Lirae woke to silence.
But not the kind that pressed.
Not the kind that screamed.
This silence was… soft.
Her eyes fluttered open.
A sky. Blue. Cloudless.
Grass below her. Cold, damp. Real.
She sat up, slowly.
The Core in her chest had dimmed — not gone, just… sleeping.
Everything felt lighter.
Her body.
Her thoughts.
Even her grief.
She stood.
She was wearing different clothes. Nothing of the Archive, or the war, or the memory world remained on her skin. But deep inside, she still carried the ache. The knowing.
> “Where am I?” she whispered.
The wind didn’t answer.
But something else did.
A bird.
Bright white. Tiny. Watching her from a tree.
She took a step forward—
And stopped.
Because beside her, lying in the grass, was him.
The boy.
Eyes closed. Breathing steady.
She reached out, heart thudding—
And he stirred.
His eyes opened.
Blue.
But not the haunted blue of the Archive. These were lighter. Curious.
> “Lirae?” he said, slowly. Carefully.
> “You remember me?”
He frowned.
> “I… I think I do.”
She smiled faintly.
> “Good. Because I remember everything.”
He sat up, rubbing his eyes.
> “Where are we?”
> “I think… the place you showed me. A timeline untouched. A second beginning.”
> “And the war?”
> “Over.”
But they both knew that wasn’t entirely true.
Because in the sky — barely visible — was a single crack.
Thin.
Silent.
But there.
Like the world still remembered what had happened before… even if no one else did.
> “We’re not done, are we?” he asked.
> “No,” she said. “But we’re together. That’s a start.”
They stood in silence for a moment longer.
And then —
a sound.
A child’s laughter in the distance.
A village.
A life.
Waiting.
They looked at each other.
And walked.
YOU ARE READING
memory core
Fantasy> ❝Memories don't die... They just hide where no one dares to look.❞ Mira thought she was just a normal girl. Until she woke up in a strange room, with a name that wasn't hers and a heart that remembered something... or someone... else. There is som...
