A pale young man, who looked to be about twenty-two, sat on the ledge of a decaying skyscraper. One hand rested on his side while the other clutched a small blue crystal pendant. His gaze lingered on the ruins before him the remnants of what was once called the City of Dreams. Now, it was nothing more than a wasteland, a dumping ground where the unwanted and forgotten gathered.
BANG! BANG!
Suddenly, from behind him, loud banging echoed across the rooftop. The source a rusted metal door that had been barricaded with a corroded pipe shook violently under repeated blows. The pipe groaned, bending under the relentless pressure. The attackers were close now. Shadows flickered beneath the doorway, revealing glimpses of jagged knives, dented metal pipes, and makeshift clubs clutched in desperate hands.
The young man let out a slow, weary sigh.
"I guess this is it," he muttered, glancing over his shoulder at the failing barricade.
His fingers tightened around the crystal pendant. It was the only thing left of the past of a life that no longer existed.
With a sharp crack, the pipe finally gave way. The door burst open, slamming against the wall with a metallic screech. A group of ragged men surged forward, their hollow eyes filled with crazed hunger. They didn't care who he was. They only saw a body a target, something that could be taken, torn apart, stripped of anything valuable.
The young man, however, did not flinch.
Instead, he stood up calmly. The wind rushed past him, ruffling his tattered clothes. He lifted the pendant one last time, staring at it for a moment longer before his fingers loosened.
The small blue crystal slipped from his hand, tumbling down into the abyss below.
The men lunged forward.
He took a step back.
The air seemed to still for a moment before gravity claimed him.
The wind roared in his ears as he plummeted, the ruined streets rushing up to meet him. Above, the attackers came to a sudden halt, their weapons still raised. There was no victory in this. Just another corpse hitting the ground.
No one would speak of him again.
And in the end, perhaps that was for the best.
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CRASH!
"Cough, cough… what was that?"
A weak voice echoed through the open window of a decrepit yet intact apartment on the outskirts of New York.
"I don't know… let me check," another voice replied, hushed and cautious. Footsteps creaked against the rotting wooden floor as a figure approached the window, peering through the shattered blinds.
A boy, about sixteen, with black hair and dark eyes, gazed out the window. A scar ran across his otherwise flawless face, a permanent reminder of past struggles. He peered down at the trash-covered streets below and saw the lifeless body of a man who had jumped.
He showed no reaction.
It wasn't the first time, nor would it be the last. Bodies littered the streets like discarded waste, the aftermath of a world that had long since crumbled. He had lost count of how often he had seen different faces meet the same tragic end.
"Jewel, what is it?" the same weak voice called out.
"It's nothing, Amela. Just some rubble falling from the building again," Jewel replied, about to turn away until something caught his eye.
A glint.
A small, dark red almost black crystal dangled from a string, caught on a rusted piece of metal that had once been a fire escape. It shimmered faintly under the little sunlight that filtered through a hole in the massive dome above.
Jewel's breath hitched. He had never seen anything so perfect in his sixteen years of life.
A strange desire came over him. The longer he stared, the stronger the urge to claim it became. And yet, beneath that yearning, a deep unease stirred an instinctual warning. It felt as though touching it would unlock something that could never be undone.
Like a gambler standing on the edge of his biggest bet, he hesitated. This could be the best or worst decision of his life.
His gut, however, told him otherwise.
Against his better judgment, Jewel reached out and grasped the crystal.
And then, nothing.
His hand was empty. He looked around, but the crystal was gone. Just as he accepted that it had somehow vanished, a searing pain shot through his head.
"Ah—!"
Jewel bit back a scream, not wanting to worry Amela, and stumbled backward into the cramped but surprisingly clean studio apartment. A single bed sat in the center, occupied by a stunningly beautiful girl. She was a stark contrast to Jewel's rough appearance her pitch-black hair matched his, but her eyes were a cloudy blue. She looked frail, too weak to even move.
Jewel collapsed into a chair in the corner, his vision blurring. Amelia was speaking, but the pain in his head drowned out her words. His heartbeat pounded in his ears, each throb sending waves of agony through his skull.
Then, suddenly, the pain reached its peak, and a robotic voice echoed in his mind.
—Choose a path—
Beginning
Present
End
What…? Ah what is this? Jewel thought through gritted teeth. He had never seen or heard anything like this before, yet something about it felt familiar like a memory buried beneath layers of fog.
"Ah—!" He stifled another cry as the pain intensified.
The longer he delayed, the worse it became. He had to make a choice now.
"...End."
{AN: Thank you for giving this story a chance! If you have any thoughts, please leave a comment or write a review—it would be greatly appreciated.
Also, in case you're wondering about the chapter title "2099", it reflects the current year in the story. I realize the previous chapter didn't clearly show time jumps, so from now on, whenever there's a significant time skip, I'll mark it with the year as the chapter title to help track the timeline of events.
Hope you enjoy the story! (:}Â