Charter: My Last Entry

Calcium stood there, unable to move. Scenes from a past she couldn't remember, but which undoubtedly belonged to her, were unfolding in front of her.

The visions followed each other like the leaves of a book flipped by a gust of wind.

There she was, younger, with short, disheveled hair, hunched over a table, scratching symbols on a tablet. His face is focused, his lips are compressed. She's writing something, but the words are blurred, making it impossible for her to make out their meaning.

Here she is again, but no longer alone. There are people standing around: tall, wrapped in shadows. They say something to her, and a shadow of fear passes over her face.

And then…Flame.

Everything is on fire. Screams, fleeing silhouettes, scrolls falling to the ground. Calcium tries to say something, but her voice is lost in the roar of the fire.

She sees herself on her knees in front of a charred ruin. Her eyes reflect the blue light that comes from her tattoo. She looks at her palm, but there…

Nothing.

The tattoo disappears.

Calcium jerked out of the vision, gasping for air as if she were drowning.

–What... was that? – Her voice sounded hoarse, as if she had just screamed in her sleep.

The keeper stood in the same place, still calmly holding the parchment.

– Your first contract, Calcium. A story that you wrote yourself and lost.

She clutched at her head, trying to keep her thoughts from running away.

–No... that's not true.… I would... I would remember...

– Would I remember? – There was sadness in the guardian's voice: – Then who erased it?

Calcium looked up at him. The question pierced her deeper than she expected.

She always thought that her journey began with the appearance of a tattoo. But what if... it started earlier?

What if she was already a Tattoo Artist of Stories? And someone took her past?

Calcium swallowed hard. My thoughts were confused, and my heart was beating too fast.

–Are you saying that I've already written stories before I got a tattoo?

The Guardian nodded slowly.

– You didn't just write. You were one of the best. So much so that your stories shouldn't have existed.

Calcium felt a chill run down her spine: – Who benefited from this?

–Those who are afraid of the truth. To those who knew that your tablets could change not only the fate of people... but also the world itself.

She peered into his shadowed face, trying to find a hint of a lie.

–And you know who did it? – Who erased my past?

The Keeper frowned, clutching the parchment in his hands.

–I know.But it's too early for you to hear it.

Calcium clenched her fists, and the tattoo on her palm flashed blue.

– It's not for you to decide that it's too early for me.

But the keeper didn't budge: –Are you sure you want to know the price?

Calcium froze: — What's the price?

Silence.

The Guardian unfolded the parchment, and the dark symbols flashed. The fog began to thicken around them again.

– Do you think memory loss is the worst thing that could happen?

The mist began to swirl around her, enveloping the Guardian's figure.

–Stories always require payment, Calcium. If you want to remember your own, be ready to pay.

And the next moment, the fog swallowed her up.

Calcium felt the ground slipping away from under her feet. The fog thickened, turning into a viscous void, and the girl fell into it, as if into a pool of icy water.

–What are you doing? – Her scream faded into the endless silence.

She fell.But there was no blow.Instead, she was swept up by a stream of invisible force, gently lowering her onto a hard surface. Calcium inhaled heavily and felt the ground beneath her. A cold stone.

When the fog cleared, she saw a sight that sent chills down her spine.

Temple.

But not the one she and Lian found in the snow. This one was whole, ancient, wrapped in a soft blue glow. Shimmering runes ran across the walls, forming words that Calcium couldn't make out.

And in the center of the hall there was a stone pedestal on which lay... a tablet.

She was different. Not wooden, like everything she creates, but made of a dark, almost black mineral. There was something... or someone, reflected in its surface.

Calcium approached cautiously.

And when she saw her reflection in the tablet, her heart sank.

There was something alien about what stared back at her from the smooth surface. Her face, but... older. His eyes are full of fatigue, and there's a scar on his cheek. The hair is shorter, carelessly gathered in a ponytail.

–It's not me.

–And yet, it's you.

Calcium turned around. The Guardian was here again.

–What does that mean? – She hissed, pointing at the tablet.

The keeper came closer, but did not touch her: – This is your last entry.

Calcium shook her head: – No... I didn't write it. I don't remember!

–You shouldn't have.

He raised his hand, tracing the runes on the walls with his finger. They flashed, and the words echoed in Calcium's head.

"The seal of Oblivion has been applied. Access is closed."

My head was spinning: – Who imposed it?

The Guardian looked at her intently.

–You.

The world is reeling again.Calcium clutched her head.

–I... erased my memory myself? Why?!

Silence.

And then the Guardian said:

–Because you knew that if you didn't forget... you'd be destroyed.

Calcium stood in front of the dark tablet, and her fingers were trembling. Did she... erase her memory by herself?

She couldn't believe it. What must have happened for her to take such a step?

–I don't believe it.

The Keeper was silent.

– If I did that, then I had a reason.

He nodded.

–But now you want to know the truth.

Calcium took a deep breath. Her stomach was churning, but she understood: –There is no turning back.

She held out her hand to the tablet. As soon as her fingers touched the smooth surface, a wave of magical energy hit her chest. His eyes flashed blue.

[The seal is broken.]

At the same moment, the tablet shuddered, and images flashed through Calcium's mind.

The past…

She was standing in another temple, a ruined, dark one. Broken tablets littered around her, and the air was full of magical soot.

They were standing in front of her. The figures were cloaked, their faces hidden, and they were holding black tablets in their hands.

–Calcium, you've gone too far.

Her breath caught in her throat: –You have no right to decide which stories should be forgotten!

– Oh, we have. We are a Coven of Witches, and your power no longer belongs to you.

Calcium squeezed her hand, the tattoo flared up…And then the witches did it.

Calcium fell to her knees, pulling her hand away from the tablet.

She remembered again.

The Coven of Witches. They were hunting her. They had already taken her power once... and now they would try again.

Her fingers dug into the cold stone of the floor: – Not this time!

She stood up, and the tattoo on her palm lit up brighter than ever.

The flame in her palm blazed, reflecting in the smooth surface of the tablet. Everything was boiling inside. Now she knew why she had lost her memory.The Coven wasn't just trying to erase her past. They were trying to break her power, to destroy the very essence of the Tattoo Artist of Stories.

But now she remembered.Calcium took a deep breath, trying to stop her fingers from shaking.

–They're afraid of me.

She said it out loud and felt the words gain weight.

//To be continued, please like and save.