The Memory That Refused to Die
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🔥 Scene 1: Aftermath – Emberhold's Inner Chambers
The battle had ended hours ago.
Riven lay still, half his body bandaged in flameweave silk, the other half burnt black by the Nulllight Blade's strike.
He hadn't moved.
Hadn't spoken.
Ignivar — silent at his side.
But inside him, something boiled.
A name whispered from deep within:
> "Selene…"
Not with rage.
Not with love.
But with unfinished truth.
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🌑 Scene 2: Entering the Mindscar
Riven sat upright.
His chest burned like it had been carved with a branding iron.
He closed his eyes…
And entered the flamebind.
The inner realm where only flamebearers can walk — a place of memory, emotion, pain.
Here, thoughts take shape.
Here, the past is alive.
> "Take me to the betrayal."
The fire within obeyed.
The walls around him melted.
And he was no longer in Emberhold.
He was back at the Ashen Gardens, five years ago.
Where he died.
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💔 Scene 3: The Moment It Happened
Rain fell that night.
But the fire in him never went out.
He stood on the stone bridge, cloak soaked, eyes hollow.
Selene ran toward him, breathless, terrified.
> "They know!" she cried. "You have to run—!"
He remembered grabbing her shoulders.
He remembered saying:
> "Did you tell them?"
She didn't answer.
She just cried.
And that was all the answer he needed.
Moments later—
Guards arrived.
The judgment was swift.
He was declared a traitor.
An arsonist.
A prince corrupted by forbidden flame.
Selene screamed as they dragged him away.
And still—
> She never said his name.
That was what hurt the most.
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🔥 Scene 4: The Truth Hidden in Betrayal
But now, reliving it from inside his flamebound mind—
Riven saw something new.
Her hands.
They were shaking… but not from fear.
From resistance.
Her wrist bore a faint mark — a sigil he never noticed before.
The Mark of Obedience — Caelen's blood-binding rune.
She hadn't betrayed him willingly.
She had been forced.
> "She tried to save me…" he whispered.
The memory changed.
Shifted.
He saw her that night, alone in the shadows after he was taken.
She carved his name into her arm.
> "RIVEN"
A scar she never showed anyone.
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🧠 Scene 5: Riven Returns – Changed
Riven gasped as he came out of the memory-trance.
His skin bled light.
His eyes — flame-gold again.
Ignivar pulsed once beside him.
And in the silence of the chamber…
He whispered, not to the sword — but to the void:
> "She didn't betray me.
She tried to save me…
And I let the world turn her into my enemy."
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🌟 New Trait Gained: Heartflame Memory
> 🔥 Recovered the Truth of Selene's Binding
💬 Riven can now see emotional truth when entering shared flamebond
🧠 Memory Anchor: Pain can now strengthen Riven's connection to people
☠ Side Effect: Each visit to flamebound memory weakens his body for 6 hours
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💔 Scene 6: Selene Wakes With His Name on Her Skin
Far across the rebel camp, Selene stared at her own wrist.
A scar glowed faintly.
Letters she didn't remember carving:
> RIVEN
She blinked.
Tears flowed.
Her mind may have been tampered with.
But her heart never forgot.
And now… it remembered everything.
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