In the heart of the temple, beneath constellations carved in timeworn stone, they found it.
The Dreaming Crown.
It hovered above a fractured pedestal, pulsing not with light, but with timelines. Threads of moments long past and yet to come shimmered around it—memories not just of one life, but of many. It was forged, the inscription read, from the first thought of the First King.
The crown didn't seek a wearer.It chose them.
[SYSTEM WARNING: Event Horizon State – Crown Integration Risks Identity Fusion]
Ethan stepped forward. His breath hitched as the hum of its presence filled his chest. He reached out.
The instant his fingers grazed the Crown, memories surged into him like a flood breaching a dam.
Kaelen's triumphs. Kaelen's betrayals. Kaelen's death.Ethan's own memories—his mother's lullabies, late-night coding marathons, the first time he realized he was truly alone in this world.And Aelira.
Her voice cut through it all.
"Ethan," she said softly, catching him as he staggered. "Let me in. Don't carry this alone."
He blinked at her, trembling, as if standing on the edge of all reality.
Their hands met atop the Dreaming Crown.
For a moment, they were one.
Memories bled together—no boundaries, no barriers. Her thoughts, his grief. His guilt, her hope. Every secret. Every scar. Every laugh shared and kiss still waiting to happen.
They saw the whole truth of one another.And loved anyway.
When the light faded, the Crown no longer floated.
It rested in Ethan's hand—but its presence lived in both of them. A third pulse, neither his nor hers, beat between their joined fingers.
[STATUS UPDATE: Dreaming Crown Claimed – Dual-Wielder Trait Imprinted][System Evolution Path: Sovereign Flux Initiated]
The Crown shimmered. Not just a relic.A living axis of fate, now bound to two hearts.
And the world noticed.