"Hey, Vino. This is me, well, you." Vino was shocked at the memory he was seeing. It was himself talking into a puddle of water.
The image of him was very young and barely 8.
Splash.
The memory took a step, causing ripples in the water and blurring the image of his face. "How have you been, Vino?"
Vino thought for a second and was about to respond, but couldn't respond in time. The memory took another step."You were going to say, I don't know, right~?"
Vino wasn't shocked by the response; he simply smirked and said. "How could I know?"
Vino thought and came to the conclusion, "You seem to know the answer already. Am I wrong~?"
"No, not at all. I know everything from my past and the future is...hard to read." The memory smiled and splashed in the water. "This is just a memory; I didn't have enough time left to tell you everything."
Vino thought and realized something else. "Well, couldn't I just access what you know in my memories?"
"Nope, memories are just experiences. I never experienced the knowledge I have. It was given to me. Lets put it this way. I can share my senses. Meaning you can hear what I am saying and see what I am doing. Right?"
Static.
Vino pondered; he had to think and absorb the knowledge he was just given.
"So you can hear me right now?"
"Yes, and I think that you can understand my ability now." The memory smiled and sighed.
"I'll be gone in 10 years, when the incident happens and you arrive. I can help you until the limit is up. I know your goal."
Vino nodded his head and asked, "Where is your mark?"
"My powers aren't from this world. I awakened this ability just a few minutes ago, so I need to settle into it. For some reason, I can't sense anything about my ability in the future. It defies time and space, so it makes sense that I need to discover more."
"So nothing before when I was 7 really matters." Vino sighed and waited for a response.
"Yeah, I didn't even leave the house until now. I was too sick." The memory sighed and turned around to see a lady out of breath. It was his mother; she was crying and ran up for a hug. As soon as that happened, his mind returned to his current time, and he was lying down on the ground.
"Did I shock you that much, Vino?" Rina was towering over him, her long pink hair tickling his nose. "No, but I remember this spot."
Vino stood up and looked to his left. There was a puddle there in the dirt. It was the same puddle that they had met in; water always collected there around this time of year.
Rina giggled. "Yeah? This is where we first met. I saw you and your mom in the rain, and after she left, me and you accidentally kissed. I also gave you that bracelet."
Rina decided to talk 3rd person, "Rina did always love making things!"
A childlike voice in Vino's mind broke the awkward silence but also made him tired. He was hearing from the past and present.
"She is right. She arrived here after my mom found me. And that black bracelet!" The voice chuckled. "She slipped in the puddle, and she face-planted on my face—not really a kiss."
Vino communicated through his mind with the memory."So you don't have to bring me back to the past to communicate."
"Well, its more like I can't. I could probably show you the whole past at once, but it would overwhelm and disable you. I can show you the past with your eyes if you are asleep, any more and you would pass out."
There was a brief silence before static struck his mind.
The memory screamed, "You should duck down!"
Vino ducked his head, hearing what the memory said.
Pshoo!
A light flashed by and struck a tree, barely missing him and Rina.
"Vino! What was that?" Rina exclaimed in worry. They both turned their heads to see a little squirrel with gold and white fur.
They tried to examine, but were quickly halted by more bolts of light. The little bolts were like small, fast needles, and they pierced the air with a high-pitched whistle.
Vino quickly dove and pushed Rina out of the way of several more bolts. She had landed softly in some grass, while Vino wasn't as lucky.
"Vino! You need to rest! Don't do something reckless. Not again."
Vino hit his head on a sharp stone, causing some blood to run down his head. Vino felt static in his mind and quickly focused.
The childlike voice began speaking again.
"Vino, you need to use your ability. I can't really explain how you activate it, as I only know you have an ability. For me, I just have to focus on a singular thing to activate my ability, but it may not be the same for you." Vino bit his tongue. He held out his right arm, exposing the mark on his palm to the squirrel.
"Can you at least explain what exactly my ability is?" Vino shouted aloud, causing Rina to flinch at the sudden outburst.
"Vino? Are you okay?" She noticed the bleeding and ran to tend to his head. "I can do this much."
She mumbled under her breath, "I'm a horrible friend."
