Rey woke in darkness.
A thin blue lamp flickered in the corner, barely strong enough to push back the shadows that swallowed the metal room. The air was cold, sharp, and smelled of iron and old pain. Machines hummed quietly beside him, their lights blinking like half-closed eyes.
He lay on a narrow bed bolted to the floor, straps digging into his wrists and ankles.
He tried to lift his right arm.
It didn't move.
A slow, sickening dread spread through him. Shaking, he forced his head forward—
His right hand was gone.
Only a tight bandaged stump remained, wrapped with dried blood.
Rey's breath collapsed into a trembling gasp.
"No… no—what… what did you do to me?!"
He tried to tear free, pulling so hard the leather straps burned his skin. Pain shot up his nerves, but the restraints didn't budge.
Tears blurred his vision.
Footsteps approached.
Slow. Calm. Confident.
The heavy metal door slid open, and Zero stepped inside as if entering a peaceful office rather than a torture chamber. A flawless black suit, perfect tie, cigarette glowing faintly between two fingers. Smoke curled around him like a lazy serpent.
His smile was warm. Almost fatherly.
"Relax, Rey."
Rey shook violently. His voice cracked in panic.
"Where's my hand?! WHERE IS MY HAND?!"
Zero placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"You were… unstable," he said kindly. "Your awakening nearly destroyed half the district. Agents died. Buildings collapsed. You were a danger to everyone, including yourself."
Rey stared, horrified.
"You're monsters," he whispered. "Where's my mother? Where's Zen? What did you do?!"
Zero sighed softly, as though disappointed in a child.
"Son of Aydren… you still don't understand. You carry the greatest power this world has seen since the war. A new legend born."
Rey's heart pounded painfully.
"What did you do to my family?! Tell me!!"
Zero stepped aside.
"You want your mother?"
He snapped his fingers.
A shutter lifted at the far end of the room, revealing a glass chamber filled with harsh white light.
Aurora.
She sat strapped to a metal chair, electrodes attached to her neck, chest, and arms. Her face was pale, lips trembling from unconscious pain.
Rey felt his soul tear in half.
"MOM!!"
Zero pressed a button on the wall.
Electricity roared to life.
Aurora's body convulsed violently, her muscles jerking, her mouth opening in a silent scream. The cables glowed white-hot.
Rey's scream shattered the room.
"STOP!!! STOP IT!!! PLEASE, I'M BEGGING YOU!!! STOP!! STOP!!!"
Zero watched, expression calm, smoke drifting from his cigarette.
After several agonizing seconds, he turned off the current. Aurora slumped, unconscious but breathing.
Rey collapsed into broken sobs.
"You… you demon…"
Zero leaned close, voice gentle as silk.
"No, Rey. I am order. Avalon is order. And you will help us destroy Eclipse and bring an end to war."
Rey glared through tears.
"I will never help you. Never."
Zero exhaled smoke softly.
"A shame. Disobedience brings consequences."
The door slid open.
Vectoriya entered in a white lab coat, eyes widening the moment she saw Rey's missing hand and the torture chamber behind the glass.
"What have you done? He's a child!"
Zero didn't turn.
"Repair his arm when he stabilizes," he said simply.
Vectoriya clenched her fists.
"You can't do this! He's the Ring host, not a slave! This is barbaric—"
Zero finally looked at her over his shoulder.
"Vectoriya… do you remember what happened to the last researcher who questioned me?"
She froze.
"And the soldier who refused orders? The nurse who tried to leak information?"
Her lips parted. No sound came.
"They vanished," Zero said lightly. "As will you, if you forget your place."
Her eyes burned with disgust and fear. Without another word, she left.
Zero added calmly as she exited:
"And don't forget to fix his arm."
Then another figure stepped inside.
Keven.
He limped heavily, one eye swollen purple, blood crusted on his mouth from Rey's earlier kick. Despite the damage, a crooked grin stretched across his face.
"You know…" Keven rasped, sliding down to sit on a metal crate, "I still don't get one thing."
Rey looked away, trembling.
Keven leaned closer.
"Aydren," he whispered. "Your father. The strongest man who ever lived."
Rey's breath faltered.
"He could've ruled the world," Keven continued slowly. "He could've crushed Avalon. He could've erased Eclipse. He could've owned anything he wanted."
His grin faded into confusion.
"So why did he leave you behind?"
Rey froze.
Keven laughed weakly.
"Was he scared? Running from something? Or trying to protect you from us?"He shook his head."Protect you from who? Who could stop Aydren?"
Rey whispered, voice shaking:
"My mother told me… he loved us. She said he would come back."
Keven's eyes softened for a heartbeat.
"Kid… gods don't come back."
The words stabbed like a knife.
Rey felt something collapse inside him—fear, grief, abandonment mixing into a painful knot.
Keven tapped Rey's chest lightly.
"But your kick today?" He grinned again. "That was pure Aydren. You made me believe in him again. You're a true monster. Just like him."
Rey closed his eyes, tears sliding down his cheeks.
"My father… wouldn't leave us…"
Keven shrugged.
"Believe what you want. But if something could take Aydren down…"He leaned back."…then what chance do you have, kid?"
He limped out.
Zero followed behind him, pausing at the door. Only the ember of his cigarette glowed in the darkness.
"Remember, Rey," he said softly. "Obey… and the world becomes peaceful."
The door shut.
Darkness returned.
Rey lay alone on the cold metal bed, broken, shaking, the blue light flickering weakly above him.
Somewhere in the silence, the Ring hummed faintly—whispering to him from the shadows.