Kael's breath caught in his throat.
The second Ayame—no, the thing in her shape—tilted her head with that same smile he remembered from the night they first kissed. But twisted. Mocking.
"Miss me?" she purred, her voice a sultry, distorted echo.
Behind him, Ayame stirred. She stepped forward, slow but steady, each movement deliberate as she faced her own doppelgänger.
"I don't remember you," she said.
"Yet I remember everything," the reflection said, twirling a strand of silver-blue hair between her fingers. "You locked me away the moment you chose to forget. The anger. The ambition. The truth."
Kael's hand inched toward the blade resting at his belt. "You're not her."
The twisted Ayame's eyes flicked toward him. "But I could be. I was. She just buried me under soft memories and borrowed stardust."
The real Ayame stepped forward, voice firm. "You're a remnant."
"I'm a warning," the reflection hissed. "You can't walk the path ahead without facing me. Without accepting what you've done."
Ayame stood her ground. "Then let's finish this."
---
The fight didn't happen the way Kael expected.
There was no clash of light and shadow, no dramatic bursts of magic. It began in the quietest way possible—Ayame stepped forward… and touched her reflection's hand.
And the world fractured.
Kael was yanked backward—not physically, but across time. He saw glimpses of Ayame's memories. Not all of them, just the ones she'd kept buried so deeply even she couldn't name them.
A tower burning.
A child's scream.
A blade made of stardust, dripping with cosmic blood.
Ayame, standing above someone she loved—someone else, not Kael—with hands trembling and stained red.
Then the vision shifted.
He saw the same face—the reflection—standing behind a throne, whispering into Ayame's ear. "Let it all burn."
---
Kael landed hard on the floor of the Spire again, panting. Ayame was still locked in contact with her mirror self, their eyes glowing faintly, pupils flickering like stars.
Then, Ayame pulled.
With a cry, she dragged the memory—the twisted shadow—into herself.
The air rippled.
And when it was over, only one Ayame remained.
She collapsed into Kael's arms, her body shaking.
"I didn't destroy her," she whispered. "I remembered her."
Kael held her close, the thrum of her heartbeat against his chest. "You're stronger for it."
"I don't know what I am anymore."
"You're still you."
She looked up at him, eyes wet but calm. "Then you have to promise me something."
"Anything."
"If I lose myself again… if I become *her*…"
Kael cupped her cheek, brushing a thumb across her skin. "Then I'll find you. Every time."
---
The Custodian waited in the shadows, arms crossed.
"You took a dangerous risk," she said as they approached.
"She was part of me," Ayame replied.
The Custodian nodded. "Then maybe there's hope."
She turned and pointed toward the Spire's exit—now glowing with a soft lavender light.
"The Garden of the First Light lies beyond that gate. But be warned: in that place, reality bends. You'll see things that aren't yours. Lives you never lived. Choices you didn't make."
Ayame gripped Kael's hand. "We've made it this far."
Kael smirked. "What's one more existential crisis?"
They stepped forward together.
---
The world *warped* as they passed through the threshold.
Suddenly, they were standing in a vast expanse of stars… but not the sky. These stars *moved.* Some flickered with laughter. Others wept.
Beneath their feet, a path of petals stretched endlessly.
A tall gate waited ahead, made of woven light and shadows.
Ayame stared at it, then at Kael. "I don't think this is the kind of place we *walk* through."
He nodded. "So we fly?"
Ayame smirked, and without a word, reached into the pendant again.
Wings—glorious, translucent wings—unfurled behind her, shimmering with memory and magic.
Kael stared. "Okay, now you're just showing off."
She extended her hand. "Come with me, earthboy."
He took it.
Together, they flew.
---
But as they reached the gate, something was waiting.
A figure cloaked in feathers, faceless but tall. In its hand, a key made of glass.
Ayame floated forward. "We seek entry to the Garden."
The being tilted its head. "Then choose. A memory to surrender."
Kael stepped up beside her. "Wait, what?"
"One memory each," the figure said. "Something precious. A moment that defines you."
Ayame turned to Kael. "What do we do?"
Kael didn't hesitate. He stepped forward. "I'll give you my first kiss."
Ayame gasped. "Kael—"
He looked at her with sad eyes. "Not the moment itself… just *how it felt.* That weightless wonder. The way the world stilled."
The gatekeeper nodded and touched Kael's forehead.
For a moment, Kael swayed. He still *remembered* the kiss—but something had changed. It felt distant now. Like watching someone else's dream.
He turned to Ayame. "Your turn."
Ayame hesitated.
Then she stepped forward. "I'll give you… the lullaby."
Kael froze.
"That's your mother's—"
"I remember the melody," she said. "But not her voice anymore."
The figure touched her.
Tears slipped down Ayame's cheek.
The gate opened.
---
They entered.
And behind them, the gatekeeper whispered:
"They gave too much. And still… not enough."
---