Fragments of Oblivion: Lost Memories

The rain had softened to a mist, curling in the air like a ghost too faint to take form. Elias moved through it in silence, his shoulders hunched against the cold. The faint pulse of the device in his pocket was his only company, its rhythm syncing with the restless beat of his thoughts.

Ahead, Darius walked with the kind of ease that only came from years of navigating dangerous places. He didn't look back, didn't check to see if Elias was keeping up. There was an unspoken rule between them: follow or don't, but don't expect to be carried.

Elias preferred the silence. Questions swirled in his mind, their weight pressing harder with every step, but he wasn't ready to ask them. Not yet.

The alley narrowed, its walls closing in like the jaws of some unseen predator. A flickering streetlamp cast uneven light, painting jagged shadows across the cracked pavement. It felt suffocating.

And then, the voice came.

And he saw her.

She was leaning against the far wall, her arms folded, her posture relaxed. The dim light caught the sharp lines of her face, and even in the haze, her presence was impossible to ignore.

"Elias," she echoed, her voice cutting through the damp air like a blade.

Elias stopped short, his heart lurching in his chest. For a moment, he thought he was imagining her—the fractured world bleeding into reality again. But no, she was real.

"You," he said, his voice low, taut with unease.

She smiled faintly, tilting her head as if studying him. "Still alive. That's a good start."

Darius froze. His hand, more instinctual than intentional, drifted toward the hilt of his mana blade before he chimed in. "Friend of yours?"

Elias didn't take his eyes off her. "Not exactly."

She pushed off the wall, her movements fluid and unhurried. "You're being modest. We've already shared something significant, haven't we, Elias? A memory. That makes us more than strangers."

"What do you want?" Elias asked, his voice sharper now.

"To talk," she said simply. "To make you an offer."

Darius stepped forward, his posture holding more tension now. "Talk fast."

Her gaze shifted to him, her smile widening slightly. "You must be Darius Kane. I've heard stories about you."

"Yeah?" Darius's tone was laced with suspicion. "Can't say the same about you."

Her expression didn't falter. "That's by design."

She turned back to Elias, her tone softening. "You can call me Mara. I'd say it's a pleasure to meet you properly, but we both know that's not true."

Elias frowned. "Mara," he repeated, testing it. It felt familiar in a way that made his stomach churn.

"My employer have been watching you," she continued, her tone calm, almost conversational. "Its my job to assess you. You're a fast learner, but you're reckless. That's going to get you killed if you're not careful."

Elias's fists clenched at her casual criticism. "I didn't ask for your opinion."

"No," Mara said, her smile faint. "But you need it."

Darius let out a sharp breath, his impatience palpable. "Enough with the theatrics. What do you want?"

Mara's expression grew more serious. "To offer you- well,... you both an opportunity. The fractured world, the floating city, the fractures themselves—it's all connected. And I know how to start unraveling it."

Elias hesitated, his gaze narrowing. "Connected how?"

Mara stepped closer, her movements deliberate. "The fractures don't just exist, Elias. They're cultivated. Manipulated by the people who benefit from them. Worst, the floating city isn't a sanctuary—it's a machine. A machine that feeds on the fractures to sustain itself."

Elias's eyes narrowed, the faint pulse of the device in his pocket pressing harder against his thoughts. "Yeah, but why me? Why show up at my door enslaving me to a defective device I never asked for. I was doing just fine sulking in my own pity."

"Because I need your help," Mara said, her voice steady. "The fractures respond to you. That makes you dangerous—to them and to me. But it also makes you valuable."

"And what's in it for us?" Darius asked, his tone skeptical.

"Answers," Mara said simply. "And maybe, if you're lucky, a chance to stop running."

She stepped back, her gaze shifting between them. "There's a rebellion forming. People who've had enough of being broken, of being used. We're not trying to fix the fractures—we're trying to disrupt the system that controls them."

"And you want us to join this rebellion?" Darius's smirk was faint but sharp. "You really don't know us, do you?"

"I know enough," Mara countered. She turned to Elias, her expression softening slightly. "You've already stepped into the fractured world. You've seen what it does. But you haven't seen where it leads."

Elias's gaze followed the powerlines tethering the spectacle above to the power grid of Sector Twelve, leaving Elias to wondered what use they had for such bloodsucking.

"And the floating city?"

"It's the heart of the system," Mara said. "If we want to change anything, that's where we start. Infiltration, sabotage, intelligence gathering. We go in as memory technicians, blend into their ranks, and hit them where it hurts."

Darius let out a low laugh, shaking his head. "And what happens when we get caught?"

Mara's smile returned, faint and enigmatic. "We don't."

Elias glanced at Darius, his chest tightening. He didn't trust Mara—hell, he barely trusted Darius—but the promise of answers was too tempting to ignore.

"We'll do it," he said finally.

Darius shot him a look, his expression dark. "You're making decisions for both of us now?"

"No," Elias said, his gaze locking onto Mara's. "You don't have to come. But I'm done sitting around waiting for the fractures to find me."

Darius muttered something under his breath. However, after a long moment, he nodded. "Fine. But when this goes south, I'm blaming you."

Mara's smile widened. "Good. Then let's not waste any more time."

The distant glow of the floating city loomed ahead, its lights shimmering like a cruel promise.

For the first time, Elias wondered if he'd made the wrong choice.