You know the name. You've heard the pulse.
A phantom awakens beneath cracked skin.
The world shifts — not with a bang, but a whisper... and the hum of ancient tech.
They tried to bury the past. The government sealed it. The scientists denied it.
But chaos leaks like blood from an old wound.
And in the shadows of silence, something... listens.
This isn't the beginning of the end. This is the end of what we thought was the beginning.
"He was never meant to be found. Not like this. Not broken. Not angry. But fate didn't ask."
"Now the world prays he's their savior... even as they build the weapons to kill him."
---
The sun filtered through pale clouds that felt like they were holding back something—light, storm, or maybe truth.
Tayven Vale walked the college hallway as if sleepwalking through a world that didn't know it was on the edge. Students chattered, laughed, gossiped—names, crushes, parties. Tayven, however, walked like a ghost among them, his hoodie sleeves pulled low, trying to hide the faint cerulean glow of the Marks burning on his arms. They pulsed in sync with his heart.
He passed a poster on the wall: "Neural Augment Showcase – Science & Tech Expo. Hosted by Veltrion Labs." The tagline shimmered faintly: "Unlock your true potential."
He didn't flinch. Just kept walking.
Then, like static in his mind, the familiar voice returned.
Veydrin:
Why so anxious, boy? You should get used to it.
Tayven (gritting his teeth, low):
Where the hell have you been? And how do you just—
(He pauses, looking around at nothing.)
—talk out of nowhere but in my head?
Veydrin:
That's a lot of questions, boy. I told you already—I am what I am. A watcher. A whisper. I've just been… observing.
(Pauses)
Everything around you is waking up.
Tayven (bitterly):
Yeah? And your great observation?
Veydrin (smirking):
Your life is a little tough…
Tayven (blurting, louder than he intended):
Seriously? A little tough?! That's all you found out in the last few days?
A few students turned to stare. Tayven froze. Then awkwardly gave them a lopsided smile, as if he just sneezed or tripped.
He slid into class quietly and sank into his usual seat—back row, right corner. Pulled his hoodie further down. Pressed play on his earphones.
"Wildflower" by Billie Eilish floated into his ears, wrapping him like a blanket soaked in emotion—melancholy, grief, distant dreams. The lyrics hit too close. Every line felt like someone had carved it from his soul.
Across the room, laughter.
It was her again.
Selene.
The sun caught in her hair like strands of glass. Her voice was warm, melodic, humble—even as half the boys in class swarmed around her like bees chasing honey laced with gold dust.
Tayven didn't care. Or at least, he told himself he didn't.
But Selene noticed him. Through the crowd, her eyes flicked toward the boy in the hoodie, the one with shadows in his eyes and galaxies in his silence.
Selene (thinking):
He's different. Distant. But calm. Like someone who's lived a thousand years in just eighteen.
What is he listening to?
...Electric boy.
Their eyes met.
Everything dropped away—the sounds, the people, the room itself.
Just two gazes locked in quiet defiance of the world. Time trembled.
Veydrin (breaking the moment):
Tayven… Electricity is staring at you…
Tayven's gaze flicked to the electric board, confused, then back to her. Realization dawned.
But before anything could deepen—
Teacher (bursting through the door):
Why the hell are you all surrounding Selene's desk?! Back to your seats. Now!
The spell broke.
Veydrin (grumbling):
Fuck. Fuck that hoe. Ruined everything. May she never find a boyfriend or a husband again. Ever.
Tayven (low):
Hey! Dude! You just cursed my teacher!
Veydrin:
She earned it. That moment between you and Selene was rare—precious. But that wench just walked in like a hammer through glass.
(Pauses)
You looked good together, boy. Like reflections from different mirrors.
Tayven's brows knit, but his lips twitched into a grin.
Tayven:
Okay fine, just… don't curse her again, alright?
Veydrin (mock bowing):
As you wish, Sir Innocent.
The class dragged on. Selene tried to focus, but her eyes kept drifting.
Break time.
Students scattered—some went to the café, others hovered around Selene like moths to divine fire.
