“What are Oaths, mom?” Ernith said, tagging along with his mother, as she went about in the kitchen, preparing their dinner.

“Oaths… They are promises, Ernith.”

“Promises,” Ernith mumbled. “Are promises good, mom?”

“It depends,” his mother said, putting down the knife, and looking at him with an amused smile. “Why? Do you want to make a promise with me?”

Alnea nodded after some hesitation, wishing to experience the magic of Oaths.

“Alright then, promise me that you will stop making trouble, and finish all of your food.”

“…But the gourds are so bitter.”

“If I was to ask you to do something you liked, then there would be no need for a promise.”

“…But the gourds…”

“It is precisely because you don’t like the gourds, that I need you to promise me.”

“…I don’t like promises,” Ernith said, and ran away from his scary mother. Gourds… Promises were harder to keep than he had thought. He could understand then, why his father had failed to fulfil his promises… Or why he was about to fail his Oaths… Yuri… Cecilia…

As he began thinking about the girls, the world, with Ernith, and his mother, shattered like a mirror, breaking into dozens of pieces, before those pieces faded away into the empty void, leaving behind just a broken Alnea, drifting in between the worlds of his memories. They were like bubbles, round islands of warmth, and peace, in the cold, and empty void. And every time that an island broke, the cold got stronger…

“…I saw him again, mom.”

“…The one who told you about promises?”

“He did not tell me anything… I just saw him…”

“In your dreams?”

“…Yes.”

“…Dreams are called as dreams because they are not real, Ernith.”

“But he is real!”

“Right,” his mother said, chuckling at his words, before pinching his cheeks. “What did he say this time then?”

“…Forget it,” Ernith said, and ran away from his mother… from the memory… just as another island, another sphere burst apart into tiny fragments, merging into the boundless emptiness. Into the—

“So, this is where you have been?”

All his thoughts came to a still, as Alnea looked around himself, searching for the source of voice ringing in his head. He found none. But the voice did not stop.

“I must say, you were cuter when you were a kid.”

“…Yuri?”

“It looks you remember me, after all.”

“…I—

“Save your excuses for later. Right now, I am here for only one thing. To bring you back.”

“…The Heterodox Wanderer…”

“He is dead,” Yuri said. After some silence, she added, “We can discuss those things later. Now, are you coming with me, or do I have to drag you out?”

“…I don’t know how to leave… I don’t know how I even got here in the first place…”

“You do not have to worry about anything. Just get ready to fight back against your memories.”

“…Why would I have to fight my memories?”

“Do you know where you are?”

“…No.”

“This place… you can think of it as the depths of your Spirit. A place which stores all your memories. Even those which you do not remember… And to ensure that no memories get lost, it restricts them from leaving this place. Normally, you should not have strayed in here… In any case, right now, you are also being treated as one of the memories. And the other memories will naturally not let you leave this place on your own. They will either try to cling to you, or force you into staying here. But you cannot let either of those things happen. Do you understand?”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“…This feels so strange.”

“And whose fault do you think it is?”

“But—

“Forget it. Just be ready to fight back against your memories, and leave everything else to me.”

“…Okay,” Alnea said, preparing himself to face a barrage of memories. Instead, all he got was silence. Dark, and empty silence. Just as he was about to call her again, a strange force descended in the void, and wrapped around him, trying to bring him away from the world of his memories. However, as Yuri had said, the world itself did not approve of his leave.

The void itself began trembling, distorting the islands of memories. But the islands did not resist. Rather, they went along with the demands of the void, morphing into some unrecognisable shapes. The more that the strange force pulled on him, the more the void boiled, the more distorted the islands became, before they finally began converging on him.

“…Yuri?” Alnea called, wondering if things were going as planned. Before he could get a reply from her though, the distorted islands of memories were already upon him, dragging him into—

“Yuri,” the white haired girl said with a smile. “Since you are Cecilia’s friend, you are my friend as well. I can call you a friend, right, Alnea?”

“I am Yuri Faed, an heiress of the Faed clan.”

