The descent was silent.
Too silent.
Aria leaned closer to the cool polymer window, where the panoramic projection of the outside world shimmered faintly—as if even the technology struggled to capture what lay beneath.
Through the display, the veil of the sky began to fracture and peel away in measured layers. What emerged didn't look like Earth. Not exactly.
Avalon.
The city they had only glimpsed from above now wrapped around them — living, glowing, impossibly precise. Towers spiraled upward, terraces bloomed with impossible sky gardens, and glass rivers curved elegantly through the island's bones. Up close, they no longer looked poetic. They looked sharp. Cold. Unapologetically curated. Avalon wasn't showing off anymore. This wasn't arrival. This was immersion.
No turbulence rocked the hypersonic craft as it descended.
No engines roared. No landing gear clanked into place.
The craft simply... slowed.
Gravity felt more like a polite suggestion than a law here.
The private docking bay received them with open air — no hangar doors or mechanical arms.
Just a seamless glass dome folding open like a blooming petal, allowing the craft to float effortlessly into a crystalline cradle.
They had arrived. Not at Avalon's common ports, but at something far more reserved — the Valmont Intake Platform. Sleek and immaculate, it crowned the lower rings of the Valmont Crown itself, reserved exclusively for Valmont's incoming initiates. Here, there were no names called, no ceremony to mark their arrival. Only soft light, silence, and the quiet expectation that from this point on — they belonged.
A soft chime cut through the stillness.
"Legacy coordinates verified. Welcome to Valmont Institute. Disembarkation sequence commencing."
Aria flinched, the words sinking like ice into her spine. Aiden, unfazed, shifted his Louis Vuitton backpack onto his shoulder, his eyes already darting across the surroundings. Tousled brown hair framed his sharp focus as he tracked and analyzed every silent movement.
Outside, the landing platform was empty.
No banners.
No welcoming committee.
No smiling officials.
Just an expanse of obsidian glass veined with silver, pulsing faintly beneath their feet like the skin of something alive.
Movements were quiet. Precise. Choreographed.
As they stepped out, a soft, eerily perfect breeze kissed their skin.
It carried the faint scent of mineral water and delicate florals — calculated, curated.
Aria hesitated, fingers tightening around the strap of her taupe leather Fendi Baguette as her heels echoed lightly across the gleaming floor.
Her heart thudded too loudly in her ears.
Then movement caught her eye.
A humanoid figure—sleek, silver, indistinguishable from human at a distance—stepped forward gracefully.
Its surface was sculpted to near-organic precision—smooth as glass yet faintly textured like skin, with minimalist features molded into an eternally pleasant expression.
No hair. No pores. Just flawless, curated artificiality.
Even its eyes, glowing softly gold, held the suggestion of empathy without truly possessing it.
YOU ARE READING
Valmont Series - Inheritance Code
Teen FictionWhat if your perfect life was just a rehearsal? On their twelfth birthday, Aria and Aiden Lancaster wake expecting luxury, freedom, and the future they were promised. Instead, they're given an ultimatum: Leave everything behind - their friends, thei...
