The campus cafeteria was always the loudest place during break time, but for Ares, noise was a blessing. Human voices drowned out other things whispers, vibrations, or presences that shouldn't exist. Crowds gave the illusion of normality… and sometimes that was enough.
He sat in the very back corner near the window. A strategic position: every entrance visible, blind spots minimal, and if something happened, he could slip out without pushing through the crowd.
Adara sat across from him, still holding a cup of a drink she hadn't even taken a sip of. From afar, she looked calm. Up close, Ares could see her hands trembling slightly.
"So…" Adara's voice was soft, but steady. "Ares. What was that?"
She looked at him, waiting for an answer.
Ares exhaled. He didn't like explaining things he didn't fully understand himself. But he wasn't going to lie to someone who got dragged into this without a choice.
"I don't know," Ares finally said. "But that wasn't a person."
Adara swallowed. "If it wasn't a person… then what was it?"
The System responded quietly in Ares' head:
> [Detail disclosure not recommended.]
[Information exposure may trigger an anomalous reaction in subject.]
Ares ignored half of it.
The System was overly protective sometimes.
"That shadow… it wasn't a physical being," Ares continued. "But it knew me. It called my name."
Adara stared at the table, then slowly lifted her head again. "Why?"
"If I knew," Ares stood for a moment, taking a long breath, "I wouldn't be sitting here."
Silence settled between them. Not awkward just the kind that comes when two people both know whatever happened wasn't small.
Adara spoke first. "Ares… I want to be honest."
Ares immediately focused.
"Since this morning… I've felt strange," Adara said. "Not just the part where you felt familiar. But… everything."
She tightened her grip on the cup.
"It feels like the world isn't in sync. Like there's a small voice in my head saying I've been in this place, in this situation, before but not like this."
Ares held back his reaction.
The System reacted for him.
> [Anomalous memory pattern detected.]
[Subject Adara experiencing severe déjà vu.]
[Compatibility level: 43%]
Ares tilted his head slightly. "Déjà vu?"
"Not the fleeting kind," Adara shook her head quickly. "Worse. Like I've talked to you before… but not like earlier. Like I've known you longer than makes sense."
Ares sharpened his gaze.
Adara stared back, her eyes serious.
"Ares… I'm not lying. I don't feel like you're a stranger."
Ares didn't answer. Not because he didn't believe her, but because her words cracked open a box he'd avoided touching for too long.
The System whispered again:
> [Pattern connection increasing.]
[Temporal link possibility: minor.]
[Memory link possibility: high.]
Ares tapped his finger on the table slow, steady, an old habit when analyzing something.
"Adara," he said, "have you ever… lost any memories?"
Adara blinked in surprise. "Why would you ask that?"
"Because what you're feeling…" Ares leaned forward, voice lower, "…isn't normal."
Adara bit her lower lip.
Then almost like a confession she said:
"I was in an accident. Back in high school."
Ares listened silently.
"For almost two years I felt… incomplete. Not total amnesia, but like something was missing. Like small holes I couldn't fill."
The System exploded with notifications:
> [Pattern match 72%.]
[Subject Adara potentially linked to major incident.]
[Missing memory = anomaly entry point.]
Ares closed his eyes for one second, trying to steady the incoming flood of information.
"Adara," Ares finally said, "before that accident… did you ever see something that shouldn't exist?"
Adara looked at him. Long. Quiet. Honest.
Then very softly she nodded.
"I did," she whispered.
Ares held his breath.
"I once saw a figure… similar to what we saw earlier," Adara said. "A shadow without a face. But I thought it was just a hallucination because I was about to faint."
Ares kept his expression steady.
Not fear just the realization that the puzzle pieces matched too quickly.
"And," Adara added, "ever since that day… I've always felt watched. Like this world has a second layer that only shows up sometimes."
Ares finally spoke:
"Adara. Do you realize… everything you just said is almost exactly what I've been experiencing?"
Adara's eyes widened.
"So… you're also"
But before she could finish, something happened.
The System sounded loud, sharp.
> [HIGH-LEVEL WARNING.]
[Anomaly approaching.]
[Source: the man in the black jacket.]
Ares immediately turned toward the cafeteria entrance.
And among the crowd of students…
stood the man in the black jacket.
Calm. Still.
His eyes locked on Ares and Adara.
He moved.
One step.
Another.
Slow yet deliberate toward them.
Adara turned and her face tightened. "That's… the guy you saw in the library?"
Ares rose from his seat.
"Adara," he said flatly, "we leave. Now."
"Where?"
"To somewhere he can't follow."
Adara stood.
Ares grabbed her hand.
And for the first time, Adara held his hand back tight, not from fear, but trust.
Deep trust.
The System delivered its final notification:
> [Subject Adara increasingly synchronized.]
[This is not coincidence.]
[This is the beginning.]
Ares inhaled slowly.
This time… he wasn't just protecting someone.
He was stepping into something far bigger than himself.
And Adara whether as the key, or the next one to fall was right beside him.