**Memory is a gift.**
At least, that's what they say.
But I know the truth.
Memory is a curse wearing a smiling mask.
---
The **Silver Tree** loomed before me—unchanged, unmoving, **dead.** Its bark gleamed with that same sickly silver sheen, like moonlight trapped in ash.
I came here often.
Not to remember.
**But to forget.**
*I am the Dean. I am in control. I am in control…*
The mantra echoed in my skull, but lately, it had begun to sound hollow—like a song hummed in an empty house long after everyone had gone.
I sat beneath the tree, rain soaking through the black fabric of my coat. My white hair clung to my face, damp and tangled. My hands trembled.
And for the first time in years…
**I didn't know why.**
*"I…"*
My voice cracked. I stared at my palm. Ink stained my nails. Ancient runes slithered beneath my skin, restless. My fingers twitched uncontrollably.
*"I forgot… what was I doing here?"*
A laugh tore itself from my throat—raw, broken. It didn't even sound like me.
The Silver Tree hadn't bloomed in a thousand years.
**So why did that hurt?**
*"You promised you'd save them…"*
**Whose voice was that?**
I stood.
The world blurred.
The academy walls—once towering, unshakable—**leaned in.** Cobblestones groaned beneath my feet. The air thickened with whispers, murmurs in tongues only I knew.
**Or had I invented them?**
I clutched my skull.
*"Stop. STOP."*
The rain slowed—unnaturally.
Time **stuttered.**
Then **shattered.**
And in that fractured moment, the memory struck me like a falling star—
A child's sob. A woman's scream. A door. A river of red. A promise made in silver.
*"I have forgotten what I wanted to save."*
I fell to my knees.
And I **screamed.**
Not like a hero. Not like a tragic genius.
But like a **child.**
Like a **dying thing.**
Like a man who had opened too many forbidden doors—and could no longer remember which one led home.
*"Dean Caelum!"*
A voice—real, urgent—cut through the storm.
**Hinata.**
She ran toward me, her black coat flaring like broken wings. Her hand stretched out—
And I—
**Vanished.**
---
**[Scene Break]**
Somewhere deep beneath the academy, in a chamber erased from every map, a door **creaked open.**
Pale light pulsed—weak, sickly.
**Caelum Verris stepped inside.**
His coat dragged behind him. His eyes were hollow.
Mirrors floated in the air, each reflecting a different version of him—
**Laughing. Dying. Younger. Older. In love. In hate. Screaming. Bleeding.**
One whispered:
*"Come find it. What you lost."*
And high above, in the world beyond, the **Silver Tree bloomed a single flower.**
Only Hinata saw it.
And she wept.