The seven of them hadn't been together properly in weeks.
Not because they didn't want to, but because life had started pulling everyone in different directions. Responsibilities weighed them down. Days felt shorter, and exhaustion was more common than free time. Even when they met, it was usually in smaller groups for a brief moment stolen between routines before everyone returned to their own lives.
So when Aira insisted they all meet again, nobody argued much against it.
"It's been too long," she said confidently, as if that was enough reason to make it happen.
And somehow, it was.
By late evening, all seven had gathered near a clearing deeper in the forest. It wasn't the exact spot where Arin and Liora had first met, but it was close enough that the air carried a strange familiarity neither of them fully acknowledged. A small fire burned in the center, with the fading orange light of sunset filtering through the trees. The atmosphere felt easy again, almost nostalgic, and time seemed quieter for a while.
Riven and Aira argued about something trivial as usual, though neither seemed genuinely serious anymore. Darin sat nearby, listening with his usual calm expression. He occasionally added a short comment that only encouraged the argument further. Selene remained quiet, but the slight amusement in her eyes whenever she glanced at them showed she enjoyed it more than she let on. Kael found himself in the middle of everything, grounding conversations whenever they drifted too far.
And Arin watched it all quietly.
Not detached.
Not distant.
Present.
Liora noticed this before anyone else did.
"You've been quieter than usual today."
Her voice wasn't loud enough to interrupt the others, but it was enough to catch Arin's attention immediately.
"…have I?"
"Yes."
Simple. Direct.
Arin looked at the fire for a moment before he answered.
"…just tired."
"That's not all."
The certainty in her voice made him glance back at her again.
Liora held his gaze for a second longer before looking away slightly, as if realizing how direct she had sounded.
"…you've looked distracted all evening."
Before Arin could respond, Aira suddenly leaned forward dramatically from the other side of the fire.
"Oh, now that sounds interesting."
Liora frowned immediately.
"You weren't even listening."
"I don't need to listen when you two practically speak loud enough for everyone anyway."
"We weren't speaking loudly."
"Sure."
Riven laughed quietly under his breath while Darin shook his head slightly.
"You really enjoy making things worse."
"Someone has to."
Selene sighed softly beside them.
"You're going to push them into silence again."
"…too late for that," Kael added calmly.
Because Arin had already gone quiet again.
Not awkwardly.
Not defensively.
Just thoughtful.
Liora noticed it immediately.
"…ignore them."
Arin exhaled softly through his nose. Something close to amusement appeared in his expression for a moment.
"I usually do."
That answer relaxed the atmosphere almost instantly, and the conversation naturally shifted to easier topics. They talked about stories, old memories, and small arguments over things none of them actually cared enough about to win. These were the kinds of conversations that happened between people who had known each other long enough to be comfortable in silence and chaos at the same time.
For a while, everything felt normal.
Completely normal.
And that was why no one was prepared when it happened.
It started quietly.
Too quietly to notice immediately.
Liora's expression changed first.
Not dramatically.
Not suddenly.
Just distant.
Selene saw it before anyone else.
"…Liora?"
No response.
Aira stopped speaking next as the shift in the atmosphere finally drew Riven's attention.
Liora wasn't looking at any of them anymore.
Her eyes were fixed somewhere beyond the fire, beyond the forest, focused on something none of them could see.
"…Liora?"
This time, Arin said her name.
And the moment he did, everything changed.
Liora's breathing caught sharply as her entire body stiffened slightly. Her eyes widened, not with fear, but with sudden recognition that seemed overwhelming and almost painful.
The firelight around them flickered violently for a second.
And then, she saw it.
Not fragments.
Not brief flashes.
A memory.
Complete.
Burning skies stretched endlessly above a battlefield drowned in ash and golden light. The ground trembled under countless screams and destruction so immense it no longer felt human. Heat engulfed everything, unbearable and endless, swallowing the horizon itself.
And standing within it was him.
Not Arin.
Not fully.
But someone with the same eyes.
The same presence.
Aditya.
No—
Something even older than that.
The memory hit her harder than anything before, forcing air from her lungs as emotions she didn't understand crashed into her all at once. Loss. Love. Fear. Despair. A bond so deep it felt like it had survived death itself.
And then—
a voice.
Not distant.
Not unclear.
Right beside her.
"Mira."
Liora gasped sharply, the sound finally snapping everyone fully into panic.
"Liora!"
Aira moved first, but Arin reached her before anyone else could. He knelt beside her immediately as she struggled to breathe properly, her hands trembling slightly against the ground.
"…look at me."
His voice stayed calm despite the sudden tension in the air.
Liora's eyes finally focused on him again.
And the moment they did, tears fell before she even realized it.
Not from pain.
Not entirely.
From recognition.
"…I remember…"
The words barely escaped her.
The entire group went silent instantly.
Arin's expression changed for the first time in a long while. It wasn't visible enough for everyone to understand, but those closest to him felt it immediately.
Fear.
Not for himself.
For what this meant.
"…what do you remember?"
His voice remained steady, but it was quieter now.
Liora stared at him like she was seeing two people at once.
"…you."
The word shattered the silence completely.
"I remember you."
Nobody spoke after that.
Because none of them understood what they had just witnessed—
except Arin.
And that terrified him more than anything else could have.