The Garden Above the Stars
THE OCEAN BETWEEN THE STAR · August 21, 2026
The Star Engine awakened.
For one breathtaking moment, the entire universe seemed to hold its breath.
The silver tree beneath Mira began glowing brighter and brighter until every branch became a river of starlight.
Eren held her hand.
“Don’t let go.”
“I won’t.”
Above them, the black ocean began to ripple.
Something enormous moved inside it.
The Ocean Keeper.
Its countless stars shifted beneath its transparent skin.
Then it spoke.
Not with one voice.
With thousands.
“THIRTY-SEVEN.”
Mira looked upward.
“What does that mean?”
The mysterious woman answered:
“Your thirty-seventh beginning.”
Mira frowned.
“You said this is my thirty-seventh life.”
“Yes.”
“And Eren’s?”
The woman nodded.
“His too.”
Eren looked at Mira.
“We have met thirty-six times.”
“And every time we lost each other.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
The woman touched one of the silver tree’s branches.
“Because you were never supposed to remember.”
The Star Engine opened.
A circular doorway appeared inside the tree.
Beyond it was an impossible place.
A garden.
But not an ordinary garden.
There were flowers made of stars.
Rivers flowing upward.
Trees growing upside down.
And hundreds of glowing bridges stretching across the darkness.
Mira stared.
“What is this?”
“The Garden of Echoes.”
Eren stepped closer.
“I thought it was destroyed.”
“It was hidden.”
“From whom?”
The woman looked at the Ocean Keeper.
“From them.”
The creature screamed.
The entire planet shook.
The woman turned toward Mira.
“You must enter the garden.”
“Why?”
“Because your memories are there.”
Mira looked at Eren.
“What about you?”
“I’ll stay here.”
“No.”
Eren smiled.
“You always say that.”
“Because you always disappear.”
He looked at her for a moment.
Then he nodded.
“Fine.”
He took her hand.
“Together.”
They stepped through the doorway.
The moment Mira entered the garden, she heard music.
A soft piano melody.
She recognized it.
Her mother used to play the same song when Mira was little.
Mira stopped.
“That’s my mother’s song.”
Eren looked around.
“The garden stores memories.”
“Whose?”
“Everyone’s.”
Thousands of glowing spheres floated between the flowers.
Inside each sphere was a moment.
A first kiss.
A birthday.
A goodbye.
A child’s first word.
A final breath.
Mira reached toward one.
Eren stopped her.
“Careful.”
“What happens?”
“You might experience it.”
“Maybe I should.”
“You don’t know what you’ll see.”
Mira smiled.
“I already know what I want to see.”
She touched the sphere.
Her mother appeared.
She was younger.
Mira was five years old.
They were sitting beneath a tree on Earth.
Her mother was brushing her hair.
“Mom?”
The memory mother smiled.
“You always ask too many questions.”
“Where do stars go when they die?”
“They don’t disappear.”
“Then where?”
“They become memories.”
Little Mira looked up.
“Can memories become people?”
Her mother paused.
“Sometimes.”
The memory faded.
Mira opened her eyes.
Eren was watching her.
“Your mother knew about Nerith.”
“She did.”
“She knew about us.”
Mira nodded.
“How?”
Eren looked at the silver flowers.
“Because she helped create the first Star Engine.”
Mira stared.
“My mother?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t she tell me?”
“Because she knew the Void would find you.”
Mira’s voice became quiet.
“So she erased my memories.”
Eren nodded.
“To protect you.”
Mira looked down.
“And you?”
“I promised her I would protect you too.”
They walked deeper into the garden.
A strange blue butterfly flew past Mira.
She followed it.
“Wait.”
Eren hurried after her.
The butterfly landed on a silver flower.
The flower opened.
Inside was another memory.
Mira saw herself.
But older.
Twenty-four years old.
She stood beside Eren.
They were holding hands.
The same little girl stood between them.
Liora.
Mira stepped closer.
“That’s the future.”
Eren nodded.
The memory version of Mira suddenly looked directly at them.
Her eyes widened.
She could see them.
Future Mira spoke:
“If you’ve reached the garden…”
She looked frightened.
“…then the Keeper has found you.”
Eren stepped forward.
“What happens?”
Future Mira looked toward Liora.
“Don’t let her open the door.”
Mira frowned.
“Which door?”
Future Mira didn’t answer.
Instead, she looked at Eren.
“You already know.”
The memory ended.
Mira turned toward him.
“Eren.”
