Eldrath — The Citadel Dungeons
The torches sputtered as Julius descended the stone steps behind Lord Sareth, the air thick with iron and rot. They passed cells filled with mangled bodies—some still breathing, barely—others with their souls screaming silently through arcane runes etched on their foreheads.
"You must learn what it means to rule, boy," Sareth said, voice smooth like a coiled snake. "A prince must not flinch when he sees pain… especially if he must cause it."
Julius clenched his jaw. He wasn't a prince. He was a sewer rat in royal robes. But the scroll had warned him again this morning:
Quest 003: Witness a soul purge and survive the moral cost.Failure: Permanent soul fracture and fatal deterioration of host body.Time Remaining: 20 hours, 3 minutes.
They stopped at a particular cell. Inside, a girl—young, beaten, defiant—stared at them with violet eyes.
"A spy," Sareth said. "Or so we claim."
He handed Julius a wand. No explanation. Just cruel expectation.
Julius looked down at the trembling girl. She didn't beg. Didn't plead.
She whispered, "You're not him… are you?"
That froze Julius more than the scroll ever could.
Sareth's fingers tapped. "Choose, your Highness. Press the wand to her heart, or prove yourself a traitor. The palace has no room for hesitation."
The scroll glowed brighter. Pain built in his chest—a warning of the consequences.
He stepped forward, slowly.
Their eyes met. The girl's lips moved, barely:
"Do it… quick. Before they take my mind."
And so Julius did.
The soul rune flared. The girl's body seized—and fell.
Sareth chuckled. "Good. Perhaps there's royal blood in you after all."
But behind Julius's steady face, something shattered.
Novaris — The Underground SlumNet
Alexis woke in a shaking bed. A siren blared outside: "ZONE LOCKDOWN — CLASS C BREACH — CURFEW ENACTED." Kaela—Julius's supposed ally in this world—burst into the room, her dark hair tied back, eyes wild.
"You triggered something in the SimArena. The AI flagged you as a threat. They're coming."
Alexis pulled on the coat she threw him, still trying to stabilize the chaos in his mind.
"What is a 'Slum Purge'?"
Kaela's jaw clenched. "Death. For everyone flagged below Level-1 clearance."
The scroll flared above his hand mid-sentence.
Quest 003: Evade Overseers and reach Uplink Node Sigma-5.Optional: Save a flagged civilian.Failure: Body seizure and cerebral burn-out.Time Remaining: 19 hours, 45 minutes.
Alexis heard a scream outside.
He was already moving.
Eldrath — The Aftermath
That night, Julius sat in Alexis's room, shaking.
The scroll returned again.
Optional Success: Soul Purge ExecutedReward: Memory Fragment — [The Real Alexis's Childhood]Side Effect: Empathic bleed. Duration: 1 hour.
Suddenly, his mind split with pain.
He saw a younger Alexis locked in a cell—not unlike the dungeon.
He heard his father shouting, "He will never be a ruler! Let the boy rot!"
He felt the lash. The cold. The hunger. The burning shame of being unloved.
"So that's what this body carries..." Julius whispered, clutching his chest.
He had thought royalty was golden wine and dancing girls.
He was wrong.
Novaris — Node Sigma-5
Alexis reached the node—bloodied, bruised, trailing a half-conscious teenager whose neural chip had been half-fried by a shock drone. He dumped the kid in Kaela's arms.
"Save him."
Kaela blinked. "That's… that's not something Julius would do."
Alexis didn't answer.
The scroll hovered again.
Quest Complete. Bonus Objective Achieved.Reward: AI Harmonization Upgrade (Class I)Note: You have earned Kaela's cautious respect.
Alexis breathed heavily, head pounding.
In the shadows above, a floating AI watched silently. It blinked red. Then vanished.
— The Void Between Worlds
Var'Kul, the Demon God, paced between infinite mirrors, each one showing a timeline, a possibility. He paused at a reflection where Alexis and Julius had joined forces to kill him.
He smashed it with a clawed hand.
"Too early. But they are waking up. That cannot be allowed…"
He whispered an incantation that made reality weep. Then dipped his hand into a pool of screaming voices.
"Time for their next lesson. Love… and betrayal."