Crowned by Code - Chapter 2: A Prisoner's Past ~ (8/8) A New Beginning

The next morning, Darius’s routine was interrupted by an announcement: he was being transferred. As guards escorted him to an armored vehicle, Elior’s parting words echoed in his mind: “Trust the process. Trust yourself.”

Darius stopped at the vehicle’s open door, staring at the reinforced interior. For over a decade, every step of his life had been dictated—when to wake, when to eat, when to sleep. Now, for the first time in years, the next step was his to take.

He exhaled sharply, gripping the edge of the doorframe. Freedom was just another kind of uncertainty.

For a split second, he almost asked them what would happen next.

But then he caught himself. For the first time, there was no one left to give him orders.

A guard cleared his throat impatiently. “Move.”

Darius stepped inside.

The journey was silent, save for the hum of the vehicle’s engine. His thoughts churned as he pieced together the fragments of his conversations with Elior. The stakes were higher than he had imagined, and the path ahead was fraught with danger. But one thing was clear: he could no longer afford to be a passive observer.

Darius stepped down from the vehicle, his boots crunching against the frost-kissed pavement. No guards shoved him forward this time. No restraints. And yet, there was an invisible weight pressing down on him.

The surroundings were starkly different from the dense, neon-lit cities he had known. Rugged cliffs loomed in the distance, partially obscured by rolling fog, and the air carried the crisp bite of altitude. Wherever he was, it was remote—isolated from Erevania’s sprawling metropolises.

Before him stood a fortified compound, its walls bristling with security measures. Guards patrolled its perimeter, their movements synchronized and precise, each step seemingly guided by Athena’s predictive protocols. Above them, surveillance drones traced calculated arcs across the sky, scanning for unauthorized activity. A sense of foreboding mingled with anticipation as he approached the gates.

The compound ahead wasn’t a prison—but it wasn’t freedom either.

A figure emerged from the fog, moving with sharp, deliberate steps. A woman, clad in a sleek, high-collared coat, her augmented reality glasses flickering with data as she assessed him—precise, methodical, almost machine-like.

“Darius Kael,” she said, her voice even, measured. “Welcome to Haven Point.”

She didn’t extend a hand. Instead, she turned on her heel, expecting him to follow.

Darius exhaled, his breath misting in the cold. He had no idea what awaited him beyond those walls, but one thing was certain—whatever this place was, it would decide his future.

As he followed, the compound doors slid open, revealing a vast chamber illuminated by cascading holograms. A towering display flickered to life, filling the room with streams of encrypted data.

“This is where it begins,” the woman continued. “Your first test is already waiting. Fail, and this will all be for nothing.”

Darius’s gaze flickered to the shifting projections—Erevania’s economy crumbling, riots breaking out in the streets, Viktor Sarren’s name embedded in the chaos like a whispered threat.

His fingers curled into fists.

This was it—the moment Athena had been waiting for.

He took a slow, deliberate step forward, the glow of the holograms illuminating his face.

“Let’s see what I’m made of.”