Chapter 22: Ep 22 - Brother Will
The air inside the Spire shuddered as if the world were holding its breath. The crystalline walls pulsed with dull red light, heartbeats of a slumbering titan. Sera stood at the edge of the platform, her glyphs swirling like a tempest around her arms. Across from her stood Justin—older, wearier, glyph-light flickering across his fingers like dying stars.
"You abandoned me," she said, voice shaking, not from fear but from the weight of years.
Justin laughed bitterly. "You were always the heir. I was just her failure."
Sparks of celestial energy crackled between them. The throne room echoed with the cries of the past, Fresha's memory embedded into the very air. Ayaka clashed with the corrupted guards in the chamber below, every blow of her blade singing the sorrow of battles lost. Akira knelt beside the Queen's crystal core, Kurumi's faint breath misting the surface as he pressed his hand against it, whispering her name again and again.
But here, on this dais, the true war was being waged.
Sera stepped forward. Her glyphs shimmered a pale violet, drawn from her Celestial and human blood. She conjured a lance of light and hurled it, screaming, not just in anger, but in mourning.
Justin deflected it with a wave of his hand, golden sigils sparking into defense. "I loved her too. I waited. I begged. But in the end, she chose him. Not the brother who bled for her."
"You think this is about love? You think I wanted to be Queen?" Sera fired again. This time her glyphs turned white-hot, shaped by fury. "You left me alone in that tower for twelve years!"
They collided. Glyphs clashed, threads of fate snarling in the air. Justin weaved around her attacks, retaliating with crushing blasts of pure memory—illusions that made her relive every goodbye, every failure. Her knees buckled, but she rose again.
"She sealed me," Sera gasped, tears burning. "She left me, Justin. Just like you. Just like him."
Justin froze.