Chapter 19: Ashes of the Vault

The fire still burned in Florence.

Even after the embers had cooled and the smoke faded into the crisp morning air, the scent of scorched parchment and molten stone lingered like a ghost that refused to die.

Lucien Ricci stood in the wreckage of the Ricci ancestral vault, the last bastion of a family legacy carved into centuries of blood, fire, and secrets. The explosion had reduced half the subterranean archive to a collapsed inferno of twisted metal and crushed marble. Illuminated only by the flicker of rescue lamps and emergency lights, the air was heavy with ash and regret.

"We have a breach in Sector 4," called Matteo, one of Lucien's remaining loyal lieutenants. "Whatever Drevin's men were looking for, they were willing to die for it."

Lucien crouched by a shattered data capsule, its contents irreparably damaged. His jaw clenched as he brushed away soot with gloved fingers, revealing only fragments of the Ricci Bloodline Ledger entries burned beyond recognition. But among the destruction lay a single pristine envelope, wrapped in wax-sealed leather with his father's crest.

The seal was untouched.

Lucien cracked it open, revealing a single note in his father's sharp, meticulous hand:

"She is the Catalyst. Her blood is not ours, but older. If Phoenix lives, Florence must burn. Protect her or end her. -G.R."

Lucien's breath caught. He read it again.

Her blood is not ours…

A shadow moved behind him. Instinctively, he raised his pistol—but the figure stepped into the half-light. It was Viola.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," she said, voice even but cold.

"I saw my legacy turned to dust. That counts."

"Your legacy was always written in shadows. You just never learned to read the warnings."

Lucien glared at her. "Did you know this? About Yuna's bloodline?"

Viola hesitated.

It was enough.

"You're playing your own game again, aren't you?" Lucien asked. "Siding with Drevin now?"

"Drevin doesn't want power," she said softly. "He wants evolution. The Syndicate is a relic, Lucien. A monument to men who thought blood made them gods. But Phoenix is the future."

"Then you'll burn with it."

"No, you will. Unless you understand that Yuna is more than you've imagined."

Lucien stepped closer, his voice low and venomous. "If you so much as..."

"She's in Jeju," Viola interrupted. "And Drevin has already begun Phase Two. Find her before what's left of your soul is smoked."

With that, Viola vanished into the night.

Meanwhile, Jeju Island, South Korea

Yuna Kim woke in a sterile room surrounded by silent machines.

There was no sky, no natural light. Just soft white luminescence and the low hum of technology. She tried to sit up, only to realize her arms were restrained.

A calm female voice echoed through a hidden speaker: "Vitals stable. The theta response elevated. Subject is waking."

She clenched her jaw. "Where am I?"

"Welcome, Ms. Kim," came a voice she hadn't heard in weeks. Elena Vescari stepped into view no longer the panicked scientist Lucien had once threatened, but a woman armored in resignation.

"You're in one of Drevin's off-grid facilities. South Sector Jeju. You've been out for seventy-three hours. They ran simulations on you. All night."

Yuna blinked hard. "Why am I restrained?"

Elena looked at the data pad. "Because your brain lit up the servers. Neural patterns not seen in any subject before. Whatever they injected into you at the Seoul lab it's awake now."

"Get me out of here."

"I can't. Not yet. But I am helping you."

Elena moved closer and whispered.

"There's a door. Behind the cryo-unit. Tonight. When the power cycles. You'll have ninety seconds before the secondary grid kicks in. If I'm caught.."

She didn't finish.

Yuna locked eyes with her. "Why are you helping me?"

Elena's gaze softened. "Because I used to love Drevin. And now I see him for what he is. But more than that, I saw your mother's file. You deserve the truth."

Then she turned and walked away.

Yuna lay back, staring at the white ceiling.

Lucien... Where are you?

Florence 6 hours later

Lucien boarded the private jet without speaking to anyone.

He sat down, shoulders heavy, staring out over the tarmac. Matteo entered moments later with a fresh intel packet.

"Intercepted message from Drevin's network," he said. "They confirmed Phoenix Phase Two is operational. Seoul, Tokyo, and Jeju are tagged."

Lucien's fingers dug into the seat's armrest.

"Put me in the air. Jeju. Now."

"Sir, it's not that simple. Airspace is locked..."

"Then unlock it. Find a way. Burn our way through if you must."

Matteo nodded and turned away. Lucien stared forward.

She's the Catalyst…

And if Florence had to burn, then so would everything else.