---
> "Not all who are lost want to be found. Some stay behind… to remember what others are trying to forget."
---
The black water wasn't just deep.
It was endless.
It swallowed him completely.
Not like drowning—more like melting.
His body felt heavy… not with pressure, but with memories.
He drifted through time.
He heard them—faint whispers through the current:
> "You left me."
> "You promised."
> "You lied."
The voice was hers.
Remi.
---
He landed—not softly.
It was a stone field, cold and white.
Barren trees stood like broken bones.
And there, in the center… was a chair.
Occupied.
A figure.
Back turned.
Clad in gray robes.
Still as stone.
He walked forward.
The figure didn't move—until he spoke.
> "Are you her?"
A low chuckle.
> "I'm not her. But I remember her."
The figure turned.
And he saw…
Himself.
Older.
Scarred.
Empty.
> "I'm who you would've become… if you had stayed."
---
His knees buckled.
This version of him looked like suffering incarnate.
But behind his eyes… there was peace.
> "I stayed," the older self said. "When you ran, I remained."
> "Why?" he whispered.
> "Because someone had to. Because she deserved to be remembered."
---
The world blurred.
They sat together.
In silence.
No war. No Tower. Just memory.
The older version spoke again:
> "They think forgetting is healing. But it's only survival."
> "And remembering?"
> "That's war. Inside your soul."
---
He stood up.
Something in his hand.
A necklace.
Simple. Rusted.
Remi's.
He didn't remember how it got there—only that it belonged to her.
And now, it was his burden.
> "You came to face the truth," the older self said. "But truth has no end."
> "Then why keep walking?" he asked.
> "Because pain means you're still real."
The sky cracked above them.
The world peeled away.
The field vanished.
---
He stood again in the Tower.
Wet. Shaking. Changed.
The mark on his arm had grown—not just one symbol, but two more:
A spiral
A cracked circle
And now… a flame.
> A memory. A flaw. A loss.
He clutched the necklace tight.
> "Remi…"
> "I remember."
---
The Tower was silent.
Not in peace.
But in preparation.
He wasn't the same anymore.
And it knew—
The next trial wouldn't break him.
> It would have to kill him.
---