Unable to move, unable to breathe, she could only feel her surroundings shift into a slow-motion blur, as though time itself mocked her final moments. Her heart hammered in her chest, yet her body betrayed her, frozen in place as the claw of the beast drew nearer.
"Am I… really going to get eaten?"
The thought rang in her mind, cold and sharp.
"Such a pathetic death… to be devoured by something I don't even understand."
Tears pricked the corners of her eyes. A bitter laugh escaped her lips, though soundlessly.
"I wasn't even able to achieve anything in my life. I never did anything meaningful, nothing productive that could change the world, nor anything that could lead me to the depths of this abyss nonsense…"
Her lips trembled as she swallowed down the lump in her throat.
"Did my life really have no meaning at all? Is this my fate? Is this how I'm going to die…?"
Her eyes fluttered shut. She accepted her fate. Maybe this cruel end was always meant for her. Maybe her existence had always been drifting toward this moment.
In the silence behind her eyelids, faces bloomed into her thoughts– her parents, smiling faintly though their images were blurred by memory. Her friends, Ami, Rin, Yuki, faces full of laughter and warmth. And one more face, so faint she nearly forgot…
Her older brother.
Kenzo.
The scene in her mind shifted, almost as if reality cracked apart to let memory flood in. A single fragment of her past tugged her deeper, dragging her away from the present nightmare.
---
"I was only three years old when tragedy first struck my life."
The words echoed inside her head, though they were her own.
Me and my older brother, Kenzo, lost our parents in a devastating accident. Miraculously, we both survived, but the trauma left us with no memory of our parents or the life we had before.
After the accident, we were admitted to a hospital. I remember the white walls, the smell of antiseptic, and the endless crying. Later, we were sent to an orphanage. I practically grew up like a delicate feather in the wind, bright, gentle, fragile. My older brother, though still just a child, became fiercely protective of me. To him, I was everything he had left. He would always hold my hand, never letting go, whispering,
I'll protect you, Fumiko. Don't be scared."
But fate is cruel. Only a year later, the city was attacked, probably by the abyss monsters.
The memory blurred, sounds of screaming and fire surrounding me. Shadows consumed buildings, children wailed, caretakers were torn apart. I could only remember one thing clearly: Kenzo pushing me under a broken table, shielding me with his body.
Then… smoke. Chaos and then, complete Silence.
When the flames died, I was alive. I always survived, God know how. But Kenzo… he was gone.
No body. No sign. Nothing.
He was nowhere to be seen.
I lived in painful uncertainty: had I lost him too, or was he out there somewhere, searching for me even as I searched for him?
Alone once again, I was sent back to the hospital. But this time, a small miracle found me. I was adopted by a kind couple of doctors. They raised me with warmth, gave me food, clothes, love. Slowly, I began to smile again.
They took care of me like I was their own child.
But deep down, a hollow ache remained. I had lost too much.
When I grew older, I moved to Yokohama to begin living on my own. In middle school, I met a student, named Ami, a cheerful girl who slowly became my closest friend. By the time high school came, we encountered Yuki and Rin, and the four of us bonded. They became the family I thought I'd never have again.
For a time, I thought… maybe I could be happy.
---
The memory fractured in her mind like glass.
Her present self floated in the darkness, whispering:
"But wait… what if my brother is still alive? Living somewhere in a life I don't know about? What if he's searching for me too…?"
Her fists clenched.
"No. I can't just give up my life so easily to these pathetic creatures."
"Even that glowing figure… it told me my life holds meaning. If I die now, I'll break that expectation."
"I will not lose. Not until I discover with my own eyes if Kenzo is alive or not– I will not die here. I WILL NEVER!!"
Her voice roared inside her own mind.
Suddenly, the bloody floor beneath her glowed faintly. The claw of the beast stopped mid-swing, trembling in the light.
A faint mark on the side of her neck shimmered with a white radiance, brighter and brighter until it seared the air around her.
The creature faltered, its jaw slackening. Then it noticed, behind Fumiko, a figure stood still.
A celestial silhouette. Genderless, faceless, but glowing.
The monster froze. It should have attacked. But it couldn't move. Its entire body screamed with instinctive fear.
