A Name That Shouldn’t Exist
Siren stood motionless, his feet sinking into the wet sand as the tide rolled in. The girl before him was illuminated by the soft glow of the setting sun, her dark hair swaying with the breeze. There was something unfamiliar yet familiar about her, something that made his chest tighten with an unexplainable weight.
It had been centuries. Centuries of waiting. Centuries of wondering if fate had abandoned him.
And now, here she was.
His voice came out quieter than he expected. "What is your name?"
The girl blinked, tilting her head slightly, as if surprised by the question. Then, after a brief pause, she spoke.
"Aaria."
The world around him collapsed.
A sudden wave of dizziness crashed over him, and the air seemed to shatter like fragile glass. His vision blurred, the present fading into something else—something buried deep within him, something he had forced himself to forget.
Six Hundred Years Ago
The rain poured against the pavement, the night heavy with the scent of asphalt and salt. Siren stood at the edge of the road, his heart pounding in his chest. Aaria stood in front of him, her eyes filled with something he couldn't understand—something desperate, something final.
"You have to wait for me," she pleaded, gripping his hands tightly. Her warmth seeped into his cold skin, grounding him even as the world spun. "Promise me, Siren. No matter what happens, no matter how long it takes—please, just wait."
Something inside him twisted.
He didn't understand why she was saying this. He didn't understand the urgency in her voice.
His throat felt tight as he whispered, "I don't want to wait. Stay."
She smiled—soft, bittersweet.
And then—
Blinding lights. A deafening crash. The sickening sound of metal twisting and shattering.
Siren's breath caught as his body refused to move, as if the entire world had been ripped away in that single instant. His fingers reached out, grasping at nothing but air.
And in that moment, as the rain soaked his trembling form, he heard her last words—soft, fleeting, slipping away into the night.
"I'll return to you…"
And then, silence.
Siren gasped as he was pulled back into the present, his entire body trembling. His chest ached as if something had just been torn open. His vision refocused on the girl standing before him—Aaria.
It was her.
His Aaria.
The one he had lost. The one he had mourned. The one he had waited six hundred years for.
And yet—she was looking at him like a stranger.
Siren clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms.
She didn't remember.
The weight of that truth pressed against him like a crushing wave. He had spent centuries yearning for this moment, but now that it was here… was this truly fate?
Had destiny returned her to him—only for him to lose her all over again?