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Chapter 4 - The Forgotten Room

Yuki walks beside Kairi. His jacket still smells like smoke. The Ember shard glows faintly inside his glove

> Yuki

So what is this place

Some kind of ghost zone

> Kairi

It used to be a school

Until the Ember inside went berserk

Everyone forgot it even existed

Memory decay at full power

Yuki steps over cracked cement

A rusted swing creaks in the wind

The building ahead looms like a coffin

> Yuki's thoughts

I can feel it

Something here remembers me

Scene change: Inside the school. Dust hangs in the air like fog. The walls breathe. Literally. They expand and contract as if alive

> Kairi

Be ready

Memory zones shift logic

Time can bend

Reality can rewrite itself

Stay close to me

Yuki nods

But then something whispers his name

> Whisper

Yuki

He turns

No one there

A locker door creaks open by itself

Inside

A photo

Of him

Smiling

But with eyes missing

> Yuki's thoughts

I have never been here

So why does this place know me

Scene change: The gymnasium

Bleachers twisted like bones

A giant black stain pulses at the center of the court

It looks like oil

It sounds like breathing

> Kairi

That is the core

A revenant is about to form

Draw your Ember

Yuki pulls the crystal

Light explodes around his hand

The air shakes

And from the black ooze

A shape rises

A girl

Uniform torn

Eyes empty

Mouth twitching as if stuck between a scream and a smile

> Revenant girl

Why did you leave me

> Yuki

I do not know you

> Revenant girl

Liar

You promised

The room begins to spin

Bleachers become trees

The walls turn into sky

Memories warping reality

Yuki falls to one knee

The girl screams

Soundless

Pure pressure

> Kairi

Focus

Anchor yourself

Think of someone real

Yuki closes his eyes

Sees his mother

Her voice

Her laugh

Her warmth

> Yuki's thoughts

I am not lost

I know who I am

He slams the Ember shard into the floor

Light erupts

A circle of memory floods the room

The Revenant howls

Then cracks

Like a mirror shattering in reverse

Her face softens

She begins to cry

Then vanishes

Silence

The gym returns to normal

Sort of

Scene cut: Outside

Yuki sits on the steps

Winded

Hands shaking

Kairi tosses him a juice box

> Kairi

Your first sync

You did not die

Good job

Yuki breathes out

Then drinks

> Yuki

Who was she

> Kairi

A memory left behind

Maybe someone's sister

Maybe someone's guilt

Not all ghosts are evil

Some just want to be seen

Final shot: Back in the city

The masked man stares at a burning photo

The same photo Yuki saw in the locker

> Masked man

The archive is waking

And the boy is the key

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