The throne shimmered, growing clearer with each step.
It wasn't made of bone.
Not exactly.
It was made of possibility—shards of things that could have been. Half-formed crowns, broken fates, undone memories. The figure sitting on it was not entirely human… not entirely anything. Shifting shadows wrapped around a shape I could barely hold in my mind. Their face blurred every time I tried to focus on it.
But the smile…
That remained.
"Welcome, Sera."
The voice rippled through the starlight, not loud—but absolute. It didn't echo. It settled inside me.
"You know my name," I said, my voice steadier than I expected.
"Of course I do. I've watched you since you pulled your first thread. Since you questioned the purpose of your fate." The being leaned forward slightly. "I've watched you undo the very thing that kept my prison sealed."
"You were locked away by the Loom?"
"Not by it. Because of it."
The stars shifted behind them like a cloak being drawn tighter.
"You see," they continued, "fate is a net cast across infinity. It caught everything: dreams, disasters, gods, monsters. I was something it could not predict… so it erased me. Trapped me in the parts of reality no one remembered."
"And now that the Loom is gone…"
"I am remembered."
I gritted my teeth. "If you're so free, why wait for me?"
"Because you're the only one who truly let go," they whispered. "You didn't just break fate. You replaced it. Your will shapes your world now. And that makes you…"
They stood from the throne—taller than time, cloaked in silence.
"…kin."
I took a step back. "I'm nothing like you."
"But you could be. You already are." Their smile widened. "Join me, Sera. Help me unmake the bindings of every world. No more chains. No more fate. Only desire. Only power."
I felt my magic stir—my desire pulling, uncertain.
"I'm not here to destroy," I said. "I'm here to protect what's left."
The figure tilted their head. "Then protect it wisely… before someone else shapes it for you."
And with that, the stars shattered around us—leaving me in darkness.
Alone.
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