She brushed them off gently but firmly. Graceful, untouchable.
Tayven watched.
Veydrin:
They don't get it, do they? That kind of light doesn't come from beauty. It comes from something… broken.
(Pauses)
Hey, move your ass. Walk a little. You ain't a statue.
Tayven:
Fine. As you wish, Sir Phantom.
He left the room, letting the crowd fade behind.
As he walked aimlessly, a vending machine flickered. He ignored it.
Veydrin:
Can you get something to eat? I'm starving.
Tayven (chuckling):
You're a spirit. You don't eat.
Veydrin:
Was human once. Old habits. Hunger's not just for flesh, y'know.
Tayven:
Wait… were you the one who ate from the fridge last night?
Veydrin (quietly):
...Maybe.
Tayven:
My mom nearly skinned me alive for that!
Veydrin:
You survived. You're welcome.
The cafeteria hummed like a second world. Tayven stepped in—and there she was.
Selene.
Alone at her table, brushing off admirers with quiet grace.
A line of boys waited like hopeful applicants.
Selene sat alone at a table, graceful yet visibly annoyed. A few boys hovered near her like moths around a flame, their intentions clear behind shallow small talk. Tayven watched from afar, munching on a cold sandwich, hands stuffed in his hoodie's pockets. He chewed slowly, eyes half-lidded, but always watching.
Veydrin: "A line of fools marching to the guillotine. Do they not realize she's not just a pretty face?"
Tayven: "You're being weird again."
Veydrin: "No, boy. I'm being right. Her aura pulses like a dormant storm. You think you're the only anomaly here?"
Tayven stopped chewing.
Tayven: "Wait… what do you mean?"
But Veydrin went silent again.
Selene finally stood up, gracefully sidestepping another boy's awkward joke. Her gaze flickered across the room — and landed on Tayven. For a split second, something shimmered behind her irises. A faint pulse of silver. Almost unnoticeable… but not to him.
Not to Veydrin either.
Veydrin: "There it is. The spark. It's beginning."
Tayven: "What the hell are you talking about?"
Before he could get an answer, Selene began walking toward him. Slowly. Confidently. As if this was always going to happen.
She sat across from him. Quiet. Calm. But her presence was loud.
Selene: "You're not like the others."
Tayven paused mid-bite.
Tayven: "And you figured that out from one vending machine talk and one weird eye contact?"
Selene smiled faintly.
Selene: "That, and the way the lights flicker when you get too emotional."
Tayven's fingers twitched.
Selene: "I notice things, Vale."
Tayven: "You… know my name?"
Selene: "Of course. You called me Electric Girl, remember?"
Tayven looked away, trying to play it off. But inside, Veydrin was grinning.
Veydrin: "Ohhhh she likes you, boy."
Tayven: "Shut up."
Selene leaned in, resting her chin on her palm.
Selene: "So. What are you hiding?"
Tayven: "Nothing."
Selene: "Liar."
A long pause.
She looked up suddenly as if distracted by something far away.
Selene: "Have you ever heard of the Project Nyx?"
Tayven's heart froze.
Veydrin: "…Shit."
Tayven: "What did you say?"
Selene's expression changed—just for a blink. But something about it was sharper, heavier.
Selene: "Never mind. Forget I said anything."
Before he could press further, a loud rumble shook the cafeteria. Lights flickered. A sudden black-out. Screams. Panic.
From outside, a boom echoed across campus.
Tayven jumped to his feet instinctively.
Selene stayed calm.
Veydrin: "Tayven. Outside. Now."
Tayven ran through the chaos. Selene followed, instincts overriding thought. Selene was right behind him, breath steady, eyes fixed on the black cloud rising in the distance.
The scene outside was chaos — a nearby laboratory building on campus, once off-limits and guarded, now exploded at its side, smoke rising in thick black spirals.
The explosion from the lab rattled windows across campus. Smoke billowed into the twilight sky, casting shadows over panicked students rushing out of buildings.
From the smoke… came a figure.
