Fragments of Dawn

Kai's mind reeled. The weight of shattered memories, glimpses of forgotten truths, and the impossible reality before him crashed over him like a tidal wave. He stood frozen in the dimly lit corridor, his breathing shallow.

Ava was there.

But was it really her?

She stood at the far end of the hallway, her golden eyes gleaming like molten fire. Shadows clung to her form, flickering unnaturally against the cold metallic walls of what looked like the New Horizon Facility.

“Kai,” she said, her voice softer than he expected.

His fingers twitched around the fragment still pulsing in his palm. The last thing he remembered was fighting the void-being, breaking through the fabric of time and space itself. Now, he was here—in a place that shouldn't exist anymore.

“How are you here?” he asked, his voice hoarse.

Ava tilted her head. “The better question is, how are you here?”

Kai narrowed his eyes, stepping forward cautiously. His boots echoed against the floor, the sound stretching unnaturally long, as if the walls themselves were warping reality. This wasn't just an illusion. It felt too real.

“I don’t trust this,” he muttered, more to himself than to her.

Ava chuckled. “That’s the smart answer.”

Then, in a blink—

She was right in front of him.

Kai barely had time to react before she reached out, pressing her fingertips to his forehead.

And suddenly—

Pain.

A thousand voices screamed in unison. The corridor fractured around them, walls shattering into cascading streams of light. Kai’s knees buckled as an unbearable force tore through his mind, dragging him somewhere else.

The world snapped back into focus.

But it wasn’t the hallway anymore.

It was the past.

He was standing in the New Horizon Facility—but not in ruins. It was whole, pristine, humming with electricity. Scientists moved hurriedly through the halls, voices buzzing with urgent discussions. Screens displayed seismic activity, energy readings, and—

The Moon.

Kai's heart pounded as he realized when this was.

The day everything changed.

“Status?” a voice called.

Kai turned and saw Dr. Elias Moreau—the lead researcher of the Lunar Fragment Project. He stood in front of a massive glass observation deck, staring at the enormous containment chamber below. And inside—

A fragment.

Not just any fragment. The first one.

It pulsed with a dark, almost hypnotic energy, sending vibrations through the air that Kai could feel in his bones.

This was the moment before the catastrophe.

Before the Moon shattered.

Before the world fell apart.

His breath hitched. Was this a vision? A message? A warning?

Then he saw himself.

Or rather—a version of himself.

A younger Kai, dressed in his astronaut uniform, stood among the researchers. His posture was rigid, tense. He looked... afraid.

Ava was there, too.

Standing right beside him.

But something was wrong.

The Ava in this memory wasn’t the same one he knew. Her expression was colder, more distant. The golden glow in her eyes hadn’t fully awakened yet, but there was something lurking beneath the surface. Something waiting.

“This isn’t right,” Kai whispered.

The memory twisted.

The containment alarms blared. Scientists shouted. The fragment inside the chamber flared with an uncontrollable surge of energy.

And then—

The explosion.

A blinding wave of force ripped through the facility, engulfing everything in white-hot light.

Kai felt himself being pulled, as if the memory itself was trying to drag him into oblivion. He fought against it, reaching out—

And suddenly—

A hand grabbed his wrist.

Not Ava’s.

Someone else’s.

A shadowy figure, its face obscured, stood within the collapsing reality, holding onto him with an iron grip.

"Wake up."

Kai gasped.

His eyes flew open.

He was back in the void.

The Moon fragments still floated around him, the shattered remnants of an ancient battle stretching into infinity. His body felt heavy, his mind clouded with residual pain from whatever he had just experienced.

Ava was gone.

The hallway was gone.

But the knowledge remained.

Kai clenched his fists. The explosion at the New Horizon Facility—the event that had triggered the apocalypse—was not an accident. Someone had caused it. Someone had manipulated the fragments before the Moon ever shattered.

And Ava...

She had been involved.

His stomach twisted. He didn’t want to believe it, but the memory had been too vivid, too real. He needed answers. And there was only one place left to find them.

He turned toward the endless void, his fragment pulsing in response.

It was time to return.

Back on Earth, Ava stood atop the remnants of a collapsed skyscraper, staring out at the war-torn landscape. The sky was painted in unnatural shades of crimson and gold, the aftereffects of another fragment detonation in the distance.

She barely reacted.

She knew what was coming.

Serah approached, her expression tight. “It’s confirmed. He’s alive.”

Ava didn’t turn. “Of course he is.”

Serah hesitated. “And you’re not worried?”

Ava let out a slow breath. “Worried? No.” She finally turned to face Serah, her golden eyes shimmering. “But I am prepared.”

Serah frowned. “For what?”

Ava’s gaze hardened.

“For when he remembers everything.”

Kai’s feet touched solid ground.

The moment he did, the world shifted.

The void faded, and he found himself standing on a cracked highway, the remains of a fallen city sprawled out before him. The air was thick with the scent of ash and ozone, remnants of past battles still lingering.

He wasn’t alone.

Figures moved in the distance—warriors, scavengers, survivors. Some wielded the power of the fragments, their bodies crackling with raw energy.

And at the heart of it all—

Ava’s faction.

Kai exhaled. He had spent too long lost in the abyss. Now, he was back.@@novelbin@@

And it was time to end this.

The echoes of the past had caught up to the present. The truth was unraveling.

And the final confrontation was only just beginning.