Chapter 5 Page 5

They called themselves the Pluvium-a scattered few who remembered what the world refused to. They met in forgotten places: abandoned observatories, overgrown train stations, rain-stained pages of censored books. Their mission was simple: restore the memory of rain.

The woman introduced herself as Caeli, Keeper of the Thirteenth Bell. She led Elian into the Rain Archive, a place suspended between moments. It wasn't a building-it was a feeling, a shape hidden in the folds of reality. Inside, shelves rose like waterfalls frozen in mid-cascade, filled with glass vials, soaked scrolls, and storm-drenched relics.

Elian's breath caught. "What is this place?"

Caeli smiled. "These are the stories rain tried to tell before it was silenced."

She handed him a raindrop.

It floated in her palm, glowing faintly.

"Memory condensed," she said. "Hold it."

The moment Elian touched it, images flooded his mind: a child dancing in a field of bluebells, a woman singing lullabies to the rhythm of falling water, a forest breathing in relief after a summer storm.

He staggered.

"It's real," he whispered.

"Yes," Caeli said. "And if you can hold onto it, you can help others remember and put this in mind after all is done and concluded. I hope we all understood this."

"Yes, we do."