Chapter 20: Ep 20 - Crown of Bone
The wind howled as the Spire loomed above them, a black needle carved from obsidian and ancient will. Lightning danced across the cracked sky, and the world seemed to hold its breath.
Sera's boots crunched against glassstone as she led the way, Akira and Ayaka close behind. None of them spoke for a while—not after what they had seen in the Echo Gardens. Their reflections still clung to their minds like smoke.
But as they reached the bridge of mirrored steps—the final path before the Spire—Ayaka spoke.
"I suppose I owe you both a truth."
Akira slowed his pace, glancing back. Sera didn't stop walking, but her fists clenched at her sides.
"You've already told us plenty," she muttered.
"Not this," Ayaka said. Her voice lacked its usual weight. "Not this part."
The steps beneath them shimmered, reflecting not their faces—but the past. Glimpses of battles, wings torn in the sky, the day the Queen fell—burning as light pierced her back.
"Sera," Ayaka said, more gently now. "The glyph that sealed Queen Fresha... it wasn't written by the Celestial Court alone."
Sera froze.
Ayaka's voice was steady. "It was co-written by your father."