THE FRAGMENTS OF DIVINITY

Chapter 2: The Awakening

Haru's heart thudded in his chest as he made his way home, the fragment still heavy in his pocket. The cool evening air did little to calm the unease that gnawed at him. He couldn't shake the feeling that something—someone—was watching him, a presence lurking just out of sight. It was as though the world itself was holding its breath, waiting for something to happen.

The streets were quiet as he walked, the usual noise of the city distant and muffled, like it was all happening in another world. Every step he took felt like it echoed in his mind, each footfall a reminder that everything had changed. The shard hadn't just been a strange object—it had been a signal, a beacon that had set something in motion. Haru could feel it in his bones.

He reached his apartment building and ascended the stairs, the familiar creaks of the old building making him feel even more out of place. When he reached his door, he hesitated, his hand hovering over the handle. The voice from earlier—the one that had whispered inside his mind—lingered. You are not what you think you are.

What did that mean? Who was it from? And why had it spoken to him?

Inside his room, he dropped his bag on the floor and sank down onto his bed. The room felt too small, too normal. The weight of the shard in his pocket seemed to drag him down, urging him to confront it. Haru reached inside his jacket and pulled it out, staring at the dull surface. It no longer glowed, but he could still feel its power, faint but undeniable.

For the longest time, he simply stared at it, trying to make sense of everything. He had no answers. No explanation for what had happened, for the strange sensation he'd felt when he picked it up, or for the ancient voice that seemed to reach into his very soul.

A sudden flash of light flickered at the edge of his vision. He blinked, and it was gone. Just a trick of the light, he told himself. But then it happened again—a flicker, like a fading memory, just beyond his grasp.

It was as if the world itself was trying to tell him something. Haru stood up, pacing around the small room, feeling trapped by the walls that seemed to close in around him. He needed to understand. Needed to know what was happening. He grabbed the shard again, clutching it tightly, as if somehow it held the answers he sought.

And then it happened.

A flood of memories, not his own, rushed into his mind. A distant, ancient civilization. Faces of gods, their expressions unreadable, their eyes empty. Endless battles between beings whose power could shatter entire worlds. A sense of loss—unfathomable loss—and a memory that seemed to flicker, only to disappear the moment he tried to grasp it. The gods had once been mighty, but now they were fading. Forgotten.

The memories were overwhelming. He staggered backward, falling onto the floor, gasping for air. The shard slipped from his grasp, clattering against the floor. The flood of images and sensations ebbed away, leaving him breathless and shaken.

It took a long moment for Haru to regain his composure. He didn't know what just happened, but he understood one thing: those gods, whatever they were, had lost something—something important. Their memories, their power, perhaps even their very purpose was slipping away. And somehow, he was connected to it.

The air in the room grew colder, and Haru shivered. He couldn't stay in this apartment. He couldn't stay in this city. Not anymore. There was something bigger, something far more dangerous, waiting for him.

His phone buzzed on the bed, snapping him out of his thoughts. He glanced at the screen. A message from an unknown number.

"We know you've found it. You are not alone. Come to the old temple on the edge of town. It is time for you to remember."

Haru stared at the message, his heart racing. The phone screen flickered, just like the light he had seen earlier. His instincts told him to run, to avoid whatever this was. But a deeper part of him—the part that had awakened with the shard—told him he had no choice.

He had to go. He had to find out what this was all about.