Chapter 32: The Girl I Forgot to Save

Chapter 32: Chapter 32: The Girl I Forgot to Save The wind didn’t blow in the Drowned Chapters. It whispered. Voices. Echoes. Paragraphs that once existed, now stripped of context — floating like ash in water. Kai walked slowly through the mist, each step disturbing memories that were no longer his. [System Alert: You have entered – Drowned Chapters] Warning: Memory instability Lore Density: 400% Status: Narrative ghosts may manifest You are not supposed to be here. He gritted his teeth. "I’ve heard that before." Behind him, the path vanished. Ahead, the world pulsed — like a heartbeat made from broken timelines. Buildings from different arcs jammed together. A castle turret rising from a modern apartment. A temple merged with a subway. Lamps that glowed with moonlight, not fire. And at the center of it all... A girl stood beneath a frozen sky. She wore tattered armor, silver hair matted with blood. Her spear crackled with blue flame. But it was her eyes that hit hardest. Not glowing. Not broken. Remembering. [System Alert: Encounter – Seris Avalenn] Class: Storm Valkyrie Status: "Deleted" Bond: Former Harem Candidate Fate: Killed in Chapter 9 (Timeline Alpha-4A) Memory Link: ACTIVE Warning: She remembers what you don’t. Kai froze. His chest tightened. "I know you..." Her voice cut him off like lightning: "You should. I died for you in a version you don’t even remember." He blinked. "I—I didn’t—" "No. You didn’t," she spat. Her spear scraped the ground. "They erased me. Rewrote the scene. You went left instead of right. Chose to save Elira that time. And I bled out under a collapsing temple." Her voice cracked like thunder. "But I remember." Kai stepped back. "You’re from a scrapped route..." Seris nodded. "They said I was too angry. Too independent. Not submissive enough for your growth arc." She sneered. "So they deleted me. But they forgot one thing." Kai swallowed. "What?" She raised the spear. "Anger echoes." And then she attacked. Lightning burst from her feet as she charged, spear a blur. Kai barely dodged, sword clanging against her crackling weapon. She moved like someone who had nothing left to lose. And maybe she didn’t. "You want freedom?" she shouted. CLASH. "You want to fight the system?!" SWING. DUCK. CRACK. "Then pay for the girls you left behind." [System Alert: Guilt Modifier Activated] Reflex: -20% Emotional Drag: +60% You’re remembering what the system made you forget. Visions flashed as they fought. Seris holding a collapsing ceiling, screaming at him to run. Him running. Her smile as the temple fell. The sound of bones breaking under stone. "WHY DIDN’T YOU COME BACK?!" she screamed. Kai caught her spear, shoved it aside, panting. "Because I didn’t KNOW!" "That doesn’t make it better." And she raised her weapon again— Only to hesitate. Just slightly. Just enough. Because Kai had dropped his sword. And stepped forward. Arms down. Voice shaking. "Then strike me down," he said. "But if I’m going to rewrite this story — if I’m going to stop them from using people like tools — then I need the truth." He met her eyes. "All of it. Even the versions I never lived." Seris lowered the spear. Barely. [System Alert: Bond Thread Reactivated – Seris Avalenn] Trust: 24% Affection: 6% Emotion: Fury (Dormant) Quest Unlocked: "Rewrite Her Death" Objective: Bring Seris back into the main timeline Status: Divergent Reality Anchor Acquired "You’re going to fail," she muttered. "Maybe." "Everyone you love turns on you eventually." "Maybe that too." She looked away. "...but you dropped your sword." He smiled. "Bad habit. Makes people talk." And then the sky above the Drowned Chapters began to burn. A voice echoed through every broken street: "Kai Veyron. You’ve touched too many deleted memories." "Return, or be erased." Kai looked up. Then at Seris. Then reached for her hand. "Let’s make them regret ever writing us wrong." Her fingers closed around his. And lightning sparked at their feet.