Chapter 21
Word Count: ~1,160
There are many kinds of thrones.
Some made of stone.
Some made of blood.
But the worst?
Are made of choices you didn't make.
🩶 The Final Spiral
Each step toward the Hollow Throne became heavier—physically and emotionally.
The staircase seemed endless, the storm overhead thick with red lightning and half-formed whispers.
Time didn't pass the same way up here.
Seraphina could feel memories bleeding out of her skin with every breath.
Rynn's fire dimmed.
Lucien's usually sharp focus wavered—he blinked like someone waking from a deep sleep he didn't remember falling into.
Kael stopped humming.
He only hummed when afraid.
Still, they climbed.
Until the Spire of Forgotten Names came into view.
At its center stood the Hollow Throne—an obsidian seat carved with symbols in languages no one alive remembered.
And across from it…
Was Seraphina.
🪞 The Other Seraphina
Her hair was longer.
Her eyes brighter.
Her smile more… content.
She wore a gown that shimmered like it had been stitched from starlight.
And behind her stood a kingdom—perfect, golden, peaceful.
No war. No rebellion. No forgotten dead.
"I said yes," she told Seraphina softly. "And they rewarded me."
Lucien stepped forward, growling, "Don't listen—"
But he vanished.
So did Kael.
So did Rynn.
Only Seraphina remained.
She was in the throne chamber alone.
Except… she wasn't.
🌒 The Temptation of Peace
The mirror-Seraphina walked slowly toward her, barefoot on the cold stone, but never flinching.
"They'll tell you it's fake," she said. "They always do. But you and I—we remember the truth."
Seraphina clenched her fists. "Which is?"
"That peace is a choice. And you've denied it."
Behind the mirror-Seraphina, the vision shifted.
Her parents—alive. Laughing.
The people of Norwyn—smiling.
Lucien and Kael—married with children.
Even Evelyn—her hand resting calmly on Seraphina's shoulder.
"You could have this," the voice purred. "One thought. One moment. Sit. And it's yours."
Seraphina stepped toward the throne.
It was warm.
Alive.
And it spoke.
"I can fix everything."
She closed her eyes.
And let it begin.
🧠 A Storm of Lives
In one life, she was a farmer, living with a woman she loved and three dogs.
In another, she was Queen—but not of rebellion—of diplomacy. Ruling beside a council. No war.
In yet another, she never lost her parents.
She never forgot.
She never had to become what she did.
The throne fed her dreams until she forgot her purpose.
Forgot her war.
Forgot the price.
And then…
She heard a voice.
From far away.
Lucien's voice.
"Heads, we stay. Tails, we run."
The coin.
She had flipped it a thousand times in her dreams.
And now it spun in the air.
🔔 The Truthstrike
The coin never landed.
It hovered.
Then cracked.
From it came a sound—soft at first. Then loud.
Like a bell tolling memory back into motion.
Seraphina stood in the center of the throne room again.
The perfect kingdom gone.
The mirror-Seraphina burned like ash in the wind.
And she remembered.
🩸 The Throne Demands a Memory
The Hollow Throne screamed.
Not aloud.
But within.
"I gave you peace."
Seraphina walked to it, dragging the banner of the rebellion behind her.
"No," she said. "You gave me forgetting."
She placed her hand on the throne.
It bled.
From its base flowed black ichor—twisting tendrils of stolen memories. Faces of the forgotten. Names of the erased.
All of them crying.
Some of them smiling.
The throne shook.
"One final test," it hissed.
A figure emerged from the pool of memory.
Evelyn.
Alive. Eyes glowing.
"You let me die," she whispered.
Seraphina lowered her head.
"No. They did. You chose to fight with me."
Evelyn raised a blade.
Seraphina didn't move.
And the blade passed through her like mist.
Evelyn smiled, real this time.
"You remembered me right."
The Hollow Throne cracked.
⚔️ Return of the Real
Seraphina awoke outside the Spire.
Lucien caught her before she fell.
Rynn cried without shame.
Kael offered her water. "You sat. And stood back up. You don't know how rare that is."
She did.
Only one in a million ever stood up from the Hollow Throne.
The others lived beautiful lies until they turned to ash.
🕳️ But Not Alone
Behind her… the throne still stood.
Cracked.
Bleeding.
But not destroyed.
Not yet.
"You have to kill it," Lucien said softly.
"No," Seraphina replied.
"I have to let them remember it."
She turned to the horizon.
To the world waiting beyond.
The war wasn't over.
But now… it could be remembered.
End of Chapter 21