Chapter 24 — The Night Before Wister
Night on Korain was gentle in a way that felt undeserved.
The pale sun had long since slipped below the horizon, leaving the sky stretched wide and deep, scattered with stars that reflected faintly off the white sand and vanished into the black. The tide rolled in slow, even breaths, as if the planet itself were trying to sleep.
Lucy sat near the waterline, knees drawn to her chest, the Crown resting heavy but quiet against her skull. For once, it did not feel like it was listening for weakness. It felt tired. Or maybe she was projecting.
Behind her, Abbie approached without sound and dropped down beside her, boots half-buried in the sand. She didn't say anything at first. Neither of them did.
The silence wasn't awkward. It was earned.
After a while, Abbie spoke. "You know," she said quietly, "I really thought I was done back there."
Lucy flinched.
"I don't mean just… dying," Abbie continued, staring out at the sea. "I mean ending. Like that was it. Everything I was building toward, everything I was angry about—just gone."
Lucy swallowed. "I thought I lost you."
Abbie nodded. "Yeah. Me too."
They sat with that for a few moments, waves hissing softly against the shore.
Lucy finally turned toward her. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Abbie laughed weakly. "Tell you what? That I planned to get captured? That I was ready to burn half a city to make sure the Golden Moon noticed me?"
"Yes," Lucy said. "That."
Abbie rubbed at the back of her neck, fingers brushing unconsciously over the place where Brenn's hand had been. Where her head had not existed.
"I didn't want you to stop me," she said honestly. "And you would have."
Lucy looked down at her hands. "You were right."
"That's the worst part," Abbie said. "I hate being right."
The wind picked up slightly, tugging at Lucy's hair.
"Do you remember," Lucy said softly, "how all of this started?"
Abbie smirked. "You mean before cursed caves, before the Moon, before getting my head blown off?"
Lucy almost laughed. Almost.
"Back when it was just us," Lucy said. "You, me, and Adam arguing about whether destiny was real or just a fancy excuse."
Abbie snorted. "Adam always said it was 'statistical inevitability."
"And you said it was bullshit," Lucy replied.
"Still do," Abbie said. "But I'm starting to think bullshit can hit pretty hard if you ignore it long enough."
Lucy leaned back on her hands, staring up at the stars. "When I awakened… in the cave… I didn't feel powerful. I felt scared. Like something had reached inside me and flipped a switch I didn't know existed."
She closed her eyes. "And everyone keeps telling me how important it is. How dangerous. How cosmic."
Abbie glanced at her. "You don't like that word."
Lucy shook her head. "It makes me feel small. Like I don't get a choice."
Abbie was quiet for a moment. Then she said, "You do. You always have."
Lucy turned to her, surprised.
"Even now," Abbie continued. "Even with the Crown. Even with Wister. You chose to step forward. You chose to train. You chose to come with us instead of letting us go alone."
She smiled faintly. "You choose, Lu. The world just hates the answers you give."
Lucy felt her throat tighten.
"I was so angry at you," she admitted. "After Rosalain. After everything. I thought you'd gone insane."
Abbie laughed softly. "Oh, I definitely brushed the edge."
"I know now you were trying to protect me," Lucy said. "But that doesn't make it hurt less."
Abbie nodded. "Fair."
They sat in silence again, memories threading themselves between them—Adam bleeding on stone, the Golden Moon's cold halls, Brenn's voice cutting through chaos, Nark's unreadable stare, the Crown descending like judgment.
"I'm scared," Lucy whispered.
Abbie didn't tease her. Didn't deflect.
"Me too," she said. "Wister isn't a test. It's a meat grinder."
Lucy shuddered. "Thirteen days. Monsters. Madness. And then…" She trailed off.
"And then we're supposed to kill people like us," Abbie finished quietly. "Or die."
Lucy hugged her knees tighter. "What if I can't do it?"
Abbie turned fully toward her. "Then we figure something out."
Lucy looked at her. "That's not how Wister works."
Abbie smiled—not bravely, not recklessly, but stubbornly. "Then we break how Wister works."
Lucy let out a shaky laugh. "You sound like you're about to start another disaster."
"Probably," Abbie said. "But I've noticed something."
"What?"
"Every time the world tries to put you in a box," Abbie said, "you crack it open just by existing."
Lucy felt heat rise to her cheeks. "That's not true."
"It is," Abbie insisted. "You healed people you shouldn't have been able to. You pushed back Nark. You didn't lose yourself when Brenn tried to scare us straight."
She hesitated. "And when I… died… the last thing I saw was you screaming."
Lucy's breath hitched.
"That's why I came back scared," Abbie said softly. "Not angry. Not defiant. Just… scared to lose that."
Lucy reached out and took Abbie's hand.
They held on tight.
"Whatever happens," Lucy said, voice trembling but firm, "we survive together. Or not at all."
Abbie squeezed her hand. "Deal."
The stars shifted slowly overhead.
Somewhere behind them, the Golden Moon vessel loomed, quiet and watchful. Somewhere ahead, Wister waited—thirteen days of blood, fear, and impossible choices.
But for this moment, on this quiet shore, they were just two girls sitting in the sand, remembering how everything began.
And promising—silently, fiercely—that it wouldn't end without a fight.