The light burst from the Tome of Echoes like a miniature supernova, engulfing the hillside and freezing the Hollow King mid-lunge. His skeletal hand hung in the air, caught in a sudden paralysis. Shadows hissed and recoiled, clawing away from the brilliance.
Kael shielded his eyes. "Did you mean to do that?!"
Ayame didn't answer right away. Her hands were trembling around the Tome, eyes glowing with the reflection of countless spinning runes.
"I… think it reacted to the gate," she whispered. "Or maybe to him."
The Hollow King let out a guttural roar that sounded more like stone fracturing than a living scream. He dropped to one knee as if forced down by the weight of memory itself.
"You cannot outrun your nature," he croaked, voice cracking beneath the weight of centuries.
Ayame turned her back on him.
"I'm not running," she said. "I'm rewriting it."
She stepped forward, and the silver shard in her hand floated up on its own, drawn to the swirling arch of the Nexus Gate. The air around it rippled like water disturbed from below. A low hum began, vibrating through their bones.
Kael took her hand. "You sure this is the way?"
"No," she replied. "But I'm sure it's the only one left."
The moment they stepped into the light, the world inverted.
---
They were falling again—but this fall was different.
There was no wind, no gravity. Only sensation. Memories passed them like comets—moments real and imagined. Her first birthday. A future they never lived. Their kiss under a fractured moon. A war that hadn't happened—yet.
Then, impact.
They landed not on ground, but on **thought**. A platform of swirling glass, floating over an endless horizon of stars.
Ayame gasped.
They stood in the **Astral Corridor**—a nexus between forgotten realms. Pathways of pure light extended in every direction, twisting into the cosmos like constellations that had never been drawn.
Kael was speechless for once.
In the center, a tower of mirrors floated, rotating gently like a heart suspended in time. Every face of it reflected not their current selves—but **versions** of them. Older. Broken. Triumphant. Lost.
Ayame stepped forward cautiously.
"The Mirror Citadel," she said. "We're inside it."
Kael watched his reflections—one was laughing, one crying, another bleeding.
"What… is this place?" he asked.
Before she could answer, a voice echoed from above.
**"Welcome, Echoborne."**
They both spun.
Descending from the stars was a woman—cloaked in robes that shimmered like the northern lights, her eyes glowing with galaxies. Her presence wasn't heavy like the Hollow King—it was **infinite**.
"Who are you?" Ayame asked.
"I am the Custodian of What Was Forgotten," she replied, landing silently. "I keep the truths lost to time… and to fear."
Ayame's hands tightened. "Is this about me? Or about what I did?"
The Custodian nodded. "Both."
She raised her hand, and a panel of the mirror lit up, revealing a memory not from the past—but the **future**.
Kael and Ayame—older, hardened, leading armies across a starless battlefield.
"W-What is this?" Kael stammered.
"A path," the Custodian said. "One that was. One that still might be."
Ayame swallowed. "But I don't remember this."
"Because you sealed it," the Custodian said gently. "You buried your future to save your present. You locked away the truth… that you are not just Ayame."
She turned, and the mirror shifted again. This time, it showed **a being of radiant stardust**, standing alone, arms raised toward a shattered sky.
"You are Astra—the last of the Starbound. A guardian of the Celestial Gate. You fell to Earth to escape the war of heavens… and forgot who you were to survive."
Ayame's head spun. "That's not… I mean—how could I be…"
Kael reached for her, but she stepped away, stunned.
The Custodian nodded. "The Hollow King hunts you not because you are powerful—but because your awakening will **undo him**. You were the one who banished him once. And only you can do it again."
Ayame looked at Kael, suddenly remembering every odd dream, every moment of déjà vu, every unexplainable surge of energy. "That's why I could hear the stars."
"And why I've always found you," Kael added softly.
The Custodian turned toward the citadel's heart.
"To reclaim your power, you must walk the Hall of Reflections. Face your lost selves. And choose which one to become."
A corridor opened.
Kael started to follow, but the Custodian raised a hand. "No. She must walk this path alone."
Ayame looked at him, fear and love blending in her eyes. "Will you wait for me?"
"I always do," Kael replied, pulling her hand to his lips.
She nodded once and stepped through the corridor of mirrors.
The moment she passed the threshold, the hall closed behind her like a breath held too long.
Kael was left alone with the Custodian.
"How long will it take?" he asked.
The Custodian gave him a sad smile. "That depends… on how much of herself she's willing to remember."
---