SHATTERED REALM: FORGOTTEN ECHOES-Chapter 173: Unseen Sides

She told herself it was nothing, just her memories playing tricks on her, but she knew better.

The world had a scent no one spoke about.

Fear.

Hatred.

Old grief.

Love.

And beneath it all, she remembered him.

His scent had been threaded through the air like an invisible seam.

It was softer than she remembered.

Faint and suppressed.

But it was still unmistakable.

I burned the memory of you, so why does the world keep handing it back to me?

No stranger smelled like that, and she wouldn't mistake his scent for anything else.

Her fingers twitched, fighting the urge to find him and tear into him to confirm the truth lodged in her bones, but she didn't.

Couldn't

That voice had no right to exist in her world anymore.

And yet…

Therin.

She hated that name

Her sense of smell was unmistakable, and Therin smelled sixty percent of Aramith, which was the same as saying he was the same person.

She wondered if his heart would race if she dragged her claws through his chest and listened closely enough.

Defeat me… and I'll answer the question you're too afraid to ask.

That wasn't the voice of the boy she fell in love with.

Kesha always searched for answers she wanted to know, and she had never feared any question… until now.

A quiet, traitorous thought wormed her mind.

If it really is you…then why did you leave me behind in a world that hurts anyone who loves too much?

She calmed herself further as she reached the door, but she knew there was no way she could hide it from her.

She would know the second she entered, and if she waited too long, she would put two and two together and figure it all out.

She let out a deep breath, tinged with frost, and the ground beneath her spread with frost.

She opened the door, and the soft voice asked without hesitating.

"You met him, didn't you? And he doesn't recognize you."

Kesha froze. "How did you—"

In the dim light, the girl in the wheelchair smiled.

"I had a very good teacher."

A quiet, bitter laugh slipped from Kesha's lips as she pulled the door shut behind her.

"Yeah…" she murmured. "So did I."

The room was quiet when Aramith returned. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

The gentle breeze of nighttime left its mark through the thin curtains, the fabric rising and falling like his own breath.

His bed sat neatly made, a sign of his lack of rest.

He sat down, elbows resting on his knees, fingers loosely laced as his gaze fixed on the floor. The silence was heavier than the arena's roar had ever been.

There was so much noise outside and so much quiet inside here, yet a storm brewed in his mind.

The soft creak of the door cut through it, and a familiar scent drifted in.

Soap, faintly floral and almost sweet, wrapped instantly around his senses.

Mozrael stepped inside.

Her hair was still slightly damp, droplets clinging to the ends. A thin, loose dress hung over her frame, the fabric darkened slightly where it clung to her skin.

She paused when she saw him there, sitting like a statue on the edge of the bed.

"You left early," she said as she approached.

"The match was predictable, and I needed air."

It wasn't true, maybe.

"Did you find any?" Mozrael asked.

He didn't answer.

She closed the door behind her and walked closer, slower now. She did it carefully, as if he would run away if she walked too loudly.

The soft light in the room caught the curve of her collarbone, the soft line of her neck, her deepening curves and soft edges, and the faint rise and fall of her breath.

He noticed it all, and just as quickly as the thought surfaced, he hardened his gaze.

Not like that.Never like that.

To him, she wasn't desirable as others would find her, especially in the way she appeared now. She was something totally different.

Fragile.

Precious.

Dear.

A rare artifact.

A precious gift.

Something gifted to him that he could destroy without ever meaning to.

The bed barely responded as Mozrael carefully sat beside him. So close that their shoulders brushed.

"You've been doing that thing again," she murmured.

"What thing?" He asked quickly.

"Looking like you're already somewhere else."

She paused, then continued in a softer tone. "It scares me."

He looked at her then. Really looked at her.

Her eyes shone in the dim light, and this wasn't the glint they usually had when she always steeled herself to do something.

The light in her eyes was one that was formed from too many fears pressed behind them.

She tried to smile.

"You were amazing today, you know. Even Lynnor pretended not to stare."

He huffed a small response. "That wasn't anything amazing."

"No…maybe not to you..."

Her gaze dropped to her hands, fingers fidgeting in her lap.

"I didn't like the way Kesha looked at you," she admitted quietly. "It was like… she already knew you. Like she was remembering something I'm not allowed to remember too."

Aramith felt a chill slip into the room.

"And the way you looked back…" Her voice thinned. "That wasn't how you look at anyone. It was like you were hiding something from me, and I just..."

"I don't even recognize myself anymore. So don't look too closely," he said.

She turned to him fully now, searching his face. "Then what are we doing, Aramith?"

Her voice cracked on his name.

"What is any of this? We're training, fighting, hiding. We pretend to be people we're not. We don't even have a home anymore. I don't even know if we're moving toward something… or just running from everything. Maybe you have a plan, but I don't know, Aramith."

Her fingers gripped the fabric of his sleeve tightly, wrinkling it slightly.

"And I'm trying so hard to be strong for you—but I don't understand you. You're smiling at the wrong times and frowning at the right ones, and I feel like I'm slowly losing you even when you're standing right here in front of me."

The wind fluttered the curtain, as if it were waiting for the moment.

Finally, she added, barely above a whisper.

"I know there are people searching for you, especially Elira…I'm scared that when they finally see you for who you are, they'll take you away from me."

That was it. The truth she'd been choking back.

Her arms came around him suddenly, clinging tightly.

She held him as if he were the only floating plank from a sinking ship.

He stiffened for a moment, unsure of how to react. He was never prepared for this from Mozrael.

He felt her tremble, the warmth of her skin through the thin fabric, and the uneven rhythm of her breathing as it stuttered against his shoulder.

She was warm and fragile.

His hand hovered for a little while, then settled against her back.

Slowly and carefully, he pulled her in closer.

His expression held a softness that felt out of place.

"It doesn't matter where we go," he murmured. "It doesn't matter who tries to claim me, hurt me, or expose me…

You are not losing me. You're the only one who came to my side when this all started. I won't leave you alone."

"You're stupid," she whispered into him.

"For caring this much?"

"For pretending you don't." Her tears dampened his shirt. Tears she wasn't even aware she was holding.

He didn't move, nor speak.

The world outside ceased to exist. At the moment, they lived in the now, no future or past, just the moment.

Minutes passed, maybe more.

Her breathing softened, and she melted into him.

She was asleep.

He looked down at her, brushing a strand of hair away from her face.

She was peaceful, young, and beautiful again.

It was surprising how much the stress and worry she'd been carrying had aged her face these past days.

And what surprised him the most was how he failed to notice it all.

"…You were never meant to carry all this," he muttered quietly. "That's my curse, not yours. Let me be selfish a little longer."

Carefully, he rose and lifted her into his arms.

She stirred faintly.

"…don't go…" she whispered, barely conscious.

His jaw tightened.

"I won't," he said, then, lowering his gaze, added: "I hope I don't have to." Though she never heard him

He laid her on her bed, pulling the blanket over her gently.

But when he turned to move away, her hand caught his sleeve.

A sudden heaviness slapped into him like a mountain.

He staggered back, vision blurring.

The floor tilted, and a quiet hum of energy rippled beneath his skin.

His limbs weakened, and everything distorted into darkness.

Darkness bloomed, swallowing him whole, then light flooded in.

The endless sky stretched out before him. The vast, silent ground of glittering energy beneath him, and the dancing of unstable flames of different colors dancing in the corners of his eyes.

His cultivation realm.

He let out a slow breath, somewhere between a scoff and a relief.

"…So now you let me in."

No one answered, but far away, on the horizon, something was moving, causing trouble.