The Name I Forgot

(POV: Me)

Silence.

Not the kind that brings peace—the kind that crushes.

The figure stands motionless, their glowing eyes never leaving mine. Something about them feels… too familiar. Like a memory I can't reach, a word on the tip of my tongue.

I swallow hard, my voice barely steady. "What do you mean… what I once was?"

The figure steps closer. Not walking—gliding. Their presence is so heavy, I feel it pressing against my ribs.

"You do not remember. But you will."

Their hand lifts—and suddenly, the world shifts.

I see it.

Flashes. Fragments. A different me—standing at the edge of a battlefield, flames licking at the sky. My hands stained with something dark, my heartbeat thunderous in my ears. Voices scream my name.

A name I don't recognize—

But I do.

I stagger back, gasping. "What… What is this?!"

The figure tilts their head. "Truth."

My breathing is unsteady. This can't be real. It's a trick. Another illusion.

But then, she wakes up.

Her voice is raw. "Where are we?"

I turn to her, but before I can answer—the figure speaks again.

"You were not supposed to return." Their voice grows softer. "But now that you have…"

The sky above trembles. The symbols shift. The air itself cracks.

"They will come for you."

A shiver runs down my spine.

"Who?" My voice is barely a whisper.

The figure pauses—then finally, they say it.

"The ones who erased you."

And just like that, everything I thought I knew collapses.

The air around us feels heavier, pressing against my skin like an unseen force. I look at her—her eyes are filled with the same confusion and fear that's clawing at my chest.

"Erased me?" My voice is hoarse. "What do you mean? Who are they?"

The masked figure doesn't move, but their glowing eyes flicker—as if weighing their words.

"The Forgotten Ones."

A sharp chill runs through me. The name stirs something deep inside—like a door unlocking in my mind.

Flashes of a past I don't fully remember.

Chains. Shadows. A throne that was never meant to be empty.

My fingers twitch. "I don't understand."

The figure's voice is calm, but there's something unshakable behind their words.

"They took everything from you. Your name. Your power. Your existence. They buried you in a world where you would never remember."

I feel my pulse pounding in my ears. It makes sense—but it doesn't.

"Then why am I awake now?"

For the first time, the figure hesitates.

Then they say something that nearly makes my breath stop.

"Because someone brought you back."

My heart slams against my ribs.

I glance at her. She looks just as shocked as I feel. "Who?"

The figure's voice lowers. "You already know."

A sickening feeling twists in my stomach.

My best friend.

The one who smiled too wide. The one who wasn't real anymore.

He knew.

"He never wanted you to remember." The figure's words press into my skull like an unbearable weight. "But now that you have, they will hunt you down. And this time—"

The sky rumbles, splitting open.

Darkness pours in.

"—they will not fail."

The sky rips apart.

Black tendrils of energy twist and churn, pouring from the cracks above. The entire world feels like it's shaking—like something ancient has awoken.

My chest tightens. They're coming.

The masked figure watches, unmoving. Unbothered.

"What do I do?" My voice is barely more than a whisper.

"Run."

I freeze. "Run?"

"You are not ready to fight them. Not yet."

I clench my fists. Anger. Frustration. Fear. They all slam into me at once.

"Then tell me how to be ready!" I demand.

The figure tilts their head. "Survive."

And just like that, the shadows descend.

They drop from the sky like falling stars—dark, twisted figures with glowing eyes. Their bodies flicker, shifting between solid and smoke.

I don't even have time to react before—

Boom!

The ground explodes beside me. I'm thrown backward, skidding across the cold stone.

Pain shoots through my arm. But I don't have time to feel it.

Because they're already moving.

Fast. Too fast.

I hear her scream my name, but I can't look at her.

Instinct takes over.

I roll to the side, just as a shadowy claw slashes through the space I was just in. The ground where I had been lying turns to dust.

They're not trying to hurt me.

They're trying to erase me. Again.

I grit my teeth. No. Not this time.

I push myself up. My body feels strange—stronger, sharper. As if something inside me is waking up.

The masked figure watches from a distance. They don't move. They don't help.

They're waiting. Testing me.

I don't have time to care.

A second shadow lunges. I move before I can think.

My body twists—too smoothly, too fast, too precise.

And then—

My hand moves on its own.

A burst of energy erupts from my palm—not fire, not lightning, but something deeper.

The shadowy creature is ripped apart in an instant.

Silence.

The other creatures stop. Stare.

I stare too. What was that?

Then—the masked figure laughs.

Softly. Knowingly.

"It's waking up."

I don't understand. But I don't have time to.

Because the shadows charge again.

And this time—I don't run.

The Power I Never Knew

(POV: Me)

I don't know what just happened.

But I felt it.

That energy—it wasn't mine. But it was. It came from somewhere deep, somewhere buried, forgotten. But now, it's awake.

And they know it too.

The shadows hesitate for a split second. Just long enough for me to feel it—that fear.

They're afraid of me.

But why?

My hands are still trembling from the power that just shot out of me. It felt like… like something had finally broken free. Like chains I never knew existed had just shattered.

But I can't focus on that now.

Because they're moving again.

Too fast.

A blur of darkness lunges at me. This time, I don't think.

I move.

My body reacts before my mind can catch up. I sidestep—faster than I should be able to. A clawed hand slices through empty air, inches from my face.

Then—instinct takes over.

I twist my wrist, and energy surges through me again.

This time, I feel it—raw, wild, furious.

I slam my palm into the creature's chest, and the world shifts.

A shockwave erupts.

The creature is thrown backward, its form flickering—like it's being rewritten, like it doesn't belong here anymore. Then, in an instant—it's gone.

Deleted.

I blink. Did I just—?

No time. The others are already attacking.

Another shadow leaps at me from the side, but before I can react—she moves.

She's fast. Faster than I've ever seen her.

She grabs my wrist—and suddenly, the world bends.

We're somewhere else. A flash of color, a rush of air—then silence.

I stagger, dizzy. "What—what just happened?"

She doesn't answer. Her grip on my arm is tight, almost shaking.

She looks at me—really looks at me. And I see it in her eyes.

Fear. Not of them. Of me.

"What's happening to you?" she whispers.

I don't know how to answer. Because the truth is…

I don't know either.