Ronan stood frozen on the rooftop as the final words of the system remained suspended before his eyes.
[THE FIRST LEGACY HAS AWAKENED.]
His breathing slowed.
The five Judges remained above the city, motionless.
Even they seemed to be waiting.
Waiting for something.
Ronan looked toward the horizon.
The dark energy continued spreading across the sky, swallowing the morning light.
"What is happening?" Lyra asked.
Ronan didn't answer.
He couldn't.
The voice was still inside his head.
You weren't the first.
He closed his eyes.
Another image appeared.
A laboratory.
Not the one from his previous vision.
This one was larger.
Colossal.
Rows of enormous glass chambers stretched into the darkness.
Inside each chamber were people.
Some were unconscious.
Some were connected to machines.
And one chamber stood at the center.
A boy was inside.
Ronan.
But he looked younger.
Much younger.
Ronan opened his eyes.
"That wasn't a memory."
Darius turned toward him.
"What did you see?"
"Me."
Darius's expression changed.
"How old?"
"I don't know. Maybe six."
Darius went silent.
Kael stepped closer.
"You were in a laboratory?"
Ronan nodded.
"Seven chambers."
Lyra's eyes narrowed.
"Seven?"
Ronan looked at her.
"Seven."
The system suddenly flickered.
[Memory Reconstruction Initiated.]
[Recovered fragments: 3%]
[Warning: Memory corruption detected.]
Ronan clenched his fist.
"What happened to me?"
No answer came.
Instead, the sky shook.
One of the Judges finally moved.
It raised its hand.
A massive wave of energy began forming above Sector 14.
Kael looked up.
"Everyone move!"
Resistance soldiers scattered.
Ronan remained where he was.
Lyra grabbed his arm.
"Ronan!"
"I'm not running."
"You'll die!"
Ronan looked at the energy above them.
Something inside him felt strangely calm.
The Core Flame began burning.
Not violently.
Quietly.
Like a fire waiting for permission.
Ronan raised his hand.
The energy above the city suddenly stopped.
The Judge froze.
Kael stared.
"What did you just do?"
Ronan didn't know.
He hadn't attacked.
He hadn't defended himself.
He had simply reached out.
And the Judge had stopped.
The system appeared.
[Authority conflict detected.]
[Legacy Authority recognized.]
[Judge command overridden.]
Ronan's eyes widened.
The Judge slowly lowered its hand.
For the first time, fear appeared in its voice.
"Impossible."
Darius smiled faintly.
"Now you understand."
Ronan looked at him.
"Understand what?"
"The reason the Circle is afraid of you."
Ronan stared at the Judge.
"You knew this would happen."
"I suspected."
"Who are you really?"
Darius didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he looked toward the darkened horizon.
"I'm one of the seven."
Ronan's eyes narrowed.
"You're a Legacy candidate?"
"Yes."
"The system identified you."
"It did."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Darius looked at him.
"Because candidates who reveal themselves too early don't survive."
A distant explosion shook the city.
Another Judge descended.
Then another.
Darius's expression hardened.
"We need to leave."
Ronan shook his head.
"No."
Darius frowned.
"We can't fight five Judges."
"We don't have to."
Ronan looked at the Resistance base.
"We need to evacuate everyone."
Kael nodded immediately.
"Finally, something sensible."
He turned and began shouting orders.
Lyra remained beside Ronan.
"What are you planning?"
Ronan looked at the Judges.
"I want to know what happens when they realize they can't control me."
Lyra frowned.
"Ronan..."
He smiled slightly.
"I'm not going to fight them."
The Core Flame brightened.
"I'm going to make them talk."
Ronan stepped forward.
The air around him changed.
Every window in the surrounding buildings began vibrating.
The Judges looked down.
The first Judge spoke.
"Legacy Candidate."
Ronan looked directly at it.
"You know who I am."
"We know what you are."
"Then tell me."
Silence.
Ronan's eyes narrowed.
