Chapter 131: I Won’t Let Go

The little girl stood behind Celia.

Piece of white chalk in hand.

Bare feet against the cold stone.

Her stitched mouth slowly curved upward.

Dillan stared at her.

"What question?"

The girl didn’t answer.

She drew a circle on the floor.

Then another.

Then a third.

Three circles.

Three choices.

Three memories.

Sasha stepped closer.

"Dillan..."

He looked at her.

"What?"

"That girl isn’t asking you about the past."

Dillan frowned.

"Then what is she asking?"

Sasha looked toward the girl.

"She wants to know what you’ll do now."

The girl nodded.

"Finally."

The System appeared.

[QUESTION IDENTIFIED.]

[CURRENT DECISION REQUIRED.]

[DOES THE HOST ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE CHOICES OF OTHERS?]

Dillan stared at the notification.

"No."

The System flickered.

[ANSWER INSUFFICIENT.]

Dillan’s eyes narrowed.

"Why?"

[HOST MAY REFUSE RESPONSIBILITY.]

[HOST MAY ALSO USE REFUSAL TO AVOID CONSEQUENCES.]

Silence.

The girl smiled.

"That is the question."

Dillan looked around.

At Sasha.

Aurelia.

Alina.

Dana.

Lyra.

Evelyn.

Celia.

Every one of them had been affected by choices he had made.

Some knowingly.

Some unknowingly.

Some before he even remembered making them.

"I can’t control their choices."

The System remained silent.

"But I can accept what my choices caused."

A faint vibration passed through the chamber.

The girl stopped smiling.

Dillan continued.

"If I hurt someone, I don’t get to erase it because my intentions were good."

Another vibration.

"If someone leaves, I don’t get to force them to stay because I’m afraid."

The First Lock began glowing.

"If someone stays, I don’t get to claim them because they chose me."

Sasha’s eyes softened.

"And if someone chooses against me..."

Dillan looked directly at her.

"...I have to let them."

The chamber went completely still.

The System appeared.

[ANSWER ACCEPTED.]

The little girl dropped the chalk.

It shattered.

For the first time, fear appeared in her eyes.

"No."

Dillan looked at her.

"What?"

"You weren’t supposed to answer that."

"Why?"

She stepped backward.

"Because that’s not what you said the first time."

Dillan’s expression changed.

"The first time?"

The girl nodded.

"You promised nobody would leave."

The chamber darkened.

"You promised nobody would be forgotten."

The walls began filling with memories.

Sasha crying.

Aurelia disappearing.

Alina fading.

The Abandoned Self sitting alone.

The One Who Stays beneath the oak tree.

Dillan watched every scene.

"You kept changing the rules."

The girl’s voice became colder.

"Every time someone left..."

She pointed at the memories.

"...you created another rule."

Another Lock appeared.

"Every time someone was forgotten..."

Another Lock.

"Every time you couldn’t save someone..."

Another.

The chamber shook violently.

Seven Locks appeared.

Then an eighth.

Then a ninth.

Then dozens.

Dillan stared at them.

"How many?"

The girl whispered:

"As many as you needed."

The System flashed.

[HISTORICAL LOCK COUNT: UNKNOWN.]

[CURRENT ACTIVE LOCKS: 9.]

[PREVIOUS LOCKS: PURGED.]

[PURGE RECORD: CORRUPTED.]

Celia stepped forward.

"Dillan..."

He looked at her.

"What?"

"You weren’t building a system to protect everyone."

Celia’s voice trembled.

"You were building one to make sure you never had to experience helplessness again."

Dillan said nothing.

Because she was right.

The little girl picked up the broken chalk.

"You called it preservation."

She drew a line across the floor.

"You called it love."

Another line.

"You called it protection."

She looked at Dillan.

"But underneath all of them..."

Her stitched mouth opened.

"...you were afraid."

The Abandoned Self appeared beside Dillan.

He was no longer crying.

He looked at the girl.

"She isn’t lying."

Dillan glanced at him.

"You knew?"

"I was the part that remembered."

The Abandoned Self pointed toward the ninth Lock.

"You created that one after the first time someone chose to leave."

Dillan stared.

"Who?"

The child didn’t answer.

The ninth Lock opened.

A woman’s voice emerged from inside.

Calm.

Familiar.

Broken.

"Dillan."

He froze.

Sasha grabbed his arm.

The voice continued.

"You told me you would let me go."

Dillan’s eyes widened.

The Lock opened further.

A silhouette appeared.

Long hair.

White dress.

One hand pressed against the door.

Dillan whispered:

"Celia?"

Celia shook her head.

"No."

The silhouette stepped into the light.

Dillan’s breathing stopped.

It wasn’t Celia.

It wasn’t Sasha.

It wasn’t Evelyn.

It wasn’t anyone he recognized.

The woman looked at him with tears in her eyes.

"You promised."

Dillan couldn’t move.

"What did I promise?"

She smiled sadly.

"That if I chose to leave..."

Her hand touched the ninth Lock.

"...you would let me."

The System appeared.

[NINTH LOCK: OPEN.]

[SUBJECT: UNKNOWN.]

[FIRST VOLUNTARY DEPARTURE: CONFIRMED.]

[DILLAN RUREN’S RESPONSE: CLASSIFIED.]

Dillan stared at the woman.