He was silent.
“You know what door she means.”
“Yes.”
“Tell me.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because if I tell you…”
He looked at her.
“…the future changes.”
Mira stepped closer.
“Maybe that’s what we need.”
Eren shook his head.
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain.”
He took a breath.
“The door isn’t a doorway.”
“What is it?”
“A person.”
Mira froze.
“Who?”
Eren looked toward Liora.
“The little girl.”
A cold wind passed through the garden.
Liora appeared between the trees.
She looked exactly as she had before.
Small.
Quiet.
Almost innocent.
Mira approached her.
“Liora.”
The girl smiled.
“You remembered.”
“Who are you?”
“You know.”
“No.”
Liora pointed toward Mira’s chest.
“You’ve been carrying me for twenty years.”
Mira looked confused.
“What?”
Liora touched her own heart.
“I am your forgotten future.”
Eren stepped between them.
“Stay away from her.”
Liora looked at him.
“You said that thirty-six times.”
Eren froze.
Mira stared.
“What does she mean?”
Liora smiled.
“Every life ends the same way.”
She raised her hand.
“You save me.”
Mira’s eyes widened.
“And then?”
“You forget Eren.”
Silence.
Eren looked down.
Mira whispered:
“Why?”
“Because I am the key to the Star Gate.”
Liora’s eyes began glowing.
“And the Void wants me.”
The garden suddenly changed.
The stars disappeared.
The flowers became black.
A huge crack opened in the sky.
The Ocean Keeper entered.
Its enormous body stretched across the garden.
Eren drew his weapon.
“Mira, run!”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“Mira!”
“This time I’m not running.”
The creature lowered its head.
“YOU HAVE DONE THIS BEFORE.”
Mira raised her sword.
“I know.”
“THIRTY-SIX TIMES.”
She tightened her grip.
“And this is the thirty-seventh.”
“YOU ALWAYS LOSE HIM.”
Mira looked at Eren.
“Not this time.”
The creature laughed.
“YOU CANNOT CHANGE WHAT YOU ARE.”
Mira looked at Liora.
“What am I?”
Liora smiled sadly.
“The girl who opens the door.”
Mira looked toward Eren.
“And what happens if I don’t?”
Liora’s smile disappeared.
“The universe dies.”
Eren stepped forward.
“Then we’ll find another way.”
The Ocean Keeper roared.
The garden exploded with light.
Eren attacked first.
His weapon became a beam of silver energy.
It struck the creature.
The Keeper barely moved.
Mira raised her hand.
The Star Engine responded.
Millions of memories burst from the garden.
Every life she and Eren had lived appeared around them.
A desert world.
A floating city.
A frozen planet.
A world covered in endless rain.
A civilization beneath an alien ocean.
In every life—
They found each other.
In every life—
They lost each other.
Mira watched herself die in Eren’s arms.
Then another life.
Eren died protecting her.
Another.
Mira disappeared.
Another.
Eren forgot her.
Another.
They never met.
Thirty-six lives.
Thirty-six endings.
Mira cried.
“Why?”
The mysterious woman appeared beside her.
“Because you kept choosing the universe over each other.”
Mira looked at her.
“And what happens if I choose differently?”
The woman smiled.
“Then perhaps the universe will learn something new.”
Mira looked at Eren.
He was fighting alone.
She ran toward him.
“Eren!”
He turned.
“Mira!”
She grabbed his hand.
The Star Engine exploded.
The entire garden became white.
The Ocean Keeper screamed.
“NO!”
The creature shattered into millions of stars.
For a moment, everything was peaceful.
Then Liora screamed.
The stars around her turned black.
A dark door appeared behind the little girl.
Mira stepped toward her.
“Liora?”
The girl looked terrified.
“It found me.”
“What?”
Liora pointed behind Mira.
Mira turned.
The mysterious woman was gone.
The silver tree was dying.
And at the end of the garden stood a man wearing a black coat.
His face was hidden.
But his voice was familiar.
Very familiar.
He looked at Eren.
“You shouldn’t have remembered.”
Eren’s face became pale.
Mira looked between them.
“Who is he?”
Eren whispered:
“My future self.”
The man removed his hood.
His face was older.
Scarred.
His eyes were completely black.
He smiled.
“I’ve been waiting thirty-seven lives for you.”
Mira stepped backward.
The older Eren raised his hand.
Behind him, the entire Garden of Echoes began collapsing.
And somewhere in the darkness—
Earth’s first star disappeared.