The Fragment of a Memory

In the year 2346, in a desolate world, the husk of a formerly blooming world, now filled with these monsters that drove humanity into hiding. These monsters, called "Fragments", are hungry for memories. Eerily humanoid, Fragments possess distorted proportions; elongated limbs, uneven weight, and bodies formed of crystalline material.

Humanity hid themselves in underground bunkers, where light can't reach them. These bunkers have sustained themselves by using solar panels hidden from the Fragments. Life has been rough for the remaining survivors. Resources are scarce, information about the outside is limited, there's no way to secure a safe and bright future.

**

One day, outside the bunker, a group of people were outside for a reconnaissance mission. On their way back to the bunker, they encountered a person with a cloak, and a group of Fragments lurking behind her. Their leader, Renne, informed her soldiers, and told them to stop.

The group approached the person with caution, surrounding Renne, while keeping an eye out for the lurking Fragments.

“Hey there, what the hell are you doing outside the bunker, brat?” a soldier barked, pointing his weapon towards the person. They look in their direction, revealing a malnourished girl with strange markings on her body, like her left hand, resembling a wolf, and another one above her chest, resembling an eye, as if they were looking at the horizon.

She tilts her head slightly, looking confused. The soldier’s expression softens at the sight of the girl. He dropped his weapon and rushed towards her, asking “Oh, sorry for being rude there, Why are you outside of the bunker anyways?” The soldier noticed the girl’s thin body and asked “Are you hungry? ”

The girl couldn’t have been more confused, as if everything was so alienated for her. Renne looks at the girl and reflects on herself. “What’s a girl like her doing outside the bunker? Could she really have survived alone out here, or... is there something more at play?”

Renne gives it some more thought and decides to take the girl with her. Renne told her soldiers to bring the girl with them, a soldier held her hand, and brought her towards Renne. But something was amiss, the fragments that had been lurking had disappeared.

The atmosphere felt heavier as shadows moved in the periphery, creeping forward with a silent, predatory rhythm. The scout felt something was wrong. But before he could shout a warning, a Fragment lunged from the shadows, its crystalline arm cleaving through the air toward him. The rest of the soldiers are alarmed, and prepared for the battle.

“Form up!” Renne commanded as she charged towards the Fragments with a blue, flame-like aura. A Fragment took her blow head-on. Nearly matching her strength, the Fragment cracked, but refused to shatter as a cloud of dust formed around them. More soldiers joined the battle.

The soldiers unleashed their ethereons and charged in the dust. As one soldier with an aura that flared like embers wrapping around his body, charging towards Renne, giving her cover, another brandished his greatsword as lightning crackled through the air. He swings his greatsword, clearing the dust and providing more vision for Renne and the other soldiers, while the others provide cover with their guns.

However, the Fragments fought back, as one Fragment summoned a giant sword, another cloaking themselves in dark eerie aura, and another transforming into a crystalline minotaur.

Renne leaped towards the air, as her aura changed shape to form around her hand, the concentrated aura began to form into a blade, and she sliced the Minotaur Fragment’s arm in one fell swoop.

The Fragment with dark aura kneels on the ground and summons tendrils made from the same dark aura he possesses to attack Renne. But the soldier with the red smoky aura rushed as his aura grew stronger, catching the tendrils and dispersing them. The soldier looks at Renne and nods his head, as she finishes off the minotaur fragment.

While the soldiers shouted, charged and as the fragments fell, the girl just stood, clueless about everything, as if she was disconnected to the world.She stared off into the distance. She looked around her, looked at the sky, looked at the ground, and lastly, looked at her hands.

The last Fragment stands his ground, fending off Renne and the soldiers, however, it can’t block all the bullets. Slowly, the Fragment’s body got chipped off by the gunners revealing harder materials, the deeper they go on. Renne gathered all her might to form a giant sword and finished the last fragment.

The soldier rushed towards Renne, celebrating. “Woohoo! Another victory for the Crescendo Squad!” a soldier yelled in excitement. While they were celebrating, the fragments’ remains started twitching, as if they were glitching from reality. A soldier noticed it, and told Renne.

“Renne, take a look at this fragment, he looks like he’s glitching from reality.” The soldier warned Renne. Then suddenly, they heard something. Crack

A crack had appeared from thin air, like the world fractured.

“What the hell?” a soldier said with a shaky voice.

The crack in the air spreads like splintered glass across the sky. And as it expands, they can hear a clap gradually getting louder and closer.

Clap.

Clap.

Clap.

“Well done, I didn’t expect you to perform this well.” said a mysterious voice with a mocking tone as he walked into the space through a crack while the fractured sky fell to the ground, disappearing right before they hit., revealing the true sky.

“Unfortunately for me, you’re still too green.” the voice said, as the shattered sky revealed a horde of Fragments surrounding the Crescendo Squad, with a “Supreme” Fragment, and the unnamed girl on the ground, tied and gagged, desperately trying to get out and yelling “Hi-mel!”, but it can’t be heard clearly.

