Chapter 30: Chapter 30: “Rebirth Protocol”
[Scene: Soulforge Core – Collapsing]
FX: Sirens blare. Lights fail in sections. Sparks fall like rain. 🚨🔥
[Visual: Elara and Kaelith run down the central corridor. The floor trembles with aftershocks.]
[Kaelith]:
"We have to drop the shard! It's triggering something!"
[Elara, clutching both cores]:
"No. It's calling something."
[FX: Everything stops.
A high-pitched tone floods the hallway.
Then: silence.
[Visual: Elara's eyes flash gold-blue. Her pupils dilate. She drops to her knees.]
Kaelith (shouting):
"Elara?!"
She doesn't answer.
🌑 Scene: Internal Realm – "Rebirth Space"
[Visual: A digital-black void. Floating white feathers. Elara floats mid-air, eyes wide.]
FX: Distant heartbeats echo like war drums.
A voice speaks — not the Hollow King.
Not Mordain.
A third voice. Female. Familiar. Hers.
"Protocol A-0: Rebirth. Triggered by independent convergence."
"Welcome back, Ariyenna. Accessing sealed identity."
[Visual: Screens form in a spiral around her. Each shows a moment from her childhood — but not the one she remembers.]
One shows her hugging a man in priest robes — Mordain. Younger. Smiling.
Elara (thinking):
"No… that's not possible."
[Voice continues]:
"Original binding target: Project: MORDAVIEL."
"Chosen guardian: Mordain of White Flame. Emotional imprint: Primary bond."
[FX: A thousand voices whisper at once. The Hollow King's voice louder than all.]
"You were always mine."
"Even before you knew his name."
[Visual: Elara screams, grabbing her head. The feathers burn to ash.]
[Suddenly, another screen appears. It shows her—older—refusing an order. Fighting back. Disobeying Mordain.]
Voice (weaker now):
"Deviation detected. Ariyenna chose… herself."
[Elara (gritted teeth)]:
"Shut it down."
[Voice glitches.]
"Rebirth incomplete. Do you wish to override program?"
[Elara, trembling]:
"Yes. I'm not yours. I'm not hers. I'm not a weapon."
"I'm mine."
[FX: Bright white flash. The screens burn away. The void collapses inward.]
☀️ Scene: Reality – Lab Ruins
FX: Elara gasps and wakes. A wave of force bursts from her — knocking Kaelith backward.
The lab walls crack. The remaining screens shatter.
[Kaelith (panting)]:
"You disappeared. Your eyes—your skin—glowed."
[Elara (sitting up)]:
"It was a backup system. It tried to make me… remember the version they wanted."
[She opens her hand. Both shards are now dark.]
Elara (thinking):
"It tried to bring back Ariyenna."
"But Ariyenna's dead."
[Kaelith helps her up.]
[Kaelith]:
"What now?"
[Elara (steady voice)]:
"We leave. We bury this place."
[FX: She drops the two shards. Blue fire engulfs them — a symbol. Not rage. Closure.]
[Final Visual: As they exit the lab, a silent camera flickers to life deep underground.]
It records them leaving.
Then turns toward a sealed vault.
On the door: "Rebirth Candidate 02: MORDAVIEL – IN STASIS."