Tears glistened in Harmonic Leaping Note's eyes, a new line was etched onto Radiant Stilllight's Spear of Definition, and Myriad Faces and Forms' mirror reflected Lin Ye as he was now-he was no longer "the Lord of Embers who bore 370 million civilizations." He was the Memory Sea itself, the vessel for every memory in the universe, the proof of existence itself.
Lin Ye looked at them and smiled. "Let's go. Home."
He turned and walked toward the edge of the Memory Sea. Behind him, the sea stirred gently, like a vast beast that had just been soothed and could finally sleep in peace.
The journey home was countless times faster than their arrival. Not because the distance had shortened, but because the Memory Sea was no longer "crowded." The memories diverted onto Lin Ye's cloak had freed up space within the sea, leaving their path home clear.
The expedition traveled through the Memory Sea, its waters so clear that they could see every detail of each glowing mote of memory. Harmonic Leaping Note 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 recorded on its own. He was not actively defining anything; the Memory Sea was "introducing itself" through him. Every spray left a pattern on the spear's shaft, and every pattern was the story of a civilization. "These stories will keep me defining for a million years..." he murmured.
Countless memories were reflected in Myriad Faces and Forms' mirror form. But they no longer fractured, no longer contradicted one another-because Myriad Faces and Forms had learned to "hold them all at once." Countless reflections coexisted within the mirror without interfering with one another, just as countless