Chapter 1: The Forgotten Perfume
The moment I stepped into the floating market on New Polaris, I knew something was off. The air was thicker than usual, the neon lights flickered in strange rhythms, and the gravity felt… softer, as if the entire colony was suspended between moments in time. Rows of vibrant stalls, selling everything from glowing trinkets to strange fruits from far-off planets, floated lazily in place. The sound of the market was distant, muffled, like I was walking through a dream.
I wasn’t even sure why I was there. My life had been spiraling for weeks—work, relationships, my own inner doubts. I needed a change, a sign, something to shake me free from the weight I’d been carrying for far too long.
Then I saw it. Tucked away in a dimly lit stall, almost hidden between shelves of shimmering baubles and peculiar antiques, was an old perfume bottle. It was small, delicate, and covered in intricate designs that looked impossibly old—like it didn’t belong in this futuristic colony at all. The bottle glowed faintly, as though it held something more than just a forgotten scent.
My heart quickened. There was a pull, an inexplicable draw toward it. Before I knew it, I was standing at the stall, reaching out, my fingers grazing the cool glass. The shopkeeper—a grizzled, older woman with eyes that seemed to know far too much—appeared out of nowhere.
“Careful with that one,” she said softly. “It holds memories… and more.”
I hesitated, but something deep inside urged me on. I had to open it.
The bottle felt familiar, like something I’d once cherished and lost. My fingers fumbled with the delicate stopper, and when I finally uncorked it, a soft, sweet scent enveloped me. It was unlike anything I had ever smelled before—floral but ancient, as though it came from a time long forgotten.
Then the memories came.
At first, they were like whispers—faint, distant, impossible to grasp. But soon, they flooded in, overwhelming me. The market around me faded away, replaced by visions of another world. I saw towering, white marble buildings beneath a pink-hued sky. Strange birds with iridescent wings flew overhead. And then there was him.
A man stood in the center of it all—tall, with dark hair that caught the light of two suns. His face was a mixture of strength and sadness, his eyes deep and knowing. He wasn’t a stranger, though I had never seen him before. Somehow, I knew him. I had known him all my life. My heart ached, as if it had been searching for him through the corridors of time.
And then, in that dreamlike haze, I found myself standing in a moonlit garden on a far-off planet. The stars above were closer here, almost as if you could reach out and touch them. The air was cool, the scent of the alien flowers sweet and intoxicating.
He was there, standing beside me, his eyes locked onto mine.
“Elara,” he said softly. My name on his lips felt like a secret only we shared.
I felt a warmth rise in my chest, a pull toward him that was as undeniable as gravity itself. The distance between us was nothing, but every moment felt suspended in eternity. He stepped closer, his hand reaching for mine, and I let him. His touch was gentle, sending a shiver through me, and when his fingers intertwined with mine, I felt like I’d come home.
“You remember me,” he said, but it wasn’t a question. It was a certainty, an unspoken truth between us.
“I… I don’t know,” I whispered. “But I feel like I should.”
The air around us seemed to hum with energy, the stars above pulsing in time with my heartbeat. His gaze held me, deep and full of an emotion I couldn’t yet name. There was a tenderness in his eyes, but also something more—something darker, as though he held secrets too heavy to be spoken.
“You will,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper.
And then, without warning, he leaned in. His lips brushed mine, soft and tentative, as if afraid that one wrong move would break the fragile connection between us. It was the kind of kiss that spoke of a thousand moments lost to time, of love that had endured across lifetimes. My entire body felt weightless, caught between the pull of him and the stars.
For a moment, nothing else mattered. Not the market, not the questions swirling in my mind, not even the fact that I had never met this man before. All that mattered was the way he made me feel—like I was a part of something far bigger than myself. Something ancient, something eternal.
But just as quickly as it began, the vision shattered.
I gasped, stumbling back into the present. The market reappeared around me, its bright lights and bustling sounds crashing into my senses. The perfume bottle fell from my hands, shattering on the ground, its glowing liquid seeping into the cracks of the floor.
I blinked, my heart racing. The man—the one from the vision, from the garden—he was gone. Or so I thought.
Until I heard a voice. His voice.
“Elara.”
I spun around, my breath catching in my throat. He was there, standing right in front of me, exactly as I had seen him in the vision. Dark hair, deep eyes, and that same look of knowing, of recognition. But he wasn’t a memory. He was real.
“How—?” My words caught in my throat, and I took a step back, my mind reeling.
“I told you,” he said quietly, taking a step toward me. “You remember me.”
My heart pounded in my chest, fear and curiosity warring within me. “Who… who are you?”
He smiled then, a sad, knowing smile. “I’m Sorin,” he said, his voice steady and calm. “And we were once in love.”
The world around me seemed to spin, and for a moment, I wasn’t sure what was real anymore. Could this really be happening? A stranger claiming we were once in love—a love I had no memory of?
But before I could even process his words, another voice, sharp and filled with warning, cut through the air.
“Don’t trust him, Elara.”
I turned again, my breath catching as a figure emerged from the shadows at the edge of the market. Tall, imposing, and shrouded in darkness, they stepped closer, their face hidden beneath the hood of a sleek, futuristic cloak.
Sorin’s face darkened, his gaze narrowing.
“Elara, get away from them,” he urged, his voice low and filled with tension.
I stood frozen between them, my heart racing, caught between two mysteries I couldn’t yet understand.
“Who are you?” I asked the hooded figure, my voice trembling.
They pulled back their hood, revealing striking features and eyes that burned with intensity.
“My name is Kaira,” they said coldly, their eyes flicking to Sorin with disdain. “And if you don’t want to lose everything, you’ll listen to me. He’s hiding something—something that could destroy you.”
My world tilted on its axis. Two strangers, both claiming to know me. Both with secrets. Both with the power to change everything.
And I had no idea who to trust.