Location: Deep Spire Archive Vault – Vanyress Dominion
Time: [Memory Drift: Stabilizing / Glyph Sync: Active]
The stairs spiraled deeper.
The air was heavy — not with magic, but with intent.
Like this place wasn't just remembering things.
It was waiting.
Finally, at the bottom of the spiral, they stepped into a vast chamber — circular, hollow, lined with archways filled with slowly shifting crystal panels. Each panel projected strange schematics, floating in silence.
But at the center?
A single glyph-locked pedestal.
Ancient. Silent.
Covered in dust that didn't fall, but hovered — like it was unsure which dimension it belonged in.
REN (approaching):
"This doesn't feel like a memory archive.
Feels more like… a vault."
FROST:
"These aren't memories.
They're schematics.
Blueprints."
BLAZE:
"Blueprints of what?"
Ren placed his palm gently on the pedestal.
A soft hum echoed.
And the glyph on his forearm — the one Seraval had burned into him — began to glow.
AETHERIUM CORE:
markdownCopyEdit> SERAVAL GLYPH: ACTIVATED > SUBROUTINE UNLOCKED – GUIDED VISION MODE
The chamber around them morphed.
Walls vanished.
Archways turned to pillars of light.
And Seraval's voice — that calm, worn-out tone — echoed from deep inside the glyph:
SERAVAL (voice only):
"You've found it.
The Blueprint.
The first draft of the Dimensional Core.
Before the Watchers.
Before the Drift."
REN (eyes wide):
"Wait… this isn't just a plan.
It's the original system?"
SERAVAL:
"It was never meant to be a weapon.
The Core was designed to connect.
Worlds. Realities. People.
But it grew too complex.
Too many inputs. Too many edits.
Someone—something—rewrote it to control instead of balance."
FROST (watching the projections rotate):
"These layers… they're modular.
Like someone kept adding patches."
SERAVAL:
"The Riftborn?
You weren't made.
You were accidental.
A ripple from a failed reboot.
Your other half is the proof — he was supposed to be the fix.
But the blueprint didn't agree."
Ren stepped toward the center projection — it was huge now, showing the Dimensional Core like a three-dimensional lattice of layered rings, branching threads, and something glowing at its very heart.
REN (staring):
"That... that centerpiece. I've seen it in my dreams."
SERAVAL (fading slightly):
"That's the Anchor.
It's what you'll need to find next.
And… what your Echo is trying to steal."
BLAZE (narrowing her eyes):
"So he's not just after power.
He's after the source."
SNARKSTEEL (dry):
"And let me guess. The Anchor doesn't come with instructions or a warranty."
REN (quiet):
"This is why Seraval helped me.
Why he gave me the glyph.
Because this blueprint…
was meant for Riftborn eyes."
Suddenly — a pulse rocked the chamber.
The glyph on the wall cracked.
The image flickered.
A deep, low voice — not Seraval — echoed through the vault:
"You were never meant to see this."
AETHERIUM CORE (urgent):
> WARNING: ENCRYPTION BREACH > BLUEPRINT CONNECTION – UNDER ATTACK > POSSIBLE INTERFERENCE: TYPE-NULL ENTITY
FROST:
"He's trying to overwrite it—!"
REN:
"No. Not this time."
He slammed his palm on the pedestal, channeling energy from the Aetherium Core and Seraval's glyph.
The blueprint flared once — violently — and locked in place.
AETHERIUM CORE:
> DATA BACKUP SUCCESSFUL > BLUEPRINT STORED > NEXT OBJECTIVE: LOCATE THE ANCHOR
Ren backed away as the projections folded into a compact sphere and sank into his Core.
REN (panting):
"We have it.
The original blueprint.
Now we just have to stop him from getting to the Anchor first."