Kael felt eyes on him long before he saw the man step from the shadows at the edge of the forest.
The stranger stood calmly beneath a gnarled oak, his posture relaxed but deliberate. He was tall, broad-shouldered, wrapped in a weathered coat bearing a faded emblem—a League badge Kael didn't recognize, silver etched with a spiraling glyph.
Echo immediately tensed, ears back, tail rigid.
"Kael, isn't it?" the man asked, voice steady, measured. "We need to talk."
Kael stepped back slightly, stance cautious. "Who are you?"
The man reached into his coat slowly, pulling out a League ID. It looked old, the edges frayed, but genuine.
Nathaniel Hart
League Special Investigations
Kael studied him warily. "You've been following me."
"Since Violet City," Nathaniel said calmly. "Though I lost track of you around Mt. Silver. Not sure anyone else could've walked back out of there."
Kael kept his voice steady. "How did you know my father?"
Nathaniel's expression softened slightly, but his eyes remained sharp. "Galen and I were colleagues, friends even. Before he went searching for things that weren't meant to be found."
Kael clenched his fists at his sides. "He knew exactly what he was doing."
Nathaniel tilted his head. "Did he? Or was he chasing a memory that wouldn't let him sleep?"
Echo stepped forward protectively. "What do you want?"
Nathaniel looked directly at her. Not surprised—just curious. "You're the anomaly he mentioned. The one he carried from the ruins."
Kael stiffened. "How do you know about that?"
"I was there," Nathaniel said quietly. "At Alph. At Yukari. Even outside Sprout Tower, after the fire. I saw what he found—and what it did to him."
"You think Echo hurt him?" Kael asked sharply.
"No," Nathaniel said. "I think memory did. And now you're carrying the same weight."
Kael felt his heart quicken. "Why are you here?"
"Because the League thinks you're a threat," Nathaniel replied simply. "But I don't."
"Then what do you think I am?"
Nathaniel studied him closely, eyes dark, unreadable. "I think you're exactly like Galen. Driven by good intentions, carrying too much to let go. And that scares people."
Kael relaxed slightly, but his gaze stayed wary. "What happened to him? Did you know?"
Nathaniel glanced upward, toward the fading twilight. "He went past Veilpoint, didn't he?"
Kael didn't answer.
Nathaniel nodded slowly. "Then he made it farther than I ever imagined."
He pulled something from his coat—a small, leather-bound notebook. Worn at the edges, familiar.
"This was his," Nathaniel said softly. "He gave it to me, right before he vanished. Told me to find you if you ever tried to follow."
Kael reached out cautiously, fingers brushing the notebook. He opened the cover.
Inside was Galen's handwriting, uneven, hurried:
If he finds you, let him walk.
Don't stop him. Just warn him.
Kael closed the notebook, breathing unevenly. "Warn me about what?"
Nathaniel's eyes hardened. "About the truth he discovered—that memories can break free. That sometimes, they're stronger than the people who make them."
Echo glanced sharply at Nathaniel. "You've seen Amaranth."
Nathaniel's jaw tightened. "Yes. Long ago. Before it had a name. When Galen first tried to seal it away."
Kael stared, disbelief flickering through him. "He tried to seal it?"
Nathaniel nodded. "He almost succeeded. But something changed—he found an egg. Found her. And the seal broke."
Echo stepped forward slowly. "He didn't break the seal. He discovered it was never fully closed."
Nathaniel's expression faltered. For a moment, he looked shaken, uncertain. "Then it was inevitable."
Kael's voice softened. "What was?"
"That someone would carry memory too far," Nathaniel replied quietly. "And now that someone is you."
Kael stepped closer, eyes steady. "Then help me. Help me make sure no one else has to carry it alone."
Nathaniel hesitated.
Then slowly, he offered a hand. "Your father trusted you. Maybe that means I should too."
Kael shook his hand firmly.
"What happens next?" he asked.
Nathaniel smiled faintly. "We finish what he started."
They left the clearing together, heading north along a trail only Nathaniel seemed to know existed. Echo stayed close to Kael, watchful but calmer now.
As they walked, Kael opened the notebook again, turning carefully through its pages. Notes, sketches, dates, places he'd already seen. And one last entry, written near the back, in fresher ink than the rest:
Nathaniel—if I don't return, guide him.
He'll remember what I forgot.
Kael closed the notebook slowly, his chest tightening.
Echo brushed against his leg softly.
"You okay?" she asked.
"Not yet," he replied honestly. "But I think we're closer."
Nathaniel led them through a narrow gorge, up a winding path lined with fading glyphs. At the top stood a small cabin hidden among trees—barely visible unless you knew where to look.
Nathaniel opened the door. "This was Galen's safe house. Before Veilpoint. Before everything changed."
Inside were shelves filled with field notes, maps, sketches of glyphs, photographs of ruins and carved stones. But something drew Kael's gaze immediately—an image pinned to the wall:
A photograph of Galen, much younger, smiling, holding an egg gently in his arms.
Beside him stood Nathaniel, younger too, less hardened by the years.
Kael stared quietly.
"You really were there," he whispered.
Nathaniel nodded. "At the beginning. And at the end."
Kael turned back to face him. "Then why didn't he ever mention you?"
Nathaniel's expression darkened. "Because I told him to forget me—to protect you both. Memory was dangerous enough already."
Kael understood. More deeply than he wanted to.
Nathaniel stepped toward a cabinet, unlocking it carefully.
Inside was an old, folded map.
Nathaniel spread it gently across the table. "This is the route your father mapped toward the last known contact point—deeper than Veilpoint, deeper than Cerulean."
He pointed to a red mark at the edge:
Threshold Prime
Kael felt a chill pass through him. "What's there?"
Nathaniel met his gaze evenly. "Answers he didn't live to share."
Kael stared at the map, at the carefully drawn notes, the faded handwriting.
And then at Echo, whose eyes glowed softly with anticipation.
"We need to see it," she said softly.
Nathaniel hesitated only briefly. "Then I'll take you."
Outside, the forest waited, darker now but strangely welcoming. Kael stood beside Echo, Nathaniel a step ahead, watching the stars appear slowly above.
Echo spoke quietly into his thoughts. "Do you trust him?"
Kael watched Nathaniel carefully. "Not yet. But my father did."
"Then so will I," Echo replied simply.
Kael took a breath, stepped forward, and felt something shift inside—like the final piece of a puzzle clicking softly into place.
"Then let's finish it," he said quietly.
Nathaniel turned, meeting his gaze. He nodded once.
"Yes. Let's go."