Gift of the Homeward Journey

Tears filled Harmonic Leaptone's eyes. A new line was etched onto Radiant Stilllight's Spear of Definition, and Myriad Faces' mirrored surface reflected what he looked like at that moment—he was no longer the "Lord of Ashes bearing the embers of 370 million civilizations." He was the Memory Sea itself, the vessel of all memories in the universe, the proof of existence itself.

Lin Ye looked at them and smiled. "Let's go. Home."

He turned and walked out of the Memory Sea. Behind him, the Memory Sea gently surged, like a great beast that had just been soothed and could finally sleep in peace.

The journey home was countless times faster than the journey there. Not because the distance had shrunk, but because the Memory Sea was no longer "crowded." The memories diverted onto Lin Ye's cloak had cleared space within the Memory Sea, making the way home unimpeded.

The expedition team traveled through the Memory Sea. The waters around them were so clear that they could see the details of every mote of memory-light. Harmonic Leaptone could not resist reaching out to touch a spray of water—it was the memory of a civilization's birth. "They're so beautiful... Every memory is unique..."

Radiant Stilllight's Spear of Definition was recording automatically. It was not defining them of its own accord; rather, the Memory Sea was "introducing itself" through it. Every spray left a mark upon the spear, and every mark was the story of a civilization. "These stories are enough to keep me defining things for a million years..." he murmured.

Countless memories were reflected in Myriad Faces' mirrored form. Yet it no longer split apart, no longer contradicted itself—because it had learned to "contain everything at once." Countless reflections coexisted within the mirror without interfering with one another, just as