Tall. Clad in a tattered black suit with a metal mask covering half his face. The remaining half revealed burned flesh and glowing green veins. His right arm was mechanical, steaming with pressure, veins of pulsing energy carved into its frame.
The figure stepped forward, dragging something behind him — a body in a white lab coat.
Dead.
He dropped it.
Tayven took a step back. Veydrin was silent.
The students fled. Only Tayven and Selene remained standing.
Tayven stood protectively in front of her, fists clenched. The air around him pulsed. The Phantom within burned like fire.
Veydrin: "This isn't just another freak, Tayven. This is the first fracture. The cracks… are widening."
They reached the edge of the restricted zone — the ruins of a research facility. Scorch marks trailed along the grass. Shattered glass glittered like stardust.
And then— they saw him.
The lights overhead popped one by one.
A chill rolled across the floor like a breath from some buried beast.
From the fractured steel corridor ahead, a figure emerged.
Not a child.
Not a hallucination.
A man.
Not directly. Just a silhouette in the smoke — tall, unmoving, backlit by dying flames.
He didn't speak. He didn't move.
He carried himself like someone who'd walked through fire and never left it behind.
But as Tayven stared, something shifted. His stomach twisted, as if gravity itself bent for a moment. A low pulse rippled through the air. It made the earth feel wrong. Off-center.
Tayven's breathing slowed.
Why does it feel like he's looking at me… even from there?
Veydrin's voice, rarely shaken, came through low. Uneasy.
Veydrin:
"That's not just a man… That's a relic."
Tayven: "What does that mean?"
Veydrin: "He's touched the source. Whatever those scientists awakened… he wasn't supposed to walk away from it."
Selene stepped closer to Tayven, her hand instinctively brushing against his arm. She was trembling—but not from fear. From something else.
A faint current of electricity sparked off her skin.
Tayven's breath hitched.
His hands were still trembling, sweat cold on his skin, heartbeat thrumming in his ears like war drums. The metallic scent of burnt circuits lingered in the air, mixing with the scorched stench of fear.
He was unraveling.
And Selene… wasn't.
She stood quietly across from him—calm, like the chaos hadn't touched her.
Selene:
"You're shaking."
Tayven looked up, eyes wide.
"How are you so calm?"
She walked forward slowly, her gaze steady.
Selene:
"Because… I've already seen it. A few nights ago."
Tayven froze.
"Seen what?"
She didn't answer directly.
Her expression told him she didn't quite understand it herself.
Inside him, Veydrin stirred—but remained quiet. Watching.
Selene blinked slowly, as if listening to something no one else could hear.
Deep within her, another presence moved—silent and spectral.
Neither spirit spoke.
But in the tension between them, something unspoken passed.
Tayven clutched his head. He couldn't handle this. The voices. The light. The power. It was all too much.
Tayven (barely a whisper):
"I don't want this…"
Selene crouched beside him, her voice soft but anchored.
Selene:
"You don't get to choose."
Tayven (barely audible):
"And who the hell is that...?"
The man's voice was low, clipped, but there was something vicious underneath.
Stranger:
"You weren't supposed to be alive."
He took another step, his boots clicking softly on the scorched tile.
Stranger:
"But maybe that's not a mistake. Maybe... you're the test I've been waiting for."
Tayven couldn't breathe.
The man's gaze flicked to Selene—and he paused.
Something passed behind those eyes. A faint curl of amusement, or recognition.
But it didn't last.
Stranger (to himself):
"Two awakened... in one cycle. Fascinating."
Selene didn't flinch.
But Tayven could feel it.
This man was dangerous.
Not like a wild force.
Like a weapon that knew exactly what it was made to do.
Then the man lifted his hand—revealing a strange black device embedded in his wrist, veins of light crawling through it.
And he smiled. Not kind. Not cruel.
Just certain.
Stranger:
"Tell your ghosts to prepare."
The lights behind him flared red.
And stayed that way.
He didn't disappear.
He didn't run.
He waited.
As if he'd just arrived at the start of something.
And he had.
Because in that moment, Tayven finally understood—
The world he thought he knew had already ended.
And the war had just begun.
---
TO BE CONTINUED...