Dazed and confused, I look around myself and ask:

"What is this manor? Where am I, and who am I?"

After these sudden questions a sound, a voice rings to me through the dark hallway:

"RUN! THERE IS NO TIME TO EXPLAIN!"

With more confusion creeping into my facial expression, I look behind me, noticing a dark human looking figure.

"no, wait...."

I murmur to myself as I notice the proper grotesque form of this thing. Without a second thought, I run in the other direction as fast as my legs can go then that sound, that voice, it rings in my ears again:

"BURN EVERYTHING AS YOU RUN! LOOK ON YOUR RIGHT HAND AND USE IT!"

The voice convinced me to see this odd attachment on my right hand. As soon as I think of fire, jets of intense blue fire burst through and burned the manor's hall, but something felt off. This hall is so long... I've been running for over a minute with no end in sight. Doing as the voice commanded in a way to try saving my life from that grotesque form that was chasing after me, I continued running and burning what I could with the fire from my right hand. Then I notice a light.

"an exit?"

I ask myself as thousands of hands burst from the light and envelop me in the light. No time to react or even think about the situation as my consciousness fades.

Waking up and with eyes open, I notice the white grass field with flowers blooming in a crimson color surrounding me. The beauty stunned me for a few seconds before I recollected myself as the questions from before echoed in my mind. The voice from the manor drew my attention before I could ask myself more questions sitting just in front of me on a pillar and saying.

"I apologize for that sudden event. The foreshadowing in the sage's visions appears to be incorrect."

Sage? Visions? Just more questions come to my mind as I ask in a confused and frustrated tone:

"Who are you? Where are we, and what just happened?"

Looking at the person, I can't be sure of their gender, and they have features from both genders. They stand in silence as I stare at them, and then they speak

"This appears to be worse than I thought. My name is Harko. We currently reside outside the abyss manor, and what just happened is your memory getting fragmented by a particular spell that breaks you into multiple fragments. I'm assuming your pieces got scattered around the abyss plains."

Shocked at the sudden information of my minds fragmentation, I wondered just what this world was and who I was before saying:

"huh? sage? Fragments? Abyss manor? What is all of this? more importantly...."

I stand in silence for a couple of seconds and look at my palms, trying to remember my name.

"who....who am I?"

Harko sheds a few tears as they keep their distance with a worried look speaking to themselves.

"Oh- Oh dear me, I never knew the spell could do this much damage."

Harko's tone sounds depressed, a feeling tells me it's from my memory loss, but I don't remember them. Just what kind of spell was used on me to cause this? My inner monologue was cut short by a whimper from Harko. Looking up, I notice that they are with their hands on their head, distressed by my condition. I want to help, ill try to help. Despite my confusion, they seem to know who I used to be, and I might be able to get some help from them if I do something, or at least I hope so. With that said, I rise from the ground I am lying on and approach Harko slowly, embracing them in a hug to try to calm them down. Harko gradually welcomes me back in a tight hug. Their sadness appears genuine to my memory loss, and I can't help but wonder, what was our relationship before? Shortly after asking myself yet another question, I can hear Harko's soft and sad voice.

"T-thank you... you didn't have to do this for me, y-yet here you are, thank the light beacon that a part of you remains in the fragmented self."

I gently pat their head as they begin calming down. Shortly after, we get interrupted by another voice calling out.

"Harko! What is taking you soo long? We need to regroup quickly. Xavier's flames are spreading further from the manor, and we must stop them before they reach the garden."

Harko breaks the embrace shortly after the voice can be heard and wipes the tears off their face, but the person has already begun realizing what has happened. Looking at their face after the embrace, they seem shocked.

"W-wait, did it happen? Hey you! what is your name!?"

I don't respond. I stand and watch the face of what looks like a man in his 30s begins to have a dreadful expression.

"No no no no, Cant you remember??? Harko! Do they not remember?!?"

Harko nods their head up and down gently, tears building up in their eyes, looking away from the man's gaze.

"DAMMIT! okay, it's okay, it's fine. Harko, please tell me they are fragmented and not wholly lost. We have lost a considerable number of our friends already."

Harko then nods, which makes the man seem relieved by the information

"Thank the Light Beacon! That is what I needed to hear. We will bring him back, Harko, it's going to take a while, but it's possible, and I'm not backing down anymore. We need to hurry now! The flames are spreading!"

Harko shakes their head and runs towards the man as he leads the way, I follow from behind, still processing what I just heard, but I get interrupted by the flames I have caused within the manor. I can feel the heat from farther than I thought, and the speed at which it spreads is indeed alarming.

We see a squad of people fighting off the flames in the distance. The fire itself forms bodies made out of itself that assault the team. Restless and with no remorse, it goes after them like wild dogs finding their new prey. Just what is this device in my hand? This blue fire is hazardous. Why was this device even made? I can then see the man and Harko join the team to fight the fire. Some of them get injured, and my body moves on its own as I observe the fire engulfing a squadron member. Unable to control the urge to help, I push the man out of the fire and let it take me instead, but to my surprise, the fire tingles. It does not burn, its... almost pleasurable. What? But how and why? Shortly after, The fire gets taken down thanks to Harko's magic, the man cornering the fire. I can't do anything but sit and watch as I notice the fire effects on me. A feeling of sadness washes over me as I try to remember but fail. What? Just how am I unable to get burned by a fire that, from a distance, feels like hell and, from up close, feels like home? Why was I fragmented? And who were these people to me???

