The entrance to the northern ruins was not a structure—it was a wound in reality.
Stone arches floated half-broken in midair, covered in ancient runes that flickered like dying stars. The air itself felt heavy, as if the world was resisting every step Seraphina took forward.
Behind her, Kaelen shouted something, but his voice felt distant—warped, like it belonged to another timeline.
Lucien tried to move forward, but an invisible force pushed him back.
Only Seraphina could enter.
Only her.
Evelyne stood at the edge of the ruins, watching.
Not smiling now.
Just… waiting.
"Of course it chooses you," Evelyne said softly. "It always did."
Seraphina didn't turn.
"I'm not chosen," she replied. "I'm what's left."
And then she stepped inside.
---
The moment she crossed the threshold, the world shattered.
Not physically—but mentally.
Memories that weren't hers began to surface.
A throne room.
A younger Empress—not Seraphina—standing beside Evelyne, both laughing as the kingdom celebrated.
Then—
Fire.
Betrayal.
A blade through the back.
Seraphina stumbled.
"No… this isn't mine…"
But the ruins responded.
A voice echoed through the air itself.
"ALL WHO ENTER MUST FACE WHAT WAS ERASED."
The ground shifted beneath her feet.
And suddenly, she was no longer in ruins.
She was in a palace.
Whole. Alive. Unburned.
And standing before her—
her parents.
---
Seraphina froze.
Her mother smiled gently. "You've grown so much."
Her father stepped forward. "Our little star."
Her breath hitched.
"No… you're dead."
Her mother tilted her head. "Are we?"
The illusion rippled.
Behind them, shadows moved wrong.
Too smooth. Too perfect.
Seraphina's hand trembled.
"This is fake."
But her heart… betrayed her.
For a moment—just a moment—she wanted it to be real.
That hesitation was enough.
The illusion twisted violently.
The palace cracked apart.
And her parents' faces distorted.
Evelyne's voice echoed through the ruins.
"This is why you lose."
Seraphina fell to her knees as the illusion shattered completely.
Darkness returned.
And with it—the truth.
---
She stood again, breathing heavily.
The ruins were testing her mind.
Not her strength.
Not her magic.
Her truth.
Ahead of her, a massive black staircase descended into the earth.
At its end—
a glowing crown floated in chains of shattered light.
The Crown of Eclipse.
It pulsed.
Alive.
Waiting.
But something else was there too.
A figure chained beside it.
Long hair.
Broken aura.
Familiar presence.
Seraphina's eyes widened.
"…me?"
A second version of herself lifted its head slowly.
And smiled.
"You finally came."
---
Outside the ruins, Evelyne whispered to herself:
"Now the real story begins."
And far above them—
the sky split open.
Something ancient had awakened.
Something that even the Crown feared.