⋱⌘⋰ Lore Scrap ⋱⌘⋰
"Every name buried still twitches beneath the ink."
⋯⋱⧉⋰⋯
The Hall of Unnamed breathed like a sleeping cathedral.
Vessa led Eira past walls of names that had long since slipped their bindings. She had not explained more, and Eira hadn't asked. The ache in her wrist — where the mirror's echo had touched her — was reason enough.
"We're not trying to name what's inside you," Vessa said quietly. "We're trying to keep it from claiming you first."
They stopped before a reconstruction altar etched with ink-thin glyphs. A reconstruction lens hovered above, flickering softly.
On the table lay the book.
It was pulsing.
"You said this came from the Vault?" Eira asked.
"No," Vessa replied. "It arrived last night. No sender. No sorting tag."
"Julian's name is inside."
Vessa nodded. "Which is why we must try."
She placed a name fragment into the lens. The book flared.
"You need to be the anchor," Vessa said. "Touch the page."
Eira's fingers hovered, then rested against the parchment.
Ink curled up her wrist like ivy. The name shimmered — Julian Starling.
Then the book inhaled.
A voice echoed from the page.
"Eira?"
Her knees gave out. She clutched the edge of the table, throat tight.
"Julian—"
"It's cold here. But I remember your voice."
Tears spilled freely. But the page kept pulsing.
The ink grew brighter.
Hotter.
"He's trying to get out," Eira whispered.
The reconstruction lens overloaded. Glyphs cracked.
"Back away!" Vessa barked.
Too late.
The book erupted.
Flames surged upward — inkfire, silver and black. The glyphs along the Hall walls hissed in warning.
Then came the sound — not a voice. A rupture.
Something tore.
From far below, a resonant groan echoed upward.
The seal on Whisper 2 had cracked.
Dust rained down from the ceiling.
Eira stood frozen, her brother's voice still echoing inside her.
"He remembers," she whispered.
"But not as you knew him," Vessa finished softly.
A bell rang — low, ancient, and twice.
Breach alarm.
⋯⋱⧉⋰⋯
To be continued…
⸻ ❖ Archive Fragment ❖ ⸻
Some names burn to be remembered.
⋱◈⋰ End Chapter ⋱◈⋰