Berlin didn't welcome them with silence.
It welcomed them with rain.
Cold, relentless rain that washed the neon lights across the pavement and turned the city into a reflection of chaos. Cars moved like shadows through the streets while distant sirens echoed somewhere far away.
Elara stood beside the car window, watching the unfamiliar city pass by.
Berlin felt different from Milan.
Milan had elegance.
Berlin had secrets.
Beside her, Adrian sat quietly in the backseat, his gaze fixed on the tablet in his hands. Lines of encrypted data scrolled across the screen while the car sped through the wet streets.
"Tell me something honestly," Elara said.
Adrian didn't look up.
"I always do."
She crossed her arms.
"That's debatable."
Now he glanced at her.
"What do you want to know?"
Elara turned slightly toward him.
"If Olympus was hidden so carefully… how did someone activate the signal?"
Adrian's fingers paused on the screen.
"That's the question."
"You said it needed three fragments."
"It does."
"And you have the key."
"Yes."
"Then someone else must have the fragments."
Adrian looked out at the rain-covered window.
"Or someone found a way to bypass them."
Elara frowned.
"That sounds worse."
"It is."
The car slowed as it approached an underground parking entrance.
Their driver spoke calmly from the front seat.
"We're here."
The vehicle rolled down the ramp and stopped inside a dimly lit parking structure beneath an old industrial building.
Adrian closed the tablet.
"Stay close to me."
Elara smirked faintly.
"Have I ever done anything else?"
Adrian didn't reply, but the corner of his mouth lifted slightly.
They stepped out of the car.
The air smelled like oil, metal, and damp concrete.
A man waited near the elevator.
Tall.
Broad shoulders.
Black coat.
And sharp, observant eyes.
When he saw Adrian, he nodded once.
"Adrian."
Adrian walked forward.
"Luca."
Elara blinked in surprise.
"You didn't say Luca was in Berlin."
Luca smiled faintly.
"You didn't ask."
Elara shook her head.
"You two are impossible."
Luca pressed the elevator button.
"We don't have much time."
The doors slid open.
They stepped inside.
As the elevator descended deeper underground, Elara felt the tension in the air grow heavier.
"What's down there?" she asked.
Luca answered.
"A signal source."
Adrian added quietly,
"And maybe the beginning of a war."
The elevator doors opened into a hidden operations room.
Screens covered the walls.
Maps.
Signals.
Encrypted networks.
At the center of the room stood a large digital monitor.
A single blinking signal flashed on the screen.
The same one Adrian had seen earlier.
Berlin.
Olympus.
Elara walked closer.
"That's it?"
Adrian nodded.
"That's the signal."
She studied the coordinates.
"They're coming from an abandoned research facility."
Luca crossed his arms.
"That building used to belong to a biotech company."
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
"Used to?"
"They shut down five years ago."
Elara looked between them.
"Five years."
Adrian noticed the connection instantly.
"That's the same year Olympus disappeared."
The room went quiet.
Elara slowly turned toward Adrian.
"You hid Olympus in Berlin."
Adrian's expression hardened.
"I didn't hide it in Berlin."
He stepped closer to the screen.
"I hid it somewhere no one would ever think to look."
Elara tilted her head.
"And that place just happens to be a research facility connected to the same year Olympus vanished?"
Adrian didn't answer immediately.
Instead he zoomed in further on the location.
Then he said quietly,
"This isn't where Olympus is."
Elara frowned.
"Then what is it?"
Adrian's voice lowered.
"It's a trap."
Luca looked up sharply.
"For who?"
Adrian stared at the blinking signal.
"For me."
Elara's heartbeat quickened.
"You think someone wants you to come there."
Adrian nodded.
"Yes."
"And you're still going?"
Adrian turned toward her.
Without hesitation.
"Yes."
Elara sighed.
"Of course you are."
Luca grabbed a tactical case from the table and opened it.
Inside were weapons.
Communicators.
And small digital devices.
He handed one to Elara.
"You'll need this."
She examined it.
"A tracker?"
"A jammer," Luca corrected.
"It blocks surveillance signals."
Adrian picked up a small earpiece.
"We move in quietly."
Elara raised a brow.
"Since when do things with you stay quiet?"
Adrian gave her a look.
"Since tonight."
Luca closed the case.
"The facility is twenty minutes away."
Adrian turned toward the exit.
"Then let's go."
The rain outside had grown heavier.
Dark clouds swallowed the moon as their car moved through the empty streets of Berlin.
Elara stared out the window again.
"Tell me something."
Adrian looked at her.
"What."
"If this really is a trap…"
She paused.
"…who do you think set it?"
Adrian answered without hesitation.
"The only person smart enough."
Elara frowned.
"Who?"
Adrian's voice turned colder.
"The one person who knows Olympus better than I do."
A moment of silence passed.
Then Elara whispered,
"But you created Olympus."
Adrian's gaze darkened.
"Yes."
He looked back at the rain-covered streets ahead.
"But I didn't create it alone."
Elara felt a chill run down her spine.
"You had a partner."
Adrian's voice became dangerously quiet.
"Had."
Elara swallowed.
"What happened to them?"
Adrian stared forward.
"They died."
Lightning flashed across the sky outside.
For a second, the entire city lit up.
And Adrian finished his sentence.
"Five years ago."
The car continued moving through the rain toward the abandoned facility.
But somewhere in the darkness of Berlin—
someone was already waiting for them.