Fred opened his eyes slowly.
The cavern ceiling stretched above him, shimmering with soft hues of blue and violet.
The crystals pulsed gently, as if in rhythm with some unseen heart.
For a moment, Fred simply lay there, breathing in the stillness.
Something felt... different.
Like a dream forgotten upon waking.
A part of him missing, though he couldn't say what.
He pushed himself up groggily.
Across from him, a girl sat against the wall—
watching him, eyes red-rimmed from crying.
---
Clara.
He knew her name.
Knew it the way you might know the title of a song you couldn't remember the words to.
There was familiarity—but no warmth behind it.
She scrambled to her feet as he sat up, rushing over.
"Fred! You're awake!"
Fred blinked at her, polite but distant.
"Yeah... I guess."
Her face crumpled slightly at his tone.
"Do you... know who I am?" she asked, voice trembling.
Fred hesitated.
The truth tasted bitter in his mouth.
"You're Clara," he said.
"Right?"
She nodded, biting her lip.
---
Fred rubbed the back of his head, frowning.
"We... we traveled together, didn't we?"
Clara gave a tiny, broken laugh.
"Yeah. More than traveled."
She took a step closer, almost instinctively reaching out—
—but Fred flinched away without meaning to.
The hurt that flashed across her face was unbearable.
Fred hated seeing it—hated that he had caused it.
And yet...
he felt nothing.
No connection.
No memories of nights by the fire, of whispered secrets or hard-fought battles side-by-side.
Only a void where something precious used to live.
---
Clara swallowed hard.
She wanted to tell him.
To scream at him that he had given everything to save her.
That the boy she loved had traded away their history for her future.
But she couldn't.
She wouldn't burden him with that.
Instead, she smiled through the tears blurring her vision.
"It's okay," she whispered.
Fred shifted awkwardly.
"I'm sorry... if I'm being weird. I just... it's all kind of a blur."
Clara nodded.
"It's not your fault."
---
The masked figure watched them silently from the shadows.
He knew this wound would never fully heal.
But it was the only way.
He turned, fading into the deeper tunnels without a word.
Fred and Clara were alone now.
Two souls tethered by invisible strings—one pulled taut with grief, the other frayed beyond recognition.
Ahead, their journey was far from over.
But the road they walked would be lonelier than either dared to admit.
And somewhere, deep within Fred's forgotten heart, something stirred—
A longing for something he could not name.
---