Two fierce-looking soldiers hauled a seemingly unconscious man down a stark, sterile hallway. The walls were lined with steel panels, adorned only by the occasional flickering overhead light. The echo of their boots clanging against the concrete floor filled the silence, broken only by the dragging of the man's limp body.
His hands were bound tightly with special handcuffs designed to suppress any abilities, leaving him completely vulnerable.
At the end of the hallway, the soldiers halted before a set of heavy, reinforced doors. One of them slammed a fist against the metal, and the door creaked open.
The walls here were adorned with tactical maps, mission briefs, and various high-tech equipment, all centered around a massive desk. Behind it sat General Silas, whose presence seemed to fill the room. His cold gaze locked onto the soldiers as they dragged the man forward, the air thick with tension.
"Place him on the table," Silas commanded, his voice sharp and unwavering.
The soldiers obeyed, lifting the man onto a cold, metallic table with no regard for his comfort. They stood at attention, awaiting the General's orders.
"You may leave" Silas spoke again, gesturing toward the soldiers.
The two men saluted and turned back, their heads raised high as they walked away, leaving only Silas and their captive alone in the room.
General Silas stood up, a cold laugh escaped his lips as he walked towards Lucius Noctis. He placed his hands on the Latter's head, a smile spreading on his face. "Truly you thought you had won uh? Too bad for you, I saw through your plan as soon as you attacked.
Lucius remained completely still, his head bowed, his expression unreadable beneath the dark strands of his hair. Silas' smile only grew wider as he sneered down at the man, his grip tightening.
Without warning, Silas yanked Lucius' head back, forcing him to look up. He grabbed a handful of the man's hair and slammed his face into the metal table. The loud crack of impact rang out in the room, but still, Lucius gave no reaction, not a grunt, not even the smallest flicker of emotion. His body was a lifeless shell, a stark contrast to the fierce power he was known to wield.
Silas paused, staring down at him, almost intrigued. The silence stretched between them like a taut wire, and the General leaned closer, his voice a low growl. "Not even a whimper. Impressive... or is it cowardice? You don't even have the decency to speak."
Lucius' lips twitched, but not a sound escaped him. Silas' smile faltered for a moment, then quickly returned, more venomous than before.
"Well," Silas continued, circling around the table, "I suppose we'll just have to break you the old-fashioned way."
He drew a sharp, cold knife from his belt, the blade gleaming in the dim light. He held it up to the air as if admiring it before taking a deliberate step toward Lucius. "Let's see how long that silence lasts."
General Silas moved slowly, deliberately, savoring the moment. The blade in his hand caught the light as he stepped closer to Lucius, who remained eerily still, his body limp but his eyes half-lidded, seemingly detached from the scene unfolding around him.
Silas stood over him, the gleam of the knife drawing a wicked grin across his face. He leaned down, the cold edge of the blade brushing against Lucius' neck, just barely making contact with his skin. "You thought you could outsmart me?" Silas whispered, his voice low, dripping with venom. "You thought I wouldn't see the trap you set?"
Lucius' gaze flickered just a brief moment of awareness but still, not a sound left his lips. It was as if he were already miles away, lost in some other place, unwilling to let Silas see the fear, the anger, the desperation he surely felt.
Silas' grip on the knife tightened, his patience wearing thin. "I can make you scream," he hissed, pressing the blade harder, drawing a thin line of blood across Lucius' throat. "But I want to see how long it takes before you break. I want you to feel every second of it. I want to watch you crumble."
The room seemed to grow colder, the air thick with tension as Silas waited for some kind of response, his eyes fixed on Lucius.
Still, Lucius said nothing.
In that instant, Lucius' eyes flashed with an intensity that was impossible to ignore. For a brief moment, Silas felt a spark of something, an energy, a presence that seemed to vibrate in the very air around them.
The General, caught off guard, took a step back. Lucius' words echoed in his mind, now carrying a weight that didn't sit right.
"You don't control this game," Lucius whispered, his voice dripping with certainty. "I do."
Suddenly, the room felt colder, darker, as if something just shifted. The darkness covered the room, leaving General Silas stunned. He couldn't see anything anymore but no.....that wasn't it! the darkness felt alive. It was like it was strangling him.
The suffocating darkness around Lucius seemed to pulse with power, swirling in response to his will. Silas' taunts and threats were nothing more than noise now, irrelevant in the face of what was to come.
Suddenly, the metallic table he was bound to creaked under the strain of Lucius' growing power. The chains, designed to suppress his abilities, began to tremble. For a moment, they seemed to resist, but then, as if yielding to an unseen force, they shattered, snapping apart with a sharp, resounding crack.
Lucius rose to his feet, his body no longer held by the restraints. The air around him seemed to grow thicker, denser, as if the darkness itself was responding to his emotions, feeding off the very essence of his will. The shadows that had been suffocating Silas now hovered like a protective veil, waiting for his command.
The General, struggling to regain control of the situation, was still tethered to the table by invisible chains, but Lucius' power had already begun to reshape the space around him. The shadows gripped Silas, pulling him upright, forcing him into a kneeling position, his body completely immobilized. Stay connected with empire
Lucius approached him with slow, deliberate steps, his expression unbothered, as if this moment of triumph was nothing but a mere inconvenience to him. The darkness that clung to Silas' limbs kept him in place, unable to move, unable to escape.
He stopped right in front of the General, who now looked more fragile than ever. Silas' face was pale, his breath shallow, his body trembling as he fought to hold onto consciousness. Lucius' gaze locked onto his, cold and piercing.
"Where is the crystal?" Lucius asked, his voice quiet but filled with an undeniable weight.
Silas' eyes flickered with desperation, his breath coming in strained gasps as he tried to form words. His throat was raw, the darkness squeezing the life from him with every passing second. His body shook with exhaustion, and yet, Lucius' unwavering presence only seemed to grow stronger around him.
Silas' voice broke as he spoke, his words ragged and desperate. "It... it's in the vault... in the heart of the facility... guarded by the... the strongest of the ability soldiers. You won't get to it... not in time."
"Soft for a general...."
Lucius stared at him for a moment, as if weighing his next move. The power in his eyes flickered, the darkness surrounding them both humming with an almost palpable tension. His mind was calculating, taking in every bit of information. For a brief moment, a sense of mercy seemed to pass through him, but it was fleeting.
Lucius nodded, though his expression remained unchanged. Without another word, he stepped back. The shadows released their grip on Silas, and for the first time in what felt like an eternity, the General was able to breathe freely. His chest heaved as he gasped for air, but there was no triumph in his expression. He was beaten, his final plea already out in the open.
Lucius turned to leave, the shadows parting before him as if he were walking through a darkened tunnel. But just as he reached the door, he paused mid-step, his back still turned to the General.
"I'm giving you a chance, Silas," Lucius' voice was low, dangerous. "But don't mistake this for mercy.
And just as he spoke, the darkness engulfed him and he was gone.
Silas, still on the ground, his hands trembling, quickly triggered the emergency alarm.
"Protect the vault," Silas croaked, his voice hoarse but urgent. "All elite soldiers... protect the crystal! At all costs!"