Fragments of Dawn

Kai barely had time to react before the figure lunged again.

The void-blade sliced through the space between them, warping reality itself as it cut. Kai twisted, dodging by a hair’s breadth, feeling the distortion ripple against his skin like static. His instincts screamed at him—this wasn’t just a battle. This was a test.

A brutal, unforgiving test.

Kai gritted his teeth and countered, activating Temporal Shatter.

For a fraction of a second, time slowed to a crawl. He moved in that razor-thin window, shifting left—then undoing his movement and shifting right instead. A feint inside time itself.

The figure hesitated.

Kai struck.

His fist, charged with the raw energy of the fragment, slammed into the entity’s chest. The impact sent a ripple through the void, distorting the fractured moon-scape around them. The figure staggered, its dark form flickering like a faulty projection.

It was wounded.

Kai’s breath came fast. “You can be hurt.”

The entity’s masked face tilted, its deep, resonating voice rippling through the space.

"Wounded? No. You misunderstand. This is merely observation."

Before Kai could react, the figure’s form blurred.

It was behind him.

A surge of power slammed into Kai’s back, sending him hurtling forward. The force was immense—too fast, too precise. He barely managed to catch himself, flipping mid-air and landing hard on a floating chunk of lunar debris. The weight of the attack sent tremors through his muscles.

This thing was playing with him.

He pushed himself up, eyes locked onto the entity. His mind raced. If brute force wouldn’t work, he needed another approach.

"You grasp at understanding," the figure intoned. "But knowledge is not given. It is earned."

Kai steadied his breathing. Fine. He’d earn it.

His fingers clenched around the fragment in his palm, and he reached out—not just to the power, but to the space around him.

The broken Moon. The shifting gravity. The fragments pulsing with untapped energy.

It was all connected.

Kai focused, feeling the pull of the fragments around him. A new idea sparked in his mind.

"Show me, then," he muttered.

And he let go.

The fragment’s energy pulsed in response. The air shimmered, and suddenly, everything around him—everything—froze.

Not in time.

But in potential.

For the first time, Kai wasn’t just accelerating or rewinding moments—he was splitting them.

The battlefield fractured.

Endless possibilities unraveled before him—every possible movement, every possible action, laid bare in the fragmented remains of time itself.

And in that infinitesimal second—

He chose.

Far above the ruins of New Horizon, Ava stood within a makeshift command center. The surviving remnants of the faction loyal to her had gathered, a mixture of ex-military, scavengers, and others drawn to the raw power of the fragments.

Serah leaned against the table, arms crossed. “We have movement. The eastern outposts spotted survivors trying to reach the border.”

Ava didn’t look up. “And?”

Serah hesitated. “They’re armed.”

Ava smirked. “Good. Maybe they’ll last longer than the last ones.”

Serah’s expression darkened. “This isn’t a game, Ava.”

“Of course it is,” Ava said smoothly, fingers idly spinning the fragment in her hand. “And we’re winning.”

Serah sighed. “Look, I don’t care what grudge you have against Kai, but—”

“This isn’t about a grudge.”

Ava’s voice was calm, but the room felt colder.

Serah met her gaze. “Then what is it about?”

Ava’s golden eyes glowed. “Control.”

She turned, looking out at the storm-choked horizon.

“Kai doesn’t understand what he’s holding. He thinks power is a burden. A curse. And because of that, he hesitates. He questions.”

Her fingers tightened around the fragment.

“And that makes him weak.”

Serah watched her for a long moment. “You think you’re strong?”

Ava smirked. “I know I am.”

Serah exhaled. “Then let’s see if that strength holds when he comes back.”

Because they both knew—

Kai would come back.

And when he did, nothing would be the same.

Kai moved.

The void-being reacted instantly, its blade of nothingness slashing through the air—

But Kai had already seen this outcome.

He pivoted before the strike landed, stepping into an alternate timeline he had already mapped out. His body blurred—shifting between split-second possibilities, existing in multiple choices before solidifying into the correct one.

He wasn’t just dodging.

He was outmaneuvering time itself.

The void-being hesitated. A first.

Kai didn’t let the moment slip.

He attacked.

His fragment pulsed, amplifying his movement. He struck forward—not with just strength, but precision.

His fist connected.

The entity’s form shattered—

And suddenly, Kai was somewhere else.

The battle was gone.

The void was gone.

He was standing in a dimly lit corridor, the air thick with dust and echoes of forgotten voices. It was a place he recognized—

The New Horizon Facility.

The lab where it had all begun.

His pulse quickened. Was this another illusion? Another test?

Then he saw her.

Ava.@@novelbin@@

She stood at the end of the hallway, her back to him. Shadows curled around her, her golden eyes glowing in the dim light.

Kai’s breath caught. “Ava?”

She turned slowly, her expression unreadable.

“You’re late,” she murmured.

And then—

The world collapsed.

A tidal wave of memories—fragments of lost moments, fractured echoes of the past—slammed into Kai all at once.

He staggered, his mind reeling.

Because for the first time since the Moon had shattered—

He saw the truth.