The Bound and the Buried

The Violet Spark burned like a soft candle within Jace's Codex.

Not a glyph. Not a skill.

A presence.

Dormant, but aware.

It pulsed faintly, as if echoing a heartbeat not fully his own.

Back inside the Vault, Jace sat alone—legs folded, Codex open, surrounded by swirling inscriptions and half-formed memories. He'd pushed the other glyphs aside. This wasn't training.

This was resurrection.

> [Codex Notice – Anomalous Fragment Detected]

– Classification: Soul Remnant (Violet)

– Status: Incomplete

Warning: Rebinding Protocol Requires Unsealing Core Pathways

"To restore what was lost, you must first unlock what you buried."

Jace frowned.

"What I buried…?"

Then the Vault shifted.

A stairway appeared beneath him—glowing red, spiraling downward into a space he had never seen before.

Selira had warned him: the Vault is not a library.

It is a mirror.

And it shows what you hide.

---

As Jace descended, he heard whispers.

Not spoken.

Remembered.

> "No one wanted you. You weren't born into any house."

"She died because you were too weak."

"They will betray you like they betrayed her."

"Even your Codex was a mistake."

He clenched his fists.

Each step cracked beneath his foot like bone.

At the bottom, he saw a gate—not made of stone or script, but of light bound by blood. His own face reflected in it, younger, frightened. Alone.

The gate asked nothing.

It only waited.

He stepped through.

---

On the other side… was himself.

A younger Jace. No Codex. No armor. Just a trembling boy staring into darkness.

He turned.

"I don't want to remember this," he whispered.

Jace stepped forward.

"You don't have to be afraid anymore."

The boy's eyes brimmed with tears.

"I didn't want to live after she died."

"I know."

"And when the Codex chose me…"

"You thought it was punishment."

The boy nodded.

"I wanted to forget. Everything."

"And now," Jace said, "we have to remember."

---

Their hands touched.

Light exploded.

Pain surged—but not physical.

Memories flooded in like a collapsed dam.

The trial. The fall. Violet's final breath.

The moment he'd begged the Codex not to let him feel.

And the Codex… had obeyed.

It sealed his grief.

Bound his rage.

Buried his guilt.

All to keep him functional.

But that seal had blocked more than pain.

It had blocked power.

Now…

It cracked.

> [Vault Expansion – Unsealed Pathway: Echo Root Layer]

– New Glyph Branch Unlocked: Soulwritten

– +1 Personal Glyph Slot

– +1 Vault Merge Capacity

– Trait Unlocked: Buried Flame

• When fighting for someone bound to your Codex, gain +10% glyph speed and +15% resistance to mental interference.

> Codex Integration: 47% → 50%

Jace staggered back as the Vault reformed around him.

But this time…

He felt whole.

---

Selira waited outside the chamber.

When he emerged, he didn't speak.

He just walked to her and placed a hand over his chest.

"It's open now."

She studied him—really studied him.

Then nodded.

"Good. You'll need everything. The Circle Prime has called for your formal trial."

"Trial?"

"Not punishment," she said. "Initiation."

Jace raised a brow.

"You mean I wasn't a full member?"

Selira smirked. "You were a guest with a dangerous Codex. Now… they want you to swear the Rite of Flame."

"And if I don't?"

"Then they'll try to take it from you."

---

That night, as the Crescent hung crooked and low, Jace sat alone in his room.

The Violet Spark pulsed faintly again.

This time… he could feel her.

Not fully.

But enough.

"I'm coming back for you," he whispered.

"And I won't bury anything else."

"The Rite of Flame"

The arena wasn't a stadium.

It was a memory.

Forged from the blood of twelve thousand fallen Codex bearers, shaped by flames that never died, the Crucible of Writ stood suspended between the living and the dead—an extradimensional battleground conjured by the Prime Circle for one purpose:

To prove who was worthy to burn.

---

Jace stood at the edge of the crimson stone platform, high above an ocean of inscribed magma. Giant glyphs circled the perimeter like orbiting moons, humming with ancient power. Each bore the sigil of one of the Prime Houses—though Jace's name did not appear among them.

Because Jace had no house.

Only fire.

Selira stood beside him in ceremonial armor of etched blacksteel. She looked proud… but wary.

"You know they want you to die in there," she said softly.

Jace adjusted the Revenant Glaive on his back. "Then they're about to be disappointed."

She gave a sharp grin. "Good. The Flame likes fighters."

---

An enormous ring of light erupted across the sky.

A voice boomed.

> "The Rite of Flame begins."

> "Let the Codex bearers step forward."

Three others joined him inside the Crucible.

Kael Vire – House of Glass Flame, known for psychic fire glyphs that melt not flesh, but willpower.

Rothael Den – House of Crimson Vein, an unholy glyph-binder with explosive runes that detonate after being absorbed.

Luneth Arra – House of Silence, her Codex grafted into her spinal nerves—she used no voice, only movement and pain.

Each had one goal: force the others to yield, or remove them entirely from the rite.

Jace was the outsider.

And he was the target.

---

The flames rose.

The match began.

Kael struck first—glyphs burning into the air with sickening speed, warping reality into spirals of agony. Jace's mind buckled, but the Buried Flame trait lit his Codex with reinforced shielding.

> Resisted: Psychic Flame Spike

– Damage reduced by 80%

– Counter potential unlocked

He responded with Severed Echo, but aimed at the ground—using the echoed force of the slash to rocket himself forward at Kael like a shadow bolt. His glaive tore through Kael's shielding and shattered his casting focus.

First down.

Rothael grinned.

"Didn't think you'd be so quick."

Then exploded.

