Chapter 3: The City Without Yesterday

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

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