Chapter 33: Chapter 33: The One Who Wakes
[Scene: Soulforge Vault – Days Later]
FX: Deep hum of ancient machines still echoing in the earth. All around, silence has reclaimed the ruins. Until… a heartbeat returns. 🖤🕰️
[Visual: Vault chamber. Most systems have failed. All but one stasis pod — the one with the name: "MORDAVIEL – VESSEL 00."]
A soft pulse flickers across the pod's glass.
Once.
Twice.
Then: his eyes open.
[FX: Electric SNAP — containment seals break. The fluid drains. The chamber exhales.]
He doesn't move yet. Just breathes.
Then—he speaks.
[Mordaviel (voice deep, steady)]:
"…She survived."
🌫️ Scene: Memory Ghost — Mordaviel's Mindscape
[Visual: He stands in a dark chamber, alone. In front of him: screens flicker showing memories.]
Elara disobeying orders
Echo breaking herself
Riven walking away from his pod
[Mordaviel (softly)]:
"She changed the end."
Mordaviel (thinking):
"They forged me for control."
"They forged her for loyalty."
"But loyalty slipped… and control was left sleeping."
[Screen shifts — showing young Mordain smiling, then twisted by time, until he becomes the Hollow King.]
Mordaviel (thinking):
"He broke. I didn't. But I was made to follow."
[Scene: Vault Exterior – Dust falls from the ceiling as the pod unlocks fully.]
[FX: CRACK— The glass splits, opening like petals.]
He steps out barefoot. His white hair falls past his shoulders. His skin is unmarked. Untouched by the world.
He is a king in silence.
But not yet human.
[A console activates near him — final protocol message loading.]
"Subject 00: Mordaviel. Last known link: Project Ariyenna. Reboot blocked. Soullink severed."
"New designation: UNCHAINED."
[Mordaviel touches the screen. Watches Riven walk away on playback.]
Mordaviel (whispers):
"You walked away from me… before we even met."
"And yet… I remember your voice."
[He kneels. Not in pain. In reflection.]
[Mordaviel]:
"I am the vessel that waited. I am the chain that never snapped."
He places a hand on the floor.
From his palm, black roots spread. Slowly. Silently. Into the ruins. Into the earth.
"If I cannot be loved, I will be remembered."
[FX: Deep, low rumble beneath the mountains.]
Something ancient responds to his awakening.
[Scene Shift: Frostline Cliffs – Same Time]
FX: Riven (Elara) stops walking. Her breath catches. Her soulblade pulses once — low, like a warning.
[Kaelith turns.]
"You feel that?"
[Riven (quietly)]:
"He's awake."
[Visual: The fire she named herself by flickers violently.]
⚔️ TO BE CONTINUED…