Isabella hung in silence.
Not upon a throne—no, the throne had become her cage. Its arms had twisted into chains of bone, its back into an iron crown that pressed against her skull. Every breath she took was stolen from her, siphoned by the endless figure seated within her shadow.
The King.
The voice that had no face, the crown without end.
Her wrists bled where the chains bit into them, her skin burned where the golden seal of the crown fused with her flesh. Each time she tried to summon her will, her strength, her self, his laughter smothered it like a wave dousing flame.
> "Struggle, child. The throne is not taken—it consumes. Already your name fades. Already your love withers. Soon, you will be mine, and none shall remember you as Isabella. Only as Queen Eternal."
Her lips trembled. She wanted to scream. She wanted to defy him, to carve her name into the void itself so it would never be erased. But the chains coiled tighter, dragging her deeper into his shadow.
And still—still she heard it.
A voice.
Faint, but real.
"Hold on, Isabella. I'm coming."
Her heart lurched. Her chains cracked.
---
The Splinter of Light
The King's laughter ceased. For the first time, the endless figure stirred—not with amusement, but with fury. The air around her throne thickened, suffocating.
> "No…"
"It cannot be. The Gatebreaker yet walks."
The crown upon her skull burned hotter, searing into bone, as if to remind her that she belonged to him now, not to the mortal who whispered her name.
But she clung to it—Alexander's voice, the heat of his fire, the promise he had carved into her heart long before the throne. She forced her mouth open, blood spilling as the chains cut deeper.
"…Alexander…"
The name broke the silence like a spear through the void. For a heartbeat, her chains loosened. A single spark of light pulsed from her chest, cutting through the King's shadow.
The Endless One roared.
> "Ungrateful child! Do you not see? His path ends in ruin. He cannot break what is eternal. You will both kneel, and I will feast on your defiance until even your names are ash!"
The throne shook, shadows slamming into her body like waves of tar, but Isabella did not look away. In the darkness, in the suffocating weight of his will, she clutched that single ember—her name upon his lips.
---
The Crown Cracks
Somewhere, beyond the endless dark, something tore.
The ground beneath her throne shuddered. The King froze, his crown flickering like a flame in wind. His voice lost its certainty.
> "…No. He is at the Second Gate. He bears the fire. He is… breaking."
Isabella's chains rattled violently, sparks of light shooting from the cracks that spread across her wrists. She gasped, bloodied lips curving into a smile that was more defiance than hope.
"He's coming for me."
The Endless King's fury shook the throne, the void itself trembling at his roar.
> "Then he will learn… what cannot be stopped."
Darkness surged, swallowing Isabella whole. Her scream echoed—not in despair, but in defiance.
And in the far distance, beyond the Second Gate, Alexander heard it.