The air in the City of Forgetfulness was different. Not only because of the stench of rusted metal and stagnant humidity, but also because of the feeling that every shadow was watching. There were no neon lights or traces of the modernity of other cities; here, civilization crumbled into a landscape of ruined buildings, dead ends, and ghostly murals of forgotten revolutions.
Akihiko, Isabella, and Kael cautiously made their way down a deserted avenue. The windows of the buildings looked like mouths open in a silent scream, and the few streetlights left sputtered, emitting a sickly light. The ground was covered with old papers, missing person posters, and remnants of a story no one dared to tell.
"I don't like this place," Isabella muttered, hugging herself.
"It's not a matter of taste here," Kael replied, holding the music. "If Ezra has summoned us here, there must be a reason."
Akihiko stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes fell on a half-collapsed building. An old library, its entrance blocked by boards and graffiti warning, "Do not enter if you wish to continue existing."
"This is it," he said.
The Lost Files
Getting inside wasn't difficult. The planks were rotten and moved aside with little effort. Inside, darkness enveloped them like a shroud. The shelves, filled with worm-eaten books, leaned as if they might collapse at any moment. The air smelled of old paper, of secrets buried in dust.
Kael took out a flashlight and turned it on. The light swept across the floor until it found a table in the center of the room. On it, a book with blackened leather covers.
"The Tree of Eden," Isabella read softly.
Akihiko approached and opened the book. The pages were filled with ancient symbols, fragments of writing in different languages, and drawings of a tree with twisted branches. Beneath one of the illustrations, a phrase stood out:
"Knowledge is the price of existence."
"This is what Ezra's looking for..." Akihiko muttered.
"And perhaps also what made him disappear from the world," Kael added.
The Keeper of Secrets
Before they could continue reading, a dull noise echoed in the library. Something was moving in the shadows. Isabella spun around, drawing her weapon.
"We are not alone."
The shadows stretched, as if the darkness itself had come to life. A man emerged from between the shelves, his silhouette barely visible in the dim light of the lantern. His face was covered by an onyx mask, and his eyes shone with an inhuman gleam.
"You've come looking for answers," the figure said in a gravelly voice. "But some questions shouldn't be asked."
Akihiko held his gaze. "We're not looking for trouble. We just want to know the truth about Ezra."
The man bowed his head. "If you want to know the truth, you must be willing to pay the price."
Before anyone could react, the floor beneath them cracked, and a dark energy enveloped them. A whisper filled the room, an echo of ancient voices speaking a single word:
"Remember."
And then, the library disappeared in a flash of blackness.