"To take what the gods have, first you face their silence."
—Inscription above the gate of the Soulforge Vault
Beneath the Palace Lies the True Heart of the Kingdom
The Royal Soulforge wasn't just some workshop.
It was like a giant machine for memories and dreams, buried deep in the foundations of an old world. This was long before the First Collapse and before the Architect changed everything in the sky.
The average citizen had never laid eyes on it.
Not even the royals had seen it up close.
Only the king, his High Dreamwrights, and the handpicked guardians of the Core Seal—a crucial part holding the kingdom's reality together—knew of its existence.
We, a band of traitors, would be the first to cross that threshold.
And if we didn't make it?
The world would simply forget we had ever lived.
The Plan
We snuck in under the cloak of darkness, with no moon lighting our way.
The forge lay hidden deep beneath the central keep. It could only be reached through a series of shifting glyph gates known as the Labyrinth of Echoes.
"We've got twelve minutes before the gate resets," Varra, one of the scouts known as the Memoryless, warned us. "After that, the ley-cycle will collapse and switch to a new pattern. We could end up sealed inside or scattered across different dimensions."
Mio nodded, her flame flickering steadily in her hand.
"Right then, let's not waste any time. Follow my lead."
She glanced at me just for a second—I could see fear in her eyes.
But she pushed on anyway.
The Glyph Gate
Our first test was a hall filled with mirrors.
But these weren't regular mirrors; they were made from the memories of folks across the kingdom. As we walked through, their reflections responded to us.
For a brief moment, I caught a glimpse of my past—a memory of my mother singing in the kitchen, a sound that vanished all too soon when she passed away.
Mio saw herself as a little girl, kneeling in front of her father's throne. He placed his hand on her head and told her, "One day, the flame will be yours."
"Don't stop," she murmured, her voice shaky.
The gate at the end split into twelve identical doors—each one looking the same, but only one would lead us through.
Time was not on our side.
"The truth can sometimes be a lie that knows it's a lie," Mio whispered.
She chose the second door from the left.
We hurried after her.
Behind us, the other doors melted away, revealing dark pits filled with raw datafire.
The Forge Core Perimeter
The next chamber met us with an icy chill.
It was bone-chilling cold.
A weird space where the heat seemed to vanish faster than it could touch your skin.
In the center stood a towering figure made from ashsteel and covered in runes.
[Soulforge Warden: IRON THOUGHT CLASS]
Status: Sentient. Connected to the Architect's Will.
Priority: Elimination of memory anomalies.
Its single eye flickered to life—a rotating orb of light and symbols.
"I'll take care of this," I said, drawing on the Core pulse that was embedded in my spine. "Just buy me a solid ten seconds. That's all I need."
Mio didn't argue; she was already moving.
The colossus shot a beam of soul-null energy, shattering the barrier between light and shadow. I quickly shifted through the gaps in the system, leaping towards the back of its head.
With a surge of Codeheart Override, I uploaded a memory from its past:
A child's dream of a steel giant who wanted to protect rather than destroy.
The Warden paused.
Then it knelt down.
Its eye dimmed.
Mio moved in closer and placed her hand on its head.
"Rest, protector. You were never our enemy."
And just like that, the colossus turned to stone.
The Soulforge Core
Finally, we arrived at the heart of this place.
It wasn't just a machine.
Instead, it was a crystallized soul, suspended in a web of divine wires and shifting code. A heart still beating. Still aware.
Above it spun the Architect's symbol—a black ring that defied gravity, endlessly turning.
This was the core.
The central part of the system where all code was rewritten, dreams formed, and memories adjusted.
"It's alive," Mio whispered. "The Core… it's a person."
I sensed it too.
The soul within had once been human.
"They sacrificed someone to create this system," I concluded. "They didn't just build it; they trapped a real person."
Mio stepped closer.
Her flame flared brilliantly.
"Then we have to set them free."
The Architect Speaks
The moment she laid her hand on the Core—
Everything around us fractured.
We weren't in the forge anymore.
Suddenly, we were in a realm of endless white—an expanse of pure thought, suspended in silence.
And there, before us, floated a being made of light and wires, faceless, arms crossed, its presence heavy.
"You are not ready."
It wasn't just a voice; it was a force, a command aimed straight at our souls.
Mio stood her ground.
"You're the Architect," she declared.
It gave a single nod.
"I am the barrier. The code that maintains your world. The shield against chaos," it stated.
"You're a jailor," I shot back. "And this world deserves to be free."
"Freedom equals instability. And instability leads to death," it countered.
Mio stepped forward, her hands glowing with her soulflame.
"Then let it burn."
She directed her Core Flame straight into the Architect's domain.
For a fleeting moment, we saw its true nature—a visage made of countless stolen memories, echoing in pain.
"We will rewrite this world ourselves," she cried.
The plane around us began to crack.
And just like that, we were ejected.
The Aftermath
We hit the ground hard, with smoke rising from our skin. The alarms in the Soulforge kicked off—way too late.
The Core was waning.
The system layer was glitching out.
All across the kingdom, people paused, sensing a strange lightness in the air. The invisible chains they hadn't even realized they wore—felt like they were loosening a bit.
Mio fell to one knee.
"It's not over," she panted. "But we did break the cage."
I caught her before she collapsed.
"Then next, let's take down the crown."