“I know that this is asking too much of you… But you are my only hope, Alnea. Only you can save my clan…”

“Alnea Oathkeeper, let me take you Wandering into the Origin Sea.”

“You are missing something very interesting right now, Alnea.”

“…It looks like the Origin Sea doesn’t want our Wandering to end…”

“Now, we wait. And hope…”

“...Maybe there might really be another way to save me…”

“...Don’t you know that sometimes it is better to act ignorant, even if you know everything? Especially so when it concerns a girl?”

“Because I don’t want to let you see me getting devoured by the Origin Sea.”

“Is this from the Mystery? No… This is from the ring…”

“What did you do, Alnea?”

“Why aren’t you saying anything, Alnea?”

“Are you alright?”

“Alnea!”

“...It is still not enough.”

“This is it. The end.”

“...I wish that I had gathered my courage earlier and met you sooner.”

“Goodbye, my friend…”

Alnea bit his lips to force himself awake, to tear himself away from the jumble of memories trying to drag him to the depths of despair. He knew that whatever he saw were just memories. Yet, reliving those memories, he could not help following their tempo. Especially since the memories—

“My name is Cecilia. What is yours?”

“Alnea? You are not the one who lost his consciousness at the Origin Altar?”

“…let us settle for acquaintance for now. But I am sure that soon, we will be much more than just acquaintances.”

“Not everyone in the world is as scheming and deceptive as you think. And neither are all reasons for helping other people as sinister as you have experienced. See you next week, Alnea. And I really hope that we can be friends.”

“Girls do not like stingy boys.”

“How about I find a way to help you gain the foundations of the three paths?”

“I told you, did I not? I want to become your friend.”

“May Goddess Faein bear witness. I, Cecilia Serpia, promise that I will always be a true friend to Alnea.”

“What, are you not happy to see me?”

“Are you afraid?”

“Come, let me show you why the Serpians are called the best Warriors of the Fifth Sector in the Lightning Region.”

“I am fine. Nothing happened to me. So, you can stop crying.”

“You liked my surprise so much?”

“The sleeping beauty is finally awake.”

“Stay still. I need to focus. This is my first time cutting someone’s hair. What if I cut your ears, or eyes by mistake?”

“Still have not had enough of a look yet?”

“...Your Oath… I will help you complete it. I will not let them take you away from us, do you understand?”

“Now, go up there, and show them what Cecilia Serpia’s friend can do.”

“Let go of me, Serena! I swear I am going to kick that bastard’s smug face! Damn old bastard!”

“Damn it, Serena, if you cannot save him, then let go of me! I will save him myself.”

“No! What are you doing Serena? I promised Alnea to be with him, and keep him safe. I am not going without him.”

“I am not going anywhere without Alnea!”

Images of Cecilia being held by the Heterodox Wanderers kept flashing in his mind, pushing Alnea from the precipice of giddiness, directly into the depths of despair. It was only through his sheer will, and the Serenity of his Heart that he managed to pull himself out of the darkness. When he opened his eyes though, what awaited him were even more memories. Some of his mother. Some of big sis Serena. And some of his master. Memories that pulled him to the peak of pride, and satisfaction, before—

Alnea took a deep breath. There was no need to do so. He was in the vault of his memories, after all. At the moment, he too was just like his memories… An intangible mark in the depths of his Spirit. Still, taking a deep breath helped him calm himself. The memories… They had given him a hard time at first. As he got used to them though, they did not seem like too much of a threat. All they did was make him go through an upheaval of emotions. As long as he could control his emotions…

Slowly, but surely, Alnea was beginning to edge out over his memories. They kept trying to drag him back into the darkness, but he had already seen the light. How could he let himself fall into the traps of his memories then? How could he let himself be locked away from the people he loved? How could he let himself be away from Yuri, and Cecilia?

The void boiled, stretching out its tendrils to bind him, to invite him back into its peaceful depths, but Alnea refused. The void, of course, did not take his rejection kindly, and lashed out against him, whipping him with its tendrils, leaving wounds of memories on his very core. Still, he held on. He kept fighting, and fighting, and fighting, until he finally saw the girl he had been waiting for.