Lord of Mysteries: The Dream That Waits

Yeaia did not move.

They stood frozen in front of the house, staring at the doorway like it was something impossible. Something wrong.

The child's voice echoed again—

"Mama, where's big—?"

The word warped again, twisting into something unintelligible. It was like the memory couldn't decide what to call Yeaia.

And yet—

The feeling of being called remained.

It was dragging them in.

"Yeaia."

Klein's voice cut through the fog.

They snapped out of their daze, exhaling sharply. Their mismatched eyes turned to him, unfocused.

"This is a memory." Klein said. "But not necessarily yours."

Yeaia swallowed.

"I know." Their voice was hoarse. "That's what scares me."

Klein frowned.

"Explain."

Yeaia hesitated—then, slowly, they clenched their fists.

"I don't remember this place." They gestured at the town. "I don't remember this house. I don't even remember having a family."

They turned back to the house.

"But this memory… it's acting like I should."

---

The House That Knows

The door creaked open.

Yeaia tensed. Klein remained still.

Inside, the air was thick with nostalgia that wasn't theirs.

The room was simple—worn wooden floors, a dim lantern flickering on the table, a small window overlooking a gray sky. It was the kind of home that felt lived in.

And yet—

It wasn't real.

The longer Klein observed it, the more he could tell. The details were incomplete. Some objects were too perfect, as if they had been recreated from a half-formed memory. Others flickered, unable to decide what they were supposed to be.

And at the center of the room—

A woman stood with her back turned to them.

She did not move.

Yeaia's breath was unsteady.

"Who is she?" Klein asked.

Yeaia shook their head.

"I don't know."

"But she knows you."

Yeaia flinched.

Because the moment Klein spoke—

The woman moved.

She turned too slowly, her head tilting in an unnatural, deliberate motion. Her face came into view.

And she smiled.

"You're home."

Yeaia stepped back.

"No."

The woman's head tilted further.

"You've been gone for so long."

Her voice shifted.

One moment, it was warm and motherly. The next, it was distorted, like a chorus of voices overlapping in different tones.

Like she wasn't one person.

Like she wasn't even real.

"Come in." she said. "Your brother is waiting."

Klein and Yeaia froze.

Behind the woman—

A door appeared where there hadn't been one before.

It was slightly open.

And from within—

Someone was watching.

---

The Name That Wasn't Theirs

A presence stirred beyond the door.

Yeaia's pulse pounded in their ears.

This was wrong. All of this was wrong.

But the worst part wasn't the unnaturalness of the place.

It was the feeling that—

If they stepped through that door—

They would become someone else.

The woman's voice grew softer.

"Don't be afraid."

"You've always belonged here."

Yeaia shook their head.

"No, I haven't." Their voice was quiet but firm.

The woman's smile did not falter.

"Then why do you remember?"

The door creaked further open.

For a split second—

Yeaia saw a shadow move inside.

And then—

A voice spoke from within.

"That's not your name."

The temperature dropped.

Yeaia's breath caught in their throat.

Because that voice—

It sounded like them.

But not them.

It sounded like someone else.

Someone who should not exist.

Klein took a step forward.

"We're leaving." His voice was steady.

The woman's smile twitched.

"You can't leave."

The walls shuddered. The house groaned, shifting as if reality itself was warping around them.

But Klein—

Did not care.

He raised his hand.

The Gray Fog surged.

Reality bent to his will, unraveling the illusion like a book being forcibly closed. The walls crumbled. The air fractured.

And for the briefest moment—

Klein saw what was behind the door.

A formless shape.

A shadow with too many eyes.

A being that looked like it was still trying to become something.

And then—

The house collapsed.

---

Returning to the Spiral

The memory shattered.

Klein and Yeaia fell back into the empty city of the Spiral. The house was gone. The voice was gone.

Only silence remained.

Klein straightened, his brows knitting together as a sharp pain throbbed in his head from what he had just witnessed.

"What was that?"

Yeaia was still staring at the space where the house had been. Their fingers trembled.

"I don't know."

But Klein could tell.

It wasn't just a memory.

It was a place that had been forcing an identity onto them.

An identity that did not belong to them.

And whoever had spoken from beyond the door—

Knew the truth.

---

End of Chapter 13

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