THE FROZEN REALM: TEACHING
WEEK 3 – SATURDAY (Lost Hour at 6:08 AM)
The Lost Hour came. Happy walked to the abandoned factory. The frozen fog was thick. Finn sat on his frozen crate, his blurry form more solid than before.
"Sit down, kid. Today I teach you the real rules."
Happy sat. Finn scratched on the ground with a piece of debris.
"Level 0 – surface. You are here. Safe if careful.
Level 1 – twilight zone. Faded gather. Dangerous.
Level 2 – deep dark. Nameless from centuries ago. The Shade hunts there.
Level 3 – abyss. Only the Clockmaker and the First Forgotten.
Below that – nothing. Or everything. No one knows."
Happy nodded. "How do I survive the Shade?"
"Never show fear. It feeds on fear. Dodge, don't fight. And never let it touch you."
Finn looked at Happy seriously.
"Also do not confront Dragan yet. Not in the living world, not in the Frozen Realm. He has connections here. Someone helps him. You are not ready. First, build your own identity. Make your cakes different from his. Create something he cannot copy. Then, when you are strong, you strike."
"What about the Clockmaker?"
"He is deep. He does not know about you yet. When he does, he will come. But by then, you will have me."
Finn leaned back. His blurry eyes seemed to look through Happy, into a past he had almost forgotten.
"Now, let me tell you a crime. The one that broke my mind. Even before I died, this case made me question everything. Maybe you can solve what I couldn't."
"Tell me."
"There was a murder in London. 1953. A woman was found dead in a locked room. No fingerprints. No motive. No suspect. Every clue pointed to nothing. I spent three years on that case. I interviewed fifty people. I read every file. And then I found a name – a name that kept appearing in the background, never as a suspect, never as a witness. Just a name on a visitor log. On a library card. On a train ticket."
"What was the name?"
"That's the thing. I can't remember. The name faded from my mind the moment I died. But I remember the feeling – the certainty that if I could just remember that name, everything would make sense."
Happy's eyes widened. "A name that makes you forget it? That sounds like something from a movie."
"A movie?"
"Yeah. There's this old Hollywood film – The Forgotten Witness. The detective finds a name that everyone who hears it forgets within seconds. He has to write it down, but the paper burns. He has to say it aloud, but his own memory erases it."
Finn's blurry face twitched.
"I think I saw that film. Before I died. In a cinema… with a woman…"* He pressed his hands to his head. *"Why can't I remember her face?"
"Because you're Faded. Your memories are slipping."
"No. This was before I died. The woman… she was important. She was…"
Finn screamed. His blurry body flickered like a candle in a storm.
"The name,"* he gasped. "The name from the case. It's the same as the film's writer. I know it. I can almost touch it."
The world began to tremble. The Lost Hour was ending.
"Find that film, Happy. Find the writer. Find my name. But be careful – when you speak it, something will happen. Something dangerous."
The world snapped back.
THE REAL WORLD: RESEARCH AND THE MOTHER
SATURDAY AFTERNOON
Happy opened his laptop. His hands were shaking. He searched for The Forgotten Witness, 1953, Hollywood.
The film existed. An old black-and-white noir. The writer's name was listed in the credits: Jonathan Pierce.
Happy searched for Jonathan Pierce. He found a novel The Memory Eaters about a detective named Finn who lost his memory and hunted Nameless in a frozen city.
This is not a coincidence, Happy thought. He wrote himself into the story.
Jonathan Pierce died in 1955. Heart attack. During the Lost Hour.
He became his own character.
Happy closed the book. He had the name.
SATURDAY EVENING – MEETING MARGARET
Chloe picked him up. "Mum is excited. Don't be nervous."
Margaret's house was warm. The table was set. On the counter were three cakes: honey cake, Black Forest, and a new experiment – spiced apple with honey glaze and cardamom.
Margaret tasted the honey cake first. Her eyes widened. She tasted the Black Forest. She put down her fork.
"Happy, I have eaten Dragan's cakes. I have eaten cakes from Paris, Vienna, London. Yours are not similar to his. Yours are completely different. Extraordinary. Where did you get these recipes?"
Happy took a breath. "I cannot reveal that now. But I am the true baker. The original. These cakes come from a woman who was erased by Dragan. I am keeping her memory alive."
