The Crown’s True Face

Location: The Heart of the Ley — high above the Divide, where the leylines convergeTime: Mid-eclipse

The sky had turned black.No stars. No sun.Only the glow of the completed Hollow Crown, floating behind the Masked Woman like a second moon.

She stood alone at the convergence point — fragments circling her like orbiting blades, humming with terrible promise.

The land beneath her feet cracked in every direction.Reality itself frayed at the edges.

The scholar stepped forward across the broken stone, breath ragged, robes torn.

Kael stood at their side, sword raised.The rest of the alliance faltered in the chaos behind them.

The Final Plea

"It's not what you think," the scholar said, voice barely carrying over the rising storm."That power — it's not yours. It never was."

The Masked Woman turned.

And for the first time… her mask was gone.

Eyes ringed with goldfire. Tears she hadn't noticed tracing lines down her scarred cheeks.

"You don't think I know that?" she whispered."I gave everything to the Circle. To the Accord. And they left me buried in their lies."

She raised her hand — the fragments pulsed together, forming a burning corona above her.

"Now I'll finish what they began. Not for them. For me."

The Crown Opens

And then it happened.

The Hollow Crown spun — faster, faster — until the sky cracked open above them.

A soundless scream tore across the ley.

And within the Crown's light… something stepped forward.

Not a ghost.Not Thaleon.Not even the traitor.

It was her.A younger version — unscarred, uncertain, reaching out from within the Crown's memory.

The true cost.The truth buried in the Crown's fragments.

She had not just helped build the Crown.

She had offered herself to it.

The Mirror Breaks

"You weren't betrayed," the scholar whispered."You chose to be the prison. You sealed the traitor inside you."

The younger version stepped closer, tears in her eyes.The fragments flickered.

"I didn't remember," the Masked Woman said.

"You weren't supposed to," the memory replied.

"But the Crown did."

The Choice

The Crown hovered between them — trembling, unstable.

The Masked Woman fell to her knees.

"Then I'm the gate," she said. "The last lock."

The scholar stepped forward.

"Then close it. Not with fire. With truth."

She looked up, meeting her own younger eyes one last time.

And for the first time… she smiled.

The End of the Crown

She reached out.Not to wield the Crown.But to reclaim herself.

The Crown shattered in a burst of white light — not an explosion, but a release.

A breath. A sigh.A silence older than time.

Aftermath

The eclipse faded.The sun returned.

The land still cracked, but held.

And where the Masked Woman had stood — only ash, scattered to the ley-wind.

The fragments were gone.The Crown, no more.

Only memory remained.