Opening – The Coil's Sanctum
Far beneath the surface of a ravaged continent, deep in a subterranean vault shrouded in ancient tech and forbidden light, sits Zarxes.
His body—no longer wholly Isu, no longer mortal—rests within a stasis throne bathed in blue and obsidian fire. His consciousness stretches across relays and broken skies, tethered to fragments of the old world. Monitors pulse with signals. Voices echo from across the globe—followers, spies, data-feeds from Isu ruins awakening one by one.
He speaks into the quiet:
"The world softens. The new age decays in ignorance. Their freedom is a fiction."
His voice is calm, yet full of gravity.
"But soon… structure will return. Memory will return. We will return."
The Inner Circle – The Eyes of the Coil
Around him stand the Circle of the Coil—his lieutenants, drawn from both ancient lines and modern converts:
Lirae, the Biomancer, with silver-threaded skin and a mind bent on reshaping human evolution.
Castor Venn, once a Templar, now reborn through Isu technology, zealously loyal to Zarxes' vision.
Thalos, a masked Seer whose eyes glow with fractured timelines—he speaks in riddles, but Zarxes alone understands him fully.
Zarxes regards them in turn.
"The boy has reached the Vault of Reversion."
Castor Venn frowns. "He activated the archive?"
"Yes," Zarxes says, voice hardening. "Eryalis spoke to him."
A flicker of pain—suppressed—flashes across his features at the mention of her name.
"That voice was never meant for him."
Lirae steps forward. "The Spark within him grows unstable. He will awaken more fragments. Perhaps even fully merge with Vael'Ruun."
Thalos tilts his head. "The fang becomes the flame… or the flame devours the fang. The coil tightens, my lord."
Zarxes rises from his throne. The chamber dims, responding to his movement.
"Then we move."
Revealed Motive – A Warped Vision
He walks slowly toward the edge of a holo-map showing Earth, with dozens of marked Isu facilities.
"We were gods. Not in arrogance, but in function. We guided. We cultivated. And for that, we were betrayed."
He gestures to the spiral of glowing nodes: The Rebirth Coil.
"This world is broken by too much freedom. Too much chance. I will not rule it… I will restore it."
"Not through domination. Through precision."
Castor Venn bows. "What of Kaelen? If he truly becomes Vael'Ruun..."
Zarxes turns, voice iron.
"He is the key. But keys can be broken. Or re-shaped."
"Send the Hounds. If they cannot turn him… burn everything around him."
Foreshadowing – The Shadow in the Data
Thalos lingers as the others depart.
"You feel her, don't you?" the Seer asks quietly.
Zarxes closes his eyes.
"Eryalis."
"She left more than a message. A memory… maybe more."
Zarxes' hand tightens into a fist.
"She always saw farther than the rest of us."
A long pause.
"Let her ghost speak to the boy. Let her try to save him. It will only make his fall more poetic."
Thalos says nothing, but the flicker of doubt in his expression goes unnoticed.
Closing – The Coming Storm
As the Coil's chamber dims and the throne reactivates, Zarxes returns to stillness—but his mind spreads like smoke into ancient networks, corrupted code, and sleeping echoes of the Isu Age.
Across the world, hidden agents move.
Vaults stir.
And the past—both noble and monstrous—is waking again.
Zarxes gazes into the dark, speaking only one name:
"Vael'Ruun… come home."