Silent Awakening: Sign-In To Destiny

Two years passed in silent stride.

The Raven estate had grown quieter but warmer in that time. The cold efficiency of its halls now echoed with new life. The twins had been born—a boy and a girl, a full year after Asher's eighth birthday. Seraphina named them Ellen and Cain, names simple yet stellar, chosen for the stars she always said they were destined to reach.

Asher, now ten, had taken to his role as an older brother with an unexpected ease. Though burdened by his projects, his mind ever-ticking with blueprints and algorithms, he always found time to be near them. He would sometimes let Lyra tug at his hair as she giggled on his lap, while Cael sat silently beside him, eyes curiously watching as Asher etched patterns into a datapad.

Then came the vacation.

A rare break, planned by his mother and agreed upon by Kieran. "Let's show the twins the sea," Seraphina had said. "Before they grow old enough to be consumed by our world."

They departed that morning in their personal transport—a sleek black van fitted with custom safety measures. Asher had packed three notebooks, two sets of portable diagnostics tools, and one modified scanner built into a watch. He sat by the window, the twins between their parents, the rolling countryside slipping past in peaceful greens and golds.

Until the crash.

It came with no warning. One moment serenity—laughter, the hum of the engine, Lyra clutching Asher's sleeve—and then the screech of twisting metal, the slam of impact.

A truck.

It had struck them from the side with unnatural precision.

Glass exploded.

Asher remembered screaming.

The world turned sideways, then black.

---

He woke in blood.

Rain poured through the shattered windshield. Smoke curled from the front of the vehicle. A sharp pain stabbed his side, but the regeneration had already begun its silent work.

"System—status," he whispered.

> [Vitals stabilising. Minor fractures. External injuries healing. Armour units not active. Alert: severe trauma detected in proximity.]

He turned.

His mother and father weren't moving.

Seraphina's head rested at an angle too sharp to be natural, her hand still curled protectively over Lyra's car seat. Kieran's chest didn't rise.

The system dimmed the brightness of its display, as if in mourning.

> [No life signs detected: Seraphina Raven.]

> [No life signs detected: Kieran Raven.]

"No..."

The cry caught in his throat, a silent scream too heavy for breath.

He pushed himself free of the seatbelt and crawled over debris to the back. The twins were crying—alive but bruised, frightened. Lyra reached for him.

He gathered them both, holding them close, rain washing over all three of them as he knelt by the wreckage.

The sky was grey.

And something inside Asher Raven broke.

---

Later, he sat on a gurney outside the wreck, emergency lights flashing all around him. No one questioned how he'd managed to get both twins out, how he'd survived the crash nearly unscathed.

They didn't see the system.

Didn't hear the silence it now held in respect.

> \[Mission Update: Immediate Family - Deceased. Primary Protection Directive: Initiate Guardian Role.]

He stared blankly ahead.

There was no funeral.

Not yet.

Only the sound of wind sweeping over the asphalt, and the small weight of Lyra sleeping in his arms, while Cael clutched his sleeve just as he had held their mother's a few hours ago.

No more shield.

Now, he would become one.

To be continued... 

A/N: Everyone thanks for the support (≧▽≦) (≧▽≦). Please comment if you liked any chapters and especially this one.