Far beneath the world of men, beneath Hollow cities and forgotten temples, there lies a place called the Cradle of Origin.
It is not made of stone or shadow.
It is made of memory.
And tonight — for the first time in eons — the Cradle stirred.
---
The Return of the Scribe
He was never seen in daylight. He never spoke in mortal tongues.
But when he stepped into the Cradle again, the air bent around him.
The Scribe of Dust.
The one who wrote the first prophecy.
The one who watched the gods create the lie.
He dipped his quill into a vial of light and whispered:
> "Let truth bleed."
---
The Forgotten Creation
> Long before the Vampire Courts…
Before the Outsiders…
Before humans knew the meaning of shadow…
There were twelve gods.
And among them, two believed balance could never last.
Ashkarin, god of endings.
Velmira, goddess of renewal.
They secretly wove a vessel: two souls forged from chaos and mercy, meant to one day bring reset to the world when the gods grew cruel.
But the others found out.
And they were furious.
---
The Shattering
In divine fear, the gods split the vessel into two:
Jayden — cast into the world with his memories erased, surrounded by human love.
Seraya — bound in a temple of silence, trained in pain, made to forget light.
Each half was watched.
Each half was warned.
But even divine chains have limits.
---
In the Hollow: The Unfolding
Jayden stared into the Unity Flame — still floating above his hand from the last battle.
It pulsed with more than power.
It pulsed with memory.
He saw flashes:
Velmira's tears as Jayden was torn from her hands.
Ashkarin whispering into Seraya's dreamless sleep.
A blood-red scroll tossed into a furnace, unread.
Veyna stepped into the room. "You saw it, didn't you?"
Jayden nodded slowly. "We were never accidents."
"No," Veyna replied. "You were insurance — for a world broken by gods too proud to admit they could be wrong."
---
Meanwhile: Seraya's Revelation
Seraya wandered the Dreamlands — an ancient plane where thoughts and reality blur.
There, she met the Echoes — unfinished versions of herself from other possible worlds.
One was a queen. One was a god-killer. One was nothing but flame.
Each whispered the same truth:
> "You weren't made to serve. You were made to choose."
And at the end of the hall of mirrors, a final version stood — one with both Jayden's and Seraya's power fused.
> It smiled.
> "You're almost ready."
---
The First Betrayal Revealed
Back in the Cradle of Origin, the Scribe finished writing a new page.
Its title burned onto the parchment:
> "The First Betrayal"
Its contents?
> "The gods did not fear chaos.
They feared freedom.
And when they saw the prophecy of the twins…
they decided to rewrite the ending."
But the Scribe was not loyal to them.
He sealed the page, whispered it into the wind, and sent it toward Jayden.
---
Message to the Reader
> Sometimes the people in power will tell you your life was a mistake — a glitch, a flaw, an accident.
But what if you were never broken?
What if you were built to break them?
> There's strength in questioning your origin.
> And sometimes… truth is the beginning of freedom.