Hidden Condition fulfilled.]
[Phoenix Bloodline ability unlocked: Echo of Ashes.]
[Warning: Memories may be incomplete, distorted, or connected to events beyond the current host’s lifetime.]
Vivianne stared at the floating notifications.
Or at least, she tried to.
She just woke up from the mess with Miles just to find herself tangled in a whole new madness.
The words swam before her eyes, blurring together until she could barely make them out.
Her body felt strangely weightless.
It was as if Vivianne were floating somewhere between waking and sleeping, unable to tell whether she still had a body at all.
Then a familiar voice rang out.
“Anomaly.”
Vivianne blinked.
Who is it?
“Anomaly!”
A flash of emerald light appeared before her.
Kirin emerged from it.
But something was wrong.
No. Not wrong.
But… different.
The tiny, fluffy System guide Vivianne had grown used to was gone!
In her place stood a majestic creature that resembled a deer with scales like a dragon’s covering its body.
Her celestial body was covered in brilliant emerald scales.
Her swirling tail was like rising green clouds.
Faint sparks of lightning flickering along the tips of Kirin’s antler-like horns.
She was nothing like the little green sheep-like creature who usually floated beside Vivianne.
Kirin whined at Vivianne as though she had just witnessed something impossible.
“This has never happened before!” Kirin exclaimed.
“Not once! Not even in my entire history backlog! What is this?!”
Vivianne’s voice barely escaped her throat but Kirin kept screaming about anomalies.
She wanted to answer but her gaze drifted toward another glowing panel.
Unlike the usual blue System panel, this one has an unusual gold color.
[Crimson Phoenix’s Memory]
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Vivianne’s hand moved instinctively.
The moment her fingers touched the panel—the world disappeared.
A garden stretched beneath a brilliant sunset.
Curved roofs swept upward at the edges, their dark wooden frames decorated with intricate golden carvings.
Red pillars supported elegant balconies, while hanging lanterns swayed gently beneath the eaves.
It was like those beautiful palaces of ancient Chinese dynasties.
A lotus pond lay at the heart of the garden.
Its surface was covered with lotus flowers in shades of pink, white, blue, and even gold.
Vivianne stood in the middle of the beautiful garden.
Flower petals drifted through the warm evening air.
She slowly turned, taking in the beautiful surroundings.
Everything around her felt strangely peaceful, yet breathtaking.
Then something caught her attention when Vivianne lifted her head.
Two Phoenixes soared across the sky.
One blazed with the colors of dawn.
Crimson-red feathers shimmering with flashes of gold, orange, green, blue, violet, and magenta.
The other glowed with the warm golden hues of sunset.
They flew side by side, their enormous wings moving in perfect harmony.
The Crimson Phoenix followed.
They circled the palace once before descending into the garden.
Then the two Divine Beasts landed.
Light enveloped their bodies before their feathers vanished beneath shimmering golden and crimson flames.
When the flames disappeared, two people stood where the Phoenixes had been.
A man with long blond hair that caught the sunset like threads of gold wore a golden robe.
Intricate phoenix patterns and delicate clouds adorned the fabric, giving him the quiet majesty of an ancient emperor.
Vivianne knew the Emperor.
No. She didn’t.
Not consciously.
Yet something deep inside her recognized him.
His ruby-red eyes softened the moment they settled on the woman beside him.
She wore a flowing crimson-red dress that fell loosely around her body.
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against his chest.
She fit there perfectly.
As though she had belonged there for years.
He lowered his head and pressed a tender kiss against her temple.
“My forever. Always have and always will.”
His voice was warm and familiar.
Too familiar.
But Vivianne couldn’t wrap her head around it.
“Always.”
The Emperor’s arm remained around the woman’s shoulders as they began walking toward the palace.
She leaned slightly against him.
The golden Phoenix noticed her slowing down and immediately supported her more carefully.
He immediately adjusted his hold, keeping her steady.
Only then did Vivianne notice the curve beneath the woman’s loose, comfortable dress.
A very obvious one.
She was pregnant.
“Easy, there.”
The tenderness in his voice made something twist painfully inside Vivianne’s chest.
He glanced down at the woman’s stomach and beamed with joy.
“I can’t wait to see our chicks.”
The woman’s lips curved into a smile when he placed his palm gently over her belly.
“I hope they’ll be strong and healthy.”
A cool breeze swept through the garden.
Before she could react, the man removed his outer robe and gently wrapped it around her shoulders.
“You’ll catch a chill.”
“I won’t,” she said with a small laugh.
“You always say that.”
He adjusted the robe around her.
Making sure she was properly covered before offering his arm.
“Come inside. It’s getting colder.”
For a moment, everything felt impossibly peaceful.
Vivianne stared at them.
Her chest tightened for reasons she couldn’t understand, and tears gathered in her eyes.
The scene felt strangely familiar, like something precious she had lost long ago.
Then the golden Phoenix looked at the woman again.
His ruby eyes softened.
“My forever.”
The words echoed.
Always.
Always and always.
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Suddenly, the entire memory fractured.
Palace walls shattered.
Lotus ponds faded away.
The golden and crimson Phoenixes vanished.
“Wait—!”
Vivianne ran and reached out instinctively to them but they disappeared instantly.
Her eyes snapped open.
She gasped in a ragged breath, tears already streaming down her cheeks.
Her chest heaved as she stared into the darkness around her, completely disoriented.
She stared upward, her vision swimming.
For a moment, Vivianne couldn’t remember where she was.
Then the familiar scent of the den reached her, pulling her back to reality.
This was Oswald’s den.
What just happened?
What did she see?
Her breathing trembled.
For several seconds, she couldn’t move.
Then her hand slowly rose and stopped against her stomach.
There was no bump.
Nothing that explained the ache twisting through her chest.
But the memory of that pregnant woman still lingered in her mind.
“Who…?” Her voice cracked.
The memory was already fading into crimson light.
Vivianne couldn’t remember the man’s face.
Only his gentle voice, warmth, and those words.
My forever.
Her fingers curled against her stomach.
“Who were you?”
A tear slipped down Vivianne’s cheek.
Then another.
Only then did she realize she was crying.
For one brief moment, the image returned.
A golden Phoenix stood in the palace garden.
His hand rested gently over a swollen belly as he smiled warmly.
Our sweet chicks.
“Wait… who were our chicks…?”
What had happened?
She wiped her face and stared at the wetness on her fingers.
Why am I crying?
She tried to remember.
A palace.
A garden.
Golden light.
Someone’s arms around her.
“What happened, piii? You were zoning out a moment back there with a scary lifeless expression. Your eyes were glassy, piii.”
Kirin was hovering around Vivianne.
But she was in her round sheep-like form now.
Unlike her majestic ones earlier.
Was she hallucinating a moment ago?
“I thought you were having a nightmare. Glad you are awake now, piii.”
Vivianne squeezed her eyes shut, trying to remember what she’d lost, but she couldn’t.
She stared into the darkness, unable to remember anything, yet she still mourned what she lost.