The moment the Bone Crown settled onto their merged consciousness, the moment the Gate's shriek faded into confused transformation, something fundamental shifted in the depths below. Through their unified awareness—no longer quite Selena, no longer quite Dante, but something that was eternally both—they felt it like a tremor running through existence itself.
The heart of bone, already wounded by their earlier strike, was failing completely.
They had cracked it before, had thrust flame into its ancient substance and forced it to begin transformation. But the heart had been resilient, built to endure, designed to sustain even catastrophic damage while maintaining its essential function. It had bled bonefire, yes. Had transformed reality, certainly. But its core structure had remained intact, pulsing weakly but persistently, attempting to heal, trying to restore itself to wholeness.
The Bone Crown's acceptance changed that.
