Chapter 137: The Heart of the Forgotten City

The passage closed behind Rin with a sound like a distant thunderclap. He turned immediately. The wall was seamless.

"Wonderful, another ancient place that doesn’t believe in letting people leave." he muttered.

Eryndor glanced at him.

"You’re complaining again."

"I’m trying to maintain my sanity."

"Is that what you call it?"

Rin gave him an offended look. Eryndor smiled, and for a moment, the tension between them eased.

Then the blue lights along the tunnel flickered. Both boys stopped. Ahead, the stranger continued walking as though nothing had happened.

"Keep moving," he said.

Eryndor frowned.

"You could at least explain where we’re going."

"To the heart of the city."

"You’ve said that already."

"And yet you continue asking."

Rin almost laughed.

Almost.

Something about the stranger’s presence unsettled him. He spoke as though he knew exactly what would happen next, but whenever they asked about the past, he offered only fragments.

Rin wanted answers. Unfortunately, the only person who might have helped him was still hiding inside his mind.

Aelion?

No response. Rin’s expression tightened.

You said this was where you made your first mistake. What mistake?

Silence.

He continued walking, trying not to let his frustration show. After several minutes, the tunnel widened.

The blue lights disappeared, replaced by a faint golden glow coming from beneath the floor. At the end stood an enormous circular gate.

Unlike the doors above, it had no names or symbols. Only a shallow indentation at its center. The stranger stopped before it.

"We have arrived."

Eryndor examined the gate.

"How do we open it?"

The stranger looked at Rin.

"He knows."

Rin stiffened.

"Who?"

"Aelion."

Eryndor turned toward him.

"You know how?"

Rin forced himself to remain calm.

"I don’t remember."

The stranger studied him.

"Of course."

He stepped aside.

"Then place your hand against the gate."

Rin hesitated. Every instinct told him not to but they had come this far, and the passage behind them had already vanished.

He approached the gate. The moment his palm touched the stone, golden light spread beneath his fingers.

A low vibration filled the tunnel. Then the gate opened. Beyond it lay a vast underground chamber.

Rin forgot to breathe. The room resembled a palace built beneath the earth. White pillars rose toward a ceiling lost in darkness. Narrow bridges crossed a deep central pit, connecting platforms carved from pale stone.

At the very center stood a circular pool. Its surface was perfectly still. Above it floated a small golden sphere.

Eryndor stepped beside Rin.

"What is that?"

The stranger answered.

"The city’s heart."

Rin looked at the sphere. It reminded him of something, though he couldn’t say what.

Then Aelion finally spoke.

Don’t go near it.

Rin nearly stumbled.

You’re talking again.

Listen to me.

The urgency in Aelion’s voice made Rin’s stomach tighten.

What is that thing?

It keeps what remains.

Of what?

Aelion hesitated.

Of the people who were erased.

Rin stared at the golden sphere.

Erased by whom?

Before Aelion could answer, the stranger began crossing the bridge.

"Come."

Eryndor followed. Rin remained where he was. The sphere pulsed. For a fraction of a second, he saw something inside it.

A face. A young man’s face. Then it disappeared.

Aelion!" Eryndor called.

Rin hurried after him. They reached the central platform. The stranger stood beside the pool, watching the sphere.

"This city was built to preserve what the world could not keep."

Eryndor folded his arms.

"You keep speaking in riddles."

"Because the truth is not always something you can understand immediately."

"Try me."

The stranger regarded him.

"Very well. The city was destroyed because someone tried to preserve a future that should never have existed."

Rin’s heart tightened. Eryndor looked at the sphere.

"What does that have to do with us?"

"Everything."

The golden light intensified. Images appeared inside the sphere. Aelion stood in a room filled with books. Eryndor was beside him.

They appeared older than they had in the earlier memories.

Aelion held a small object in his hands. A black stone. Eryndor reached for it, but Aelion pulled away.

The image changed. Now they stood before a gathering of robed figures. One of them pointed toward Eryndor.

Aelion stepped in front of him. The memory flickered. Then darkness swallowed it. Eryndor stared at the sphere.

"What was that?"

"A choice," the stranger answered.

"What choice?"

"The one that brought you here."

Eryndor’s jaw tightened.

"I don’t remember making any choice."

"You weren’t supposed to."

Rin glanced at him. The words sounded familiar.

Aelion had said something similar before.

I don’t understand

This time, Aelion answered.

They took the choice away from him.

Rin’s chest tightened.

Who did?

The people who wanted to control what we would become.

