Chapter 28: Echoes of the Forgotten Wish
The underground passage buzzed with a strange, pulsating energy.
Joon tightened his grip around the fragment of the ancient device they had scavenged earlier. Sohyun and Rin followed close behind, their breathing low and quick, their steps cautious.
The air around them grew heavier the deeper they went. And then…
A faint humming sound.
At first, Joon thought it was some malfunctioning tech. But as he strained his ears, he realized—it was a voice.
A whisper.
"You were chosen... you were wished into existence..."
Joon stopped, his chest tightening.
"Did you hear that?" he whispered.
Sohyun shook her head, eyes wide.
"No... what are you talking about?"
He said nothing more. He couldn't.
The voice had spoken directly to his mind—beyond the abilities he'd ever known.
Memories—fragments—started surfacing.
A girl's silhouette standing at the edge of a broken world. A brilliant stone cradled in her hands, shimmering with unspeakable power.
"Grant me a savior," she had whispered.
"Someone who can understand. Someone who can resist..."
The scene flickered, blurred, and disappeared.
"Joon?" Rin's voice snapped him back. "You okay?"
"Yeah. Fine," he muttered, swallowing hard.
But he wasn't fine. Not even close.
The stone… the girl... they felt too real.
---
As they ventured deeper, the tunnel opened into a wide underground chamber, walls lined with ancient symbols glowing faintly.
At the center lay a pedestal.
Upon it—a crumbling, hollow shell of what once must've been the Wish Stone.
Joon staggered forward, feeling as if he was moving in a dream.
Another memory struck him.
The girl's face clearer now—determined, desperate, as she pushed the stone toward him.
"With this, you will have the power to resist them..."
"You must wake them up... before it's too late..."
His heart pounded against his ribs.
"Why… why can't I remember you until now?" he whispered.
The answer came not in words, but in sensations:
A lock placed deep within his mind. A price to pay for power.
The Architects' influence, dulling his memories, numbing his emotions. Making him forget anyone he didn't care enough to anchor in his heart.
It wasn't Joon's fault he had forgotten.
It was by design.
He gritted his teeth, anger flaring inside him.
"Joon!" Sohyun called urgently.
He turned—and saw movement.
Figures cloaked in shimmering metallic armor stepped out from the shadows, their eyes glowing cold blue.
"Architects' Sentinels," Rin hissed. "They found us."
Joon stepped in front of them instinctively, heart thundering.
No more running.
No more forgetting.
No more being a pawn.
The fragment in his hand responded, crackling with energy.
And then he heard it again—the girl's voice:
"You are not alone, Joon. You never were."
---
Meanwhile...
Hidden in the cracks of the collapsing civilization, someone watched.
A girl with silver hair and unreadable eyes, her lips curling into a soft, bittersweet smile.
"You're starting to remember, Joon," she whispered.
"And soon… you'll have to choose."