Chapter 54: The Library of Lost Beginnings

The gateway led to a place outside time.

Not a battlefield. Not a dimension. Not even a realm.

A library.

But not built of wood or stone.

This one was carved from possibility.

Scrolls of things that could have been floated in stasis. Books of might-have-beens sat open, unread, their pages forming slowly as if unsure they were allowed to exist.

Liss stepped into the silence, her boots touching not ground, but memory.

"Where are we?" Naia whispered, peering at a scroll that was forming the word 'Almost.'

"The Archive of Unspoken Names," Korrin said, his voice hushed. "This is where the universe stores what it couldn't keep."

Elyse gasped. "I feel… her. The younger Liss."

They followed her deeper.

And found a book. Floating. Glowing. Wrapped in seven chains.

The cover had no title.

But Liss touched it and read the truth aloud:

"Liss Hoshino – The First Forgotten."

The chains cracked.

And from the pages rose an echo.

A girl with Liss's face—but softer. Younger. Eyes wide with wonder. Scared. Pure.

"She's me," Liss whispered. "She's the version of me they didn't kill. The one who was meant to grow up."

The echo spoke.

"Do you want to remember what they took?"

Liss turned to her friends. "If I remember… I may not come back."

Thessaly held her hand tighter. "Then we'll hold you down."

And the book opened.

The scream that followed wasn't pain.

It was every moment that never happened.