Jason stood at the edge of Seattle's main street, his breath still ragged, his body still shaking. His head still glowed, but the light was extremely dim, like a candle that had almost burned out that night. He stared toward the alley that now looked full of flashes of white and dark light.
People walking on the main street still hadn't realized something strange was happening. They just walked casually, talked on phones, or carried their shopping. As if Seattle was still safe, still calm, still normal.
But Jason knew the reality was very different.
Jason decided to return to the alley. He didn't know why he was doing this. Maybe from curiosity, maybe because he wanted to see how the battle ended, maybe because he wanted to meet the mysterious mentor. Whatever the reason, Jason stepped back toward the alley slowly.
As he drew closer, the white light and dark light began to fade. The explosions stopped echoing. The sounds of battle gradually disappeared. Jason could only hear the wind whistling between the alley walls.
Jason entered the alley again. The condition of the alley was far worse than before. The walls had almost completely collapsed. Brick debris was scattered everywhere. Large holes had formed in the alley walls. Even the alley ground looked corrupted with deep scratches that formed dark lines.
The shadow monster was gone. There were no signs that the creature was still anywhere near the alley. Jason looked around, searching for the silhouette of the woman who had saved him.
"Hello?" Jason called out with a still-trembling voice. "Who are you? Where are you?"
No answer. Only silence and wind whistling between the brick debris.
Jason stood alone in the middle of the destroyed alley. His head still glowed, but that light was fading. Jason's energy was very depleted. His body felt like stone, felt heavy, felt like it couldn't move anymore.
He tried to walk deeper into the alley, looking for signs of what happened. He searched for the place where the crystal crown was first found. But when Jason reached the darkest corner of the alley before, he only found piles of debris and no more golden light shining.
"The crown..." Jason whispered, suddenly feeling panicked. "Where is the crown?"
He looked at his reflection in the shattered glass on the alley floor. His head still glowed. The golden light still flowed across the surface of his head. That meant the crown was still there, still attached to the top of his head.
"You forgot. The crown can't be removed. The crown has become part of you now," the voice in his head spoke again, sounding slightly tired but still strong.
"Who are you?" Jason asked the voice. "Are you the voice of the crown? Are you a creature that lives inside the crown?"
"I am the wisdom of the crown. I am the memory and knowledge accumulated over thousands of years. I am the guide who will help you understand the power you possess."
Jason felt this was too much. Too much information. Too many changes. This morning he was just a boring office worker. Now he was talking to a voice claiming to be the wisdom of thousands of years. Now he was a bearer of a crown with power he didn't understand.
"I want to go back home," Jason whispered with an almost crying voice. "I want all this to disappear. I want to go back to being normal Jason, boring Jason, the one who doesn't have magic power."
But before the voice in his head could answer, something happened.
Jason's head light began to shine brighter.
Unlike before, when that light flickered or pulsed slowly. This time the light shone bright and stable, like a lamp that had just been turned on at full power. The light kept increasing, brighter, clearer, more dazzling.
The light didn't just shine from Jason's head. The light began to radiate in all directions, filling the entire alley with pure and beautiful golden light. The dark alley full of debris now looked like a space bathed in warm afternoon sunlight.
The light was so bright that Jason couldn't see in front of him. His eyes closed because of the glare, but Jason could feel the light radiating from his head, the light wrapping around his body, the light connecting him to the crown.
"What's happening?" Jason screamed, but his voice was lost in the blinding light.
Then Jason heard a voice. The voice came from within the light, came from within his head, came from within the radiating energy. The voice wasn't the voice of the crown's wisdom that had spoken before. This voice was different. This voice was stronger, more authoritative, more... ancient.
"Awaken, crown bearer," the voice spoke in a way that felt like thousands of people speaking together, yet only one voice was heard. "Your power begins now."
The light reached its peak. The light was so bright that if anyone was watching from a distance, they would definitely think a second sun had appeared in the middle of Seattle at night. Jason's bald head glowed like a giant searchlight aimed at the sky.
But in a flash, the light decreased drastically. The light didn't disappear, but it lowered to a far more normal level. Jason's head still glowed, but now its light looked like ordinary street lamp light, light enough to illuminate the surrounding area without making people blind from glare.
Jason opened his eyes. He could see the alley more clearly now. The light from his head illuminated every corner of the alley, making the brick debris visible in clear detail.
And that's when Jason realized something very funny.
His head glowed like a street lamp. Really like a street lamp. The bald head that Jason had felt was a shortcoming his whole life had now become the perfect lighting tool. His bald head that used to only make him laughed at by friends now shone with beautiful golden light.
Jason wanted to laugh. Laugh at the absurdity of this situation. Laugh because the reality was that at the most dramatic moment in his life, the most ridiculous thing was that his head glowed like a storefront street lamp.
"This... this is so funny," Jason whispered while laughing a little. "Among all the people who might get magic power, it had to be me. A bald guy whose life is boring. And my magic power makes my head glow like a street lamp?"
He looked at his reflection in the broken glass on the alley floor. The reflection showed a man with a bald head radiating golden light. Actually, it looked cool. Looked like a superhero from movies Jason had ever watched at the cinema. But still, Jason couldn't stop himself from laughing at the irony.
"Glowing bald head. That could be the title of a song for someone who just got magic power," Jason continued speaking while walking between the debris.
The voice in his head sounded again, this time like it was holding back laughter: "You have strange humor, Jason. Humor at a very wrong time."
Jason laughed harder. Laughed because of stress, laughed because he was scared, laughed because all this was too crazy to believe. Laughed because the only way to deal with craziness was to find its humor.
As Jason was still laughing, suddenly the light shining from his head began to change color. The golden light began to turn into a colder color, more blue, more... mystical.
Jason stopped laughing. He felt a change in energy within his body. That change wasn't scary, but felt serious. Felt like something important was happening.
The light on his head pulsed, like a heartbeat. The pulse grew faster. Faster. Even faster.
Then the voice appeared again. But this time the voice wasn't the voice that was smiling or holding back laughter. The voice sounded serious, sounded important, sounded like it carried the weight of the world.
"Choose your path, Jason," the voice spoke with a tone full of caution. "Your path will determine the fate of this city. Your path will determine whether Seattle will be saved or fall into darkness. Choose wisely."
Jason's eyes widened. He wanted to ask what it meant, wanted to say that he was still confused, wanted to say that he was still new to knowing this power. But the voice was already gone. Only the light that still pulsed on his head remained.
"Hello? Hello?" Jason yelled. "What does it mean choose your path? I don't understand!"
But there was no answer. Only light that still shone like a street lamp in the middle of the alley full of brick debris that told the story of the battle that had just taken place.
Jason stood alone in the alley, with his head glowing like a street lamp, carrying a question without an answer: what choice must he make? And how much time did he have to make that choice before it was all too late?