"2749 lay on a freezing slab, his violet eye twitching as life bled out of him, the Rune Glass Vault collapsing around him with a skull rattling roar. Cracks tore through the glowing walls, and the air reeked of blood and sour alchemy, but something in the chaos whispered his name, soft and ancient, lulling him into a deep, dream like haze."
But right when he was about to drop off that cliff, the dark changed. It didn't just sit there, it curled around him, warm, heavy, softening the hurt. Not the usual cold panic he knew too well, this felt different, like something old he couldn't place holding him tight.
Then a voice cut in, smooth like oil but dark, real dark. It wormed into his brain, old as hell and too close. His eyes popped open, violet one sparking for a second before it dulled down.
The vault? Gone. No chains digging into him, no slab under his back. Just floating in this big, black nothing, blood smell hanging faint in the air. Something flickered ahead, a shape pulling itself together out of the dark.
It stepped out, moving slick but sharp, like a hunter circling meat. Looked like him, but wrong, his face staring back, only with eyes like black holes sucking everything in. A heavy feeling hit him, pressing so hard he couldn't breathe right.
A chill crawled up his spine, not scared, just knowing. "Why do I know you?" he croaked, voice shaky, barely there.
It drifted closer, smirking slowly and nasty. "I'm you," it said low, words buzzing like a knife scraping rock.
2749 stiffened, dread coiling cold in his gut. Too real, too wrong. "I know what they did to you," it pressed, voice sinking deep. "The experiments, the pain, how they hollowed you out. Stole your past, your heart, everything you might've been."
Then the black ripped open, and memories smashed in, hard, fast, cutting like broken glass.
—
Iron cuffs gnawed into his wrists and ankles, the rusted metal grinding against raw skin, blood oozing from torn flesh as he strained against a splintered chair. The straps, crusted with old blood and his own fresh red, bit deeper with every twitch. A needle stabbed into his arm, ice cold at first, then a molten fire erupted, scorching through his veins, his muscles seizing in violent spasms, each heartbeat a jagged blade in his chest. Through blurred, tear streaked vision, Valerius's cold face loomed, his serpentine voice a cruel hiss, "Increase the dosage." More fire flooded in, his body arching in agony, a scream trapped in his throat as darkness clawed at his sight.
Cold metal clamped his face, jagged edges slicing into his skin as they pinned him down, his left eye, once a vivid green, burning in his mind's sight. A sickening wrench tore it free, tendons snapping like threads, his scream ripping through the air as blood gushed hot down his cheek, the empty socket a searing, howling void. They forced a slick, wriggling thing into the wound, its alien flesh pulsing as it burrowed deep, his skull blazing with white hot agony, his body convulsing, retching at the unnatural squirming that felt like it would split his head apart.
Elias loomed next, his fist crashing into 2749's ribs. He hit the floor hard, breath stolen, bones rattling. "Still not following orders?" Elias taunted, voice dripping with venom. 2749 stayed silent, bracing himself. Today was different. Elias held a needle, its black contents gleaming with malice. "This will teach you obedience," he hissed, plunging it into 2749's neck. Pain erupted, not a bruise, not a burn, but a coiling agony that knotted his nerves and splintered his bones. His chest seized, drowning him in invisible depths. A scream tore from his throat, raw and unfamiliar, while Elias's laughter echoed over it.
The training came next, relentless and cruel. "Move!" A fist slammed into his back. "Fight!" A blade carved across his skin. "Obey!" Pain was his constant shadow. No rest, no meals, only a bitter medicine they forced down his throat, its thick, acrid taste coating his tongue as it knit his body together enough to face more. If he stumbled, they beat him. If he collapsed, they hauled him up. Weakness meant vanishing, others who stood beside him one day were gone the next, leaving nothing but silence.
A memory hit him, sudden and weird. Sunlight blasted over a field, hot and bright, wildflowers shaking in the wind. He was a kid then, running wild through the grass with a bunch of others, yelling and laughing loud, free, not messed up yet. His feet dug into the dirt, flower smells hitting his nose. Then it all broke. A big, rough hand slapped over his mouth, choking off his shout, yanking him back hard. He kicked, fought, but his screams got stuck against sweaty skin, panic tearing at him. Dark shapes moved in close, couldn't make them out, and everything spun as they dragged him off. The sun went dark, the laughs stopped, and he got sucked into this damn nightmare.
Another one popped up, softer but still sharp. He was in a warm room, lanterns glowing dim on wood walls. A bowl of hot food sat in front of him, meat, some vegetables, smelling good, warming him up inside. His mom was there, messing up his hair with a soft hand, making him smile, her laugh quiet and nice. His dad sat across, big and steady, telling stories in that low voice while he whittled a little wood toy with slow cuts. Home wrapped around him like a blanket, safe and whole. That boy was happy, untouched by pain, gazed at his parents with bright eyes, unaware it could end. Now, the word home stabbed deep, and a single tear traced a slow path down his cheek, cold against the ruin he'd become.
—
The shadow's voice returned, seductive now. "Don't you want to go home? To feel that warmth again, to be whole?" It stretched out a hand, a writhing mass of darkness barely contained. "Take my hand, 2749. We can rip this world apart and build it back our way."
The urge grabbed him, revenge, a way out, the pain finally gone. He edged closer, fingers twitching as they reached.
A sudden jolt ripped through him, fierce and raw. His Aether Core flickered, a weak pulse of life. His violet eye blazed, and from its depths, something broke free, pale, slick tendrils spilling out, throbbing with a grotesque beat. Claws snapped into existence, eager and jagged, as the creature took shape, a twisted thing bound to him by strands of flesh.
It let out a shriek, sharp and wild, slicing through the air. The shadow froze, its smug aura cracking. "What, what is that?" it muttered, dread creeping into its tone.
The tendrils lunged, fast and merciless. They pierced the shadow's dark form, sinking deep and tearing away chunks of its essence. The shadow howled, thrashing as the creature fed, its edges fraying with each bite. The tendrils tightened, pulling it closer, consuming more, but then, through the chaos, the shadow's voice rasped out, faint but defiant,
"Offer still valid, 2749. Join me when the weight breaks you." A deep, deliberate laugh sliced through the air, cold as a blade. "I'll be waiting. Step into the dark when the light fails you." The laughter swelled into a cruel, echoing cackle as the shadow tore itself free, its tattered form dissolving into the void, leaving only the stain of its mirth in the silence.
The creature growled, its tendrils thrashing at the spot where the shadow had disappeared. It turned to him, its grin wide and weird, neither mad nor nice, just off. He froze, braced for it to hit, but it just shrunk down and slid back into his eye with a nasty, wet noise. The black void split open, and everything real came crashing back.
Cold metal bit into his skin again. He was back on the slab, the vault's cracked glass creaking under the weight of the ruined sanctum above. Broken tubes hung from his arms, leaking black fluid onto his chest, his blood, now as dark as the void itself.
His new Aether Core pulsed in his chest, strange and heavy, its power unfamiliar. But 2749 didn't care, the pain faded, drowned out by a fierce resolve burning within him. Escape, Escape. The word cut through his mind, sharp and unyielding.
(Before this, the dark void had swallowed him, a hazy, blurred dream he couldn't fully grasp. The memory slipped away like smoke, leaving only fragments, a shadow's voice, a creature's twisted grin, laughter echoing in his skull. The rest was lost, faded like a dream after waking, impossible to hold onto.)