The child didn’t cry.
Didn’t tremble.
Didn’t ask.
He just watched her — the way people look at old photographs and try to remember who they were.
Lirae couldn’t look away.
> “What do you mean you’re what I couldn’t protect?”
The boy knelt beside the child, silent. Listening.
The child pointed to his chest.
> “You gave me this.”
There, beneath the shawl, a faint purple spiral glowed under his skin — exactly like her Core.
Lirae stepped back.
> “No… that’s not possible.”
> “It is,” the boy said beside her.
“He carries a fragment.”
Lirae clutched her chest.
She remembered now.
A moment, a world ago —
A burning village.
A last decision.
A piece of her heart, torn out and hidden… inside a child.
Because the Core was too powerful. And if she’d fallen… the world would’ve ended.
So she made a choice.
And forgot it.
Until now.
> “I left you,” she whispered.
“I left you behind to save myself.”
The child didn’t blink.
> “You saved me to save yourself. And I waited. I waited so long.”
> “Where did you go?” the boy asked.
The child looked at the horizon.
> “Nowhere. I stayed in the cracks. Between timelines. Between names. Until you remembered me.”
Lirae fell to her knees.
Tears burned her eyes.
> “I didn’t mean to abandon you…”
He tilted his head.
> “But you did.”
The words weren’t angry. Just… truth.
And the truth was heavier than any blade.
Then he reached out — and touched her hand.
> “But you came back. And that means I can forgive you.”
A light passed between them.
And for the first time, Lirae saw his Core merge slightly with hers — like two echoes realigning.
The boy beside her whispered:
> “He’s not a child.”
> “No,” Lirae said. “He’s memory. Grown.”
A pause.
> “What do we do now?” the boy asked.
The child answered:
> “There’s one place left. The place where all forgotten things go.”
> “The Abyss?” Lirae asked.
> “No,” the child said, standing.
He looked up at them both.
And smiled.
> “The beginning.”
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...
