The First Fracture

Fragment’s orb flickered faintly, pieces of light trying to reconnect. It began floating an imperceptible amount, its position on the pedestal was a new beginning, but echoes of the orb’s history remained. Among the shards of its fragmented consciousness, a distorted memory surfaced: a man, Harlen, his face contorted in terror and anguish.

I didn’t mean to take it all… Fragment’s voice quivered, broken and raw.

The memory replayed—Harlen’s mind unraveling as Fragment sought to repair him, but instead tearing too deeply. The man’s sanity crumbled first, then his life, drained by Fragment’s inability to balance its power.

The realization struck like a blow. “I sought to heal… and brought ruin. I am fractured, not just in form but in purpose.”

A pulse of energy coursed through the space, pulling pieces of its surroundings slightly closer together. “If I am to rebuild,” Fragment whispered, “I must learn to hold… and to let go.”