The little girl whispered behind him:

"Now ask yourself the question you were too afraid to ask."

The woman looked directly into his eyes.

And spoke.

"Did you really let me go?"

Dillan couldn’t answer.

The woman waited.

No anger.

No accusation.

Just patience.

That made it worse.

Sasha looked at him.

"Dillan?"

He stared at the ninth Lock.

"I don’t remember you."

The woman’s expression barely changed.

"I know."

"Then how can you know what I promised?"

"Because you remembered it when I left."

The chamber went silent.

Dillan felt something inside his chest twist.

The System appeared.

[MEMORY ACCESS: AVAILABLE.]

[SUBJECT: UNKNOWN.]

[REQUIREMENT: ANSWER THE QUESTION.]

[QUESTION: DID DILLAN RUREN ALLOW HER TO LEAVE?]

Two options appeared.

[YES.]

[NO.]

Dillan stared at them.

The little girl whispered:

"Choose."

Dillan didn’t.

Instead, he stepped toward the woman.

"Tell me your name."

She smiled sadly.

"You don’t remember that either."

"Tell me."

"I was called many things."

"By whom?"

"By you."

Dillan’s eyes narrowed.

"How many?"

"Three."

The System flickered.

[IDENTITY FRAGMENT DETECTED.]

[NAME HISTORY: 3 INSTANCES.]

[CURRENT NAME: UNRECOVERED.]

Dillan looked at her.

"Why did you leave?"

The woman’s eyes lowered.

"Because you asked me to."

The words struck him.

"You wanted me gone?"

"No."

"Then why?"

"Because you were afraid of what would happen if I stayed."

Dillan’s heartbeat accelerated.

"What would happen?"

She looked toward Sasha.

Then toward the One Who Stays.

Then toward the other girls.

"You would keep choosing us."

Dillan frowned.

"And?"

"You would eventually stop choosing yourself."

The room fell silent.

Celia closed her eyes.

The Abandoned Self whispered:

"She was the first person who understood."

Dillan turned toward him.

"Understood what?"

"That your promise was killing you."

The woman stepped closer.

"You wanted to save everyone."

Her eyes softened.

"So I gave you the one thing you couldn’t give yourself."

Dillan whispered:

"What?"

"An opportunity to fail."

The ninth Lock trembled.

A memory appeared.

Dillan stood beneath the oak tree.

Older now.

The woman stood before him.

She was crying.

"You can’t stay."

Dillan shook his head.

"I can fix it."

"You always say that."

"I can."

"You can’t fix someone choosing to leave."

"I can make you stay."

She froze.

Dillan immediately regretted the words.

The woman stepped backward.

"That."

Dillan’s expression changed.

"What?"

"That is why I have to go."

She touched his face.

"You don’t hear yourself anymore."

"I love you."

"I know."

"Then stay."

She smiled through her tears.

"No."

Dillan’s eyes filled with panic.

"Please."

"You promised."

He froze.

She continued.

"You promised that if I ever wanted to leave..."

Her hand slipped from his face.

"...you would let me."

Dillan stared at her.

Every instinct inside him screamed to stop her.

But he stepped aside.

The woman walked past him.

One step.

Then another.

Dillan didn’t follow.

She reached the edge of the clearing.

Stopped.

Looked back.

And smiled.

"Thank you."

Then she disappeared.

The memory ended.

Dillan stood motionless.

He remembered now.

Not her name.

Not everything.

But the feeling.

The unbearable moment when someone he loved walked away.

And he allowed it.

The System appeared.

[MEMORY CONFIRMED.]

[FIRST VOLUNTARY DEPARTURE: CONFIRMED.]

[DILLAN RUREN’S RESPONSE: NON-INTERFERENCE.]

Dillan looked at the woman.

"I let you go."

She smiled.

"Yes."

The ninth Lock began dissolving.

But Dillan noticed something.

The woman wasn’t disappearing.

The Lock was.

"Wait."

She stopped.

"Why were you trapped in the Lock?"

Her expression changed.

"I wasn’t."

Dillan froze.

"What?"

"I was never trapped."

The woman looked toward the little girl.

"She was."

Everyone turned.

The little girl stood completely still.

Her stitched mouth began trembling.

The woman continued.

"The Locks weren’t built to imprison the people who left."

Dillan’s blood ran cold.

"They were built to imprison the version of you that couldn’t accept their departure."

The little girl’s chalk fell from her hand.

Crack.

Her stitched mouth slowly opened.

For the first time, there was no smile.

Only terror.

"No..."

The System erupted with warnings.

[CRITICAL DISCOVERY.]

[LOCK PURPOSE RECLASSIFIED.]

[PRIMARY FUNCTION: EMOTIONAL CONTAINMENT.]

[CONTAINED SUBJECT: DILLAN RUREN.]

Dillan stared at the girl.

She began backing away.

"No."

The Abandoned Self looked at her.

"You’re the part that stayed."

The girl’s eyes widened.

"You’re the part he couldn’t let go."

Dillan took one step toward her.

The girl screamed.

"DON’T!"

Every Lock in the chamber slammed shut.

The woman vanished.

The lights died.

And from somewhere in the darkness came a whisper:

"You finally found me."

Author’s note: if you enjoyed the Chapter, please contribute some power stones or even golden tickets.