Chapter 18: Ashes and Origins part 2

Inside the Phoenix Chamber – 02:12 AM

Yuna's eyes scanned the decrypted file as it opened, every word laced with the kind of truth that fractured identities. The document detailed experimentation on her mother Ji-Eun Kim taken from Seoul under the guise of a diplomatic incident, detained by the Ricci Syndicate's rogue division in Geneva two decades ago. Her DNA had been the foundation for Project Phoenix.

And Yuna's own genome?

It was the perfected result.

"She was patient zero…" Yuna whispered.

Min-Jae looked grim. "They were building a weapon. One that could adapt, heal, resist chemical manipulation. Not just physical endurance emotional regulation. Loyalty conditioning. You weren't supposed to think. You were supposed to *obey."

"But I broke through," Yuna said slowly, almost defiantly.

"You were never activated," Min-Jae replied. "Lucien kept you out of reach. Drevin was waiting for the right time. That time… is now."

Suddenly, a proximity alarm blared. A voice barked through a speaker overhead Drevin's.

"Welcome to the cradle of godhood, Yuna. If you're reading this, it means the chain has been broken. And it's time I pull the trigger."

Gas hissed into the chamber.

Min-Jae yanked Yuna's hand and pulled her into a side vault just before the door sealed. The Phoenix serum chamber flooded with a chemical mist, designed to suppress thought, induce trance.

Yuna fought for breath as her memories blurred the first time she saw Lucien, her mother's lullaby, her father's eyes…

And one name echoed through it all: (Project Monarch)

Above Deck – Kazuo vs. Lucien

Kazuo roared as Lucien drove his knee into his ribs, but the bastard didn't fall. Instead, he slammed Lucien into a bulkhead and landed a brutal elbow to his face, blood spraying across the metal.

"You made her soft!" Kazuo spat.

Lucien, face bloodied but eyes blazing, snarled, "She made me ruthless."

They broke apart and circled, breath ragged, feet sliding in blood.

"I should have killed you in Prague," Lucien said.

"I let you live," Kazuo grinned. "So I could watch you fall apart."

Lucien suddenly smiled and pulled a detonator from his pocket.

"You shouldn't have let me get close to the ship."

Kazuo's face froze.

"I planted charges across the Phoenix power grid," Lucien said. "I'll bring it all down. You, Drevin, the entire damn lab."

Kazuo lunged but Lucien was ready. He ducked, swept the man's legs, and drove a final blow into his jaw. Kazuo crumpled.

Lucien turned to the stairwell and ran.

(Phoenix Core Countdown)

Yuna stumbled from the vault, coughing, dazed, but conscious. Her mind was still spinning, but the trance gas hadn't fully taken her.

She was immune.

The final line in the file echoed in her mind:

"Subject K-001 exhibits total resistance to psychochemical coercion. Potential anomaly or evolution."

She wasn't just their weapon.

She was the *cure*.

Lucien burst into the chamber, blood streaking his face, eyes wild until he saw her.

"You're still standing," he breathed.

Yuna gave him a bitter smile. "Wasn't in the plan, was it?"

"No," he said. "You weren't supposed to be anyone's weapon."

"Then help me destroy it."

Lucien looked at the Phoenix Core and raised the detonator.

"You ready?" he asked.

Yuna nodded. "Burn it."

He pressed the trigger.

Outside – Incheon Skyline

A low rumble echoed across the port as the modified tanker exploded from within, a pulse of fire and smoke rising like a dying star. Shrapnel rained across the shipyard. The Phoenix Core was gone. Its data with it.

In the shadows beyond, Aleksei Drevin stood on a remote surveillance post, watching through a digital feed. The fire reflected in his eyes.

"Interesting," he murmured. "She resisted."

Beside him, Gabriel Ricci alive, restrained spoke for the first time in hours. "You lost."

Drevin smiled. "No, Mr. Ricci. Now I know she's viable. The serum isn't needed anymore. The real weapon is walking."

Lucien's Penthouse, Seoul (3 Days Later)

Rain tapped softly against the glass as Lucien poured two glasses of whiskey.

Yuna stood near the window, a bandage across her shoulder, her mother's old photo in her hand.

"You didn't tell me the truth," she said.

"I wasn't sure it was mine to tell."

She turned to him. "Then tell me now. Everything."

Lucien stepped forward and placed the glass in her hand.

"I don't know what you are anymore, Yuna," he said softly. "But I know what I am when I'm with you."

Her eyes searched his.

"A better man?" she asked.

"No," he said. "Just a man finally afraid of losing something."

The city stretched out beneath them, broken and burning and somewhere beyond it, a new enemy was rising.

But for tonight, there was stillness.

A calm before the storm.