The rain had fallen without pause for three days, washing the city of Canvas in a gray veil. Neon lights shimmered across wet streets, but Ren Akihara barely noticed them. He hurried home with his sketchbook tucked under one arm, wondering whether his mother had remembered to make dinner or whether she had once again become lost in old photo albums.

She always said memories were treasures.

Ren had never argued.

At least, not until tonight.

As he crossed the old railway bridge, a strange sensation crawled over his skin. Time itself seemed to hesitate. The sounds of traffic faded. Raindrops hung in the air like tiny glass beads.

Then he saw them.

Thousands of glowing rectangles floated around every person nearby.

Some shone bright gold.

Others flickered with cracks spreading across their surfaces.

"What... are those?" Ren whispered.

Before he could move closer, a cold voice echoed behind him.

"Beautiful, aren't they?"

Ren spun around.

A tall man stood beneath a black umbrella.

His long coat fluttered in the wind, but it was his face that stole Ren's breath.

There was no face.

Only a smooth white mask, blank as untouched manga paper. No eyes. No mouth. No expression.

Yet somehow Ren felt the man was staring directly into his soul.

The stranger raised one pale hand.

A glowing frame floated from an elderly woman walking nearby.

Inside the frame was a memory.

A little girl laughing.

A birthday cake.

A family singing together.

The masked man gently touched it.

The memory dissolved into white dust.

Across the street, the elderly woman stopped walking.

She looked around in confusion.

"...Who am I waiting for?"

Her daughter rushed toward her, tears already falling.

"Mom! It's me!"

The woman smiled politely.

"I'm sorry... have we met?"

Ren's heart pounded.

"What did you do?"

The masked figure tilted his head.

"I removed suffering."

"You erased her memory!"

"I erased the reason she would cry tomorrow."

Ren stepped forward.

"You monster."

For the first time, the masked man laughed.

It was soft.

Almost sad.

"You still believe memories make people human."

He lifted another hand.

Thousands of glowing Life Frames appeared across the night sky, stretching farther than Ren could see.

"One day, you will understand."

The bridge trembled violently.

Every frame shattered into brilliant white light.

Ren felt something tear inside his own mind.

Images flashed before his eyes.

A ruined city.

A broken clock tower.

A white mask lying in blood.

And his own voice whispering from somewhere far away.

"Forget everything."

The explosion threw Ren into darkness.

When he opened his eyes moments later, the bridge was empty.

The masked man had vanished.

Only one object remained on the rain-soaked ground.

A single blank sheet of paper.

Across its surface, black ink slowly spread by itself.

It formed five chilling words.

"I was once you, Ren."

End of Chapter 1..

......© Ruhan Ahmad.

All right belong to Author

Please support the Author the work

Villain

Villain

Chapter 2: The Frame Keeper

The paper slipped from Ren's trembling fingers.

"I was once you, Ren."

The words slowly faded until the sheet became completely blank again.

"No..."

His heartbeat thundered in his ears.

"This has to be some kind of joke."

The bridge was silent.

The mysterious man had vanished as though he had never existed.

Only the rain remained.

Ren picked up the paper and hurried home, but the city felt different now.

As he walked, glowing rectangles floated around everyone he passed.

Children carried bright golden Life Frames.

Old men dragged cracked and fading ones behind them.

Some people had missing frames entirely, leaving dark empty spaces in the air.

Ren rubbed his eyes.

The strange visions refused to disappear.

...

When he reached home, his mother opened the door with a warm smile.

"You're late again."

Ren froze.

Above her head floated hundreds of beautiful Life Frames.

One frame showed his first day of school.

Another held the memory of his father teaching him to ride a bicycle.

Another showed his mother laughing beside a birthday cake.

Then Ren noticed something terrifying.

One frame was cracked.

Black lines spread across it like broken glass.

"Mom..."

She looked confused.

"What is it?"

"Do... do you remember Dad's favorite song?"

She blinked.

"...Your father?"

A long silence filled the room.

"I can't remember."

Ren's blood turned cold.

His mother loved talking about his father.

She had never forgotten a single story.

Until tonight.

The Blank Artist had already begun.

...

The next morning, news spread across the city.