The sphere began to glow brighter. A voice emerged from it.

Not the stranger’s. Not Aelion’s. A woman’s voice.

"Bearer identified."

Eryndor immediately stepped back.

"What was that?"

The sphere pulsed again.

"Memory fragment available."

The stranger’s expression changed. For the first time, he looked genuinely alarmed.

"Step away from it."

Rin turned.

"Why?"

"Now!"

The pool erupted with light. A wave of golden energy swept across the platform. Rin felt something seize his chest.

The chamber vanished and suddenly, he was standing in a familiar courtyard.

The sky was bright. Flowers grew along the stone paths. Aelion stood before him, dressed in elegant white robes but this time, Rin wasn’t seeing a distant memory.

He was experiencing it. Aelion turned toward him.

"You came."

Rin froze.

He could see Aelion clearly. The original Aelion. Not the voice inside his mind. Not an image. A person.

"Aelion?"

The boy frowned.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Rin’s heart raced. He remembered the warning from the stranger. He remembered the rules of this past. Nobody could know who he really was.

And yet, here stood the person whose body he inhabited.

Rin forced himself to speak.

"Where are we?"

Aelion studied him.

"The courtyard."

"I know that."

"Then why ask?"

Rin swallowed. Before he could respond, another voice came from behind them.

"You two are going to be late."

Eryndor approached, carrying a small wooden box.

He looked younger. His expression was brighter. There was no black mark on his arm.

Rin stared at him. Eryndor stopped.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Eryndor narrowed his eyes.

"You’re acting strange today, young master."

Aelion laughed.

"He does that sometimes."

Rin looked at him. Aelion’s smile faded. For one brief moment, their eyes met.

And Rin understood. This wasn’t simply a memory. It was a moment Aelion had lost. A moment that the city had preserved.

The courtyard trembled. Eryndor looked around.

"What was that?"

Aelion turned toward the sky. His expression changed.

"They found us."

Rin’s blood ran cold.

"Who?"

Aelion looked at him.

"The ones who want to take him away."

Eryndor opened the wooden box. Inside lay a black stone. The same stone Rin had seen inside the sphere.

Aelion reached for it but before his fingers could touch it, the courtyard shattered.

Rin was thrown back into the underground chamber. He gasped.

Eryndor caught him before he fell.

"Aelion!"

Rin clutched his arm. The golden sphere had stopped glowing. The stranger stood beside the pool, his expression unreadable.

"What did you show us?" Rin demanded.

"The truth."

"No. You showed us a memory."

The stranger nodded.

"And now you understand why this place exists."

Rin shook his head.

"I understand nothing."

The stranger looked toward Eryndor.

"Not yet."

Eryndor released Rin and faced him.

"I’m tired of being told that I don’t remember things I’m not supposed to remember."

His voice sharpened.

"Tell me what happened to me."

The stranger remained silent.

"Tell me why my name was written on those walls. Tell me why that mark was placed on me. Tell me why Aelion keeps appearing in memories that I cannot remember."

Rin’s heart pounded. Eryndor turned toward him.

"And tell me why you keep looking at me as though you’re afraid I’ll disappear."

Rin couldn’t speak. Because Eryndor had noticed and because the answer was more complicated than he could explain.

The stranger finally spoke.

"Your questions have answers."

He raised one hand. The golden sphere split into two halves. Inside it lay the black stone.

"However, the next memory belongs to Eryndor alone."

The platform trembled. Eryndor stared at the stone.

"What happens if I touch it?"

The stranger’s eyes darkened.

"You remember."

"And if I don’t?"

"Then the city will continue remembering for you."

Eryndor looked at Rin. Rin wanted to tell him to refuse. He wanted to pull him away from the sphere and find another path but he couldn’t make that choice for him.

Not after everything he had learned. Eryndor slowly approached the pool.

Rin caught his wrist.

"Wait."

Eryndor looked at him.

"Why?"

Rin struggled to find an answer. Because he was afraid. Because Aelion was afraid. Because somewhere in the future, Eryndor would become the person Rin loved.

But he couldn’t say any of that. So he asked the only question he could.

"What if the memory hurts you?"

Eryndor’s expression softened.

"Then you’ll be here."

Rin’s grip loosened. Eryndor turned toward the sphere. And reached for the stone.

The moment his fingers touched it, the entire city went dark. A voice echoed through the chamber.

"Memory restored."

Then Eryndor whispered a name Rin had never heard him speak.

A name that made Aelion cry out inside Rin’s mind.

"...Aelion, my sweet love..."

The darkness swallowed them both.