Morning.
Pale violet light filtered through the giant roots above, mingling with drifting mist as it fell over Ly's small house. The group slowly woke, their bodies lighter but their skin still raw—wounds not yet fully healed.
Ly was already packed, her gray cloak dusted with spores. She turned back to them, voice calm but firm.
"Let's go. The forest is about to shift its rhythm. If we're late, it'll swallow us whole."
Kael frowned. "Shift its rhythm?"
Ly only replied, "You'll understand soon enough."
As they stepped outside, a low rumble echoed from deep below—like the beating of a colossal heart. With every step, the ground trembled faintly, and the roots along the walls tensed and relaxed in steady rhythm, like living muscles.
Renar shivered. "It feels like… it's breathing."
Ly didn't turn back. "Because it really is."
The path ahead wound downward, deeper into the subterranean forest like a colossal maze. Roots tangled overhead, and the glow of magic lanterns flickered across slick, damp walls. The smell of fungi, rot, and rusted iron mixed together—heavy and suffocating.
Senki muttered, "I'm starting to hate the color purple."
Sill chuckled softly, but her smile vanished the moment she noticed the carvings on the walls.
Ancient symbols—figures, upside-down suns, and torn eyes—were etched deep into the stone.
Renar reached out and brushed one with his fingertips. Instantly, a surge of blue light flared.
Before them unfolded a vision—a radiant city beneath the earth. Thousands of lights floated high above, people laughed and talked in a vast square, and luminous creatures drifted through the air like stars.
Then, in a single heartbeat, purple spores flooded the scene. The laughter stopped. The city vanished into darkness, leaving nothing but ash.
Kael murmured, "That was… a memory?"
Ly nodded slightly. "It's what the forest remembers—the echoes of those who once lived here."
No one spoke again. They continued in silence, their footsteps echoing against the pulse of the forest's heartbeat.
Eventually, they reached a massive chamber that opened at the roots' core. From high above, violet light poured down, illuminating broken stone towers and statues scattered across the ground.
But the longer they looked, the colder their spines became.
Renar whispered, "These statues… they look too real."
Ly answered flatly, "Because they were once people."
The air froze.
"When the city was devoured, the forest preserved their memories. Their bodies turned to stone… so their souls wouldn't fade away."
Senki staggered back, clutching his cloak. "So… they're still here?"
"Yes," Ly said softly. "And they're still dreaming."
She led them deeper, to the center of the square, where a cracked altar rose from the ground.
Atop the stone lay a glowing amber mushroom, its warm light melting the surrounding shadows.
Ly knelt beside it. "This is what I came for—Heartspore. The final ingredient to purge the remaining infection from the two who were tainted."
Kael glanced around warily. "Then take it, and let's leave."
Ly nodded, reaching out. But the instant her fingers brushed the stem, the wall behind them burst into light.
A deep, hollow voice rumbled from within the stone:
"So, you have returned… Ly of the Memories."
Everyone froze. Kael snapped toward her. "What? It's talking to you?"
Ly didn't answer. She rose slowly, eyes clouded with sorrow.
"Don't listen. It's just a remnant… of what once was."
But the wall cracked open, revealing a stone relief of a girl wrapped in roots—her face identical to Ly's, down to the smallest scar.
Renar stammered, "That—can't be… You—"
Ly turned sharply, cutting him off. Her voice was cold as steel.
"Don't look. We're leaving. Now."
A sharp crack echoed. Then another.
All around the square, the "statues" began to fracture. Pieces of stone fell away, revealing beneath them tangled roots pulsing with flesh—and eyes, pale and lidless, glowing faintly violet.
Senki screamed, "They're alive!"
Kael drew his sword, steel flashing in the dim light.
Ly shouted, "Don't let them touch you! They're living memories—the forest is using them to defend itself!"
The square exploded into chaos. Roots burst from the ground like serpents, wrapping around their legs. Kael slashed hard—roots tore apart, but crimson blood sprayed from the cut.
Sill gasped, horrified. "That's… human blood!"
Renar hurled a blade of light, slicing through more roots, but purple spores erupted, spreading across the walls and their skin. Every breath burned like fire in their lungs.
Ly pulled a glass vial from her cloak and hurled it down. It shattered, unleashing a thick white smoke that filled the entire square.
"Run!" she screamed. "Before the forest memorizes your shapes!"
Through the choking haze, they ran—through collapsing corridors and crumbling stone. The ground quaked beneath their feet, pulsing like a living heart.
Behind them, statues shattered one after another, echoing like brittle bones breaking.
Renar panted, "It's… chasing us?"
Ly looked back, eyes sharp as knives. "No. It's waking up."
Kael slashed through a root blocking the way. "Waking up? You make it sound like the forest's alive!"
Ly's voice cut through the roar, calm but icy:
"Not just alive… aware. And now—it remembers you."
A deafening roar erupted. The cliff behind them collapsed, revealing a massive mass of roots pulsing like a gigantic heart.
And on it—an enormous golden eye opened, reflecting their fleeing figures.
Cold wind surged forward, thick with the scent of blood and spores.
Ly turned back once, her amber eyes gleaming like fire.
"This isn't a forest anymore. From now on… you're inside its living memory."
They sprinted through the violet fog, hearts pounding in unison with the forest's breath—slow, heavy, endless.
And deep beneath the earth, the Forgotten City began to breathe once more.