They didn't speak for a long time after the figures vanished.
The basin was still. But it wasn't peaceful. It felt like a room after a storm — the kind where everything looks untouched, yet something invisible had been broken. Jack walked slowly beside Lucy, still recovering from the memory fracture. Kitty stayed close to Frank, watching his face like a shadow. He hadn't said a word since the silhouettes appeared. Peter was scouting ahead, but even his blade-hand trembled slightly. Susan clutched her glyph journal tightly against her chest.
And Tom walked alone.
He hadn't fallen. He hadn't flinched. But something in his eyes had gone dimmer. Like a lantern running low on flame.
They took shelter in the base of a stone cavern just beyond the basin. It was shallow, but wide enough to hold them, and it was shielded from the sky. Frank started a small flame with Palecto, and they sat around it — not for heat, but to remember that light still existed.
Lucy sat across from him. "Three figures. Three voices. Was that really the Monster Trio?"
Susan nodded slowly. "It wasn't all of them fully. Just echoes. Projections. But yes. That was them."
Peter knelt beside the fire. "And now they've seen us. They know how close we're getting."
Jack looked up from his seat on the rocks. "That wasn't an attack. That was a test."
Kitty added softly, "No. It was a warning."
Frank finally spoke. "It was the start."
They all looked at him.
He raised his head slowly. "Velmorith doesn't need an army. He's already inside our minds. Now he's trying to unwrite us. One thought at a time."
Tom's voice was low. "Then we hold tighter."
"To what?" Susan asked. "Our names? Our pasts? That didn't save Jack."
"It brought him back," Lucy said firmly.
Jack gave her a tired smile.
Frank stood. "We rest. But not long. We move by dawn."
Everyone nodded, too exhausted to argue.
But as the group curled into their places, Tom stayed sitting. He faced the mouth of the cavern, the wind brushing through his hair. His eyes were distant. Focused. But his thoughts weren't clear.
Because something was whispering.
Very softly.
It didn't sound like Velmorith.
But it didn't sound like himself either.
It was a thread. A quiet pull.
Like a forgotten memory crawling back up from where he had buried it.
He closed his eyes.
He saw fire.
Not the kind he had awakened with.
No — the fire that had consumed his village. The one that had eaten his family. The one that had chased him into the arms of strangers and left him with only sword and guilt.
He opened his eyes again.
The whisper stopped.
But something had changed.
He stood quietly and stepped out of the cavern.
Kitty stirred. "Tom?"
He turned back. "Just need air. I'll stay close."
She watched him vanish into the trees.
Minutes passed.
Then half an hour.
Peter stood. "He's been gone too long."
Lucy stood beside him. "I'll go."
"No," Frank said. "We go together."
They followed Tom's trail quietly through the trees. It was faint — almost like he had been walking without truly walking. The kind of path one makes when their body moves, but their mind does not.
The trail ended at the edge of a lake.
A black lake.
Still.
Glass-like.
And there, at the edge, stood Tom — facing the water, unmoving.
Kitty whispered, "Tom…?"
He didn't turn.
Lucy stepped closer. "Are you alright?"
He spoke softly.
"I heard her voice."
Everyone froze.
Susan asked, "Whose?"
"My sister's."
Kitty's face went pale. "But… she's gone."
Tom nodded. "I know. But she spoke."
Jack whispered, "That's not her. That's Velmorith."
Tom turned slowly.
And for the first time, his eyes weren't just sharp — they were empty.
Like someone had opened a door inside him… and left it swinging.
Peter stepped forward cautiously. "Tom. Fight it. This isn't you."
"I'm not being controlled," Tom said.
Then he blinked.
And something flickered in his gaze.
For half a second, his eyes turned white.
Frank stepped forward. "Velmorith is inside. You have to break the chain."
Tom shook his head slowly. "He's not controlling me. He's offering me something."
Lucy's voice cracked. "What?"
Tom looked at her.
And smiled.
"Peace."
Then he collapsed.
Straight to the ground — unconscious.
They rushed to him. Kitty caught his head. "Tom! Tom, wake up!"
Susan scanned his glyph readings. "His mental field is shattered. He's not unconscious. He's somewhere else."
Frank gritted his teeth. "Inside a memory maze."
Lucy leaned close. "Tom, listen to me. You said it once — we are the Heirs. We don't give in. Not to fire. Not to guilt. Not even to peace."
A flicker.
Tom twitched.
And then…
He gasped.
His eyes shot open — golden and burning.
He sat up, breathing hard.
"It was her voice," he whispered. "It was warm. But it wasn't real."
Kitty grabbed his hand. "You fought it."
Tom nodded, his voice trembling. "I remembered you. All of you. I remembered your names."
Frank placed a hand on his shoulder. "That's enough."
Tom looked at the black lake. "No. It's not. He wanted me to surrender — not through fear. Through comfort. That's what makes him dangerous."
Lucy stood beside him. "He doesn't fight like Kazakare. He breaks you from within."
Peter looked at the lake. "Then we need to get out of this zone."
Susan agreed. "The glyph interference here is too high. If we stay, more of us will crack."
They helped Tom stand.
The wind passed over the lake again.
And a ripple formed.
Not in the water.
But in the air.
A faint glyph shimmered — then disappeared.
No one saw it.
But Velmorith had.
And he smiled.