The journeys through the four elemental realms—Agni Lok, Jal Lok, Vayu Lok, and Prithvi Lok—had come to an end. Aeren had faced storms, shadows, silence, and fire. He had learned the truths of power and balance. Yet what now stood before him was a path unlike any other.
Veera stepped beside him, her gaze fixed on the space ahead. It looked like nothing—just an open plain of black stone under a colorless sky.
But Aeren felt it.
The pressure in the air was too heavy to be natural. Something ancient pulsed beyond sight. A presence both familiar and forgotten.
"This is it," Veera whispered. "The place even I never dared go."
Aeren turned to her. "What is this place?"
"The Cave of Memory," she said. "It is nowhere, yet it touches every realm. It is where the Fifth Element is hidden… or maybe, where you hid it."
His breath caught. "Veera… do you know what that element is?"
She closed her eyes, her voice barely audible. "No. But once… long ago, I could feel it. It terrified me even then. Now, I can't even name it. Only fear it."
Before them stood no temple, no carved arch, no celestial guards. Only a towering wall of dark stone, smooth as obsidian. On its surface, lines glowed faintly, forming an inscription:
"Those who run from the past shall burn within this cave.
Those who accept the past—shall be reborn within it."
Aeren stepped forward, slowly placing his palm against the cold stone. It didn't open. It absorbed him.
He vanished inside.
Veera waited.
The cave was silent. Not dead—silent. As if even sound dared not enter.
Aeren stood within a void that stretched infinitely. There was no floor he could see, and yet he stood. The air was thick—not with moisture or heat, but with something heavier. Memory.
Then the walls around him began to shimmer. Like curtains pulled back in layers, revealing image after image.
His own childhood flickered in a glowing panel—him chasing fireflies near the lake, his mother's laughter echoing behind.
Another image: Aeren wielding a sword, crowned in victory, flames swirling around him like a halo.
Then—another.
A battle.
The screams.
The fire burning too long.
The promise he broke.
The friend he betrayed.
And finally… her. A girl's face. Her eyes full of trust—then disbelief. Then… nothing.
His body trembled. "I thought I let that go…"
But the cave answered with silence.
He stepped forward and found himself before a still pool of silver water. The only thing in this vast place with substance. A mirror.
He looked into it.
And saw—nothing.
Behind him, Veera's voice echoed, though she did not appear. "This is the Water of Memory. It shows not what you want… but what still lives."
Aeren leaned closer, confused.
The water shifted.
A face emerged—his own.
But then—another face behind him.
He turned.
There was another Aeren standing behind him.
But this one was wrong.
His eyes were black as ash, empty yet intense. His expression void of warmth. In his hands, a thin outline of molten metal hovered like a weapon not yet forged.
The figure spoke in Aeren's own voice—but colder, like wind from a forgotten grave.
"I am what you forgot," it said. "The memory inside you… that you locked away to escape pain."
Aeren stepped back. "You're… me?"
"I am your fifth element," the dark Aeren replied. "Your Memory. Your fear. Your guilt. Your truth."
Veera's voice trembled from the cave's depths. "This is impossible…"
She stepped into the chamber, her face pale.
"It's not a power," she said. "Not like fire or wind. It's him. His mind. His past. That's why no one ever controlled it—because it wasn't something outside."
She looked at Aeren. "You sealed it within yourself."
The dark Aeren—the Memory—tilted his head. "You didn't want to feel it. You became a hero, a master of the elements. But you built all of it on forgetting me."
Aeren's fists clenched. "I had no choice. If I remembered, I would've broken."
"No," said the memory. "You didn't break. You abandoned yourself."
Silence.
And then… a step forward.
Aeren looked into those black eyes—his own, twisted by grief and pain.
"I don't want to run anymore," Aeren said. "I accept you."
The shadow blinked.
"I am incomplete without you."
He opened his arms. "I won't run."
The dark Aeren smiled.
And walked into him.
There was no scream. No battle. Just light.
A piercing golden light erupted through the cave, brighter than the sun, swallowing the darkness, washing the walls in gold, crimson, sapphire, emerald, and silver-white.
Outside, Veera shielded her eyes as the heavens exploded.
Five colors rose into the sky.
🔥 Red – Fire
💧 Blue – Water
🌱 Green – Earth
🌬️ White – Air
✨ And now… Golden – Memory
Tears ran down Veera's cheeks.
She whispered, "Now… you're not just the Master of the Elements."
She looked up at the radiant figure stepping from the cave—Aeren, golden light pulsing from his chest, eyes filled with both fire and peace.
"Now," she said, smiling, "You are yourself."
"Aeren… complete."