The chamber's heavy doors slammed shut behind them, sealing out the shrieking metal of Omega Arden—for now.
The circular room hummed quietly, illuminated by pale blue lights that traced lines across the floor like veins.
Raine guided Lian to the center platform.
"Stand here."
Lian wavered, still breathless.
"Raine… the Core—what is it? Why are we going there?"
Raine hesitated.
"It's where your father hid everything."
Lian's heart stuttered.
"Everything… about me?"
"About you. About Arden. About the Ember. About the Order."
Her face hardened.
"And maybe how to stop that thing trying to kill us."
The platform beneath their feet pulsed.
WUM—WUM—WUM—
A holographic interface flickered to life.
Not the Order's interface.
Something older.
Simpler.
More human.
Raine whispered, "Your father's personal system…"
Lines of text formed mid-air.
CORE ACCESS LOCKED
IDENTITY REQUIRED
Raine pushed him forward.
"Touch it."
Lian pressed his hand to the glowing surface.
The entire room brightened—
And a new message appeared.
WELCOME, LIAN.
I HOPED YOU'D NEVER HAVE TO COME HERE.
Lian's breath caught in his throat.
"That's—"
"Yes," Raine said softly.
"Your father."
The First Record
The hologram shifted.
A man appeared—middle-aged, sharp-eyed, weary.
Lian recognized him instantly, even though the memory ached.
His father.
He looked nothing like the smiling man who raised him.
This version was sleepless, haunted.
"If you're watching this, the Order found you.
That means I ran out of time."
Lian stepped forward unconsciously.
"The Ember Heirs were never meant to be weapons.
The Ember reacts to emotion—fear, anger, grief. It amplifies what's inside."
Raine lowered her gaze.
His father continued.
"Arden… he wasn't unstable.
The Order pushed him. Broke him.
Forced him to manifest abilities too quickly."
A crack formed in Lian's voice.
"Raine… he knew."
"Yes."
"And when Arden lost control… they rebuilt him. Turned him into Omega One."
Lian's stomach twisted.
Raine murmured, "The Omega program was the Order's answer to the deaths. Make the Heirs useful even when they die."
The hologram flickered.
"Lian, listen. Your ember is different.
I altered the pattern. Slowed its evolution.
You're the only one whose ember can reach the Core safely."
Lian frowned.
"Why would the Core be unsafe?"
Raine didn't answer.
His father did.
"Because the Core is the Ember's original cradle. Its source."
Arden's Shadow
Before the message could continue—
BOOOOM.
The chamber door dented inward.
Omega Arden's molten blade punched through the steel.
Raine cursed, pulling Lian back.
"He's breaking in. Fast."
Lian's ember flared in panic—
and suddenly the room changed.
The lights dimmed.
Heat signatures glowed around him.
He saw the tunnel behind the door—
saw Arden's body burning like a storm of gold fire—
saw sparks running along the metal like veins—
His breath hitched.
"I can see… heat?"
Raine snapped to him.
"You awakened Heat Perception. Good. Use it."
"I don't know how!"
"Just trust it!"
The world pulsed in waves of temperature—
and through them, Lian felt something else.
A faint outline inside the fire.
A human shape.
Small.
Curled.
"Raine…" he whispered.
"I can see him."
"Who?"
"Arden. The real Arden. Inside the heat. He's… trapped."
Raine stiffened.
"That shouldn't be possible."
But Lian's voice trembled.
"He's trying to speak."
The Memory Flash
Before Raine could pull him away, Lian staggered—
A violent surge tore through his ember.
His vision shattered.
And suddenly—
He wasn't in the chamber anymore.
He was standing in a bright room.
White walls.
Scent of antiseptic.
A young boy—about fifteen—sat on a metal bed, hands trembling.
Arden.
Not the Omega.
A human boy.
Two Order scientists loomed over him.
"Subject stability is failing."
"Increase ember stimulus."
"No—please—no more—" Arden gasped, clutching his chest.
Lian reached for him—
but passed through like smoke.
He was watching a memory.
Arden screamed as a surge of ember energy tore from his spine, cracking the floor—
The scientists shielded themselves.
"He's losing control!"
"Restrain him!"
Arden sobbed, voice raw.
"I don't want this— I don't— I just want it to stop—"
The world collapsed again.
Back to Reality
The chamber snapped back into focus.
Lian fell to his knees, shaking violently.
Raine knelt beside him.
"What did you see?"
"He… he wasn't unstable."
Lian's voice broke.
"They tortured him. They forced the ember to grow too fast."
Raine's jaw clenched.
"We know. And if the Order captures you, they'll do worse."
The door exploded inward.
Omega Arden stepped through, blazing with gold fury.
Raine pulled Lian behind her.
"No more running," she said.
Lian swallowed hard.
"What?"
"We reach the Core. We end this. Now."
She pointed to the platform.
"You're the only one who can open it."
"But Arden—"
Raine tightened her grip on her blades.
"I'll hold him off."
Lian's chest tightened.
"Raine, he'll kill you."
She gave him a tight, fearless smile.
"That's fine.
Because you're going to finish what your father started."