She held up a cloth to his head and put pressure on the bleeding. She wrapped up his wound quickly while the squirrel was seeing if they were still a threat.
"Vino, please sit this one out." Rina said while holding back tears.
"I don't think we have time to sit." Vino jumped up.
Suddenly, it began firing again. Vino waited for the response from the memory while evading projectiles. He had a hard time, as his body wasn't very athletic.
The static resurfaced in his mind again."Listen to me closely; you need to think about this in detail. I don't really know what your ability is. It is hard to explain. It has something to do with your past; that is all I know."
"I thought you knew my future?" Vino kept his hand held up and aimed at the squirrel; he was getting tired from dodging all of the projectiles.
"That part was erased from my mind; it happens every time I try to look at your future in its entirety. The only thing I know is you have an ability! If you can find out, say something; I might be able to help!"
Tsk.
Vino smacked his teeth and rolled to the side, bumping into Rina as she was conjuring her powers.
"Force of Air~!"
She squealed, and with a blast of air...She missed the squirrel. Vino caught her before she fell again.
"Sorry, I wasn't looking. Are you hurt?" Vino caught his breath and dusted off his pants.
"I'm fine, just a little out of breath." Rina said as she wiped sweat off her face. Vino thought for a second and stuck out his palm one more time.
"You need to take a break, Vino. I can't stand seeing you like this." Rina bit her tongue.
"It's fine!"
Vino disregarded her words as there were other things to worry about. He had an idea as to what his ability was, but needed to test it. The squirrel shot a few more bolts, flicking its tail in anger. Vino kept his hand held up and closed his eyes to focus.
The bolts flew through the air with the same high-pitched whistle. Vino's hand stretched further and made contact with the bolts, and instead of piercing his hand, an invisible force sucked them in. The bolts were devoured instantly.
Rina looked in shock and was stunned. "Vino! How?"
"I think I understand it clearly now." Vino ran towards the squirrel, and it froze in fear. When he neared its position, it narrowly dodged his grab and ran away. When he got back up, he realized that he was missing something, the bracelet Rina gave him.
"Rina! Come on, let's catch this thing!" Rina escaped her daze and ran with him to chase the squirrel.
Pant Pant Pant.
They had followed it to a big tree nearby, and both of them, out of breath, collapsed at the base of the tree.
They were out of energy; Vino was still able to sit up, and Rina was lying on her side.
"Rina—uhhhh, how do we get it now?" She couldn't respond; she was catching her breath.
"You are clueless," the memory said."I thought you had a brain."
"Ugh...fine." Vino got up and tried climbing the tree. He managed to get to the first branch, but that was where he stopped. He didn't have enough energy to go any further.
"Damn this sickly body!" Vino shouted inwardly. He thought about what he could do.
"I figured out how to use my ability, but what is it? Is it the power of absorption? No, that has nothing to do with my past. What can I remember? Think..."
He thought for such a long time that Rina got up again. She stood up and looked around for Vino, and he shouted for her. She looked up and sighed; she didn't have enough energy to climb up either.
"Vino! I'll wait down here! You scare the squirrel down, and I will get it." Vino almost fell off of the branch.
"Okay...." His soul left his body. He leaned his back against the tree and sat down on the big branch.
"Hey, memory? Past version me, or whatever, I need help!"
"Its Fragments." The boy stated in a serious tone.
"Pardon?" Vino was confused at the statement
"Call me Fragments, or Frags for short." Frags smirked.
"Why?"
"Its my true name. The name of my ability."
Vino thought for a second and had an idea. "So you know everything except when my ability comes into play, right? That means I have the ability to erase—no, to obliterate completely. Since you don't know about my past, that means I will never tell you about it in the future. So I can change that right now."
Frags had a devastating realization. How many times had it been already? He began to lose count.
"Yeah, you could, couldn't you?" Frags thought to himself.
"Yeah, but let me tell you this." Vino took a breath, and so did Frags.
"I am from the void; some god banished me after deeming me unworthy of, well, something I can't remember."
Frags eyes glowed as he accessed the memories of Vino's past
"You are a victim of your own ignorance." Frags laughed. "Now I remember."