"What is the Legacy?"
The Judge didn't respond.
"Why was I in that laboratory?"
Still nothing.
"Who was the woman calling my name?"
The Judge suddenly moved.
Ronan's Core Flame exploded.
A shockwave tore through the rooftop.
The Judge was thrown backward.
Lyra shielded her face from the debris.
Ronan stared at his own hands.
He hadn't expected that much power.
The system appeared.
[Layer III synchronization: 74%]
[New ability detected.]
[Legacy Authority.]
Ronan read the words.
Then another message appeared.
[Ability description unavailable.]
He almost laughed.
"Of course."
Darius looked at him.
"You shouldn't use that ability again."
"Why?"
"Because the Circle will feel it."
Ronan turned.
"What happens if they do?"
Darius's face became serious.
"They stop watching."
The sky suddenly darkened.
Every Judge turned toward the same direction.
A circular symbol appeared above the clouds.
The symbol was ancient.
Ronan recognized it immediately.
The Circle.
Kael looked up.
"That's not good."
Darius shook his head.
"No."
His voice was barely a whisper.
"It's worse than that."
The symbol began rotating.
A voice echoed across the entire city.
Not from the Judges.
Not from the system.
From somewhere far away.
"Ronan Sable."
Ronan's heart stopped.
He knew that voice.
He didn't know how.
But he knew it.
The voice continued.
"You have awakened before."
Ronan's eyes widened.
"Who are you?"
The voice laughed softly.
"You still ask the same question."
The dark symbol above them opened.
"Every time."
Ronan stepped backward.
Lyra grabbed his hand.
"What does that mean?"
Ronan couldn't answer.
The voice continued.
"You were never supposed to remember."
Ronan's Core Flame suddenly turned white.
Pain shot through his chest.
The system flashed rapidly.
[MEMORY LOCK FAILURE.]
[5%...]
[11%...]
[23%...]
Ronan fell to one knee.
Lyra caught him.
"Ronan!"
Images flooded his mind.
A burning city.
A laboratory.
Seven children.
A woman standing behind glass.
The Circle watching from above.
And a man kneeling before a younger Ronan.
The man's face was hidden.
But his voice was clear.
"If you wake again, everything ends."
Ronan opened his eyes.
The memory vanished.
The system stabilized.
[Memory reconstruction interrupted.]
[Recovered identity fragment.]
[Designation: Origin Subject.]
Ronan stared at the words.
Darius stepped closer.
"What did you see?"
Ronan slowly stood.
"I saw seven children."
Darius's face went pale.
"That's impossible."
"You said that already."
Darius shook his head.
"No."
He looked toward the sky.
"I mean the seven children were supposed to be dead."
Ronan stared at him.
"What?"
Darius swallowed.
"The first Legacy experiment happened seventeen years ago."
Ronan froze.
Seventeen years.
His age.
Lyra looked between them.
"Ronan..."
Darius continued.
"The Circle selected seven children."
"Seven potential vessels."
"Seven possible Legacies."
Ronan's voice was barely audible.
"And me?"
Darius looked directly at him.
"You were the first."
The system appeared one final time.
[ORIGIN MEMORY: PARTIALLY RESTORED.]
[SUBJECT ONE: RONAN.]
[STATUS: ALIVE.]
Then another line appeared.
[SUBJECT TWO: UNKNOWN.]
Ronan stared at it.
Darius stepped back.
"That's the one you need to find."
Ronan looked at the dark sky.
"Why?"
Darius's expression became grim.
"Because Subject Two is the only one who remembers what happened to you."
The Circle symbol above them began disappearing.
But before it vanished completely, the mysterious voice spoke one final time.
"Find your brother, Ronan."
Ronan's eyes widened.
The symbol disappeared.
And for the first time in his life, Ronan realized that the mystery surrounding his power wasn't beginning with him.
It had begun before he could even remember his own name.
Now, somewhere in the world, another Legacy was awake.
And that person knew the truth.