The floating temple remained completely still.
Haruki stood above them, his six white wings covering his eyes, gently shifting in the wind.
Nobody spoke.
Finally, Katsu broke the silence.
"You said the River changed."
Haruki nodded.
"And you said reality corrects itself."
"Yes."
Katsu frowned.
"Then why don't you know what caused it?"
Haruki's smile faded.
"...Because the world made me forget."
Silence.
Katsu's eyes widened.
"...You forgot?"
Haruki nodded.
"Whatever the River changed..."
"...it changed me with it."
Katsu stared at him.
His mind began racing.
The River.
The missing memories.
Ryosen's vision.
The ones who remained.
Something wasn't adding up.
"If the world made you forget..." Katsu finally said.
"...then how do you remember that you forgot?"
Haruki stared at him.
Then,
He laughed.
"Because you guys are talking about some Bellerophon!"
He pointed down toward them.
"I can hear you guys from all the way up here, you dummy!"
Katsu froze.
"...Oh."
Haruki grinned.
"You really thought I magically remembered something I forgot?"
Katsu looked away.
"...I was testing you."
Kentarō immediately burst out laughing.
"NO YOU WEREN'T."
"Shut up."
Rokurō sighed.
"Can we please get back to the serious part?"
Haruki's smile slowly disappeared.
"Fine."
The atmosphere changed again.
Shichiro stepped forward.
"But..."
He looked up at Haruki.
"How come we remember?"
Haruki stared at him.
"...That's the question, isn't it?"
Shichiro frowned.
"Everyone else forgot."
"The monks forgot."
"The villages forgot."
"Even you forgot."
His hand slowly tightened into a fist.
"So why didn't we?"
Haruki remained silent.
Then he shook his head.
"I don't know."
Shichiro's eyes widened.
"You don't know?"
Haruki looked toward the clouds surrounding the temple.
"I can see the River."
"I can feel when it changes."
"But I don't decide where it flows."
His gaze shifted toward Ryosen.
"And neither does your Blessed One."
Ryosen's expression hardened.
"...Then who does?"
Haruki didn't answer.
For several seconds, there was only the sound of the wind.
Then Haruki finally spoke.
"That's what you need to find out."
Katsu crossed his arms.
"Then let's establish what we actually know."
Everyone looked toward him.
He raised one finger.
"Bellerophon existed."
Another.
"The world forgot him."
Another.
"The River changed."
Katsu lowered his hand.
"And somehow..."
He looked around at the Haven.
"...we remained."
Silence.
Rokurō scratched his head.
"So we're special?"
Katsu shook his head.
"No."
He looked toward Haruki.
"We're different."
Haruki's expression changed slightly.
Katsu noticed.
"...You know something."
Haruki smiled faintly.
"Maybe."
Katsu narrowed his eyes.
"That's not an answer."
"I know."
Katsu sighed.
"Of course."
Shichiro looked back toward the floating temple.
"So what do we do now?"
Haruki turned around.
His wings slowly opened.
"We find out why the River changed."
"And..."
He glanced back at them.
"...why you were allowed to remember."
The wind suddenly grew stronger.
The white feathers surrounding Haruki's wings scattered into the sky.
One drifted downward.
Landing softly in Shichiro's hand.
He stared at it.
Something about it felt strangely familiar.
Not like a memory.
More like...
A warning.
Haruki's voice echoed from above.
"Your journey isn't over."
Shichiro looked up.
"Then where do we go?"
Haruki smiled.
"Where the River leads."
The floating temple began to rise.
The two colossal golems beneath it slowly lifted their arms, carrying the temple back into the clouds.
The Haven watched in silence.
Until the temple disappeared completely.
Kentarō broke the silence.
"...So."
Everyone looked at him.
"Are we gonna talk about how that dude can just fly away with an entire temple?"
Rokurō sighed.
"...I was wondering the same thing."
Katsu rubbed his forehead.
"I hate this group."
Shichiro laughed.
For the first time since Bellerophon's disappearance...
The tension eased.
But deep inside Shichiro's hand...
The white feather remained.
And somewhere beyond the clouds...
The River continued to flow.