Thorns of Obsession
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White light consumed everything.
For a moment, I couldn't feel my body.
No pain.
No sound.
No gravity.
Just warmth.
And loneliness.
---
Then slowly—
The light faded.
---
I stood in the middle of an endless black sea.
The water beneath my feet reflected a sky with no stars.
No moon.
Nothing.
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A dream.
Or something worse.
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Voice:
"You finally arrived."
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I turned instantly.
The First King stood several feet away, his reflection trembling beneath the dark water.
But something was different.
The crown of thorns was gone.
And for the first time—
He looked tired.
Human.
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Me:
"Where am I?"
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First King:
"Between the bond and the curse."
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Cold spread through my chest.
---
Me:
"Where's Riven?"
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The king didn't answer immediately.
Which terrified me.
---
Then he raised one hand.
The black water rippled.
And suddenly—
I saw him.
---
Riven knelt alone in darkness, chains wrapped around his body. Shadows crawled beneath his skin violently while the entity inside him clawed deeper and deeper into his mind.
And despite everything—
He was still resisting.
Still fighting.
---
My chest ached painfully.
---
Me:
"I need to go to him."
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First King:
"You can't."
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I turned sharply.
---
Me:
"What do you mean I can't?!"
---
The king's expression remained calm.
Too calm.
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First King:
"The Seal has chosen its path."
---
A terrible feeling settled inside me.
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Me:
"What path?"
---
The king looked directly into my eyes.
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First King:
"One life for another."
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No.
No no no.
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I stepped backward immediately.
---
Me:
"No."
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The king continued anyway.
---
First King:
"The bond completed because you chose him over yourself."
His voice softened slightly.
---
First King:
"The Seal accepted that sacrifice."
---
My breathing became uneven.
---
Me:
"What sacrifice?"
---
But I already knew.
Deep down—
I already knew.
---
The king walked closer slowly.
---
First King:
"You can save Riven."
A pause.
---
First King:
"But only by taking the curse into yourself."
---
The black sea trembled violently beneath my feet.
---
Me:
"…What happens to me?"
---
Silence.
Then quietly—
---
First King:
"You disappear."
---
Everything inside me stopped.
---
Not death.
Not exactly.
Something worse.
Erasure.
---
The king looked toward the vision of Riven again.
---
First King:
"The Seal was never designed to survive. It exists only to contain the curse."
---
I stared at Riven's chained figure desperately fighting the darkness.
Even now—
Even broken—
He was trying not to become a monster.
---
Me (quietly):
"There has to be another way."
---
For the first time—
The king looked genuinely sad.
---
First King:
"I searched for one for centuries."
---
The words hit strangely hard.
Because suddenly—
I understood him.
Not the cruelty.
Not the bloodshed.
But the grief.
---
He loved the first Seal.
And destroyed the world trying not to lose them.
---
Just like Riven would probably destroy himself trying to save me.
---
The realization hurt.
---
First King:
"This is the part where history repeats."
---
I looked at him sharply.
---
Me:
"No."
---
The black water rippled violently beneath us.
---
Me:
"You said yourself love makes people unpredictable."
---
Something flickered in his eyes.
Surprise.
---
I turned back toward Riven's image.
Toward the boy who terrified me.
Protected me.
Loved me so desperately it nearly destroyed him.
---
And suddenly—
I understood something.
---
The curse survived because every generation chose sacrifice instead of trust.
Death instead of love.
Fear instead of choice.
---
I looked back at the king slowly.
---
Me:
"You were wrong."
---
The king frowned slightly.
---
First King:
"About what?"
---
I smiled sadly.
---
Me:
"Love wasn't the thing that destroyed your kingdom."
A pause.
---
Me:
"It was obsession."
---
Silence crashed across the black sea.
---
For the first time since meeting him—
The First King looked shaken.
---
I stepped forward.
---
Me:
"I'm not becoming a prison."
---
The air around us changed instantly.
The sea trembled violently now.
---
First King:
"If you reject the Seal's purpose—"
---
Me:
"Then I'll create a new one."
---
Golden light exploded around me instantly.
The mark on my chest burned brighter than ever before.
Not painful.
Certain.
---
The First King stared at me in shock.
---
First King (whispering):
"…You really are different."
---
The chains around Riven's image suddenly cracked.
Just slightly.
But enough.
---
Hope surged through me instantly.
---
Me:
"How do I reach him?"
---
The king looked at me silently for several long seconds.
Then slowly—
He stepped aside.
---
The black sea split open.
And beyond it—
Was Riven.
Alone in the darkness.
Waiting.
---
The First King's final words followed me as I ran toward him.
---
First King:
"If you choose each other now…"
A pause.
---
First King:
"…the world itself may never forgive you."
---
I didn't care.
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Because for the first time—
I wasn't choosing destiny.
I was choosing him.
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And this time—
Riven wouldn't fight alone.
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[End of Chapter 39]