MASS MEMORY LOSS CASES INCREASE.

Thousands of citizens had forgotten their families.

Teachers forgot students.

Doctors forgot patients.

Police officers forgot why they became officers.

Nobody understood why.

Ren stared silently at the television.

Only he knew the truth.

Someone was erasing Life Frames.

Suddenly...

CRASH!

His classroom window exploded inward.

A silver blade shot across the room and struck the blackboard.

Students screamed.

Three figures wearing long white coats entered through the broken window.

Their uniforms carried a strange symbol.

A shattered picture frame surrounded by wings.

The leader stepped forward.

He was a tall young man with silver hair and calm blue eyes.

"You are Ren Akihara."

Ren slowly stood.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Kael Orion."

He looked around the frightened classroom before speaking quietly.

"We are the Frame Keepers."

"We protect humanity's memories."

The entire class laughed.

One student whispered,

"He's insane."

Kael ignored them.

He reached into the air.

To everyone else...

Nothing happened.

But Ren watched in amazement as Kael grabbed one of the floating Life Frames with his bare hand.

The glowing rectangle became a silver sword.

"You can see them," Kael said.

"So the prophecy was true."

Before Ren could answer...

The classroom lights went out.

Darkness swallowed everything.

Then a familiar voice echoed through the room.

"So..."

"You found him."

White paint dripped from the ceiling.

The walls slowly turned blank.

Students stopped moving.

Time had frozen again.

Only Ren and Kael remained able to move.

Standing in the middle of the classroom...

The Blank Artist.

His featureless white mask reflected the moonlight.

"You always arrive too late, Kael."

Kael drew his glowing blade.

"Leave this child alone."

The Blank Artist tilted his head.

"He isn't a child."

"He is my beginning."

With a wave of his hand, dozens of blank paper creatures emerged from the walls.

They looked like unfinished manga drawings brought to life.

Their empty faces twisted into terrifying smiles.

"Protect Ren!" Kael shouted.

The classroom erupted into chaos.

Paper monsters charged from every direction.

Kael cut through them with brilliant silver strikes, each swing restoring erased memories trapped inside the creatures.

Ren backed away until his foot struck the classroom wall.

A glowing crack appeared beneath his hand.

Without thinking, he touched it.

Blue light exploded from his fingertips.

The broken Life Frame repaired itself.

One paper monster instantly transformed into a frightened little boy.

He collapsed to the floor, crying.

The Blank Artist remained perfectly still.

Then, for the first time, his voice carried emotion.

Hope.

"I knew it."

"You still possess the Creator's Gift."

Ren stared at his glowing hands.

"I... did that?"

The Blank Artist slowly turned away.

"Our next meeting will decide the fate of every memory."

He snapped his fingers.

The paper monsters dissolved into white feathers.

The frozen classroom returned to normal.

Students looked around, completely unaware anything had happened.

Only Kael and Ren remembered.

Kael sheathed his glowing sword.

"You cannot stay here anymore."

Ren looked at the empty doorway where the Blank Artist had disappeared.

"Why does he keep calling me... himself?"

Kael's expression darkened.

"Because the future has already begun changing."

Outside the classroom window, hidden behind the clouds, a giant invisible crack spread across the sky itself.

Somewhere beyond time...

Someone was erasing history.

And the pages of destiny were slowly turning blank.

End of Chapter 2

Villain

The helicopter cut through the gray morning sky as Canvas City shrank beneath Ren.

He sat silently beside Kael Orion, staring out the window.

Something was wrong.

Billboards had changed.

Buildings he remembered were gone.

Even the streets looked... different.

"Why does the city look unfamiliar?" Ren asked.

Kael's expression remained cold.

"It isn't the city that changed."

Ren looked at him.

"It's your memories."

A chill ran through his body.

"What do you mean?"

Kael handed him a small crystal.

Inside it floated a glowing blue rectangle.

"A Memory Crystal."

"It records your Life Frames before they can be erased."

Ren touched it.

Instantly, dozens of forgotten memories flooded back.

His father laughing.

A school festival.

A little girl handing him a paper crane.

Then...

A white mask standing in the rain.

