ECHOES OF FORGOTTEN

PROLOGUE

The Beginning

                         Liora’s POV

I always believed that memories were permanent—fixed points in time that could never be altered. My mother used to say, "Ang alaala, kahit anong mangyari, ay hindi mawawala." But she was wrong. Memories can be stolen, bought, or erased. I should have known better, but it wasn't until I found the relic that I realized how fragile they really were.

It was a quiet evening when I discovered it, tucked inside an old chest in the attic. I wasn’t even sure what I was looking for—maybe a piece of my past, something to make sense of the hazy fragments I couldn’t explain. The chest creaked open, revealing a worn-out wooden box with intricate carvings. Mukhang luma na ito—parang walang halaga. But when I touched it, a chill ran down my spine.

Inside was a small, round object—a relic unlike anything I had ever seen. Its surface shimmered, as if it held the light of every memory that had ever existed. I picked it up, feeling an odd connection to it, like it knew me. Alam nito kung sino ako.

For a moment, I saw flashes—mga larawan—but they were unfamiliar. A girl, laughing, surrounded by faces I didn’t recognize. A room filled with books. A name… Vera. But who was she? And why did her memories feel like mine?

I blinked, and the vision was gone. Ano 'yun? I whispered to myself, holding the relic tighter. My heart pounded in my chest, fear creeping in. Hindi ito totoo… impossible ‘to. But the truth was right in front of me—my memories weren’t all my own.

The room felt colder, like the past was reaching out to remind me of something I had forgotten. Or something someone had made me forget.

May mga alaala bang pwedeng mawala? I asked myself. But now I know. There are things—entire lives—erased from existence, their memories scattered like dust in the wind. And this relic was proof. Proof that someone had stolen pieces of my life, or worse, pieces of someone else’s.

I sat on the floor, clutching the relic as the weight of reality began to settle on my shoulders. Whoever Vera was, she was connected to me. Her memories had been erased, and somehow, I had found what remained.

But if someone could erase a person’s existence, what was stopping them from erasing mine?

I closed my eyes, feeling the tug of the unknown pulling me in. Wala nang atrasan ito, I thought. From this moment on, nothing would be the same. The truth was out there, hidden in fragments, and I had to find it—before I disappeared too.

"Kapag nakalimutan mo ang sarili mong alaala, sino ka pa?"

That question echoed in my mind as I set out to uncover the truth, knowing that with each step, I was walking closer to the edge of oblivion.

The relic pulsed faintly in my hand, as if alive. Kailangan kong malaman kung sino ako. Kung sino si Vera. At kung sino ang kumokontrol sa lahat ng ito.