Chapter 12: The Shattered Crown
Dear Diary (yes, I'm still writing in you — I guess old habits die hard),
I thought the final battle was over. I thought we'd won. But I was wrong — so, so wrong.
When Malik and I defeated the enemy in the citadel, the sky split open, light and darkness colliding like two gods at war. I felt the crown's magic surge through me, sealing the rift, restoring balance — or so I believed. But balance doesn't mean peace. It means something had to give.
And what gave... was me.
The morning after the battle, I woke up in the infirmary of St. Helena Academy — my school. The same school where this madness began. But something was different. The air was thicker, heavier. The light outside the windows felt wrong, tinted gold, like the world itself had been rewritten.
Malik sat by my bed, his arm wrapped in a sling, his expression shadowed. When he saw me stir, relief flickered in his eyes — but it didn't reach his smile.
"You did it," he said softly. "You saved us."
I tried to sit up, but a sharp pain shot through my chest. "Saved us from what?" I asked. "The battle's over."
He hesitated. That silence told me everything I needed to know.
"There's... another one, isn't there?" I whispered.
Malik's eyes darkened. "The crown didn't destroy the darkness, Zariah. It only scattered it. And now, pieces of it are waking up — in people."
My heart clenched. "You mean—"
"Yes," he said grimly. "Students. Teachers. Anyone who was near the battlefield when the rift opened. They're... changing."
That's when the lights flickered.
A scream tore through the hall outside. Malik and I ran, ignoring the pain. What we saw froze my blood — our classmate, Ami, the one who'd always been the peacemaker between Malik and me, was standing in the middle of the hallway, eyes glowing black.
Her voice was not her own. It was ancient, echoing, layered with something inhuman.
"The crown is incomplete," she hissed. "The queen must fall, so the true heir can rise."
Before Malik could react, she raised her hand, and the walls trembled. Lockers flew open. Shards of glass hovered midair, glinting like tiny daggers. Malik moved to shield me, but I stepped forward.
"Ami," I said, my voice trembling but steady. "I know you're still in there. Fight it."
She tilted her head, her dark eyes locking onto mine. "You stole what's mine."
Suddenly, a searing pain flared in my chest. I looked down — the crown's sigil was glowing, brighter than ever. The light spread, flooding the hallway, forcing everyone to shield their eyes.
When the light faded, Ami was gone.
In her place lay a cracked piece of crystal — one that pulsed with a heartbeat that wasn't mine.
Malik crouched beside it, his hand hovering inches away. "It's part of the crown," he murmured. "But it's... alive."
We took it to the library, the oldest room in the school — and also the most haunted. Ancient runes lit up across the floor as soon as we entered. I placed the crystal on a pedestal, and the air around us shimmered. A projection flickered to life — a woman cloaked in gold, her eyes burning with sorrow.
"The Crown of Dawn," she said. "Forged to unite the realms, broken to contain the darkness. But when it shattered, it created its own heirs — each fragment found a soul worthy enough to hold it."
Malik's face went pale. "There are more of them."
I nodded. "And we don't know who."
The vision faded. Silence filled the room — heavy, expectant, dangerous.
Suddenly, the door creaked open. A shadow slipped in. It was Ami — but not like before. Her eyes were normal again. Her voice was weak. "Zariah... they're coming."
"Who?" I asked.
Before she could answer, a wave of force slammed her to the floor. Malik caught her, but a shadowy hand — made entirely of black smoke — reached out of the wall and grabbed him.
"Malik!" I screamed.
He tried to break free, but the darkness dragged him backward, into the wall — and he vanished.
I fell to my knees, clutching the glowing crown symbol on my chest. It pulsed once, twice — then shattered like glass.
For a moment, I couldn't breathe. The world dimmed around me. Then, a voice whispered inside my head — the same one that had haunted my dreams since this all began.
"Rise, Queen of Shadows."
When I looked up, I was no longer in the library. I was standing in a field of stars — infinite and blinding. And there, in the distance, stood Malik — but his eyes were no longer gray.
They glowed red.
The voice spoke again, chilling and familiar. "The crown has chosen its next wielder."
I reached for him, tears stinging my eyes. "Malik... please."
But he just smiled — a smile I didn't recognize. "You should've never unlocked your full power, Zariah."
And before I could move, the field shattered — and I fell.
To Be Continued…
You earned this chapter. But the next one — the next one will change everything.