The Spiral Ruins were silent once more, but the quiet didn't bring calm. It brought tension — like holding your breath while standing on the edge of a cliff, waiting to see if the ground beneath you crumbles.
They had all heard something when the glyph pulsed.
Different things.
Private things.
But none of them talked about it.
Frank called for a short rest. "We move before dusk," he said. "No fire. No noise. We head east. Fast."
Lucy sat beside Jack, who had returned to his quiet state — present, but distracted. His fingers kept brushing the glyph mark on his arm as if it itched from inside. Kitty paced in small circles, stopping every now and then to look at Susan, who hadn't spoken since the glyph went dark. Her journal was still open. That same sentence flickered on the page like a scar burned into paper.
Do not follow me. I am already within you.
Peter and Tom checked the perimeter. But even Tom, calm and unreadable as ever, looked shaken. And Lucy could see it clearly now — they were all trying to hold on, but something had changed.
It began with Susan.
She stood abruptly and walked back toward the central glyph.
Lucy saw her and followed. "Susan?"
Susan didn't answer.
She stepped into the spiral, knelt beside the stone, and touched the symbol.
Lucy reached out. "Don't—"
But nothing happened.
No flash. No energy pulse. No hum.
Susan stared at the glyph. "It's still warm."
Kitty joined them. "You mean active?"
Susan shook her head. "No. I mean… alive."
Peter looked up. "What?"
Susan stood. "It's not just a mark. It's a lock."
Frank walked forward. "A lock for what?"
Susan turned. "A vault."
Jack spoke quietly. "A memory vault?"
Susan nodded. "Or worse — a prison."
Tom approached now. "Then Alexa didn't just leave a message. She left a doorway."
Lucy whispered, "And now it's calling."
Everyone froze.
Frank asked, "Calling who?"
They all turned at the same time.
To Kitty.
She blinked. "What?"
Tom stared. "You heard it, didn't you?"
Kitty looked around, confused. "I… I don't think so."
Lucy stepped closer. "When you stood beside Susan. Did something happen?"
Kitty hesitated.
Then slowly, she said, "There was… a flicker. Not a voice. A vision."
Peter stepped forward. "Of what?"
Kitty's voice was low. "A garden. Empty. But with one tree."
Jack sat straighter. "My dream."
Lucy looked at him. "The one with the scarf?"
Jack nodded. "There was a tree in mine, too."
Susan turned pages rapidly. "There's a symbol in ancient glyphology — the First Root. A myth about the original tree of knowledge, planted by a forgotten entity. It shows up in exactly two places — here... and in the lost glyphs of Aestra Voxis."
Peter frowned. "That's one of the Monster Trio."
Tom looked at Kitty. "What did the tree look like?"
She paused. "White. With black leaves."
Susan stopped turning pages. "That's not from Velmorith's glyphs."
Lucy whispered, "Then it's Alexa's."
Kitty stepped back, visibly unnerved. "I didn't want to see it."
Tom asked gently, "But did you want to go toward it?"
Kitty didn't answer at first.
Then she nodded.
"Just a little."
Frank stepped forward. "This isn't control. This is curiosity. Influence disguised as invitation."
Peter added, "And that's more dangerous than command."
Jack rubbed his arms. "We're being pulled apart. Not with fear. With temptation."
Lucy took Kitty's hand. "We won't lose you."
But Kitty's eyes weren't afraid. They were curious. Confused.
"I wasn't scared," she said. "That's what scared me."
Frank made the call. "We're not safe here anymore. Everyone prepare. We move."
Tom hesitated. "Where?"
Susan answered. "To the Echo Ravines. It's the only place with untouched glyph layers. We can study the pull — or block it — without interference."
Frank agreed. "Then we move now."
They didn't waste time.
By nightfall, they had descended from the Spiral Ruins and entered the stretch of dense stone forests that marked the approach to the Echo Ravines. Trees here grew in strange shapes — flat tops, corkscrew trunks — and the ground hummed faintly when stepped on, like walking across forgotten instruments.
Kitty walked near Lucy the whole time.
But she kept glancing at the sky. Not because something was there.
But because something might be.
At one point, she stopped walking.
Lucy turned. "Kitty?"
Kitty didn't blink. "I remembered something."
Tom looked back. "What?"
Kitty turned to them all.
"When I awakened my demon," she said softly, "I felt light wings. But… today, I felt something else. Not wings."
Jack stepped closer. "What then?"
Kitty swallowed.
"A hand."
Everyone waited.
She continued, "It was reaching out from inside me. Like it wasn't just power. It was someone. And now… I don't know if it was mine."
Frank said, "That's not a demon."
Susan whispered, "That's an imprint."
Lucy asked, "From who?"
Susan stared into the trees.
"I think," she said slowly, "that one of us is carrying more than a glyph."
Frank spoke flatly. "You mean Alexa."
Susan nodded.
"But not fully," she added. "Just… a seed."
Kitty stepped away from them all. "What if it's me?"
Tom moved forward. "Then we stay with you. Until we know."
Kitty looked at them, voice shaking. "What if I want to know?"
Lucy didn't hesitate.
She walked forward and hugged her.
And held on.
"You're not alone," she whispered.
Kitty clung to her.
The others circled quietly.
And as the night deepened…
…the glyph in Susan's journal flickered back to life.
But now, it had a new line beneath it.
'You are beginning to remember.'