Chapter 71: The Road Paved in Names

The world had color again.

Real color. Not divine light. Not void mist. Not fractured memory. The sky was a soft blue. The grass swayed without whispering. For the first time, silence wasn't terrifying.

It was peace.

Liss and her friends walked the new world—no longer chased, no longer forgotten. They walked remembered.

But the road ahead was strange.

Stones shaped like open books formed the path. And each one… had a name carved into it.

Naia paused to read one aloud: "Korin Vale."

Korrin blinked. "That's… me."

They walked further. Another name appeared. "Thessaly Reign."

Then: "Elyse Mirren."

And finally: "Liss Hoshino."

"It's a road of memory," Elyse murmured.

"A path for those who chose to matter."

The wind carried more names—names of the Host, of forgotten children, of erased kings.

All remembered now.

At a crossroads, they found a bench. A sign above it read: Rest, Walkers of Memory. You are seen.

They sat. A moment of breath. A moment of presence.

Liss leaned her head on Thessaly's shoulder.

"Did I do it?"

Thessaly stroked her hair.

"You gave the forgotten a future."

Korrin pulled out Bob the screaming flute and tried to play a love ballad.

Bob screamed.

Naia tossed a pebble at him.

"Stop making Bob cry."

Liss giggled.

It was quiet. It was warm.

It was the kind of day she'd always dreamed of.

But the road wasn't done.

A voice echoed behind them.

"The world remembers you. But have you remembered yourself?"

They turned.

No enemy. No shadow. Just a trail leading into a garden of starlight.

A gate stood open. Above it: Hoshino.

"Liss?" Thessaly asked.

Liss stood.

"It's my family name. But I've never had a home to match it."

She turned.

"Let's go find it."

And together, they walked through the gate

Into the memory of her own beginning.