Margaret was silent. Then she smiled.
"Then don't change a thing. This honey cake it stands alone. I want it as our premium product. Five hundred grams, one kilogram, two-tier wedding. Same flavour. No changes."
Chloe clapped. "Mum, that's amazing!"
"But wait," Margaret said. "There's more. A princess – Chloe's classmate from Velania – is getting married next month. She needs a wedding cake. She wants something no one has ever tasted. I showed her your honey cake. She cried. She said it tasted like her grandmother's kitchen."
Happy's heart raced. "A princess?"
"Real princess. Her family has influence. If she serves your cake at her wedding, every magazine, every influencer, every bakery in Europe will want HES Cakes. This will be the biggest branding of your life."
Happy looked at Chloe. Chloe beamed.
"I'll do it," Happy said. "But I need four weeks to practice. The cake must be perfect."
Margaret hugged him. Chloe hugged him. The three stood in the warm kitchen, surrounded by honey and hope.
THE FROZEN REALM: THE NAME
SUNDAY (WEEK 3, DAY 6 – Lost Hour at 9:15 AM)
Happy walked to the factory. He held the name in his heart: Jonathan Pierce
Finn was waiting. His blurry form flickered.
"Did you find it?"
"Yes. Your real name."
"Say it."
"Jonathan Pierce. You were a writer. You wrote a book about a detective named Finn. You died in 1955 during the Lost Hour. You became your own character."
Finn's body shook. The frozen air cracked. A silent thunder exploded. Happy was thrown back.
Finn screamed. His faceless head twisted. Memories pushed against his skin. His blurry outline sharpened. For one second, Happy saw a man – sharp jaw, tired eyes, a small scar.
"I remember everything."
His body glowed brighter than Elara. Silver light poured out.
Behind him, the fog split open. Dozens of Faded crawled out faceless, hungry, reaching for Finn.
"The name! He remembered! Eat him before it becomes permanent!"
Finn stood. His body was no longer blurred. Solid. Sharp. His face was clear. His eyes burned.
He raised his hand. Silver light crackled.
"You want to eat me? I was a detective. A martial artist. I solved cases that baffled London. I am not food. I am a hunter."
The Faded hesitated.
"He has no fear. We cannot eat what has no fear."
"Then the Rememberer –"
"Touch him, and I will hunt every last one of you. I know your names. I know your crimes. I will find you in the dark and remind you of who you were – and that will hurt more than any hunger."
The Faded retreated into the fog.
Finn turned to Happy. His real face smiled.
"You gave me back my name, kid."
He hugged Happy. Real. Warm.
"Thank you."
Happy hugged back. "You're not Faded anymore. You're Bound. You have a name."
"Jonathan Pierce. But call me Finn. I will not be freed. I choose to stay."
"Why?"
"Because if I leave, you are alone. I will teach you martial arts. Detective work. How to survive the deep places. I am now the most powerful Nameless in Layer 1 and Layer 2 – after the Clockmaker. The Faded answer to me. The Shade fears me. I am a king."
The world trembled. The Lost Hour was ending.
"Go now. Build your brand. Bake for the princess. And when you return, I will teach you everything."
The world snapped back.
THAT NIGHT – HAPPY'S DIARY
Happy sat at his desk. The notebook was open. The pen was in his hand.
He wrote:
Tonight, I made one of the strongest friends in this world – and the next.
His name is Jonathan Pierce. But he calls himself Finn. He was a detective, a writer, a martial artist. He died in 1955 and became his own character.
I spoke his true name in the Frozen Realm. He remembered himself. He became powerful – the king of Layer 1 and Layer 2. The Faded fear him. The Shade cannot touch him.
He chose to stay for me. He will teach me martial arts. He will teach me the detective's brain – how to see patterns, how to find truth, how to turn weakness into weapon.
In the living world, Margaret loved my cake. She said it is not similar to Dragan's – it stands alone. A princess will serve my cake at her wedding. My brand will go international.
I have four weeks to prepare. Four weeks to learn from Finn.
I am not afraid anymore.
I have a king on my side.
He closed the notebook. The clock ticked toward midnight.
Outside his window, two silver lights glowed in the darkness – Finn's eyes, watching over him.
Happy smiled and closed his eyes.
Tomorrow, the real training begins.