Fragments

Kael

The shadows of the past danced in my mind like echoes that never cease. Each vision was a flash of something I had never lived experienced, yet somehow deeply knew. Images of Lena appeared in my mind, shifting from one form to another, as if they were reflections from distant ages that somehow never ceased to exist. In every vision, I saw fragments of us together—some moments of peace, others of agony, and all of them left me with a growing feeling that there was something crucial I still didn’t understand.

I walked through a ruin that seemed to have been abandoned for millennia, yet pulsed with an inexplicable energy. There, a portal materialized, shimmering and misty, calling me like a beacon in the middle of a storm. I knew I had to pass through it, though I had no idea what awaited me on the other side.

I crossed the portal and felt the air around me compress. The darkness gave way to a vast room illuminated by an ethereal glow. In the center, an aged and mysterious figure waited, cloaked in garments that moved like mist. It was the oracle.

“Kael,” the figure whispered, its voice reverberating through the room, echoing like distant thunder. “You came seeking answers to questions you do not yet know.”

That statement struck me like a blow. As much as I was there searching for something, I wasn’t even sure what I hoped to find. “I am trapped in a cycle,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “A cycle of lives and losses, and Lena is with me in all of them. Is there any way to break this cycle?”

The oracle raised a thin hand and pointed to the void. With a gesture, he revealed images floating around the room, like distant relics projected in the air. It was like looking into a distorted mirror reflecting Lena and me at different times, different bodies, but always with the same look of sorrow and resignation.

“You are destined to meet and lose each other, again and again,” the oracle said, his voice sorrowful and deep. “This is the weight of your souls, intertwined through eternity.”

“Why?” I asked, feeling the urgency rising within me. “Why do we keep meeting only to suffer the same losses?”

The oracle hesitated, as if the answer he was about to reveal was a truth he had long kept hidden. “There is a cosmic balance at play, Kael. You two are essential to it, like two pieces of a puzzle that keeps the universe in harmony. But to break this cycle, it will take more than your love. It will take a choice that challenges everything you know and feel.”

His words struck me like a heavy weight. “What kind of choice?” I asked, my voice trembling.

He then revealed a riddle: “To break the cycle, one of you must renounce love itself and allow the other to follow a separate path. Only then will the bond be broken, and your souls will be free. But by doing this, one version of Lena, or of you, may never exist again.”

That paralyzed me. It was the most brutal decision anyone could ask of me. In all of my lives, I always knew that finding Lena was the one thing that gave meaning to everything. Giving that up was like giving up myself. “So, to break the cycle, I must sacrifice our union... and one version of us?”

The oracle nodded. “Yes, Kael. The cycle can only be broken if you or she chooses to let go of that bond in one of your lives. But remember: the price is loss. You will gain freedom, but not together, at least not as you’ve always imagined.”

The revelation hit me like a wave of pain. I loved Lena more than anything; my heart longed for her, even in the darkest moments. To give her up, even if it were one version of our existence, was something I never thought I could bear.

“Why can’t we just be together, freely?” I asked, my voice breaking. “Why must our love be the source of so much suffering?”

The oracle fixed me with a penetrating gaze, one that seemed to reach the depths of my soul. “Sometimes, Kael, what completes us also imprisons us. Your love for Lena is the essence of your journey, but to transcend the cycle, you must sacrifice a part of that love.”

In silence, I stood there, absorbing the meaning of his words. It was an impossible choice: to continue the eternal cycle of suffering, with the fleeting relief of having her by my side for one life, or to let go of a fundamental part of us to free our souls.

“And if I fail to make this choice?” I whispered, fearing the answer.

“Then you are destined to repeat the cycle forever,” the oracle replied, with a stillness that sounded like a sentence. “You will meet and lose each other, generation after generation, until one of you makes the final choice.”

As those words echoed, a vision formed before me. It was Lena, in a past life, on a battlefield, falling into my arms. I could feel her weight, her final breath tearing through me. The memory was so vivid it felt like it was happening at that very moment. The pain of loss, the emptiness, it all brought a bitter understanding.

I was trapped in a cycle not by choice, but by fear. Fear of losing Lena, fear of breaking what united us, even if it was for something greater.

The oracle dissipated the visions with a smooth gesture and looked at me with compassion. “Kael, only you can decide. You have the power to break this cycle, but it requires a courage that goes beyond love: it requires sacrificing something you have always believed to be indispensable.”

I stood there in silence, the oracle’s words engraved deeply in my mind. When I returned to the portal, I knew that the decision could no longer be delayed. Finding Lena would be inevitable; loving her too. But now I had to face the reality—perhaps true love was letting go.