"hey, Xavier, are you okay? We haven't seen such a violent attack from the fire since the first time you used it. I want to thank you personally for trying to help, but it was in vain. The fire burnt away his life faster than you could help him."

Has said one of the injured people who fought against the fire from behind me. Confused, I turn sharply towards them.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"you mean to tell me I have done this? How? I don't even know what this fire is, let alone how to control it, I'm confused as it is, and now you tell me I caused this harm? I don't understand. I don't remember, just... Just leave me be... there is too much on my mind, and I do not know how much I can handle."

The injured man looks into my eyes with a glint of sadness as they realize my condition. Why are they all soo sad to know this? Just who am I?? I'm just getting more frustrated as I think about more questions. I need to clear my head...

"Xavier... I'm sorry you have to go through this. I know its confusing for you, having no idea what is going on and suddenly having to experience this- "

"How do you know? Just what the hell happened, and why can't I remember a single thing?? TELL ME!"

I raise my voice in frustration. I didn't even notice the flames covering my right hand until the man in front of me pointed toward my hand. Everyone turned and looked at me with worried faces as if they thought I was about to do something terrible.

"huh? WHAT THE HELL?! Why is there fire on my hand?!"

I use my left hand to put it out to no avail, but it begins to dim and disappear shortly after. I need some clarification now. What is this... thing on my right hand? I glance at the strange device protruding from my right upside palm. Now having more time to observe it, I notice a blue, glowing sphere connected to my knuckles that look nothing similar to my left hand. The flames appear to come from the knuckles, and they are sharp, forming a fist exposes where the connections from my palm lead to a sort of glowing hole... wait, do I have HOLES IN MY HAND??? No, wait, my hand is not even normal at all! It looks robotic, and I can't remember how this happened, when it happened, or even what it is. DAMN IT ALL!.

Harko's voice breaks my examination of my right hand.

"Xavier... We understand your frustration. Everything you've known about this world has been fragmented and thrown into the depths of the nebulae void. What is happening to you right now is what people call the void touch, the creature you ran from within the manor is what caused this to happen all of a sudden, and the flames I told you to use were what stopped it from claiming you as part of its hive."

The man from before who interrupted me and Harko last time chimes in

"Listen, Xavier, this world will be bizarre, but we need you. We will do our best to teach you what we need in order to bestow you with your fragmented memory. Once you regain your memory, we have a lot of work and unfinished business to attend to."

To which the man giggles, I haven't even gotten his name, and he's too friendly, but if what they say is true, then I can't help but wonder just what the hell I was trying to do in that manor in the first place, that place did not feel right for even a second, and the inside looked... ancient, I look at that man, and before I could ask him, he responds to the question I was about to say

"Ah, where are my manners, my friend? I have yet to introduce myself to you, correct? The name Jathorn, a friend of who yEou used to be before the void peered into your mind and absorbed what you knew to claim your unique powers, pleased to make your acquaintance."

Jathorn bows in front of me. I believe his words are genuine and truthful, but I can't take them for granted.

"Pleased to meet you too, Jathorn. From what I've heard, my name is Xavier. If you are not bothered by it, please clarify some information that numbs my mind from the overwhelming questions."

Harko responds for him faster than he could

"Of course we will! We can't leave you in this state for much longer without facing harsh consequences. Dare you to get taken or join the wrong forces, and we will have a disadvantage in keeping this world safe from the hands of the voids hive. We need your fire, for it is one of our most important weapons against the void hive."

Void hive... these two words resonate with me. What is this void, why does it make the world unsafe? And why is my fire soo important as a weapon against the void? Trying to get some answers to my mountains of questions, I take a little time and ask.

"Well then, tell me, Harko, what is the void? Why is my fire such an effective weapon against the void? Why is my hand not even normal like your hands? What is the void hive, and why does it threaten this world? But most importantly, why have I forgotten everything? Why was my mind fragmented?"

Harko looks at me with a glint of sadness in their eye. They then briefly closed their eyes.

"Ah, Xavier, I cannot answer all of these, but I can answer some. The reasoning behind not answering has no ill intent, and it is just so that we evade confusion between one another until a fragment of your mind has been found. So your first question is about the void and what it contains, yes?"

I then nod. Harko sighs and sits on a tree stump, to which they then sign me to come closer. I sit down on the white grass just in front of Harko and listen to what they have to say

"You see, Xavier, The void is part of this world just as much as it's a threat to it. The void is part of the natural ways this world works, a balance set to this world by unknown means, which people believe to be a creation of a god or a force from out of this world. It's a force that consumes and assimilates whatever it catches, some people worship this power, and some have faced incomprehensible loss similar to what you are experiencing. The void took your memory, and now it will use what it learned to invade us and all those who have helped us deal with the void. There is a great war to be fought, and we need you now more than ever. The fact is that nobody truly knows what the void is or what its purpose or intent may be. All that is known about it is that it devours anything and everything it deems necessary to gain the upper hand against those who suppress it. There have been cases where the void has helped us and when people even learned how to use it to their advantage. It makes me curious, really. I never understood how to use a power like the void without facing great loss."