CHAPTER 44: THE PRICE OF MEMORY

Elune peeked from a corner and checked the elevator going down to the Archive. There were two Zhen guards stationed in front of it. After Elune exchanged a knowing glance with Cain and Abe, the angel approached them casually.

"Hi! Thanks for your service. I baked cookies for Miss Roen, but one of your guys said she didn’t want them. Want some instead?" Elune offered.

One of the guards looked at her, puzzled.

"That’s kind of you, but... where are the cookies?" he asked, eyeing her empty hands.

"I’m your cookie," Abe - who had crept up from behind, kicked the man behind his knees, making him immediately kneel.

At the same time,Cain, despite his bulky frame, moved like a shadow and slipped behind the second guard, choking him unconscious.

"What the-"

But Elune was quick to move. She placed her palm on the top of the guard’s head and asked.

"I need you to bring me to the Archive."

"I can’t do that. You guys are making a big mistake here."

Elune didn’t care.

She only spoke one command.

"Age."

A tremor passed through the man’s body. His skin paled. Wrinkles carved themselves into the corners of his mouth. His breath caught in his throat as if decades had brushed past him in an instant.

"I am not asking again," Elune said softly. Her eyes glowing silver.

"What are you-"

"Look at your hands," Elune murmured.

He obeyed - and froze. His hands had aged decades. Wrinkled. Veined. Unfamiliar.

"I- I will escort you myself," he muttered, eyes wide, voice shaking. "Please, just... stop."

Cain said nothing. Abe gave a low whistle.

"Enough," Elune replied. "Take us down."

The guard pressed the key combination for the elevator and the party was on a long descent to the depths of the Rowen Tower in no time.

Once they arrived at the Archive floor, Elune warned.

"Stay here - and stay quiet. Unless you want to lose more years."

The trembling guard said nothing. He just nodded his head.

They entered the same corridor Lin had walked days ago. The air was stale. The hallway endless. Yet the angel knew the way. She always did.

The Archivist was already waiting behind the reception.

She smiled - calm, unfazed. Her wrinkled face bore no fear. She had seen more than most who walked these halls.

"Take me to the girl," Elune whispered.

The Archivist blinked once and all the lights went out. There was total darkness except for her glowing eyes. Pale blue.

"You shouldn’t be here," the Archivist hissed. "Only those of the Roen blood and the Zhen—"

Elune’s eyes flared in blinding silver. Her blond hair flared like sunlight through stained glass.

"Bleed."

The Archivist fell to her knees, screaming, her hands clawing at her face as blood streamed from her eyes.

Cain flinched - but stopped himself. Abe visibly winced.

"Stop," Elune commanded. "You will answer me."

The Archivist writhed for a moment longer before slumping forward, her breathing shallow.

"You... can’t do this to me. This is against-"

Elune placed her palm on the top of the Archivist’s head this time. The old lady’s eyes were starting to bulge out, as if they could pop and explode any moment.

"Blind," Elune said - not to darken her eyes, but her mind. The world of words, memory, and names began leaking from the Archivist’s mind like ink dissolving in water. "Open the seal - or your name will vanish next."

"No... No..." the Archivist realized she was about to lose what was the most valuable to her - her entire purpose of being.

"I seek the girl," Elune said. "The one sealed away."

The Archivist shuddered. "So you know her name."

"I know enough."

"She’s not... meant to be remembered."

"I was the one who was never meant to forget."

The Archivist’s lips trembled.

Elune’s silver eyes narrowed and said,

"You hold the key."

"It’s not mine to give," the Archivist said hoarsely.

"You were only meant to guard it," Elune replied. "It was the Mistress who gave you that right - and only she can take it back."

"Then you understand," the Archivist said, sagging with relief.

"I do," Elune said softly. "And I am not asking you to break your oath."

Cain shifted beside her. Abe folded his arms, watching cautiously.

"I’m asking for a trade."

The Archivist’s mouth twitched with something between dread and curiosity.

"What would an angel trade?" she asked. "What is there in you that you’d give away?"

Elune paused. Then she knelt, slowly, gracefully, until her forehead was level with the Archivist’s.

"My memory," she said. "My last sunrise in the heaven. Take it. Seal it. Archive it. And grant me the right to pass."

The Archivist’s hands shook. "That is... that is something I have never seen..."

"I will never remember it again," Elune said calmly. "But you will."

The silence was heavy.

Then the Archivist raised one hand, pressing her fingers gently against Elune’s temple.

A pale shimmer pulsed between them, soft and silver-blue. Elune flinched, just once. Her lips parted - as though she’d forgotten how to breathe.

The Archivist inhaled—then exhaled with a shudder. The bleeding from her eyes ceased - but tears now streamed down her cheeks.

"It is beautiful."

She then rose to her feet, steadier now, and turned down the endless corridor behind her desk.

The four of them walked until the Archivist stopped before a wall with no door.

From around her neck, she drew a fine black thread - woven into it was a bead no larger than a tear.

She whispered a word and pressed the bead against the stone. The wall shimmered and split open - not like a door, but like a wound parting.

"She’s through here," the Archivist whispered. "But take care. The girl sealed below is no longer who she was when she was loved."

Elune stood. Her eyes no longer glowed. Her shoulders trembled slightly.

"I will go," she said. "And I will remember her for the both of us."

Then she stepped through.