The Forest of the Forgotten

The sun felt wrong on Ellie's skin, but wrong in a way that made her chest ache with something she couldn't name. It was harsher than Nova's gentle light, more direct, but there was something underneath that recognition that made her breath catch.

She knew this sun.

Amnity struggled to her feet, brushing dust and grit from her pants as she stared up at the towering buildings surrounding them. "What is this place?" she whispered, her voice small and lost. The structures rose impossibly high, their surfaces gleaming with materials she'd never seen—glass and metal and something that reflected the harsh sunlight in ways that hurt her eyes.

But Ellie barely heard her. The Glowing Imp Root in Amnity's backpack pulsed steadily, and with each throb, another piece of memory crystallized in her mind. The smell of exhaust and concrete and something cooking—something fried and salty that made her mouth water with a recognition she didn't understand.

*A woman's voice, calling her name. Not Ellie—something else, something she couldn't quite grasp. The sound of vehicles roaring past, just like the ones she could hear now in the distance.*

"Ellie?" Amnity's voice cut through the memory fragments. "You're staring."

Ellie blinked and realized she was looking at the mouth of the alley with an expression Amnity had never seen on her face—not quite recognition, not quite confusion, but something caught between the two.

"I..." Ellie started, then stopped. How could she explain that this alien place felt like coming home to somewhere she'd never been?

They emerged from the alley onto a sidewalk teeming with people, and Amnity immediately pressed close to Ellie's side. The humans moved differently than the people of Nova—faster, more purposeful, their clothes strange and uniform. Many stared at rectangular devices in their hands, their faces illuminated by unnatural light.

A man in a dark suit brushed past them, speaking rapidly into a small device pressed to his ear. Amnity jumped, but Ellie found herself following his conversation with an understanding that surprised her.

"—need those reports by three, or Henderson's going to have my head—"

"You understand him," Amnity breathed, staring at Ellie with wide eyes.

Ellie nodded slowly, another memory flash hitting her as the Root pulsed again. *Sitting in front of a glowing screen, similar voices speaking similar words. The taste of something sweet and fizzy on her tongue.*

"The language," Ellie murmured, more to herself than to Amnity. "It's... I know this language."

A group of teenagers walked past, their laughter bright and careless, and Ellie caught fragments of their conversation that made her heart race with familiarity she couldn't explain.

"—totally going to fail that chemistry test—"

"—did you see what happened at lunch? Sarah was so—"

School. The word hit her like a physical blow, bringing with it a cascade of sense memories: the smell of cafeteria food, the squeak of sneakers on linoleum, the weight of books in her arms.

"Ellie." Amnity's voice was sharper now, worried. "What's happening to you?"

Ellie turned to look at her best friend, her partner, someone she knew her whole life—the girl she'd grown up with in Nova, who knew nothing about the life before Eleazar had found her and brought her through the mirror.

"The Root," Ellie said quietly, her hand moving unconsciously to where she knew Amnity's backpack contained the pulsing fungi. "It's... showing me things. This place, it's like... it's like where I came from. Before Eleazar."

Amnity's eyes widened. "Before Eleazar? But you were just a child when he took you in. You said you didn't remember—"

"I didn't." Ellie's voice was barely audible over the noise of the street. "But being here, with the Root... it's all coming back. The smells, the sounds, the way the light falls. Amnity, I think Eleazar brought me to Nova the same way we fell through that mirror. I think he threw me through."

The admission hung between them like a bridge neither was sure they wanted to cross. Around them, the city continued its relentless pace—cars honking, people shouting, the constant background hum of a world that ran on electricity and ambition instead of magic and tradition.

A woman pushing a small cart stopped near them, and the smell that wafted from her vendor's station made Ellie's knees weak with recognition. Hot dogs and pretzels and something else, something that tasted like childhood and safety and Saturday mornings she'd forgotten she'd ever lived.

"I think," Ellie whispered, watching the woman serve customers with practiced efficiency, "I think I might be from here. From a place like this, I mean."

Amnity stared at her, the Glowing Imp Root pulsing steadily in her backpack, each throb bringing more fragments of Ellie's lost past to the surface. The girl she'd grown up with, shared secrets with, learned magic alongside—suddenly felt like a stranger.

And in the distance, the city stretched out around them, vast and overwhelming and somehow, impossibly, like coming home.

"Ellie, baby, You're scaring me. I think... " Amnity wondered for a minute, grabbing at Ellie's shoulders carefully. Amnity looked into her eyes, they seemed normal enough, maybe a little red and kind of puffy, but normal enough, she thought about the root and sighed. "...I think we should get something to eat."