Chapter Twenty-Nine: Suffocating Silence

The journey back to the surface was suffocatingly silent. The weight of what had just happened—the revelation of her supposed identity—hung between Seraphina and Caius like a spectre neither of them dared to acknowledge. Every step she took felt heavier, as though the very air had thickened with the truth she wasn't ready to accept.

The lost queen.

She repeated the words in her head, over and over, hoping they would lose their meaning. But they didn't.

Caius had said he had suspected the truth from the moment she first used her power. But that didn't make sense. She had no memory of ever being this queen. She had lived an entirely different life before waking up in this world. That life had been real—it had to be.

And yet… the moment she had stepped into this world, something had begun to change inside her. The power, the knowledge that seemed to surface without explanation, the way the shadows bent toward her as if they knew her.

It wasn't a coincidence.

She swallowed, forcing herself to focus on their path. The cavern walls gradually widened, the jagged, narrow passages opening into a vast underground chamber where remnants of an ancient throne room stood in ruin. Massive stone pillars loomed overhead, their bases cracked as if some great force had tried to tear them from the ground. The floor was littered with dust and debris, remnants of a forgotten kingdom.

Seraphina paused, running her fingers across the deep carvings etched into the nearest pillar. The symbols were old, their meanings lost to time, but they stirred something in her—a deep, unsettling familiarity.

Caius noticed her hesitation. "What is it?"

She shook her head, but her fingers lingered on the stone. "I've seen these before."

He frowned. "Where?"

She didn't know. In dreams? In passing? In the corners of her mind, she had never dared to explore.

The moment her palm pressed flat against the stone, the symbols glowed faintly beneath her touch. A cold shiver ran down her spine as a sharp pain stabbed through her temples. Images flickered through her mind—flashes of a life she didn't remember living. A vast kingdom drowning in war. A dark castle engulfed in flames. A figure cloaked in shadows, whispering her name.

And then—

Blood.

She gasped and stumbled back, her breath coming in short, panicked bursts. The glow faded as quickly as it had appeared, but the remnants of the vision lingered, clawing at the edges of her consciousness.

Caius was beside her in an instant, gripping her arms. "What did you see?"

Seraphina pressed a trembling hand against her forehead, willing the images away. "A war. Fire. Blood." She exhaled sharply. "And something—someone—waiting in the dark."

Caius's expression hardened. "The past?"

"Or the future," she whispered.

A foreboding silence fell between them.

She knew one thing for certain—the truth was no longer a distant mystery. It was clawing its way toward her, demanding to be seen. And if she didn't uncover it soon… It would consume her.

Seraphina's pulse thundered in her ears as the last remnants of the vision flickered away, leaving a gnawing emptiness in its wake. The sensation of something ancient and restless, something waiting, clung to her skin like a phantom touch. She clenched her fists, willing the unease away, but it lingered, whispering in the back of her mind.

Caius watched her with sharp intensity, his grip on her arms unwavering. "If this is the truth you seek, then you must be prepared for what comes next," he said, his voice low, edged with something unreadable.

Seraphina's gaze flickered to him, searching his face. "And if I'm not?"

His golden eyes darkened. "Then you will break."

She inhaled slowly, forcing herself to stand taller. "Then I suppose I have no choice but to endure."

Something in his expression shifted, almost imperceptibly, but he said nothing. Instead, he released his hold on her and stepped back, allowing her space to breathe.

The cavern around them felt heavier, the weight of history pressing against her from all sides. This place had been abandoned for a reason. And yet, she had been called here. The thought made her stomach twist. She turned her gaze back to the symbols, still faintly illuminated as if they recognized her, knew her.

A warning. A calling. A curse.

And whatever lay ahead—whatever force had guided her to this moment—wasn't finished with her yet.

A sharp gust of wind howled through the cavern, rattling loose stones and stirring the dust at Seraphina's feet. The faint glow of the symbols pulsed once, then flickered out, leaving behind an eerie silence. But the weight in the air did not disappear. If anything, it thickened, like a presence unseen, waiting… watching.

Then, the ground trembled.

Seraphina barely had time to steady herself before a deep, resonant crack echoed through the chamber. The pillar she had touched shuddered violently, fractures racing across its surface like veins of molten fire. The glow returned, brighter, more urgent—and then the floor beneath her collapsed.

She let out a strangled gasp as the world gave way beneath her. The descent was swift, a deafening rush of air roaring past her ears as she tumbled through darkness. Her body twisted, instinct screaming at her to brace for impact, but the fall seemed endless—until suddenly, it wasn't.

The impact never came.

Instead, a force—cold, intangible—caught her midair. She hovered, suspended in an abyss of nothingness, her breath stolen by the unnatural stillness. It wasn't just dark. It was emptiness, stretching beyond sight, swallowing sound, pressing against her like an unseen tide.

And then, a voice.

Low. Ancient. Crawling beneath her skin.

"You have awakened the forgotten."

Seraphina's chest tightened. She struggled to move, but it was as if invisible hands held her in place, their grip tightening with each breath.

"You do not yet understand… but you will."

A sharp pain lanced through her skull, blinding her vision. Images exploded behind her eyes—memories that did not belong to her.

A queen, draped in obsidian robes, standing at the edge of war.A crown, wreathed in shadow, dissolving into ash.A name whispered in reverence… and fear.

The pain surged, overwhelming, unbearable—

And then—

She woke.

Gasping, Seraphina bolted upright, her heart slamming against her ribs. Cold stone pressed against her palms, the cavern's dim light returning to her vision. She was back. The chamber remained unchanged, Caius standing where she had last seen him, his eyes wide with something dangerously close to alarm.

But something had changed.

She could feel it.

The symbols on the pillar no longer glowed, but the power in them had not disappeared. It had transferred.

To her.

Her fingers trembled as she pressed them against her chest. The energy pulsed beneath her skin, deep and unfathomable, an inheritance she had never asked for.

Caius stepped closer, cautious. "What did you see?"

Seraphina looked up, her breath still unsteady. The shadows in the chamber no longer felt like strangers. They felt like kin.

She swallowed hard.

"…The past," she whispered. "And a warning."

A chill settled between them.

For the first time, Seraphina knew—without doubt—that she had not simply fallen into this world.

She had been called.

And whatever had called her… was still waiting.