THE HUNT BEGINS

Opening

Every world has a place where ordinary life hides extraordinary secrets.

At first glance, ZOgi Market looked like a busy fish market built between old walls, metal rooftops, glowing signs, and narrow stone lanes polished by years of water, footsteps, and trade. Sellers opened their stalls before the morning mist had fully lifted. Wooden carts rolled slowly through the streets. Metal trays were filled with strange sea creatures brought from distant waters. The air carried the smell of salt, rain, steam, and fresh fish.

But ZOgi Market was never an ordinary market.

The fish sold there were unlike the fish of any normal world. Some had glowing lines beneath their skin. Some carried soft blue light inside their bodies, as if tiny stars were trapped within them. Some had fins shaped like glass blades. Others moved even after being placed on the table, twisting gently as if they were listening to something hidden beneath the market floor.

Merchants shouted prices from behind their counters. Customers moved from stall to stall, searching for the best catch of the day. Lamps reflected on wet stone. Water dripped from hanging pipes. Small machines hummed beside the stalls, keeping rare fish cold and alive. Above the narrow lanes, old signs flickered in the humid air, carrying the names of shops that had been there for generations.

Near one side of the market stood one of the smaller retail fish shops.

It was not the largest stall in ZOgi Market. It was not the richest. But it was one of the warmest.

This was where MAYA spent most of her days.

MAYA at the Market

MAYA was young, cheerful, and full of life. While others moved through the market with tired faces and heavy steps, she brought a different kind of energy to the place. She smiled at customers. She laughed when the smaller fish splashed water across the counter. She spoke to the strange sea creatures as if they could understand her.

To MAYA, ZOgi Market was not only a place of work.

It was a place of sound, color, movement, and wonder.

She knew which fish had to be touched gently, which ones had to be kept away from bright light, and which ones could suddenly jump from a tray without warning. She knew how to hold the glowing silver-tail fish without damaging its fins. She knew how to calm the blue-vein river fish when its body began to pulse. She even knew how to avoid the tiny clawed shell-creatures that liked to grab anything placed too close to them.

Some customers smiled when they saw her working.

Some sellers shook their heads and laughed.

MAYA was small, but she was quick.

She moved between baskets, trays, and water bowls with confidence. She wiped the counter, arranged the fish, checked the glowing display boxes, and helped prepare the day’s catch. Her hands were careful. Her eyes were curious. Her heart was light.

For MAYA, it was just another day in ZOgi Market.

But that day was not ordinary.

The Strange Fish

Among the morning deliveries, one fish looked different from the rest.

It was larger than the others, with dark smooth skin and faint blue markings running along its body. Its eyes had a strange glassy shine. Its fins were stiff, as if the creature had carried something heavy through deep waters before reaching the market.

MAYA noticed it immediately.

She leaned closer.

There was something unusual about the fish.

At first, she thought it was the glow beneath its skin. Then she noticed that the glow was not moving like the others. It was fixed in one place, hidden deep inside the body.

MAYA tilted her head, curious.

She had seen many strange fish before.

But she had never seen anything like this.

The Discovery

Carefully, she opened the fish and searched inside.

Something small slipped against the edge of the cutting board.

It was not bone.

It was not shell.

It was not part of the fish.

MAYA picked it up and held it in her palm.

The object was small, but it felt heavier than it should have. Its surface was dark and rough like ancient stone, yet thin golden veins crossed through it like rivers of light. Tiny diamond-like lines ran across its sides, forming patterns too perfect to be natural. At the top edge was a red ruby-like core, quiet but alive, as if something inside it was breathing.

MAYA stared at it.

The market continued around her.

Sellers shouted.

Customers walked past.

Water dripped from the counters.

Machines hummed.

But for a moment, MAYA heard none of it.

The small object seemed to pull all sound away from the world.

She turned it slowly in her hand.

The red core caught the market light.

A soft glow passed across her face.

MAYA did not know what she had found.

She did not know it was connected to the lost age of OI’RTH.

She did not know it was one of the ancient Fragments.

She only knew that it was beautiful, strange, and impossible to ignore.

The Ruby Awakens

Then her thumb touched the red ruby.

A tiny click sounded from inside the Fragment.

MAYA froze.

The red ruby brightened.

For one brief second, thin lines of light moved across the Fragment. The golden veins warmed. The diamond-like markings awakened one by one. A pulse passed through the object, soft at first, then stronger.

MAYA’s smile faded into wonder.

The air around her changed.

The water in the nearby bowl trembled.

The glowing fish in the trays became still.

Even the small machines beside the stall flickered, as if something older than electricity had passed through them.

Then the Fragment released a silent signal.

No one in the market heard it.

No one saw it rise.

But it moved.

It moved through the wet stones of ZOgi Market.

It moved beneath the old streets.

It moved through hidden channels left behind by a civilization the world had almost forgotten.

Across OI’RTH, something ancient opened its eyes.

Final Transmission

MAYA held the Fragment tightly in her hand.

She did not understand what had happened.

She did not know that a signal silent for generations had just awakened.

She did not know that somewhere beyond the market, the world had already begun to change.

To MAYA, it was still only a strange object found inside a fish.

But in that moment, the first call was sent.