The atmosphere feels thicker, and the air feels heavier. Just breathing is enough to suffocate them, but they try to breathe as hard as they can. The sky turns darker as the time goes by. Renne’s eyes, filled with fear as the Supreme Fragment approaches the squad.

“Stay back!” Renne yelled, as she mustered any remaining courage she had left, to stand up. “Everyone, go! Run away as far as you can! Bring that girl with you!” with her voice trembling, and her legs shaking. But the soldiers couldn’t muster any strength to stand up. Their limbs tremble, unable to move a muscle as if they were paralyzed, as the pressure crushes them, making them unable to breathe properly.

The Supreme Fragment mocks Renne, who’s shaking as she’s standing in front of him. “Don’t worry Ms. Leader, I’m not a murderer that kills indiscriminately.” as he leaned closer. Renne’s legs, about to collapse but she tries her best to stand still.

Until the mysterious girl finally gets rid of her gag and yells, “Bet, protect!”. The Supreme Fragment cautiously hopped away as a giant creature fell from the sky, forming a big cloud of dust and protecting them all. Then, she yells “Gimel, rush!” as a creature emerges from the shadows, carrying the mysterious girl, Renne, and some of her squad members.

Unfortunately, Gimel was unable to pick up some members as the Supreme Fragment caught them soldiers before they could escape and in a quick motion, destroyed the back of their head. There was no blood, only the light from the soldier’s eyes disappearing as their memories were extracted from them. He chuckles and says “I’m interested in what kind of show they’ll perform next. We’ll see you in the next harvest, humans.” as his voice slowly disappears and he blends with the shadows and the rest of the fragments follows.

As the squad flees from the scene, Renne is filled with despair. Unable to comprehend what had happened. Gimel’s eyes, cutting through the dust field revealing Gimel's true form, a wolf, nearly as big as a truck with black thick fur.

After they’ve run for a considerable amount of distance, Gimel gently drops the surviving soldiers in a hidden spot, and fades into the girl’s hand, as the mark on her left hand. She apologizes to the soldier, with her voice slowly getting weaker as she speaks. “I’m sorry… I wasn’t able to save everyone, nor warn you.”

A soldier outbursts on the girl, perhaps because she was unable to warn them, or purely because it was convenient for him to blame her. “Then, why didn’t you try to do anything!?” he shouted, as tears flowed down his eyes he picked up his sword, and pointed it at the girl, “Why didn’t you say anything!? You were just standing there like nothing happened!”

The other soldiers remained quiet and averted their gaze, while one soldier grabbed his arm and redirected it away from the girl. “What the hell do you think you’re doing Isaac! Blaming her won’t fix anything, nor will it bring back Wilhelm or Rosaline! She’s just a child, Isaac! A child!” Isaac shoved the soldier and mocked her. “A child? A child?” he laughed bitterly “She’s the cause of the problem isn’t she!? If we hadn’t stopped for her, we wouldn’t have gotten caught in that attack!” His voice cracked, as he was unable to finish “If it wasn’t for her, we-”

The girl slowly walked closer to him and grabbed the blade of his sword with both her hands. She directed the tip to her chest. Blood welled from her hand, to the cold steel of the blade, with the metallic scent of the blood piercing Isaac’s nose. As she grabbed the blade, with a soft but determined voice, she said “Do it.” As she grips the blade harder and more blood flows from her hand.

Her eyes meet with Isaac’s, not blinking and devoid of fear. “If this will fix everything… Then do it.” As she pulls the blade towards her, piercing her skin, as blood gently flows from it.

Isaac, frozen in place, stuttering “I-I…” holding his sword, felt like holding the world. Adrienne quickly intervened, taking both Isaac and the girl’s hand off the sword. She yelled “Can you two stop it?!” She yelled as tears fell from her eyes. “We already lost two brave soldiers from this group, our leader is traumatized, and you, Isaac, out of all people, think this is the best time to be fighting with an innocent child that even cared enough to save us from that supreme fragment?”, as more tears flowed, clutching her chest, as if an unbearable pressure was crushing her.

Isaac drops his sword, and mutters “Damn it… Damn it all!” as he kneels, and slams his hand to the ground. Over and over again, until his hand bleeds, and takes a deep, husky breath. “Why did we have to lose them..?” His voice cracked, barely a whisper.

In the midst of it all, Renne stands up and gathers everyone's attention. “Okay everyone, I apologize for showing such weakness during a time like this. As your leader, I feel ashamed.”

Adrienne rushed to Renne’s side and reassured her, “It's alright Renne, We weren't able to do anything during that fight anyways…” she said as she slowly cast her gaze on her feet. Renne takes a deep breath, and hugs Adrienne then gently pats her head. After that, she approached Isaac and offered her hand to help him stand up. And Isaac hesitantly accepts her hand.

She approaches the girl and kneels in front of her. She held her hand as blood dripped from it. Their eyes met, and Renne said “I humbly apologize on the behalf of this stupid member of mine, and I thank you for assisting us in escaping that supreme fragment. May I ask for your name?”

