The Library of Lost Memories
THE GIRL WHO STOLE THE SUNSET · August 21, 2026
Ren fell.
For a few seconds, there was no train.
No moon.
No sky.
Only darkness.
He could still feel Aiko’s hand around his.
Sora was somewhere beside him.
Then—
WHOOSH!
A brilliant blue light exploded beneath them.
They stopped falling.
Ren opened his eyes.
He was standing on a floating staircase.
Aiko stood beside him.
Sora was sitting three steps below.
She looked around.
“Please tell me we’re alive.”
Ren looked over the edge.
There was no ground beneath the staircase.
Only stars.
Millions of them.
“We’re alive.”
Sora sighed with relief.
“Great.”
Aiko looked upward.
The staircase disappeared into a massive glowing building floating in space.
Ren stared.
“What is that?”
Aiko whispered:
“The Library of Lost Memories.”
Sora stood.
“Why is it floating?”
“Because it contains memories that the world has forgotten.”
Ren looked at the endless shelves visible through the glass walls.
“How many?”
Aiko looked toward the top.
“All of them.”
They climbed.
The staircase seemed endless.
Every few steps, Ren saw something strange.
A door.
A photograph.
A child’s toy.
A broken sword.
A wedding ring.
Each object floated inside a glass bubble.
Ren reached toward one.
Aiko immediately stopped him.
“Don’t touch anything.”
“Why?”
“Because every object contains a memory.”
“And?”
“If you touch it, you might remember someone else’s life.”
Sora looked at a tiny red umbrella.
“What happens if we remember too much?”
“You may forget who you are.”
Sora quickly moved away.
“Okay. No touching.”
They continued upward.
At the top was an enormous circular hall.
Thousands of books floated through the air.
Some were glowing.
Some were burning.
Some were whispering.
Ren heard one book calling his name.
Ren.
He turned.
Aiko grabbed his shoulder.
“Don’t answer.”
“Why?”
“The library learns your voice.”
Ren stared at the book.
It opened by itself.
Pages turned rapidly.
Then an image appeared.
A little boy.
Ren.
He was six years old.
Standing beside his mother.
His mother was crying.
Ren watched the memory.
His younger self held a small silver star.
His mother knelt in front of him.
“Ren, listen to me.”
The boy nodded.
“You must never open the Star Gate.”
“Why?”
“Because something is waiting on the other side.”
“What?”
His mother looked terrified.
“The first darkness.”
The memory suddenly changed.
Kael entered.
He was sixteen.
He carried a sword.
“Mother!”
She turned.
“Kael, take your brother.”
“What happened?”
“The Void has found us.”
Kael grabbed young Ren.
The memory shook violently.
Then a voice came from the darkness.
“Give me the Star Prince.”
Ren’s mother stepped forward.
“No.”
The room exploded with light.
The memory ended.
Ren stood silently.
Aiko looked at him.
“Now you know.”
Ren shook his head.
“Not everything.”
He pointed at the book.
“What happened after that?”
Aiko didn’t answer.
Ren looked at her.
“You know.”
“Yes.”
“Tell me.”
Aiko sighed.
“Your mother sacrificed herself.”
Ren’s eyes filled with tears.
“She opened the Star Gate.”
“To save you.”
“What happened to Kael?”
“He tried to follow her.”
“And?”
“The gate closed.”
Ren looked down.
“So Kael blamed himself.”
Aiko nodded.
“He spent years searching for a way to reopen it.”
Ren whispered:
“And became the Crimson King.”
“Yes.”
Sora looked around.
“So why are we here?”
Aiko pointed toward the center of the library.
A single book floated above a crystal pedestal.
Its cover was black.
A golden star was engraved on it.
Ren stepped closer.
“What is that?”
Aiko whispered:
“Your missing memory.”
Ren approached the book.
The moment he touched it—
The entire library disappeared.
He stood in a white room.
His mother was there.
She looked exactly as he remembered.
Ren’s voice trembled.
“Mom?”
She smiled.
“My little star.”
He ran toward her.
But he couldn’t touch her.
She was only a memory.
“I’ve missed you.”
“I know.”
“Are you really here?”
“No.”
Her smile faded.
“But you need to hear this.”
Ren wiped his tears.
“What?”
“The person you call the Crimson King is not your enemy.”
Ren froze.
“Kael?”
“He made terrible choices.”
“Why?”
“Because he believed saving me required destroying the stars.”
Ren looked confused.
“He wants to destroy the stars?”
“He thinks the stars are prisons.”
“Are they?”
His mother hesitated.
“Yes.”
Ren’s heart stopped.
“Then why did you create them?”
“I didn’t.”
She looked toward the darkness.
“Something else did.”
A deep vibration filled the room.
His mother’s expression changed.
