Ashes of Our Flame
by RapwizzyDebaron
---
Episode 56: "The Vault Beneath the Glass"
---
Dawn cracked over the broken skyline like a promise barely kept. The journey to the Arkive had begun.
Kara, Adrian, Ghost, and the mirror-eyed girl trudged across the Glass Wastes—an endless stretch of fused sand and scorched metal, where solar storms once melted cities into mirrors of ruin. Underfoot, the ground shimmered, reflecting their weary forms like ghosts walking atop memory.
"The Arkive is buried beneath all this?" Adrian asked, adjusting his gear.
The girl nodded. "At the center. A crater where the Lazarus Project first failed… or so they claimed. What lies beneath is the truth they buried with fire."
Kara's fingers curled at her sides. "Then we dig it up. No matter what we find."
---
Flashback – Lazarus Memory Sync Log 014
A younger Dr. Elias Vane stood before a glowing sphere, inside which floated the original twins — Kara and Calen. Small, sleeping, breathing in sync.
"They are more than subjects," he said into the recorder. "They are keys. Fire and shadow. The Arkive was built for them — a test, a gate… and a weapon."
He looked toward the camera, a flicker of doubt in his eyes.
"If they reunite… the world may never be the same."
---
Back to the Present – Descent Begins
The group reached the crater by midday — a colossal pit of blackened earth and mirrored shards.
Ghost scouted the perimeter. "No signs of drones, but we're not alone."
Adrian tilted his head. "Meaning?"
"Look."
At the crater's edge stood a figure — tall, cloaked in ash, face hidden by a cracked mask.
The mirror-eyed girl stepped forward. "Gatekeeper."
The figure spoke in a voice like grinding glass. "Only one may enter the core. The flame or the shadow. Not both."
Kara's heart pounded. "Then let me in."
The Gatekeeper extended a long finger toward the abyss. "Prove your flame endures."
The ground trembled. The pit yawned open wider — and stairs made of light shimmered into view.
Kara turned back to Adrian. "If I don't come back…"
"You will," he said, gripping her hand. "Because you're not just fire. You're the spark they couldn't kill."
---
Inside the Arkive
Kara descended alone.
With each step, the air grew colder — not physically, but emotionally. As if the structure fed on memories, regrets, and fears. Digital ghosts flickered across the walls — flashes of experiments, children screaming, promises broken.
She passed holograms of her younger self — learning, fighting, breaking.
At the core chamber, a massive vault door pulsed with red light.
"Access: Subject Alpha recognized," a voice intoned. "Final memory test commencing."
A beam of light struck Kara's chest, and she collapsed.
---
Memory Test – Simulated Reality
She was back in the lab — a child again. Calen stood before her, smiling.
"Do you remember?" he asked.
Kara blinked. "This isn't real."
"Maybe not. But the pain is. The betrayal. You left me."
"I didn't have a choice—"
"You did!" he screamed, and suddenly the lab was on fire. "You chose freedom. I was left to rot."
Kara's knees buckled. "They lied to me too…"
"Then burn it down, Kara. All of it. Destroy the Arkive. Let it end."
She looked around. The children in the cells. The cold faces of scientists. Her reflection, bruised and torn.
"No," she said. "We don't end it. We rewrite it."
The fire around her dimmed.
She stood tall.
"I forgive you, Calen. But I won't let your pain destroy what's left of us."
---
Core Access – Unlocked
The vault door opened.
Inside was a crystalline structure — a server grown like a tree, glowing with data.
Holograms swirled to life, revealing:
The full truth of the Lazarus Project.
The experiments.
The fail-safes.
The buried identities of every child used.
Including the final protocol: Omega Sync. A forced merger of Subject Alpha and Subject One into a single entity… the perfect weapon.
Kara staggered back. "They built us… to become one?"
---
Outside – The Storm Breaks
Above the Arkive, thunder cracked. Black clouds rolled in unnaturally fast.
Calen had arrived.
He stood atop the crater, eyes glowing red, hair swirling with energy.
"I feel her awakening," he murmured. "So it begins."
He stepped forward, and the very air warped around him.
Ghost aimed a plasma rifle. "What the hell is that?"
Adrian pulled Kara's name up on his comms. "Kara, hurry! He's here!"
---
Inside – Kara's Choice
The data tree pulsed.
"Download?" the system asked.
Kara gritted her teeth. "Yes."
The server lit up. Data surged into her suit, into her mind. Names, faces, truths — all of it flooding in.
The pain was unbearable. But she didn't scream.
She endured.
For them.
For every broken child.
---
Outside – Clash of Titans
Calen dropped into the pit like a falling star. Earth shattered.
Adrian and Ghost charged forward, but a wave of darkness knocked them back.
"Stay down," Calen said, voice inhuman. "This is between us."
Then Kara emerged.
Eyes glowing.
Fire dancing across her skin.
"Not anymore, Calen," she said. "I know the truth now."
Brother and sister.
Flame and shadow.
Created to destroy — reborn to save.
They charged each other.
And the sky split.
---
To be continued…
🔥 Flame meets shadow. Secrets ignite. Destiny has arrived.
Vote, comment, and follow Ashes of Our Flame by RapwizzyDebaron. The fire's not fading — it's becoming unstoppable.