"Memory is the first kingdom to fall. The body follows… the world obeys." - Arcana
The moment the Trail opened, Tilbara held its breath.
The sky still glowed with fractured gold, a wound of light stretching across the horizon like a path that no living soul had ever walked.
Ken Hiroki stared upward, palm trembling around the cracked bell.
It should have stopped vibrating.
But it hadn't.
It was only the beginning.
A breeze slipped across Evalia, soft and cold.
Then a second.
Then—
The third wind came heavy, like a tide pressing against the shore of reality.
Kabe flinched. "Ken… did you feel that—?" Before Ken could answer, the air thickened.
Not like fog.
Not like smoke.
But like memory.
Thin threads of silver began drifting across the courtyard, floating like ash — except every piece carried a whisper.
Faint names. Fragments of voices. Pieces of someone's past.
Qinglua's eyes widened. "This is—"
"—a memory storm," Reka-sensei finished, voice shaking.
The first Rewrite had begun.
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The Storm That Ate Faces
At first, it was subtle.
A mother blinked.Her expression softened.She looked at the child holding her hand—
And frowned.
"…Who… who are you?"
The child's eyes filled with tears.
"Mom?"
Azuma-sensei sucked in a breath.
"No. No, this is too early—"
Then a soldier gasped and clutched his chest.
"I… I don't remember my unit. My rank. My—"
Reka grabbed his arm.
"Stay calm, this is temporary—"
But his memories were crumbling like wet paper.
Ken felt his skin crawl.
"Kabe—stay close. Don't let the storm touch you."
Kabe nodded, already reaching for Ken's hand—
but the breeze turned violent.
A sudden burst of silver ash swirled between the brothers, forming a spiraling column.
"KEN!" Kabe shouted, reaching.
Ken pushed forward, but the ash coiled around him like living threads, whispering fragments of his own voice back at him.
"Ken Hiroki… Ken Hiro…"
It was his tone.
His breath.
His heartbeat.
But the words weren't his. He staggered back.
"Kabe—!"
His own memory tried to slip.
For a heartbeat—he forgot the shape of Kabe's face.
Just a moment.
Just a flicker.
But it was enough to terrify him.
"No—NO!" Ken growled, forcing himself forward.
He grabbed Kabe's wrist—and in that instant, the storm screamed.
The Scream of the Rewrite
It wasn't a physical scream.
It was every erased name in Tilbara crying out at once.
Walls shook.
Windows shattered.
Shadows twisted into silhouettes of people who no longer existed.
Qinglua dropped to one knee, clutching his head.
A whisper slid into his ear:
"Do not be afraid, Qinglua.
This storm does not rewrite you."
His breath froze.
"…Uhayyad?"
The voice faded instantly, like a dream dissolving.
Only Qinglua had heard it.
He looked around frantically—but nobody else had reacted.
Hamori, Nai, and Hanabi were shielding each other from the storm.
Reka and Azuma were stabilizing crashing memories.
Ken and Kabe were bracing against the silver wind.
Qinglua swallowed hard.
His imaginary twin…
was no longer imaginary.
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The New Trail Appears
The sky flickered.
The golden line split into two.
A second Trail burned across the heavens, red and sharp like a fresh wound.
Everyone stared.
Reka whispered:
"This… this wasn't in any record. Two Trails shouldn't appear."
Azuma grit his teeth.
"Someone is rewriting the world selectively."
Kabe tightened his grip on Ken.
"…Someone just rewrote us."
Ken looked at him, still shaken.
"Kabe, for a moment… I couldn't remember your face."
Kabe looked down.
"I know. I felt it too."
Ken's voice cracked.
"I was so scared."
"Me too."
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In Kurogane
Far across the sea, deep in the Memory Theater, Arcana stood before a bowl of memory crystals. Each crystal dripped the same silver ash as the storm. She dipped her fingers into the shimmering fragments and sighed. Her lips curled into a thin smile.
"The First Rewrite is complete."
Behind her, faint silhouettes of other Upper Ranks watched — Lily's soft steps, Kyoki's trembling hands, Xeno's quiet breathing.
They stood like obedient animals.
Because they were.
Even Arcana herself trembled—not from fear, but from the pressure of something ancient watching her from the shadows.
A presence far greater than her.
She whispered to the darkness:
"I have done as the Master wished.
The world bends.
The Guardians will awaken.
And the Trailwalkers…"
Her smile deepened.
"…will break."
In the darkness, something shifted.
A low, distant breath.
A presence older than Trails.
Older than memory.
Older than the world.
Arcana bowed deeply.
"Your will is done."
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The Storm Ends, The Cliff Opens
The storm dissipated as suddenly as it began.
Evalia was silent.
People stood confused, many crying without knowing why. Some held photographs as if trying to remember who was in them. Some whispered names that no longer existed.
Hamori tugged Ken's sleeve.
"Onii-san… why does everything feel… wrong?"
Ken knelt and hugged him tightly.
"I don't know. But I'm here."
Kabe turned to the horizon.
Two Trails now cut across the sky.
One gold.
One red.
Qinglua stepped forward, trembling.
"We… we have entered something we cannot reverse."
Reka whispered:
"Tilbara has been rewritten."
Azuma asked:
"…But by who?"
A soft breeze passed them.
Carrying a whisper that only Qinglua heard again:
"You will understand soon, brother."
Qinglua's heart stopped.
Uhayyad.
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Last Scene
Ken looked up at the sky, eyes wide with fear and wonder.
"Kabe… what happens now?"
Kabe swallowed hard.
"We follow the Trail."
But neither noticed—the shadows behind them shifted…
As if someone they could not see was finally stepping into their world.