Shattered Memories

All I saw was darkness.

For a moment, I thought... this was it. The end. My heart beat slowly in the void. Was this what death felt like? Silent, suffocating.

Mother?

Sis?

Their voices echoed in my mind, but they were distant, like whispers on the wind. Faces flashed in my thoughts, fragmented and broken—shards of memories that felt more like dreams than anything real.

Father?

Even though I didn't know him, I knew. I knew that man, whoever he was, was my father. But the memory of him... was it even real? His face was a blur, just like the rest.

And then, another figure.

The memory came with a rush, sharp and jagged. Them. The kids who tormented me, the teachers who humiliated me, the villagers who saw me as nothing more than a worthless outcast. They all... haunted me, their faces taunting me, their voices laced with venom.

But there was one... one figure who stood out among them all.

A guy. My age, I think? His face was just as blurry as the others, but his presence was undeniable. He reached out to me, extending his hand as if to pull me from the darkness. I heard his voice—muffled, distant—but somehow clear enough to pierce through the noise of my thoughts.

"Kaia... wake up."

And then, it was like the world exploded back into focus.

My eyes snapped open.

The ground was cold beneath me, the air heavy with the stench of blood. The little girl lay unconscious in front of me. A monster... the one who chased me for two fucking kilometres, its massive claws reaching for her. My body was weak, but there was something more pressing—the girl. I had to protect her.

But when I tried to move, my body didn't respond the way I wanted it to. It felt... wrong. Something was missing. My lower half... I could feel it, the gaping, empty pain where my legs used to be.

No.

I could barely think straight. The weight of my body was fading, my thoughts slipping through my fingers like sand. My eyelids grew heavy, but I couldn't let go—not now, not when the girl was still in danger.

I raised my trembling hand toward the monster. My vision blurred again, the world spinning as I struggled to summon any strength.

And then... it happened. A surge of power, unlike anything I'd ever felt before. A red spiral of energy exploded from my palm, striking the monster square in the chest.

It crumbled. Instantly.

The silence that followed was deafening, and I barely registered it. My mind was still swirling, trying to hold onto what was real. I let my hand drop, feeling my consciousness slip once more. But before everything went dark, I made sure... I made sure she was safe.

I had no idea how long I lay there, unconscious, drowning in memories and darkness. It wasn't until much later that I understood what had happened.

The feather.

I'd touched it back in my new apartment, not thinking anything of it. But then... the floodgates opened. Memories, feelings, thoughts—all crashing into me at once of that time which I had long forgotten.

A voice.

That woman. The blonde one, with the voice so smooth it could lull you to sleep, but it was the kind of voice that carried a hidden sting. Manipulative. Cold.

She told me... I was immortal.

That my ability wasn't just some cheap trick of regeneration. No, it was something more. Something darker.

"Child..." Her fingers grazed my chin, forcing me to look down, to avoid meeting her gaze. Her words chilled me. "You are still weak. You can only use those... powers of yours when you are facing death itself."

Those words. They rang in my head, echoing in the silence of my thoughts.

I didn't want to believe it. I didn't want to become... that. To rely on some twisted power, something that only awakened when I was at death's door.

But then...

Yona.

The girl who I couldn't save. Who died right in my arms.

That's when it hit me. That's when I understood.

I needed this power. I needed to control it.

The rules of the world didn't apply to me anymore. I wasn't bound by "mana" or any of those other constructs that everyone else relied on. No, I had something different. Something... mine.

And I was going to make it stronger.

Kaia moved toward the Knight, each step slow, deliberate. She had been lost in thought, unsure, but now, standing here, she had made her decision. I won't let anyone be hurt when I'm right there. Her words echoed in her mind, and as if summoned by her resolve, her wings—red and glowing, like grotesque ethereal feathers—sprouted from her back. Her nerves tensed, visible against her skin, her arms and neck radiating with energy as her body rose into the air, suspended by those wings.

The Knight stared in disbelief. This human... His eyes scanned her, searching for any trace of mana, but he found nothing. He couldn't understand it. She wasn't like the others. She didn't possess any obvious magical power, yet the air around her was thick with something he couldn't explain.

Kaia... Thalia's voice echoed in her mind, filled with worry. Thalia clasped her hands together, her heart heavy. Please... A single tear fell from her left eye, her plea almost drowned by the overwhelming emotions inside her. Save us.

Kaia's thoughts were sharp and clear. I hear you, Sis.

An overwhelming sense of bloodlust washed over the battlefield—a sudden, intense wave that even the Knight could feel. Kaia's presence, her very being, seemed to ripple with it.

Before the Knight could react, Kaia was already behind him. A flash of movement—too fast for him to follow. The next thing he knew, his body was surrounded, his every angle under attack by her wings. He barely had time to brace himself as the sharp tips of the wings scraped against him, but they didn't stop there. They pinned him, forcing him to stagger back, desperate to break free.

He managed to escape her grasp, but just as he did, something deep in his chest clenched painfully. He stumbled, and before he could catch his breath, he was thrown back, hurtling through the air, landing hard and sliding across the dirt.

What just happened? The Knight's mind raced. He quickly searched for his abyssal horse—but it was nowhere to be seen.

Then, a voice cut through the chaos. "Is this yours?"

He turned slowly, tension running through him. Kaia stood behind him, her expression unreadable. In her hand was the head of his abyssal horse, casually dropped onto the ground with a soft thud.

The Knight's breath caught in his throat as he tried to steady himself. This woman—this human—was more than he had ever anticipated.

He stood, determination flashing in his eyes, and looked her in the face. I will not fall.

Kaia's lips curled into a smile, though it was far from comforting. Her eyes held something colder now—something that made the Knight's confidence falter.

"Is this all you have?" she asked, her voice dripping with challenge. "Is this all you can do? Soft Boy?"

The Knight froze, confusion clouding his thoughts. "Are you—"

Before he could finish, he was once again thrown backward, his body lifting off the ground as if it were weightless. He slammed into the earth with a bone-jarring impact, his head colliding with a large stone. The world spun, his vision blurring, but there was no time to recover.

Kaia extended her hand, and once again, the Knight was thrown—this time with even greater force—his body skidding across the battlefield as if tossed aside like a ragdoll. She hovered in the air, her wings spread wide, dark mist curling around her form.

Her breath was steady, but there was something wild in her eyes—a burning determination that even the Knight couldn't ignore.

"I dare you," she said, her voice loud and dangerous. "I dare you to try again throwing that fucking spear of yours!"

Tears flowed from her right eye, but her left eye gleamed with a fierce intensity, a fire that could not be extinguished. The mist surrounding her thickened, and the energy she emitted felt like a storm ready to break.