Megumi sat in his chamber long after Ava had fallen asleep beside Chloe. The flickering candlelight danced across his face, but his eyes were fixed on the shadows creeping along the walls. They seemed to whisper, as though the void itself had followed him home.
He pressed a hand against his chest, feeling the echo of the throne's call in his heartbeat.
Why me? he thought. Why now?
He wanted to scream, to break the silence with the weight of what he'd discovered. But every time he looked at Ava's peaceful face, or Chloe's tiny hand curled against her mother's, his mouth clamped shut.
How could he tell them? That somewhere in the darkness, the original fallen kingstirred? That the throne itself—the very seat of divine rule—had chosen him as its next heir?
No. He couldn't.
⸻
Days passed. To the others, Megumi seemed the same—calm, composed, unshakable. He smiled when Ava teased him. He sparred with Leonidas in the courtyard. He listened to Medusa hum lullabies to Chloe while Nyx braided Ava's hair.
But when night fell, Megumi would slip away to the cliffs. Alone. Always alone.
There, he could feel it more clearly—the weight of something pressing against his soul. The whispers were faint but persistent, calling him "King," calling him "Heir."
Each night the pull grew stronger. Each night, it took more of his willpower to resist answering.
⸻
One evening, Ava found him standing in the cold wind, staring into nothing.
"You're not sleeping," she said quietly. "You're barely eating. And when I look in your eyes… it feels like you're a million miles away."
Megumi clenched his fists. The words were on his tongue—burning, clawing to escape. But instead, he said:
"I just… can't shake the feeling that something's coming. And if it does… I don't know if I'll be enough to stop it."
Ava stepped forward, taking his hand in both of hers. "You don't have to carry everything alone, Megumi. You never did."
Her touch was warm, grounding, but even as she held him, Megumi could feel the cold throne lingering at the edges of his soul.
He swallowed hard and whispered, "I can't lose you. Either of you."
"You won't," Ava promised. "Not this time."
But Megumi couldn't tell her the truth. Not yet. Because deep down, in the darkest part of his heart, he was beginning to fear something far worse than losing them.
He feared becoming the very thing he was meant to destroy.