BOOK TWO: THE KINGDOM BEYOND THE GATE
Chapter 26: The Three Futures
Silence consumed the Hall of Choices.
Three Rivas stood facing one another.
The Present.
The Queen of the Broken Future.
The Guardian of the Hopeful Future.
None of them moved.
None of them looked away.
For the first time since beginning their journey, Riva was staring at the lives she could still become.
---
Aarvi rubbed her forehead.
"I officially give up."
"How many Rivas are there?"
The Riva dressed in white smiled.
"Only one."
"The rest are possibilities."
The Queen Riva in black added quietly,
"And possibilities disappear the moment a choice is made."
---
Lucien slowly stepped beside Riva.
"Which one of you is telling the truth?"
Both future Rivas answered together.
"We are."
The Hall trembled.
Even the Hall itself couldn't decide which future would survive.
---
Elyon walked toward the center of the chamber.
"The Hall of Choices never lies."
"It only reveals consequences."
Eryndor continued,
"Every future shown here is possible."
"But only one..."
"...will become history."
---
The White-Robed Riva stepped forward first.
"Come."
"I'll show you."
She raised her hand.
The Hall disappeared.
---
The Six Heirs found themselves standing inside a magnificent kingdom.
Children ran through streets filled with music.
The Gates shone brightly in the sky.
Forests surrounded beautiful cities.
Every world was connected peacefully.
The First Kingdom had been rebuilt.
Parna smiled.
"The trees..."
"They're alive."
Eva noticed scholars from different worlds working together.
"No more hidden secrets."
"Only shared knowledge."
Aarvi laughed as children chased glowing birds through the gardens.
"They're actually happy."
Lucien looked toward the palace.
Above it flew six banners.
One for each Heir.
Not one ruler.
Six protectors.
Riva whispered,
"This is..."
"Our future?"
The White-Robed Riva nodded.
"If you trust one another."
---
Suddenly...
The peaceful vision cracked.
One by one...
The smiling faces disappeared.
The cities faded.
The forests withered.
Within seconds...
The perfect world collapsed into dust.
Everyone stared in shock.
"What happened?"
Orion asked.
The White-Robed Riva lowered her eyes.
"I died."
Silence.
"The peace depended upon me."
"When I disappeared..."
"The kingdoms began fighting again."
The beautiful future vanished.
---
The Black Queen stepped forward.
"My turn."
Darkness swallowed the Hall once again.
---
Now they stood upon a battlefield.
Broken Gates floated in the sky.
Cities burned.
The stars themselves were disappearing.
The Six Heirs stood together.
Older.
Battle-scarred.
Still fighting.
Lucien had lost one arm.
Parna's silver hair had turned white.
Eva carried dozens of ancient books chained to her back.
Aarvi still smiled...
Even while bleeding.
Riva wore the broken silver crown.
She looked exhausted.
But she had not surrendered.
Queen Riva spoke quietly.
"We lost almost everything."
"But..."
The older Six Heirs protected thousands of survivors escaping through a Gate.
Children.
Families.
Entire kingdoms.
The war continued behind them while they saved lives.
Queen Riva looked at her younger self.
"We lost the war."
"But we saved hope."
The battlefield dissolved.
---
Back in the Hall of Choices...
Nobody spoke.
There wasn't a perfect future.
There wasn't a hopeless future.
Every future demanded sacrifice.
---
Eva suddenly noticed something.
"The visions..."
"They're incomplete."
Everyone turned toward her.
She held up the crystal sphere.
"Neither future showed what happens after the Final Choice."
Elyon smiled.
"Very observant."
"Because no one has ever seen beyond it."
---
Without warning—
A loud crack echoed across the Hall.
The transparent floor split open.
Darkness spread beneath their feet.
The Hall was collapsing.
The Devourer had found them.
---
From the darkness rose countless black hands.
Not monsters.
Not soldiers.
Memories.
Forgotten people reached upward.
Children whose kingdoms had vanished.
Guardians erased from history.
Kings no one remembered.
They weren't attacking.
They were pleading.
"Remember us..."
"Don't let us disappear..."
Their voices echoed through the Hall.
Parna fell to her knees.
"There are so many..."
Eryndor closed his eyes.
"I remember every one of them."
Tears rolled down his face.
"And I couldn't save them."
---
Lyra suddenly ran toward the center of the Hall.
"The Heart!"
Everyone looked up.
The Heart of the First Kingdom, floating high above them, had become surrounded by darkness.
Its heartbeat slowed.
Thump...
...
Thump...
If it stopped...
Every remaining Gate would fall.
---
Without hesitation, Riva leaped toward it.
The darkness wrapped around her arm.
Pain surged through her body.
Memories flooded her mind.
She saw children laughing.
Guardians making promises.
The First Kingdom celebrating its founding.
Then...
Everything turned white before the kingdom's disappearance.
The secret remained hidden.
Just as it always had.
A voice whispered inside her mind.
"Not yet..."
"That story belongs to another book."
The vision faded.
---
Riva grabbed the Heart.
Instead of rejecting her...
The Heart glowed warmly.
Silver light burst across the Hall.
The black hands disappeared.
The forgotten souls smiled before fading peacefully.
The Hall stopped collapsing.
Everyone stared.
Alaric whispered,
"It accepted her..."
Queen Riva looked equally surprised.
"It rejected me..."
---
Before anyone could understand why—
The Heart split into six fragments.
Each fragment flew toward one of the Six Heirs.
One entered Riva's Star Mark.
One merged with Lucien's sword.
One became part of Eva's crystal sphere.
One dissolved into Parna's vines.
One entered Aarvi's mysterious box.
One fused with Orion's shield.
The Hall shook once more.
Elyon smiled.
"At last..."
"The Heart has remembered."
Eryndor finished the sentence.
"It was never meant for one ruler."
"It always belonged..."
"...to all Six Heirs."
At that exact moment, every remaining Gate across every world began shining with brilliant silver light.
Far beyond the stars...
The Devourer slowly stood.
For the first time...
It drew a weapon.
An ancient black spear formed in its hand.
The final battle could no longer be avoided.
End of Chapter 26