That figure… was smiling.
Not a warm smile. Not innocent.
A mocking smile.
The air grew heavier. Terror crept into the beast's heart, a feeling more dreadful than death itself.
Before it could even comprehend what it faced, light engulfed everything. Blinding, searing, absolute.
The abyss creature screamed, its body tearing into fragments before evaporating entirely. Silence returned.
---
When Fumiko opened her eyes again, she found herself layinh on the watery floor, the endless clear sky above her. No sun, no moon, just emptiness.
Her hand pressed against her chest. It is still beating.
"I'm… alive?"
Her trembling voice sounded almost foreign to her ears. She pushed herself up, scanning the space around her. No shadow, no monster. Had she really won?
Her breathing grew heavier. She shook her head.
"No way. That… that thing just died? Like that?"
"You seem very confused, my child."
The voice from behind her made her freeze. Slowly, she turned.
Her heart dropped.
"You… again…"
The glowing figure stood calmly behind her, radiating warmth this time.
"You– did you kill that creature?"
She asked, voice breaking.
The figure shook its head slowly.
"No. It was not me. It was you, child. You successfully killed your first abyss creature."
Her mind blanked.
"What are you… saying? I killed it?? ME?? How is that even– "
"Child… hear me."
The figure's voice grew firmer, cutting her panic short.
"Before I answer any of your questions, I must tell you something very important."
Its presence wrapped around her like a soft blanket, yet a chill lingered in her spine.
"You must find the fragment,"
It continued.
"It was created for a great purpose, but today, it has fallen onto the earth."
"Find it before negativity reaches it. Before it is corrupted by the Abyss."
The figure leaned closer.
"Quickly… go, child. Find it before it's too late. Everything depends on you now."
And with those final words, the world shattered into white.
---
Fumiko gasped awake, her body jerking upright. Sweat dampened her forehead, her breath ragged.
Her eyes darted to the clock on table. 3:47 a.m.
Still dark outside.
Her head spun. The fragment…
"Wait. The figure… it said to find it quickly. If I waste time, someone else–"
She gritted her teeth. She had to move now.
"If any student found it before me, I will get into a big problem"
But where? Where could something like that be?
She clutched her hair, pacing, racking her brain.
"Where… where… where??"
Then suddenly , a place hit in her mind.
Her school.
"Today… something fell on my head. It was glowing. But I ignored it that time!"
She leapt up, throwing on a jacket on her body, lacing her shoes clumsily. She grabbed her torch and burst through the door, sprinting into the night.
The streets blurred. Her lungs burned, but she didn't stop. She couldn't stop.
Finally, the looming shadow of her school appeared. She switched on her torch, holding it in her mouth as she scrambled up a tree by the gate. With one shaky leap, she dropped into the campus grounds.
The silence was eerie. The school looked lifeless in the darkness, like a forgotten relic.
The beam of torch light cut across the ground as she searched desperately. Her breath echoed. Grass rustled under her shoes.
Then– there.
Something faint glowed in the tall grass.
She sprinted, falling to her knees, reaching into the blades until her fingers brushed something smooth and cold. She pulled it free, wiping dirt from its surface.
Her breath caught.
It was… glowing faintly.
But then, as soon as she touched it, the glow died.
"What… is this?"
She raised it toward the torchlight. The object was rectangular, fragile-looking. It resembled more like… an old phone screen, maybe from the 90s.
Her lips parted in disbelief.
"This? This is the fragment the figure spoke of…? It doesn't look like it…"
She turned it over.
And froze.
On its back were intricate carvings– seven small marks, arranged in a perfect circle. Ancient, otherworldly designs.
Her throat tightened.
"So it really is…"
She held it closer to her chest, heart pounding.
"Never mind. I'll ask the figure about it in my next dream. For now…"
She slid the fragment into her pocket, glancing around nervously. The night felt heavier now, as though unseen eyes watched her.
She climbed back out of the campus, hurrying home.
Her hand brushed against the fragment again as she walked, and a shiver ran down her spine.
"What do these seven marks mean…?"
She whispered to herself.
Her question vanished into the night.