They summoned him before the sun even rose.
No warning. No explanation. Just a system override at 5:03 a.m.
> [⚠ URGENT: Observation Match – Candidate 271-C: Riven Thorne]
> [Arena B: Arsenal Demonstration – Audience: Authorized Observers + Staff]
> [Arrival Deadline: NOW]
He didn't even bother pulling on a full uniform. Just his long coat, the cuff on his wrist, and the shard pulsing faintly beneath his collarbone — the Sorrow Anchor. Stable. Muted. But never silent.
The hallway lights flickered as he walked. Not like power failure — like reality was hiccupping.
Like the world wasn't sure it remembered itself anymore.
---
He found Lyra already waiting in the transit hall.
She didn't say good morning.
She just looked at him like she'd had the same dream he had — the one where the world cracked open and revealed a throne made of screams.
"You're not ready," she said.
He raised an eyebrow. "You saw something?"
"No," she said softly, "I felt something. Like Wrath is waking up... but it's not coming from outside anymore."
---
They said nothing else until the tram reached Arena Sector B.
When the doors opened, the pressure hit instantly.
Not heat. Not fear.
Presence.
Like the room itself already knew this moment would matter.
---
Observation Arena B wasn't a stadium.
It was a vault.
Circular. Tiered. Laced with Arsenal receptors, high-density emotion filters, and five layers of simulation-buffer runes designed to prevent a full emotional breach.
But even with all that… the dome above them trembled faintly.
As if the structure knew it was not enough.
---
Kael stood near the edge of the central ring. Vex beside him. Both were silent.
On the other side of the platform stood a group of students — whispering. Curious. Nervous.
They had heard what happened in the breach.
What bowed to Riven.
What followed him back.
Some stared at him like a ghost.
Some like a god.
---
He stepped onto the platform. Arsenal interface pinging quietly.
> [Emotion Arsenal Active: Tier 1 – Sorrow Synced]
> [Reflective Anchor Nearby – Status: Dormant]
> [Warning: Volatile Signal Approaching]
His opponent's platform began to rise.
And then he understood.
This wasn't a match.
This was a warning.
---
The boy was already crackling with red light.
No shirt. No weapon. Crimson tendrils seething across his body like glowing veins. His skin shimmered with heatwaves, his expression detached — serene, like he wasn't even fully there.
But his eyes…
His eyes were hollowed out with rage.
---
The Arsenal flared:
> [Emotion Type: WRATH]
> [Anchor Tier: I — Unstable]
> [Stability: 14%]
> [Mutation Detected – Memory Contamination Confirmed]
The platform sealed behind them. Dome locked.
The world narrowed.
And the system whispered:
> [Begin.]
---
Riven activated his sorrow threads immediately — dozens of golden strands curling around his arms and forming a protective lattice.
He wouldn't attack first. Not until he saw how fast this kid moved.
But he didn't have to wait long.
---
The Wrath user stepped forward.
And the arena exploded.
The floor cracked, tiles upended, the emotional resonance field ignited.
The first punch didn't come at Riven. It came at the environment.
And the environment answered.
The simulation buffer tried to absorb the blow — and was immediately overwhelmed.
Chunks of the platform fell away into nothingness.
---
Riven dodged right.
Spun. Countered. Launched sorrow-laced pulses toward the enemy.
They hit.
They passed through him.
The boy didn't blink.
---
Second strike.
Direct contact.
Riven's barrier crumpled.
He flew backward, hit the wall, gasped for breath.
The crowd gasped.
Kael's hand hovered over the recall trigger — but didn't press it.
Not yet.
---
Riven stood slowly.
The threads of sorrow reignited.
But they were flickering now. Unsteady.
The Wrath user walked toward him — barefoot, silent, glowing from within.
And then he whispered.
"You left us in the fire."
---
Riven staggered.
Something behind the boy flickered into view.
A cracked mirror. Floating. Warped.
In it — Riven saw himself.
But not now.
Not human.
Not afraid.
Golden-eyed. Flame-crowned. Smiling. Alone.
---
The mirror split.
A second version of himself walked forward — through the shard.
Not real. Not projection.
Memory.
Kael shouted something. Vex started forward.
The students in the stands flinched as their comm-tabs all flashed red.
> [⚠ PUBLIC EMOTIONAL SURGE DETECTED]
> [Anchor Clash in Progress]
> [CHAOS RESONANCE: 7%]
> [ORIGIN SIGNAL: CONFIRMED]
---
Riven dropped to one knee.
His heart pounded against his ribs.
The sorrow threads tried to stabilize — failed.
His interface shattered and reassembled three times.
Then something new appeared.
A symbol he hadn't seen before.
A circle. A jagged line through it.
An eye inside.
> "Chaos is not rage. Chaos is remembrance without order."
---
The Wrath user screamed.
His body began breaking apart.
Not bleeding.
Peeling — layer by layer, like every emotion in him was trying to leave at once.
And then Riven heard it — from every speaker, every interface, every Arsenal across the arena.
A single word.
"Elyon."
---
The crowd fell silent.
Some gasped.
Some dropped to their knees.
Lyra gripped the edge of the railing, whispering.
"He's waking up…"
---
Kael activated the override.
But it was too late.
The Wrath user collapsed — and a shard of pure crimson light exploded from his chest.
Not flame. Not energy.
Emotion.
The kind that scorches without heat.
The kind that remembers what was done to it.
The kind that doesn't forgive.
---
Riven staggered back. The shard hovered in the air.
And floated toward him.
The interface cracked again.
> [NEW EMOTION SHARD ACQUIRED]
> [ANCHOR: CHAOS]
> [Tier: Origin — Undefined]
> [Arsenal Mutation: ENGAGED]
His body trembled.
His sorrow threads dissolved.
And in their place, something else rose.
Not anger.
Not guilt.
Not memory.
Entropy.
---
The shard vanished into his chest.
He fell.
---
Darkness.
---
He awoke in the infirmary.
Kael stood over him. Vex beside him.
Lyra sat near the wall, eyes glassy, her hands glowing faintly with mirrorlight.
"You survived it," Kael said.
"What… did I…?"
"You didn't trigger Chaos," Vex said, crossing her arms. "You called it. And it answered."
---
The room fell silent.
The windows dimmed.
And Riven looked at his interface.
> [Anchor Arsenal Tree: ERROR]
> [Emotion Tier: Unreadable]
> [System Rewriting… 6%]
> [Arsenal Name: Undefined]
> [Subject: Elyon — Awakening Incomplete]
---
His heart stopped for a second.
Not because of fear.
Because of recognition.
---
"Someone else knows," he whispered.
Kael looked at him. "Knows what?"
"That I'm not Riven."
---
End of Chapter Twelve