The pain came first. Sharp. Hot. Endless.
Zayn Velarion opened his eyes, but nothing was there—just a dark void. No sky. No ground. Just floating. Bleeding. Lost.
He tried to scream, but no sound came out. His throat burned like acid was poured down it. His last memory flickered—his adoptive brother, Lucan, smiling as he poured the poison into his drink. Zayn's body collapsed on cold marble, surrounded by fake tears and whispering traitors.
"This is not death," Zayn thought. "This is something worse."
The darkness around him pulsed. Then, he heard voices—soft, echoing like they came from far beyond time.
"One of us…"
"Blood of the lost…"
"The last spark of the Eternal…"
Zayn turned. Shapes moved in the dark—tall, glowing figures with eyes like stars. Their bodies shimmered like fire and ice. They were not human.
Suddenly, a bright white gate appeared in front of him. Symbols circled its frame—old, alien, powerful.
He stumbled toward it. "What is this place?"
A deep voice answered, not with words, but in his mind:
"You were betrayed by blood. Now rise with power."
Zayn touched the gate.
In a flash of light, his body began to burn—flesh ripping, bones shattering, memories flooding in.
Neo-Lumina, Year 2525
Screams. Metal. Beeping monitors.
Zayn shot up from the capsule like a man drowning in air. He was naked, soaked in strange liquid, and inside a glowing pod surrounded by glass walls. A robotic voice repeated:
"Subject Z-001 successfully revived. Neural patterns stable. Memory core: connected. Welcome to Genesis Facility."
He gasped for air. His muscles ached like they hadn't been used for years. He looked at his reflection in the pod.
He was… younger. Maybe 22. Strong. His face was familiar but smoother, fresher. His eyes glowed faint blue.
"What the hell…?" Zayn whispered.
Before he could process anything, the lab doors hissed open. A man in a white coat stepped in, typing on a holographic tablet. He didn't notice Zayn was awake.
Zayn pulled himself out of the pod and took cover behind another capsule. His brain worked fast—even after death, the instincts of a genius kicked in.
The doctor muttered to himself, "Z-001 shows strong signs of Eternal resonance… finally, after two years of trials."
Zayn's eyes narrowed. Eternal? That word again.
He spotted a black bodysuit hanging nearby and quickly slipped it on. It fit perfectly, like it was made for him.
He stepped out. "Hey. You. Where am I?"
The doctor jumped, nearly dropping his tablet. "You—you're awake?! That's impossible! You were supposed to—"
Zayn grabbed him by the collar. "I'm asking the questions. Start talking."
The man trembled. "This is Project Genesis. You were chosen from ancient DNA samples found in a hidden cave. You're part of the Eternal Rebirth initiative. We wanted to awaken someone from the ancient bloodlines."
Zayn froze. "Ancient bloodline…?"
"Yes. A rare one. We called it the Eternal Line. Only one person had a match. You."
Zayn's thoughts raced. They found my body… used my blood… brought me back?
It wasn't rebirth. It was resurrection.
"And where am I?" Zayn asked again.
"Neo-Lumina," the man said. "A mega city run by corporations. You were revived in the Genesis Lab, under Draeth Industries."
Zayn let him go. Draeth.
Lucan's company.
It had survived 300 years.
They had unknowingly brought Zayn back to life.
Adapting to the Future
The next few days were a blur.
Zayn played along—pretending to be a blank-slate subject with no memory. He let them run tests, analyze his vitals, and monitor his behavior. But inside, he was observing everything. Learning.
Neo-Lumina was a city in the sky. Flying cars zipped between neon towers. AI ruled the streets. People lived with implants, and corporations ruled everything—government, police, even the army.
Draeth Industries was one of the biggest corporations. The same bloodline. The same traitors. Just modern masks.
Zayn hacked into their archives late one night using his Eternal gifts—powers that were slowly awakening. He could feel data flow into his mind like electricity.
That's when he discovered something chilling.
Lucan Draeth—the CEO—looked exactly like his past-life brother.
Another reincarnation.
Another betrayal waiting to happen.
The First Glitch
One evening, as Zayn sat in the observation chamber, alarms suddenly blared.
"Security breach in Lab Wing B!"
He saw it on the screen—a cyber assassin in full-body armor breaking into the lab. Blades shot from his arms, cutting through guards like paper.
Zayn's instincts kicked in. A guard tried to drag him away, but Zayn grabbed his weapon instead.
"Let me deal with this," he said, eyes glowing faintly.
"No! You're just a subject!"
Zayn knocked the guard out with a single strike.
As he entered the lab hallway, the assassin turned to face him.
"You are Subject Z-001," the assassin said.
"You are a threat. You must be deleted."
Zayn raised his hands. "You first."
The assassin lunged.
But time slowed.
Zayn felt something inside him crack open. A surge of energy. Light. Knowledge. The symbols from the Eternal Gate flashed in his mind.
His hand glowed—and from it, a pulse of energy blasted out, slamming the assassin into the wall like a ragdoll.
The lights flickered.
Zayn fell to his knees, panting. His fingers sizzled with smoke.
He'd just used Eternal Power.
A Rare Bloodline
The next morning, the doctors were in a frenzy.
"Subject Z-001 used an unknown energy discharge," they whispered.
"A manifestation of Soul Energy—believed to be extinct."
Zayn knew the truth.
He carried the Eternal Bloodline—a rare lineage of beings who once ruled galaxies with their minds, bodies, and spirits. They had vanished long ago… or so the world believed.
He was their last spark.
And now, he was awake.
Escape and Revelation
Zayn knew it was time.
He couldn't stay in the lab anymore. Draeth would eventually find out who he really was. And Zayn wasn't ready for that confrontation—yet.
That night, he hacked the door system with his mind. The implants in the facility responded to his Eternal gift like obedient pets.
He slipped through the halls, dodging drones and motion sensors. When he reached the surface elevator, he saw it for the first time:
Neo-Lumina in full glory.
Towers of chrome and crystal. Skies filled with flying vehicles. Holograms danced in the air. Drones zipped through traffic.
But the most important thing wasn't the view.
It was the billboard that flashed across the city's skyline.
"Draeth Industries: Leading the World Since 2230"
Lucan's face.
Still smug. Still cold. Still alive.
Zayn clenched his fists.
"I'm coming for you, brother."
Final Scene: The Beginning of Vengeance
Zayn found shelter in the city's under-level—the Undernet—a dark world beneath the bright skyline. Here, hackers, outcasts, rebels, and AI ghosts lived in the shadows.
He met a blind old man named Griff, a data forger who used to work in memory labs. Griff sensed something in Zayn—something powerful.
"You carry an old flame," Griff said. "Like the stories of the Eternals."
"I'm more than a story," Zayn replied.
Griff helped him create a new ID. A digital name.
Zayn Kade.
New identity. New life.
But the goal was still the same:
Destroy Draeth.
He began building something from scratch—an empire, one circuit at a time.