Glass memory

The morning comes like a warning.

Birds don't sing. The trees don't sway. Everything feels held in place, as if nature's holding its breath.

We're packing up our things. Venu and Ajay gather empty bottles. Sira's checking the exit routes on Aerith's glitchy map. Maika's been quiet.

Too quiet.

She approaches me when I least expect it.

"You ever think about what happens if you're wrong?" she asks.

I zip up my bag slower than I need to. "All the time."

"But you don't show it."

"I can't afford to."

She steps in front of me. "That's the problem, Kaia. You lead like we owe you something. Like we'll follow no matter what."

"I never asked anyone to follow."

"No, you just made it impossible to stop."

My chest burns. "We ran because we couldn't let our families rip us apart."

"Right. And now you're the one doing the ripping."

Her words don't raise their voice. But they hit harder for it.

Inside the tower, Sira and Ajay huddle around the flickering map. Venu leans against a wall, arms crossed.

Aerith stands apart, near the window, eyes on the horizon.

"We head east," I say. "The terrain flattens. Easier to move, less exposed."

"No," Aerith says. "East is old trade land. Raided. Scarred. You won't last a day."

I clench my jaw. "So what, we follow your path?"

He nods. "I know a channel system underground. Leads closer to where the memories were last stored."

I freeze. "What did you say?"

He turns. "I said I know where memories were—"

"No, you said 'where the memories were stored.' Like it's a place. A thing."

The others turn. Attention shifts.

Aerith doesn't blink. "Because it is."

Ajay steps forward. "You're saying there's a memory vault?"

"Not a vault. A container. Small. Designed to hold the minds of everyone who slept."

Venu swears under his breath.

Maika: "Why didn't you say this before?"

Aerith: "Because you weren't ready to believe it."

Sira: "And now we are?"

Aerith: "Kaia is."

All eyes swing to me.

I feel my body go still. "You said you wanted to help us fix people. Is this what you meant?"

Aerith nods. "This is the only way."

Maika laughs, bitter. "You dragged us into something you didn't even explain."

"He gave us a chance," I say.

Maika glares at me. "No. You gave him a platform. You gave him the voice we should've kept among ourselves."

The silence cuts.

Ajay mutters, "Maybe she's not leading anymore. Maybe he is."

I feel like I've been slapped.

Aerith doesn't defend me.

He doesn't need to.

The truth is already in the room. And I don't know how to silence it.

I walk out alone, down the slope behind the tower, until the trees swallow the path. My breath shakes. My pulse is fire in my ears.

What if they're right?

What if I followed Aerith not because he had answers — but because I needed to be seen?

I punch a tree. The bark cuts into my knuckles.

It's not about me. This is bigger. It has to be.

Behind me, soft footsteps.

Sira.

She doesn't speak at first. Just sits on the ground near me. Picks up a stick, draws patterns in the dirt.

"He scares me," she says.

I don't respond.

"But you don't. Not really. Even when I disagree with you."

I finally look at her. "Then why does it feel like I'm losing all of you?"

"Because you stopped asking if we were still with you."

Her voice is calm. It breaks something in me worse than yelling would've.

"You haven't lost me," she adds. "But you're starting to leave us behind."

We sit in silence. And the quiet no longer feels like a comfort.

It feels like a cliff I might fall off.