.....
:What is this?, Why are parts of my memories missing?:
The thought came without warning, sharp and sudden, like pain from a wound that should have healed. TIMELESS tried to reach for the memory, but there was nothing to hold onto. Not darkness. Not silence. Just a clean cut, as if something had been removed with care.
It felt wrong.
'He' stood at the border of the universe, where worlds curved away from each other and time thinned. From there, 'He' looked down and saw Godiva. She was on her knees, her hands pressed to her face, her shoulders shaking. She had been crying for a long time. The room around her was still, too still.
There was a man lying near her.
TIMELESS knew that man mattered.
'He' knew it in the way one knows gravity exists without seeing it. Yet when 'He' tried to name the man, the thought slipped. 'His' awareness stuttered. The memory did not resist. It simply wasn't there.
Godiva slowly lowered her hands and looked at the man. Her eyes narrowed slightly, not in fear, but confusion. She did not know who he was. His face was unfamiliar, yet something about his presence tugged at her, faint and uncomfortable. She felt as if she had forgotten something important, but the feeling had no shape.
She stood up.
For a moment, she hesitated, looking between the man and the door. Then she turned away and walked out, intending to find the others, to ask if anyone recognized him.
The moment she crossed the threshold, everything changed.
Every memory connected to that room unraveled. The cottage, the man, the grief—gone. Her mind adjusted smoothly, too smoothly. By the time she reached the hallway, there was no trace of what had happened. No gap. No confusion. Just a sense that she had always been walking there.
It did not stop with her.
One by one, every being who had known the man lost him. Memories were erased and rewritten. Words rearranged themselves in minds. Events corrected. Reality bent slightly to accommodate the absence.
TIMELESS watched the fabric of existence glitch for a split second.
Just once.
:That should not have been possible.: 'He' thought
'He' reached out instinctively, trying to stop it, trying to pull something back. 'His' awareness brushed against the edge of the change and slipped. 'He' felt something tear inside him, not pain, but loss.
Why is this happening?
'He' searched Earth. Nothing.
'He' searched the spaces between realms. Nothing.
Soon, no one remembered the man.
And worse—TIMELESS could no longer remember him fully either.
.....
In a distant realm, far removed from Earth, awareness returned slowly.
"I'm called by many names, some call m—"
The voice stopped.
The thought collapsed in on itself.
"Wait," the man muttered. "What am I saying?"
He gasped suddenly, his body jerking as he tried to sit upright. His head throbbed. His chest felt tight, as though he had forgotten how to breathe properly. He looked around wildly.
"Where am I?" His voice echoed faintly. "What is this place?"
Nothing answered.
The ground beneath him was cold stone. Rough. Real. He pressed his hands against it, grounding himself. His fingers trembled. The air smelled sharp and unfamiliar.
"Who… who am I?"
The question terrified him more than the place.
A sharp pain shot through his head.
"Argh—"
A word surfaced.
A name.
"ATHELSTAN." sounding like a whisper,
He froze.
His breathing slowed as the name settled in his mind. It felt heavy. Important. It was the only thing that did not slip away when he tried to grasp it.
"Is… is that my name?" he whispered.
There was no answer, but the pain eased slightly, as if accepting the name had satisfied something.
He pushed himself to his feet and looked around. He was inside a cave. The walls were lined with crystals, embedded naturally in the stone. They glowed faintly, casting soft light that made the cave visible without fully illuminating it.
The light felt wrong.
Not dangerous. Just different.
Athelstan assuming the cave might belong to a bear or other wild animals, swallowed and moved toward the cave entrance. Each step felt uncertain, like walking with a body that was not fully his. When he stepped outside, the world opened up.
The sky was not what he expected.
Two moons hung above him.
One was golden-yellow, bright and warm. The other was blue, deep and cold, almost the same shade as his eyes reflected in the faint light. He stared at them, unable to look away.
His head began to spin.
Something inside him reacted, a pressure building behind his eyes. His vision blurred. The ground tilted.
Then everything went blank.
.....
"Wahhh—wahhh—wahhh!"
The cry of a newborn tore through the air.
Hands lifted him. Warm cloth wrapped around his small body. The sudden cold was gone, replaced by warmth and movement. His lungs burned as he cried again, louder this time.
"Easy, easy," a man said. His voice was rough but gentle.
"He's strong," another voice replied. "Healthy too."
The man laughed softly, overwhelmed. "Wow… finally. I'm a father."
The midwife smiled as she stepped back. "Congratulations."
The child continued crying, his fists clenched. The room was modest but sturdy, built of stone and wood. Outside, the faint sound of metal echoed from far away. Training. Guards.
This land was always preparing for war.
The man adjusted his grip on the baby. "There, there."
As the crying continued, the candle on the table began to shake.
At first, no one noticed.
Then the flame bent sideways.
The midwife frowned.
The crying grew louder. The flame flickered violently, then went out.
Darkness filled the room.
For a brief moment, a pale shimmer surrounded the baby's hands. Thin. Weak. Almost unnoticeable. Not fire. Not light, Something else like a glow.
The midwife stepped back.
"That…" she began, then stopped.
The shimmer faded. The baby's crying softened, then stopped entirely. His eyes opened briefly. They were blue and clear.
The midwife exhaled slowly. "It happens sometimes."
The man looked at her. "What happens?" although ,she seemingly hesitating, "Children born close to borders," she said finally. "The land leaks into them."
He did not understand, but he nodded.
Outside, a horn sounded from the wall towers. Long and low. A warning.
The midwife tightened the cloth around the child. "Keep him inside tonight," she said. "And don't let the priests see him yet."
"Why?"
She shook her head. "No reason."
She left.
The man looked down at his son. For a moment, he thought he saw a faint mark on the child's arm, like a symbol burned beneath the skin. But as he blinked, he noticed it was gone.
Now the border land was harsh.
It lay between two kingdoms that never trusted each other. Soldiers trained daily, Towers watched the horizon. This was not a rich region, but it was strong. Manpower mattered more than gold.
Magic existed here the way weather existed,
It was used, but not freely.
Men who relied on it paid prices. Some forgot things. Some aged faster. Some lost feeling in their limbs. Others lost parts of themselves they could never name. The bigger the price the more of it one can wield.
Magic beasts roamed the outer lands. Creatures with hardened hides, glowing eyes, and twisted forms. When they were killed, the ground stayed warm long after. Though the people did not speak of these things with wonder.
They spoke of them like facts.
The child grew in this place.
Sometimes, when he cried, shadows bent slightly toward him. Once, when a blade slipped near his cradle, it stopped in midair for a heartbeat before falling harmlessly away.
No one spoke of it. At least not yet.
...
Far beyond this world, TIMELESS turned inward.
Something was wrong.
'He' could feel it in the way 'His' awareness failed to reach a certain place. It was not blocked neither hidden but rather it seemed Missing.
'He' searched again, wider this time. Past stars and dying realms. Past prayers and wars. 'He' felt births, deaths, endings.
But the thread 'He' expected was gone.
:What did I lose?: 'He' asked himself.
There was no answer.
The thought slipped away before it could finish forming.
...
In the border land on the far away world, the child slept peacefully, unaware that something had already been taken from him.
And something else had already begun.