shadows in the frame

The village of Aeloria looked peaceful from afar—but now that I was inside, I could tell something was… off.
People smiled, waved, and went about their day. But their eyes… felt hollow. Like they were pretending to remember what happiness looked like. Not living it.
Even Mira noticed.
“This place wasn’t always like this,” she said as we walked down a cobbled street lined with glowing lanterns. “I’ve come here for years to trade herbs and scrolls. But lately? People keep forgetting things. Names. Faces. Whole memories. It’s like someone’s stealing time itself.”
I gripped the Chronolens instinctively. “You think it’s connected to the quest I got?”
“‘Fading memories’? Oh yeah, definitely. This reeks of time magic.”
A small child bumped into me suddenly, wide-eyed and shaking.
“Mister… do you know my mama’s name?” she asked, clutching a stuffed bunny.
I froze.
Mira gently crouched beside her. “Sweetie, where’s your home?”
“I… I forgot…”
That word hit me harder than it should’ve.
Forgotten.
Just like I had been. Back in my old life. The guy behind the camera, never in front of it. The one who preserved memories for everyone else—only to die forgotten himself.
Not this time.
I knelt, raised the Chronolens, and whispered:“Let’s try something.”
Click.
The world stilled.
This time, it wasn’t just a visual freeze. I saw threads—glowing threads—coming from the girl’s heart. Frayed. Tangled. Some… severed.
Skill Activated: Soul Snapshot“Revealing emotional imprint and memory decay…”


Suddenly, an image appeared in the air above the camera. A projection of the girl’s last memory with her mother. A warm kitchen. Bread baking. Laughter. A lullaby.
Then—darkness. Static. A blank space where something should’ve been.
Mira gasped. “Someone’s… deleting memories?”
I stood, eyes narrowing. “No. Someone’s stealing them.”
We brought the child to the village elder—a man named Thalen, who looked like a classic RPG quest-giver: long beard, wooden staff, wise eyes.
But when I told him what I saw, he didn’t look surprised.
Instead… he looked guilty.
“You saw it too, then,” he murmured. “The Memory Eater has returned.”
Mira blinked. “Memory Eater? You couldn’t have led with that?!”
Thalen nodded grimly. “A forgotten entity from ancient times. It feeds on precious moments, thriving on what people lose. We sealed it once, long ago… but the seal has weakened.”
I clenched my fist. “And no one remembered to warn anyone?”
Thalen gave a sad smile. “That’s the cruel irony. It eats the very warnings meant to stop it.”
Mira put a hand on my shoulder. “Well, lucky for us, we’ve got a walking photo studio with time-freezing magic and righteous vengeance issues.”
“Damn right,” I said. “Let’s give that bastard a snapshot it’ll never forget.”
[Quest Updated!]
Title: “Stolen Light”Objective: Track the Memory Eater’s lair using Soul Snapshots.Reward: ???Note: “Some memories aren’t meant to fade. Some must be fought for.”
And so our journey began.
Not just to survive…But to remember.
To reclaim what was lost.To protect every fleeting smile, every quiet moment, every story that mattered.
Because I was no longer just a photographer.
I was a Memory Weaver.
And my lens… was fate itself.