Act 1: The Journey Through Lost Memories

Ili shocked awake and his breath caught.

The roar of the storm was gone. The city square, the rain, the fading shadow—it all dissolved into the hum of an airplane engine. Fluorescent cabin lights buzzed overhead, dim and distant, as if he were surfacing from a dream.

A dream.

Or was it something else?

His fingers twitched, curling slightly, as if expecting to feel the cold weight of the pendant still in his palm. But there was nothing. Only the smooth press of the armrest beneath his skin. His chest tightened, the ghost of a memory lingering just out of reach.

The intercom crackled to life.

"We will be landing in Tokyo shortly. Please fasten your seatbelts."

Japan.

As the announcement faded, Ili exhaled, steadying himself. The dream was already slipping from his mind, like ink bleeding into water. But deep inside, something unsettled remained.

Somehow… it didn't feel like just a dream.

The rain fell like whispers from a forgotten past, each drop carrying fragments of a memory he could no longer reach. Ili stood at the edge of the city square, the pendant in his trembling hand heavier than ever.

Around him, the world blurred—lights smearing across the slick pavement, voices drowned beneath the storm's relentless roar.

Then, through the curtain of rain, a shadow stirred. Her shadow.

He didn't need to see her face; something deep inside him knew. Knew it was her. It had to be.

His voice hitched, a fragile plea escaping before he could stop it.

"Wait… please…"

For a fleeting heartbeat, the world held its breath. His voice faltered, hope and despair colliding. "Is that you...? I finally—"

But the shadow dissolved into the storm before he could finish. He staggered, his grip tightening on the pendant until it bit into his palm. He opened his hand to find blood mingling with the rain, his chest hollow as the weight of the emptiness crushed him.

"I can't keep chasing shadows, I can't keep chasing these memories" his voice swallowed by the storm.

"Why…?" 

No answer came. Only the rain, drowning his tears, carrying them into the night—just like everything else he'd ever lost.

And yet, something lingered. A weight that refused to fade.

Because the cruelest thing about memory.... is that it never forgets you, even when you've forgotten it.