“Ren, you must leave.”
“Why?”
“It’s waking up.”
“What?”
“The first darkness.”
The white room began cracking.
Ren heard a voice.
A voice he had heard before.
“REN.”
His mother screamed:
“RUN!”
Ren opened his eyes.
He was back in the library.
Aiko was holding his shoulders.
“Ren!”
He gasped.
“What happened?”
“You disappeared.”
“For how long?”
“Three minutes.”
Sora pointed upward.
“Look.”
The ceiling was turning black.
A massive eye had appeared above the library.
Ren recognized it.
It was the same eye he had seen beyond the clouds.
Aiko whispered:
“The Void King.”
The eye opened.
Every book in the library began screaming.
The librarian appeared.
“Leave!”
Aiko shook her head.
“We can’t.”
“Why?”
“We need the Star Map.”
The librarian stared at her.
“The map was destroyed.”
Aiko pointed toward Ren.
“No.”
She looked at his palm.
“It was hidden inside him.”
Ren stared.
“Inside me?”
The golden star on his hand began glowing.
A beam of light shot from his palm.
It struck the center of the library.
A giant map appeared.
It showed hundreds of worlds.
Moon kingdoms.
Floating cities.
Ocean planets.
Crystal forests.
And at the center—
A black circle.
Aiko stared.
“The Void Gate.”
Sora looked confused.
“Where is that?”
Ren answered.
“Inside the moon.”
The library shook.
The Void King’s voice echoed:
“COME HOME.”
Ren looked upward.
“No.”
The eye narrowed.
“YOU BELONG TO ME.”
Ren raised his hand.
The golden star burned brighter.
“I belong to myself.”
A shockwave exploded from him.
The Void King’s eye disappeared.
The library became silent.
Aiko stared at Ren.
“You just pushed it back.”
Ren looked at his palm.
“I don’t know how.”
The librarian approached.
“You are awakening.”
“What does that mean?”
“You are remembering your true power.”
Ren looked at Aiko.
“What power?”
She smiled sadly.
“The power to create worlds.”
Suddenly, footsteps echoed through the library.
Everyone turned.
Kael walked through the entrance.
His black coat was torn.
Blood covered his face.
Ren raised his sword.
“Stay back.”
Kael stopped.
“I didn’t come to fight.”
“Then why are you here?”
Kael looked at the Star Map.
“Because I know where the Void Gate is.”
Aiko stepped forward.
“You shouldn’t be alive.”
Kael laughed.
“Neither should you.”
He looked at Ren.
“The gate opens tomorrow night.”
Ren’s heart sank.
“Tomorrow?”
Kael nodded.
“When the final sunset disappears.”
Sora asked:
“What happens then?”
Kael looked toward the floating city.
“Every star will go dark.”
“And after that?”
Kael’s eyes became cold.
“The Void will enter our world.”
Ren tightened his grip.
“Then we stop it.”
Kael looked at him.
“You can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because the only person who can close the Void Gate…”
He pointed at Ren.
“…is you.”
Ren stared.
“Then I’ll do it.”
Kael shook his head.
“You don’t understand the price.”
“What price?”
Kael’s voice became quiet.
“To close the gate, you must give up the one thing that connects you to this world.”
Ren frowned.
“What?”
Kael looked at Aiko.
“Her.”
Aiko froze.
Ren turned toward her.
Kael continued:
“Aiko is not human.”
“I know.”
“She was created from the last piece of your mother’s soul.”
Ren’s eyes widened.
“What?”
Aiko’s eyes filled with tears.
Kael whispered:
“When you close the gate, Aiko will disappear.”
Silence filled the library.
Ren looked at Aiko.
She couldn’t meet his eyes.
“You knew?”
Aiko nodded.
“For years.”
“And you still came with me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Aiko finally looked at him.
“Because I wanted to know what it felt like…”
Her voice trembled.
“…to have someone choose me.”
Ren stepped toward her.
“I choose you.”
Aiko cried.
“You don’t know what you’re saying.”
“I do.”
“You’ll lose everything.”
“Then we’ll find another way.”
Kael looked at them.
“There is no other way.”
Ren looked at the Star Map.
Then at the moon.
Then at Aiko.
“There has to be.”
The library suddenly began collapsing.
Books fell from the sky.
The floor cracked.
The Void King’s eye appeared again.
But this time—
It was not alone.
Hundreds of black eyes opened around it.
Kael drew his sword.
Aiko raised her staff.
Sora lifted her camera.
Ren held the Star Sword.
The four stood together.
Kael looked at Ren.
“Then we have one night.”
Ren nodded.
“One night.”
Aiko looked toward the distant moon.
The last sunset was already fading.
And somewhere beyond the stars, the Void Gate began to open.