Chapter 5: Chapter 5: The One Who Remembers
Klein understood many things about the world.
He understood the power of Sequences.
He understood the weight of fate and the strings of destiny.
He understood that everything came with a price.
But what he didn't understand was why he was different.
Why, out of every person in the world, he alone could remember Yeaia Nolas.
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The Gray Fog's Whisper
That night, Klein sat in the dim glow of candlelight, his thoughts spiraling.
Everything about Yeaia was wrong.
A being that existed outside of fate, whose presence was forgotten the moment they left a room.
A person that even the Spirit World refused to acknowledge.
And yet, he could still remember.
"Why?" he muttered under his breath.
There was only one place he could search for an answer.
Taking a deep breath, Klein ascended into the gray fog.
The world shifted, and he was once again within the boundless, mist-filled space of the mysterious existence known as "The Fool."
The long, ancient bronze table stretched before him. The silent, endless void surrounded him.
Here, he was something beyond himself.
Here, he was not just Klein Moretti.
And that, perhaps, was the answer.
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A Name That Could Not Be Erased
Klein raised his hand, channeling his thoughts into the mists of omniscience.
"Why can I remember Yeaia?"
The fog trembled.
And then—a single answer formed in his mind.
"Because you are not meant to be forgotten."
Klein's breath caught.
Not meant to be forgotten?
The realization slammed into him like a tidal wave.
Everything about Yeaia—their nature, their existence—was built on the concept of impermanence.
They were something that the world itself tried to erase.
A dream that faded upon waking.
But Klein?
Klein was a Name.
A Name that sat upon the gray fog.
And names—true names—could not be erased.
Klein's body felt cold.
It wasn't just that he could remember Yeaia.
It was that he was fundamentally incompatible with their existence.
The Fool stood above fate.
And Yeaia?
They were something that fate refused to hold.
A paradox.
"No wonder Yeaia called it 'inconvenient,'" Klein muttered to himself. "My very existence disrupts whatever force is erasing them."
The question was—why?
Why did fate reject Yeaia?
Why did the world refuse to remember them?
And more importantly…
Why had they sought Klein out?
Klein needed answers.
And there was only one person who could give them to him.
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A Dream That Refuses to Wake
The next night, Klein found himself waiting.
He had set everything up: a locked room, a ritual circle beneath the floorboards—a trick to disrupt the natural flow of reality just enough to keep Yeaia from vanishing completely.
Then, he sat at his desk, eyes fixed on the carved words.
"Yeaia Nolas exists."
And he waited.
Waited for the inevitable.
He wasn't surprised when, hours later, they appeared.
Yeaia Nolas stood exactly where Klein expected them to be—perched lazily on his windowsill, the moonlight catching the red highlights in their black-and-white hair.
"You set a trap for me?" they asked, amused.
"No," Klein answered. "I set a conversation."
Yeaia sighed. "You really don't know how to let things go, do you?"
Klein didn't blink. "No. And you know why."
Something shifted in Yeaia's expression.
"Do I?"
"Yes."
Klein leaned forward, staring them down.
"I can remember you because I exist outside the rules of fate."
Yeaia was silent.
Klein pressed on.
"I am the Fool. My name is written on the gray fog itself. And that means I cannot be erased."
A long pause.
Then—Yeaia laughed.
A genuine, soft laugh. Not mocking. Not amused.
Relieved.
"So you finally figured it out," they murmured.
Klein didn't let himself relax.
"What does that mean for you?"
Yeaia's gaze turned distant, almost wistful.
"It means," they said quietly, "that maybe—just maybe—I won't disappear completely."
Their silver-gray eyes met his.
"It means that if you remember me, Klein Moretti… I might still be real."
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End of Chapter 5
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