Ethan stared at the prompt hanging in his mind like a blade suspended over his thoughts.
[GHOSTWAKE EVENT: DEAD THRONE INTERFACE]Choose: ACCEPT — DENY
His pulse throbbed in his ears. The air around him crackled, the ghost-throne looming like it was watching.
Aelira touched his arm. "You don't have to—"
"I do."
ACCEPT
The moment the word formed in his thoughts, the world snapped.
Aether surged from the floor like a tidal wave. Glyphs ignited across the throne chamber in a cascade of violet and gold. The phantom screamed—not in pain, but in release, its body unraveling into threads of memory that lashed through Ethan's chest.
The System convulsed inside him.
[Ghostwake Archive Synced]Memory Fragment Unsealed: KAELEN VARROS | TITHE: FALL OF THE STARBOUND]Caution: Identity Overlap Detected. Reconstructing Core Thread...
Ethan fell to his knees.
Reality buckled.
He saw a city burning under the weight of a dying star. Starbound Knights dragged from the sky by tentacled beasts of black crystal. A war council shouting his name—Kaelen's name. And he, dressed in armor kissed by voidfire, standing before the Dead Throne then, just as he did now.
"You chose exile over dominion," a voice said—his own, but not.
The chamber flickered.
Now.
Then.
Now.
Aelira's voice was distant, distorted. "ETHAN!"
He gasped as the phantom memory collapsed into him. Not just a vision integration. The Dead Throne was not a seat of power. It was a seal. A vault. And Kaelen Varros, the one he once was, had bound something here.
Something that wanted out.
The ghostlight dimmed. Ethan rose, breath ragged, eyes flickering with residual starlight.
A crown of radiant sigils hovered briefly above his head… then shattered.
[Title Acquired: Thronebound][New Thread Unlocked: Ghostwake | Tithe Protocols Active]
He looked at Aelira, his voice low. "It wasn't just a war. It was a sacrifice. We gave up everything to keep that thing in the dark."
"What thing?"
The floor shook. Distant roars echoed from beneath the spire—deep, ancient, and rising.
Ethan drew in a breath. "The one we killed… but couldn't destroy."