The fog was much thicker than it had appeared from the outside. As he stepped into the milky cloud, the sounds around him seemed to disappear, and he could no longer hear the whisper of the wind or the echo of his own footsteps.
It was as if the very air was drowning out any attempt by the world to make itself known.
The streets beneath his feet were paved with a series of stone slabs, each bearing the imprint of a strange carelessness – cracks crossed them at unnatural angles, as if the city had been repeatedly repaired, but each time something went wrong, as if it had been tried to be fixed by those who simply did not understand its essence.
The houses stood in rows, their windows staring straight at him, devoid of any glimmer of life, like dead eyes watching indifferently.
The glass was cloudy, devoid of transparency, and did not attract the eye in the way that reflective surfaces usually do.
As he gazed at one of them, Ikai Liu felt a strange sensation... Gradually, his understanding became clear: these windows did not reflect anything—not himself, not the street around him, not the intricate patterns of fog.
They were not windows in the traditional sense, but rather a deceptive illusion, a clever imitation of reality, a facade designed to deceive the eye and lull the senses.
He continued walking, passing by the gray walls of buildings that seemed to hover between life and its imitation. No windows were open, and no doors allowed a glimpse of the interior.
Everything seemed frozen in some absurd moment of time, still and dark, but devoid of authenticity. The city was like a phantom on the border between dream and reality, a shell of a world with a missing core.
On the main street, after several crossroads, he finally noticed her.
She was standing in the middle of the road, a woman in a long gray dress, motionless, as if she had stopped time herself.
Her face had a strange effect: her features were perfectly regular, so flawless that they resembled those of a doll. Not a single wrinkle or flaw.
Her skin was matte white, like porcelain, and her eyes shone with a cold, glassy sheen.
But those eyes were looking straight at him. They were seeing.
Ikai's steps slowed involuntarily. A dry burning sensation arose in his throat, as if the air had become too sharp to breathe.
The star compass on his belt jingled briefly, emitting a brief flash of red tsa, a sharp, unsettling sound, like a warning of something inevitable.
Her lips curved into a smile.But the eyes remained alien, motionless, empty.
— And you will soon forget who you are.
She spoke with mechanical precision, as if repeating a phrase she had heard long ago. Her voice echoed hollowly, as if coming from within a deep void.
—What are you trying to say?
Ikai croaked, his voice trembling as if clinging to the last shreds of his confidence.
—People forget themselves in this place.
She replied softly, but without a moment's hesitation.
— I was real, alive. But now I don't remember those feelings. Now all that's left of us are empty forms, pale images. The emotions disappeared, disappeared without a trace. All that's left are the functions, the mechanics of existence. You're still holding on to your memory. But it won't last long.
Ikai moved closer, the step filled with indecision, fear of the inevitable. She froze in the same position, as if she didn't feel his presence at all. Instead of tears, a thin silver stream like ash slowly flowed down her eyes.
It became difficult for him to breathe, as if an invisible weight was pressing on his chest from the inside. Under the surface of his skin, a strange impulse came to life, as if a new organ had awakened.
Suddenly, he felt a vibration in his heart that turned into movement, and something foreign emerged from his chest – an eye [ the All-Seeing Eye ]. It immediately flared brightly, filling the space with light that came from within.
Reality shuddered and froze for a moment. The world seemed to blink, taking a short break between everyday melancholy and a strange awakening.
In the next moment, he saw:
This woman in the past. She was standing in the same position, but her face was filled with a genuine smile, reflecting the joy he had once known.
Her eyes seemed to glow with a warmth that radiated throughout the room. It wasn't just a smile; it was a moment frozen in time, where everything seemed possible.
The people around her were laughing, talking, and embracing. Their faces were filled with life, sharing laughter and happiness, creating an atmosphere of unity.
Every sound, every smile, left its mark on the scene, as if the world around them was perfect. There was an energy in the air that could inspire even the most depressed.
The city was vibrant, alive, and breathing. The streets were filled with colors, sounds, and scents that evoked memories.
The towering buildings seemed almost magical, and the sun shining through the clouds added to the enchantment of the moment. It was a city that lived, that felt. It was filled with people, stories, and dreams.
Then a flash. A mask... A glassy face... A silent scream.
In an instant, this vibrant world was shattered. He lost touch with reality. His perception turned into a cold, soulless world, where there was no room for emotions. The mask, symbolizing his loss, cut short his memories like a knife severing the thread of life.
And everything disappeared.
The reality he was in crumbled like sand through his fingers. The Eye went out, and Ikai fell to his knees. The impact was brutal. His body could not cope with this loss. Blood flowed from his nose, mixing with his tears.
—Be careful...
The woman said, her voice a warning filled with anxiety.
—It's easy to lose yourself here if you try too hard to remember. The words hung in the air like a cloud of fog, enveloping her figure.
The fog, thick and cold, wrapped around her, and she disappeared, as if she had dissolved into the very fabric of the city.
Her silhouette became part of the gray landscape, leaving Ikai alone with his thoughts. He stood alone on a silent street, surrounded by windows that knew no reflection. These windows stared at him like lifeless eyes, hiding their secrets. Each window seemed to hold a story, but none of them wanted to be told.
Ikai was left alone on a silent street, surrounded by windows that knew no reflection.
The compass no longer vibrated.
But somewhere far away, deep in the city, he heard a sound a cry. Soft, childlike, barely audible.
He moved forward.
Alenarac lived... but he did not breathe.
Ikai walked through the streets, and every step echoed in the fog as if he were knocking on empty vessels.
He saw people: dozens, hundreds. They were all doing something:
• a woman was endlessly wiping the same tile at the entrance to a house,
• a boy was carrying a bucket back and forth, but the water had long since dried up,
• an old man was standing by the wall, drawing the same line in the sand with a stick, erasing it with his heel and drawing it again.
No one reacted. No one even tried to look at him.
"Cadavers with a motor. Their smiles had been cut off, and now all that was left was to remove their breath. A convenient city."
Ikai lingered with his gaze and it was at that moment that he noticed him.
A young man of about sixteen, in a simple raincoat, with disheveled hair. He was looking straight at Ikai.
And he tried to smile. The smile came out crooked, as if he had never done it, as if the muscles of his face had forgotten how to work. But there was something... alive about her.
—Are you an outsider?
He asked softly.
—Your face is still moving.
—It depends on what you call 'movement'
Ikai muttered, a frown pulling at the corner of his mouth.
—I sometimes doubt that I'm alive, too.
The young man laughed a little, the laughter was hoarse, unfamiliar, as if a broken instrument was trying to play a melody.
— My name is Kaer. I... I'm probably one of the few who still remember what it means to want to laugh.
[ To be continued…]