Renne’s voice echoes in her head, as she reflects upon herself. ‘What is my name?’ she asks herself, but no matter how hard she thinks, no clear answer comes. “I don't have one…” she answered. “I can't remember anything. All I know is that I was left here by myself, and that I have the ability to summon creatures and they'll do as I say.”

“You've lost your memories, but your functions are still there huh…” Renne told her. “Hey Renne, how about we give her a temporary name for now, so we can call her something?” A soldier suggested. “Good idea Markus, what do you suggest?” Renne commended him. "Then Renne, how about we name her after the flower 'Anemone'?" Markus recommended. "That's an interesting Markus, what do you say, does that sound good to you?" Renne asks, and she nods her head as fast as she can, meaning she loves it.

"Alright, your name is now Anemone. I'll also adopt you to protect you in the bunker, is that okay with you?" she asked. "Yes..." she murmured with a gentle voice. Renne signaled a soldier to come over, and told her to patch Anemone's wound. The soldier did and treated her wounds, after that, the soldier immediately went to help Isaac.

"Took you long enough," Isaac muttered. "I am not responsible for any of your actions, nor your injuries." she calmly replied as she pressed on his wound as hard as she could. "Wha-!" Isaac yelled in pain. He tried to retaliate but she caught his fist and pinned him to the ground. "Damn you Raphaela" he cried in pain. "Hmph-" Raphaela breathes.

Anemone silently mutters “Hei, Recover”, as the eye marking on her chest glows, revealing an eye on the sky casting its gaze down, as ray of light drops down on Crescendo Squad and Anemone. Everyone notices it, and Isaac exclaims “What the hell is that!”. Anemone reassures Isaac and confirms it’s one of her summons.

Spores start dropping from the sky, and upon touching the Crescendo Squad members and Anemone, regenerate the wounds they received and recover their fatigue. “Thank you for this, Anemone.” Adrienne said. But Anemone shakes her head claiming “I should be the one thanking you all…” softly, as the eye closes its eyes, disappearing from the sky.

“Everyone, I’ve informed the higher ups about our situation. Help will arrive soon, let’s just sit still for the time being.” Renne informs everyone. “Just keep yourselves busy until our backup arrives, I’ll keep an eye out.” she adds.

The group takes this time to reflect upon themselves, what just happened and how they can be prepared for future encounters. Anemone ponders her identity as she tries to remember as much as she possibly could about her memories.

After two whole hours, a vehicle resembling a bus arrives to pick them up. “Hurry up, otherwise we’d be fighting fragments on our way back.” the driver told the squad. The vehicle is heavily armed, built to protect whoever’s inside, made from materials that even bullets can’t land a scratch on.

They packed their remaining gears and hurried up to the ‘bus’ along with Anemone. The inside of the bus is pretty spacious but they can’t see anything on the outside. The group sits near each other then the driver spoke “So, you’ve encountered Vlad and only lost three members huh…” Isaac glares at him, about to say something but Adrienne stops him.

“We were fortunate that Anemone was there and she was able to save us, otherwise, the bunker would’ve been leaked to the fragments again.” Renne replies. “Speaking of which, there are no Ethereons that manifests living beings right? Materialization, Cloaking, then Transformation… None of them involves summoning a wolf, a giant creature, and an eye from the sky that heals you, as you reported.” The driver said.

“Given that this lil’ fella has her unique circumstances, don’t you think it’s a terrible idea to bring her to the bunker? She’d only suffer more than she’d benefit.” He adds. Anemone listening, thinks upon herself. “Huh..? What does he mean by that? Am I going to be in trouble?”

Renne brushes it off, claiming “I’d protect her if it comes to that.” Anemone, despite not knowing the situation, feels relieved. “I won’t let those freaks turn this kid into a lab rat.”

**

A few hours has passed and they finally reached the underground bunker. It’s built with complex machinery that supplies all of their basic necessities, using every resource they have as efficiently as possible to accommodate their needs.

Over the years they’ve spent after the invasion, the scientists have focused their attention on making life more sustainable, and used whatever they could to achieve that. This resulted in these underground bunkers, having elaborate security systems to prevent fragments from locating the bunker in case of a death from a mission, sustainable food source through processed food, and a cozy environment to boost the people’s morale.

Some people greeted the Crescendo Squad’s arrival after their reconnaissance mission. A few are wondering why there are some missing members and are curious about Anemone’s identity. They went to the squad’s barracks to rest.

“Damn it! We couldn’t even recover anything from Wilhelm and Rosaline… How the hell are we going to tell their families…” Isaac said, and Raphaela replied with “I have the recording footage, but I’m sure you don’t want to show such a thing to them.” as she showed the video to Isaac.

“Everyone, just rest for now, we have a lot on our plate tomorrow. After Renne returns, I’m sure we’ll get worked to death again.” Markus spoke as he walked towards his room. Adrienne adds “You’re worried about Wilhem and Rosaline, when our scout also died…”

Raphaela nods in agreement as she closes the video, then goes to her room with Adrienne. As everyone left the room, Isaac decided it’s a good idea to get some well deserved rest and went to his room to sleep.

~Chapter 0 End~

Author's Note: It took me a few weeks before finally finishing this. I despise school!