Chapter 8: A Broken Name
Lucien Drex didn't wake up screaming.
He just… woke up. Blinking at the ceiling like it owed him an apology.
His heartbeat was too calm for someone who'd just relived a nightmare.
He dragged his fingers across the sheet, fingers twitching, tracing sigils that weren't there. Not anymore.
The Obsidian Facility didn't leave scars.
It left… echoes.
---
Renn burst into the room, holding a half-burnt file. "Lucien, you need to see this!"
Lucien rolled over. "I need to sleep. Let's both suffer quietly."
"No, listen—it was in the east wing archive, in the Old Records section. Someone tried to burn it."
Lucien didn't move.
"It has your name on it."
He moved.
---
Two Hours Later
The file stank of soot and ink.
Half the pages were gone. The rest were water-damaged or singed around the edges. Renn had bandaged his fingers from where a defensive sigil scorched him.
Lucien read slowly.
File Title: OBSIDIAN PROJECT – SUBJECT CLASSIFICATION: DREX, L.
> "Subject transferred from Tier-7 Memory Alteration Ward." "Original name fragment: Luc—[REDACTED]." "Sigil imprint failed. Subject retained external awareness." "Recommended for decommission. Denied by Pale Oversight." "Reassigned to Arcanum. Cover status: 'Unranked, Y1'."
Lucien exhaled. The room felt colder.
Renn paced. "You… you were part of that ghost program? The one that makes living sigils out of students?"
Lucien didn't answer.
He was staring at a final line.
"Project oversight transferred to Observer Class: Caelum V."
---
Flashback
It wasn't always cold in the Obsidian cells.
Sometimes it was bright. Cruelly bright.
The kind of light that let you see your own thoughts on the wall.
"Name?" the voice would ask.
Lucien—small, raw, tired—would whisper, "Lucien Drex."
The machine would hum.
"Incorrect."
Shock.
Not electricity. Worse.
It felt like losing the ability to recognize yourself.
Each time they asked, the name changed.
Each time he tried to remember who he was, another memory was stolen.
Until he stopped answering.
Until silence became his rebellion.
Until silence became his weapon.
---
Now
Renn sat down, visibly shaken. "You're not just hiding from Marcus or Seraphina… you're hiding from yourself."
Lucien looked at him, eyes dull. "Correction: I'm ignoring myself. Hiding takes effort."
"Does Caelum know?"
Lucien smiled thinly. "Caelum's not watching me. He's watching to see when I break."
"Are you going to?"
Lucien leaned back. "Not today. I'm too lazy to unravel."
---
Elsewhere
Caelum Virell stood on the observation tower, staring down at the training fields. A Pale Sigil relay flickered near his ear.
> "Subject Drex found partial file. Reaction: passive. Sub-layer trauma evident."
He said nothing.
The wind tousled his silver-blonde hair.
> "Should we engage memory-lock suppression?"
"No," Caelum said quietly.
> "Why?"
"Because I want to see what he does with the truth."
---
Back in Lucien's room
Lucien finally stood up, stretching slowly.
He opened a hidden drawer, pulled out a torn strip of parchment sealed in wax.
He peeled the wax away.
A sigil flickered—his sigil. A personal one.
It didn't match any House. Any discipline. It looked broken, jagged, like a puzzle that bled if you stared too long.
He pressed it to his forehead.
And remembered.
---
Deep Flashback – Obsidian Lab
Lucien stood in a mirrored chamber. No wounds. Just… cracks. His reflection moved slower than him.
A boy entered.
White uniform. Blue eyes. Cold voice.
Caelum.
"You're the anomaly," Caelum said.
"You're the observer," Lucien replied.
"You weren't supposed to survive the glyph-sink test."
"I wasn't supposed to remember your name either."
Caelum blinked.
Lucien smiled. "Oops."
That was the last time they spoke.
Until now.
---
Lucien put the sigil away.
Renn was still sitting, half-frozen.
Lucien clapped him on the shoulder. "Let's go."
"Where?"
"To class."
"You hate class."
"I need someone to see me walk into class. And someone else to think I'm walking into a trap."
"That makes no sense."
"Exactly."
They left the room just as another relay glyph shimmered on Lucien's desk. A sigil lit briefly—Inkshade: Elevated Access Approved.
---
Hidden Library – Pale Sigil Vault
Caelum stood alone.
He stared at a name etched into obsidian glass.
"Subject 13: Lucien D—"
He touched the glass.
It flared.
He didn't flinch.
"I want to know what kind of monster you'll become when you stop pretending to be lazy," he whispered.
A voice behind him answered.
"I don't."
Caelum turned.
Lucien was there.
Holding a cup of tea.
"Too much effort," Lucien said, sipping. "I'd rather make you become mine."
Fade to black.