---

Glyphs surged from Rothael's chest and spine—inward glyphs, self-carved and pulsing. They flared, then burst outward, blanketing the Crucible in molten red sigils.

> Warning: Rune Bloom Detected – Codex Corruption Hazard

– Anti-intrusion protocol engaged

– Suggesting Counter-Glyph: Severance Layer / Glyph Cleanse

Jace slammed his glaive into the floor, activating a sweeping burst of the Cleanse glyph—a minor utility script he had picked up during the lower vault missions.

The explosion parted around him like a broken wave.

He surged through the fire.

Rothael's grin faltered.

And Jace struck.

Once.

Then again.

Then waited.

Two seconds later…

BOOM.

Rothael's entire chest cavity echoed the second strike—his body dropping like a burned marionette.

> Elimination Confirmed – Rothael Den

Codex Integration: 50% → 52%

---

Only Luneth remained.

She said nothing.

Did nothing.

Just walked.

Each step bled black ink from her feet, glyphs uncoiling from the stains in serpentine form. They hissed. They whispered. They pierced.

And then one reached Jace.

> Status Ailment Detected: Silence Coil

– Vocalized glyphs locked

– Speech-based spells nullified

– Ki discharge disrupted by 27%

He gasped.

And she was already on him.

Her twin daggers weren't daggers at all—they were bones, carved into script knives, each inscribed with the names of those she'd silenced before.

The fight went hand to hand.

He bled.

She bled more.

But Jace remembered something.

She was fast.

But he was no longer fighting alone.

---

As the final slash landed—crippling her right leg—his Codex flared, and the Violet Spark lit up in his Vault.

> Soulwritten Glyph Suggestion: Echo Link – Minor Companion Surge

– Borrow strength from connected soul

– Duration: 10 seconds

– Cost: 5% ki + 1 Codex Stability

Jace accepted.

His body surged—faster, heavier, burning with a power that wasn't quite his but didn't feel foreign.

In those ten seconds, he struck once.

And she collapsed.

---

> Final Elimination Confirmed – Luneth Arra

Rite of Flame Completed

New Title Unlocked: Flame-Bound Codex Holder

Trait Gained: Flame Endureth

– Survive one lethal strike per trial instance

– Cooldown: 24 hours

Codex Integration: 52% → 55%

The arena dissolved.

The Crucible faded.

Only ash remained.

And Jace stood alone at the center.

---

Selira waited on the other side.

No longer wary.

Only proud.

"Now," she said, "you don't just have a Codex."

"You have flame."

"Fire Casts a Long Shadow"

The Crucible's embers had barely cooled before the summons arrived.

A sealed scroll, inked in gold ash, carried by a silent monk wearing the robes of the Circle Prime. He did not speak. He only bowed, offered the scroll to Jace, and vanished like smoke.

Selira opened it alongside him.

Her expression hardened.

"They want you now. No rest. No delay. They claim the Rite of Flame qualifies you for council review."

Jace raised an eyebrow. "Review… or interrogation?"

"They say it's ceremonial." She tore the scroll in half. "But nothing the Circle does is just ceremonial."

---

The Circle Prime's hall stood at the heart of the Shadow Court—twelve obsidian thrones encircling a raised bloodsteel platform. Each throne was a seat of immense power, shaped by generations of Codex mastery, and carved with its bearer's lineage glyph.

Jace walked in alone.

No Selira.

No guards.

Only the weight of twelve pairs of ancient eyes.

At the center of the circle hovered an enormous Codex—not bound to any one person, but etched into the air like a living will.

The Prime Codex.

---

"Jace of No House," spoke the First Flame, an old man whose skin looked like cracked marble. "You have passed the Rite. Your Codex speaks truth. Your fire does not lie."

"But…" said another, a woman with golden-black eyes, "You carry something not of this Court."

Another added: "A fragment not born from your blood. A spark that does not belong to you."

They all leaned forward.

"Tell us, Jace. What is the Violet Spark?"

He stared up at them, shoulders straight.

"A part of someone I refuse to leave behind."

Murmurs stirred.

One of them sneered. "That 'someone' now leads Nullborn through Daemir's old paths. She wears his eye."

Another chimed in. "You are linked. If she falls, you may fall with her. You could endanger the Codex's integrity."

"Then teach me how to save her," Jace said. "Or get out of my way."

---

The Prime Codex flared.

Not in anger.

In recognition.

Glyphs danced.

> Prime Codex Response: Sync Affirmed – Dual Flame Potential Detected

– Trait Compatibility: 92%

– Soul Link Integrity: Stable but volatile

Suggested Course: Oneiric Convergence

The room fell silent.

Jace blinked. "What's that?"

Selira's voice cut through from the entry hall—she'd entered without being seen.

"It means you'll dream with her. Walk her memories. See what she became."

He turned. "You knew?"

She nodded. "I hoped it wouldn't come to this."

The Circle conferred again—this time quietly.

Then the First Flame spoke:

"Prepare the Dreambed. If you survive the Convergence, we shall grant your request."

"And if I fail?"

"Then your Codex will burn."

---

That night, Jace entered the Dreambed chamber—a vault chamber carved with sleeping runes, memory siphons, and Codex dream-anchors. Ancient symbols curled like vines across the obsidian floor, ready to pull his mind into shared resonance with Violet's soul.

Selira stood at the edge, holding a blade.

"Blood is the bridge," she said. "You have to let it call you to her."

Jace nodded and cut his palm, letting the blood drip onto the anchor.

Then—

Darkness.

And a voice.

"Jace?"

---

He opened his eyes into a ruined world.

Everything was ash and broken color.

And Violet stood there, her eyes full of light and sorrow.

"You came."

He stepped forward.

"I never stopped trying."