The silence was different now.
Not heavy.
Not hollow.
But… full.
Like the world was finally breathing again after holding its breath for centuries.
Amaris stood at the edge of the stone circle.
The boy beside her.
The child just behind.
The trees around them, once dead and cracked, were blooming — not with leaves, but with glowing words.
Names.
Real names.
Names that had been stolen… forgotten… broken.
Now returning.
She stepped toward one of the trees.
Its bark split open, and inside… a name she didn’t recognize, but somehow loved.
> “They’re coming back,” she whispered.
“All of them.”
The child nodded.
> “You weren’t the only one who forgot.”
He turned, looking toward the horizon — where light bled into the sky like ink spilling backward.
> “The Forgetting had infected everything. People forgot who they were. What they believed in. Who they loved.”
The boy added softly:
> “We even forgot how to hope.”
Amaris looked at them both.
And for the first time, she didn’t feel broken.
She didn’t feel powerful either.
She felt… whole.
> “What now?” she asked.
The child smiled, stepping forward.
> “Now… you help others remember.”
---
They walked through the woods of names.
Each tree a soul.
Each leaf a memory.
Some whispered songs.
Some screamed.
Some were completely silent — still waiting.
And Amaris listened to them all.
With each name she spoke aloud — another light returned.
Another echo faded.
Another person, somewhere, breathed easier.
---
Later that night — if night even existed here — she sat by a small fire.
The boy curled up beside her, half-asleep.
The child sat across from her, watching the stars.
> “Will I ever forget again?” she asked.
The child’s answer was simple.
> “Everyone forgets. That’s part of living.”
> “Then what’s the point?”
He looked up.
> “To remember again. And again. Every time stronger.”
She smiled.
And for the first time since the first page of her life—
She wasn’t afraid of forgetting anymore.
Because she knew her name.
And she would never let go of it again.
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...
