Chapter 23: “Myra of the Abyss”

The Forgotten Sea – Abyssal Rift

It was always night here.

The sky didn't exist—only churning black clouds that screamed when lightning forked between them. The sea wasn't made of water. Not anymore. It was memory made liquid. Regret shaped into waves.

And Myra swam through it.

Or perhaps she was the storm.

She remembered little.

Only flashes.

A mother's voice, distant and warm.

A sibling's face, mouth open in horror.

Chains. So many chains. Not around her—but in her.

And then…

The ocean.

The darkness.

The system.

System Thread – Myra (Eleventh Born)

Welcome back, User.Emotional load: Unstable.Soul-chain integrity: Fractured.Recommended Course: Consumption / Integration / Stabilization.

Myra smiled through sharp teeth.

"Back, huh?"

"Then where was I?"

The system didn't answer.

It never answered her questions.

Just commands. Just objectives.

She hated it.

And she loved it.

She dragged herself out of the sea.

Her body shimmered—long, flowing limbs made of water and bone. Hair like ink, drifting upward. A cloak of seaweed and drowned feathers wrapped around her bare form, clinging like regret.

Her feet hit the jagged reef.

She looked around the craggy, dead shoreline.

"Not even a welcome party?"

She laughed.

It sounded like the sea choking on a secret.

Dungeon Core – Inner Chamber

Leo froze midstep.

His system flickered.

Alert: Soul-Thread Ping – Sibling Detected.Status: Eleventh Born – MyraCondition: Abyssal SynchronizationWarning: System Instability Detected – Recommend Observation, Not Contact.

Naelia stepped closer.

"Did you feel that?"

Leo nodded, eyes hard.

"She's awake."

"And she's hungry."

Cael – Stone Garden

He was stacking stones.

Each perfectly balanced.

Each representing a sibling.

Only ten stones were stacked.

He placed the eleventh gently.

It wobbled.

Then collapsed the entire pile.

Cael sighed.

"Of course it's her."

Naelia approached from the far corridor.

"You know her?"

"You remember her?"

Cael's eyes were dark.

"You don't forget Myra."

"She's not like us."

"We were chosen. She was left."

"Too strong. Too unstable."

"Elara dumped her into the ocean like a broken gem."

Elara's Divine Realm

She watched Myra rise from the tides.

Her lip trembled.

"I couldn't fix her…"

"I wanted to."

She touched a glowing pearl on the tree beside her—Myra's soul-core.

It cracked slightly beneath her fingers.

"Please…"

"Don't hate them."

"Hate me."

Myra – Shoreline of Screams

She wandered until she found the statue.

It was made of bone and coral—twelve figures carved in a spiral. At the center stood a goddess, her arms outstretched.

Myra's eyes narrowed.

"Mother…"

She spat the word like it burned.

She reached out and touched the statue.

It melted.

No fire. No force. Just… consumption.

The system beeped.

Object Absorbed: Core Memory Fragment (Family Tree – Version 0.9)Unlocking: Partial Sibling Memory (4th Born – Leo)

Her eyes widened.

A whisper crawled into her mind.

Leo's voice.

Cold.

Calm.

"Survival first. Morality later."

Myra's lips curled into a grin.

"Oh, brother…"

"You sound just like me."

Dungeon Core – System Room

Leo was watching the map.

The magical interface projected her movement like a living pulse. Each step she took made the sea flicker.

Elias hovered beside him.

"She's different."

Leo didn't respond.

"Do you want to contact her?"

Leo's jaw twitched.

"No."

"I want her to come to me."

Elias smiled.

"Spoken like a true big brother."

Leo shot him a look.

"She's the Eleventh. I'm the Fourth."

"She's not younger."

"She's just later."

Naelia appeared at the door.

"Cael says she's unstable."

"More than him."

Leo nodded.

"Good."

"Then maybe she'll break something I can't."

Cael – Stone Garden (Alone Again)

He placed the stones back in order.

This time he didn't add Myra's.

Just stared at the empty spot.

"We're going to lose one of us soon."

"I just don't know which one."

The wind blew.

He shivered.

Myra – The Tidepath

The system pulsed.

Destination Reached: Landfall Near Dungeon Core (ID: L-04)Estimated Time to Contact: 2 DaysWarning: Multiple Siblings Present – Emotional Interference Likely

She ignored it.

She was humming.

A song no one taught her.

A lullaby from a mother she never really met.

System Interface – Leo

Soul Warning: Contact ImminentMyra – Abyssborn. Alignment: ???Projected Risk: Catastrophic. Recommend Preparation.

Leo stared at the red alert.

And smiled.

"Let her come."

"Let her scream."

"Let's see if the ocean can drown a dungeon."