Chapter 21: Vault of Forgotten Dreams

The spiral staircase seemed endless. Each step echoed like a heartbeat in the hollow void around him. The air grew colder—not with natural chill, but with an eerie stillness that felt wrong.

Nagomi narrowed his eyes.

“If this place had a warning sign, it would say: ‘Abandon common sense, all who enter here.’”

A few more turns, and the stairs opened into a vast chamber. The walls were smooth, not aged or cracked like the rest of Skydown, but pristine—untouched by time.

In the center stood a crystalline vault, surrounded by rotating rings etched with ancient runes. The rings moved on their own, slowly, like the ticking hands of a clock measuring something far more important than time.

Nagomi stepped forward.

“What even is this place…?”

As he approached, his foot brushed against a glowing tile.
A soft chime echoed.

The runes lit up.

The vault responded.

A voice echoed—not artificial like before, but gentle, human.

“To the one who dares enter, know that dreams are fragile things. Tread carefully.”

“…Dreams?”

The vault’s doors slowly slid open with a sigh, revealing not gold or weapons, but visions.

Nagomi found himself surrounded by floating images. Not holograms—memories.

He saw a woman in a white coat speaking to a group of children, their eyes wide with wonder.
A mage performing a spell that bloomed into a tree of light.
A child chasing after a floating gear with laughter.

Then—flickers of panic.

Explosions. Sirens. Darkness swallowing the light.

The images began to warp, showing corrupted dreams, broken minds, people vanishing into the ether.

Nagomi stood still, awestruck.

“Was this place... built to protect dreams?”

A recording crackled on behind him.

“We tried to store what we couldn’t save. Memories. Hopes. A future no one was ready for.”

A console lit up beside him, offering a single prompt:

“Do you wish to preserve your dream?”

Nagomi stared at it.

He didn’t move.

“…What is my dream?”

He thought about his world. About long nights staring at a ceiling he hated. About empty mornings. About reading stories where people escaped into fantasy and actually lived.

“To enjoy this journey. That’s all I wanted.”

He pressed his hand against the console.

The chamber pulsed with light.

The runes spun faster—recognizing him.

The vault shimmered, and a small crystal detached from its core, floating to his palm.

“This… isn’t power.”
“It’s a fragment. Of someone’s dream.”

Nagomi placed it carefully into his satchel.

As he made his way back to the spiral stairwell, the chamber began to seal itself.

Not with a sense of hostility—but with finality.

“Guess I wasn’t meant to stay here long.”

Outside, the atmosphere of Skydown felt… different. Softer. Lighter.

Even if no one else could feel it, Nagomi knew something had changed.

And as he looked up toward the higher levels, he could feel another question forming deep inside him.

“If dreams can be stored… can they be stolen too?”

He didn’t know the answer.