
"You must anchor his memory."
She nodded, already beginning to hum a faint lullaby—the same one from her dreams.
Silver light surrounded Aarav like a shell.
The door creaked open, revealing a swirling void of forgotten stars and timelines. The Gate of Remembrance pulsed like a heart.
Aarav took one last look at Selene.
Then stepped through.
🌀 Inside the Archive
The world bent.
Aarav landed on a glass platform suspended in a sea of darkness. Floating all around him were shimmering fragments—like mirrors, showing pieces of his past.
One shimmered brighter than the rest.
He stepped closer.
In it, he saw himself—sitting by the sea, writing Selene's name over and over in his notebook.
Suddenly, the memory spoke.
"You loved her before you knew what love was."
Aarav's breath caught.
Then another voice joined—deep, cracked, heavy with sorrow.
"But you won't survive remembering me."
🐍 The Hollowed Enters the Archive
The glass beneath Aarav cracked.
The Hollowed was here.
But how?
Aarav turned—behind him, a rift had opened in the Archive, a black wound trailing silver blood. The Hollowed slithered through the breach, his body now smaller, more serpentine—but no less terrifying.
"You weren't supposed to be here," Aarav gasped.
The Hollowed coiled, his voice echoing with grief and anger.
"Neither were you."
Aarav backed away. "Why me? Why now?"
"Because she chose you," the Hollowed snarled. "And the moment she gave you her name, she gave you my curse."
💀 The Curse Revealed
Suddenly, the Archive twisted—memories flashing out of control.
Selene kneeling in a temple, bleeding from the eyes, praying to the stars to protect Aarav.
Aarav holding the burning notebook, whispering her name as the Rift swallowed him.
The Archivist forging a deal: one life rewritten, one memory broken.
Then—
Aarav saw it.
A hidden memory. Buried deeper than the rest.
Selene, standing before the Hollowed. Offering herself to him. Begging him to leave Aarav untouched.
And the Hollowed replying: "Only if he forgets you forever."
🧨 The Memory Shatters
Aarav staggered, clutching his head.
"You knew," he gasped, fury rising. "She bargained for me."
The Hollowed hissed. "She loved you enough to erase herself."
Aarav screamed, the wound on his hand burning with silver fire. The Archive trembled.
"You don't deserve her," the Hollowed said.
Aarav raised his palm—and the Crown of Selene symbol flared like a sun.
"I'm not here to deserve her. I'm here to remember her."
He struck the Hollowed with a burst of light. The creature shrieked and vanished into the darkness.
⏳ Return to the Meadow
Aarav stumbled back through the Gate.
Selene caught him before he fell.
Their eyes met.
"I remember… everything," he whispered.
Her lip quivered. "Everything?"
He nodded.
"The tower. The stars. The promise."
She sobbed. "Then we have to run. The Hollowed knows."
"No," Aarav said, steady now.
"We make him remember why we survived."
To be continued…