Nyra woke up with a sudden jolt.
She turned to see Finn sitting by her bedside he suddenly lifted his head and his eyes went wide
"You're awake Nyra" he said
"How long was I unconscious for?"
"It's been over 24 hours ." He said solemnly "I was really starting to get worried "
"How much trouble are we in?"
"Glad you asked." He said while sighing. "The High Astromancer should be here tomorrow, which means we have until some to figure something out. "
"What happened?" she asked
"We were caught by those soldiers of the temple. They're looking for the crown, which disappeared right after you touched it, and they are now keeping us here till you wake.
They should be on their way now. This room is enchanted, they're monitoring our every move so we don't escape." He said in a rush
"Any idea on what's going on outside?"
"Everywhere is in chaos. The people are demanding the true ruler, Caelen has locked himself up and refused to see anyone, the priests are going through our records to see what they missed." He chuckled lightly
"That's pretty much it. Apparently, they are so sure that we had been checked off their list and we posed no threat since they made sure to keep us under control."
"So they did know even after I tried my best to hide it. What are we going to do?"
"I don't know," he replied.
"What did you tell them?"
"I told them nothing. It almost seems like they are scared, they're being overly cautious. I was honestly expecting a beating or that we would be locked in the dungeon." He said expressing his thoughts
Nyra looked around and realised that they were indeed in one of the rooms of the temple.
" We have to just go along with it for now but where is the crown? It is with you.
"I don't know what happened after I touched it." She responded
"Do you feel any different"
"No. Maybe a little."
"I see"
"What exactly happened I don't remember anything"
" Your eyes started to glow, and they suddenly went white. The Crown started to shine, and suddenly, a light burst forth, and it disappeared." He recalled "You should be able to bring it back, right?"
"There was nothing like this in the ancient texts. Let me try"
She tried to feel for anything inside of her, and then she heard a voice in her head.
○ INITIATING CELESTIAL PROTOCOL ○
SOURCE IDENTIFIED: Hollow Crown
HOST CONFIRMED: Nyra of the Forgotten Line
…Verifying blood resonance…
STARKEEPER BLOODLINE DETECTED
GENETIC CONSTELLATION MATCH: COMPLETE
SOUL SIGNATURE: UNBROKEN
Nyra staggered.
"What—" Her voice didn't echo. Nothing did.
The voice continued, patiently;
"Greetings, bearer.
Greetings, descendant of the Star Keepers."
"F-Finn"
"Yeah?" he moved closer trying to figure out what was wrong
"Do you hear that?"She questioned
He shook his head
"It must be in my head then." She concluded
"What is it saying?"
"Something about bloodline and Starkeepers.I think it must have been activated with my touch"
"Can you communicate with it?" He asked
"I don't know."
'So this is the descendant they left me with?' The voice thundered.
Ugh. You are late.
Do you have any idea how long I've been dormant?
Three dynasties collapsed.
Two false kings died screaming.
And now you show up barefoot and confused.
Typical Starkeeper behaviour.'
"Wh–what the hell" Finn stuttered
"You can hear it too?" Nyra questioned and he nodded his head in response.
Suddenly, a grey smoke floated out of Nyra and began to gather at the centre of the room, condensing and materialising itself.
The smoke folded inward, shrinking rather than expanding, until a figure stood where the haze had been. Much taller than Nyra, lean, solid enough to cast a shadow. Humanoid. Familiar in the worst way. Its limbs were proportionate, its posture relaxed, almost casual, like it had all the time in the world and nowhere urgent to be.
Its skin looked like polished obsidian dusted with starlight, faint constellations shifting just beneath the surface. No glow. No halo. Just a quiet, wrong kind of beauty. Its face was fully formed with eyes, nose, and mouth, but the eyes were hollow voids rimmed with silver light, as if stars had burned out and left scars behind.
It looked at her.
Actually looked.
Then it smiled.
"Ah," it said, voice smooth and dry, like smoke scraping stone. "There you are. Took you long enough to stop screaming internally."
It tilted its head, studying her the way one might inspect a cracked blade.
"Congratulations, Nyra of nowhere important. You didn't die."
A pause.
"I might have been more pleased if you actually were strong enough to be awake for the assimilation process, like your ancestors before you were" It shook its head in disappointment and then turned toward Finn
"Hello there Starborn warrior " it smirked and bowed its head mockingly
"I see you have been chosen to be the current Starbearer"
"The what?" Finn just stood there looking at the creature that had been talking ever since its appearance.
It didn't seem hostile or dangerous. But it felt powerful. Powerful enough to actually make him shiver a little. He turned to glance at Nyra and saw that she was in the same state as he was, just staring at the creature.
'None of these were mentioned anywhere' he thought inwardly
They had spent weeks secretly combing through texts, books, libraries, archives and even the secret scrolls that almost got them killed. This creature was not mentioned anywhere.
Perhaps it was because no one had touched the crown and survived with their sanity intact.
"Starbearer " it continued. "I see you are just as clueless as this one here." It said turning its head towards Nyra, making her squirm.
"Clueless about what?" How do you know she's clueless?" He tried to inquire
"Because I'm in her head, silly" he responded with a sly smile. "I am a part of her now. I even know what she's thinking about right now"
"Well, that's not weird at all", Nyra muttered under her breath.
She slowly stood up and walked towards the creature.
"Who are you?"
"No, what are you?"