Ren gasped and pulled his hand away.

"I remember more than before..."

Kael nodded.

"That's why the Blank Artist wants you."

"You can restore what he erases."

Hours later, the helicopter landed before an enormous fortress hidden beneath a mountain.

Above the gate was a massive stone emblem.

A broken picture frame surrounded by silver wings.

The headquarters of the Frame Keepers.

As Ren stepped inside, hundreds of warriors trained with glowing weapons made entirely from Life Frames.

Some wielded swords.

Others used bows, chains, or spears woven from memories.

The entire fortress pulsed with blue light.

"This place..." Ren whispered.

"...actually exists."

A cheerful voice interrupted his thoughts.

"You must be the famous Ren!"

A girl with long black hair hurried toward him, carrying three books almost taller than herself.

She nearly tripped before stopping with an embarrassed smile.

"I'm Aiko Mizuno."

She bowed dramatically.

"Future Frame Keeper... assuming I survive training."

Ren couldn't help smiling.

"You make a great first impression."

"I usually don't," she admitted. "Most of my first impressions involve falling over."

Kael sighed.

"Focus."

Deep inside the fortress waited an old man dressed in white robes.

His silver beard reached almost to the floor.

His eyes carried thousands of years of sadness.

"Elder Sora," Kael said respectfully.

The old man studied Ren in silence.

Finally, he spoke.

"So..."

"The future has finally returned."

Ren frowned.

"Everyone keeps talking as if they already know me."

Sora pointed toward an ancient mural carved into the wall.

It showed two young men standing back to back.

One held a glowing brush.

The other wore a blank white mask.

Above them were ancient words.

When Memory Creates Despair... Blankness Will Become Salvation.

"Who are they?" Ren asked.

Sora answered quietly.

"You."

"And the man who will become the Blank Artist."

Ren's heart nearly stopped.

That evening, training began.

Aiko handed Ren a wooden practice sword.

"Ready?"

"I've never used one."

"Perfect. Then your excuses are prepared in advance."

She attacked first.

Ren barely blocked.

The impact sent him sliding backward.

Again.

Again.

Again.

Within minutes he was lying flat on the training floor.

Aiko laughed.

"You fight like someone trying not to hurt the air."

Ren groaned.

"The air is winning."

Even Kael smiled.

Only slightly.

Apparently miracles occurred occasionally.

Suddenly...

An alarm echoed through the fortress.

Red lights flashed across every corridor.

WARNING.

MEMORY COLLAPSE DETECTED.

DISTRICT NINE.

Kael immediately grabbed his weapon.

"The Blank Artist has moved again."

Everyone rushed outside.

Above the distant city, hundreds of glowing Life Frames shattered like glass.

People froze where they stood.

Children stared at their parents as complete strangers.

Entire neighborhoods forgot their own names.

Then something impossible happened.

The sky itself began to peel away like paper.

Behind it was only endless white emptiness.

Standing upon floating fragments of broken memories was the Blank Artist.

His white coat fluttered in the wind.

Around him hovered thousands of blank canvases.

He lifted a giant paintbrush made from pure white light.

"My first masterpiece..."

He swept the brush across the air.

The stroke stretched across the heavens.

Every person beneath it clutched their head in pain.

Buildings lost their history.

Books became empty.

Photographs turned white.

Even statues forgot whom they honored.

The city was losing yesterday.

Ren stepped forward.

"No..."

Blue light burst from his hands.

For the first time, his power answered his determination.

A single glowing frame appeared before him.

Inside it was a memory of laughter.

Hope.

Family.

Home.

The frame expanded into a shield of brilliant blue.

The Blank Artist watched in silence.

Then, beneath his emotionless mask, he whispered words only Ren could hear.

"You've finally awakened."

"But you're still too late to save them."

With another stroke of the giant brush, the white sky split open.

A colossal creature emerged.

Its body was made from torn photographs, broken clocks, and countless forgotten faces.

Its empty eyes searched for memories to devour.

Kael drew his blade.

Aiko ignited twin Memory Daggers.

Elder Sora raised his ancient staff.

Ren clenched his glowing fists.

The battle for Canvas had truly begun.

End of Chapter 3