She stepped forward slowly, barefoot on the crumbling stones of Thronebridge.
Red silk clung to her form, torn at the hem and darkened in places by ash and dried blood. The ring on her finger pulsed with the same glow as the glyph I carved in my final life.
A match. My glyph. Her ring.
System Alert: Unregistered anomaly detected. No record found in mortal, divine, or corrupted timelines. Designation: SOVEREIGN_OMEGA.
Sovereign_Omega. I had never heard the name. But my body reacted like it had kissed her and killed her in the same heartbeat.
She ignored Version_47 entirely. Her eyes never left mine.
"You remember nothing, do you?" she said, smiling bitterly. "That's fair. You died before the wedding."
My throat tightened. Not from confusion. Not from guilt. From recognition I wasn't ready to admit.
I remembered flashes. A corridor of obsidian mirrors. A veil made from starlight. A hand reaching for mine, not in ceremony — in desperation.
"You… were real?" I asked.
She nodded. "Version_94. You said if you ever broke the loop, to kill you before you became what the gods feared."
She looked at the glowing glyph burned into the stone. "You've become it."
Version_47 raised the divine sword again. Not at me. At her.
The moment the blade touched the air around her, it shattered — not the blade. The sky.
System Overload: Shared authority detected between subject and deleted entity. Warning: This convergence cannot be undone.
I grabbed her arm. She didn't resist. Her skin was cold. Not dead. Timeless.
"How many times did we fail?" I asked.
Her eyes glistened. "You don't want the number."
The sky turned black. Not night — null. No stars. No gods. No watchers.
And in that space, something else opened. A doorway. Carved from bone. Sealed with blood. A loop gate.
"This is your last chance," she whispered. "Merge with me… or die as the ghost of yourself."
I took her hand. And for the first time in 113 deaths… I felt everything.
System Merge: Sovereign protocol initiated. Crownbearer and Omega Thread binding… Final loop sequence unlocked.
The glyph on the bridge ignited. The ground cracked. And from below us… A forgotten kingdom began to rise.
But above it all, one final alert echoed through the sky:
Warning: Two souls cannot rule one throne. Prepare for judgment.
She stepped forward slowly, barefoot on the crumbling stones of Thronebridge.
Red silk clung to her form, torn at the hem and darkened in places by ash and dried blood. The ring on her finger pulsed with the same glow as the glyph I carved in my final life.
A match. My glyph. Her ring.
System Alert: Unregistered anomaly detected. No record found in mortal, divine, or corrupted timelines. Designation: SOVEREIGN_OMEGA.
Sovereign_Omega. I had never heard the name. But my body reacted like it had kissed her and killed her in the same heartbeat.
She ignored Version_47 entirely. Her eyes never left mine.
"You remember nothing, do you?" she said, smiling bitterly. "That's fair. You died before the wedding."
My throat tightened. Not from confusion. Not from guilt. From recognition I wasn't ready to admit.
I remembered flashes. A corridor of obsidian mirrors. A veil made from starlight. A hand reaching for mine, not in ceremony — in desperation.
"You… were real?" I asked.
She nodded. "Version_94. You said if you ever broke the loop, to kill you before you became what the gods feared."
She looked at the glowing glyph burned into the stone. "You've become it."
Version_47 raised the divine sword again. Not at me. At her.
The moment the blade touched the air around her, it shattered — not the blade. The sky.
System Overload: Shared authority detected between subject and deleted entity. Warning: This convergence cannot be undone.
I grabbed her arm. She didn't resist. Her skin was cold. Not dead. Timeless.
"How many times did we fail?" I asked.
Her eyes glistened. "You don't want the number."
The sky turned black. Not night — null. No stars. No gods. No watchers.
And in that space, something else opened. A doorway. Carved from bone. Sealed with blood. A loop gate.
"This is your last chance," she whispered. "Merge with me… or die as the ghost of yourself."
I took her hand. And for the first time in 113 deaths… I felt everything.
System Merge: Sovereign protocol initiated. Crownbearer and Omega Thread binding… Final loop sequence unlocked.
The glyph on the bridge ignited. The ground cracked. And from below us… A forgotten kingdom began to rise.
But above it all, one final alert echoed through the sky:
Warning: Two souls cannot rule one throne. Prepare for judgment.
She stepped forward slowly, barefoot on the crumbling stones of Thronebridge.
Red silk clung to her form, torn at the hem and darkened in places by ash and dried blood. The ring on her finger pulsed with the same glow as the glyph I carved in my final life.
A match. My glyph. Her ring.
System Alert: Unregistered anomaly detected. No record found in mortal, divine, or corrupted timelines. Designation: SOVEREIGN_OMEGA.
Sovereign_Omega. I had never heard the name. But my body reacted like it had kissed her and killed her in the same heartbeat.
She ignored Version_47 entirely. Her eyes never left mine.
"You remember nothing, do you?" she said, smiling bitterly. "That's fair. You died before the wedding."
My throat tightened. Not from confusion. Not from guilt. From recognition I wasn't ready to admit.
I remembered flashes. A corridor of obsidian mirrors. A veil made from starlight. A hand reaching for mine, not in ceremony — in desperation.
"You… were real?" I asked.
She nodded. "Version_94. You said if you ever broke the loop, to kill you before you became what the gods feared."
She looked at the glowing glyph burned into the stone. "You've become it."
Version_47 raised the divine sword again. Not at me. At her.
The moment the blade touched the air around her, it shattered — not the blade. The sky.
System Overload: Shared authority detected between subject and deleted entity. Warning: This convergence cannot be undone.
I grabbed her arm. She didn't resist. Her skin was cold. Not dead. Timeless.
"How many times did we fail?" I asked.
Her eyes glistened. "You don't want the number."
The sky turned black. Not night — null. No stars. No gods. No watchers.
And in that space, something else opened. A doorway. Carved from bone. Sealed with blood. A loop gate.
"This is your last chance," she whispered. "Merge with me… or die as the ghost of yourself."
I took her hand. And for the first time in 113 deaths… I felt everything.
System Merge: Sovereign protocol initiated. Crownbearer and Omega Thread binding… Final loop sequence unlocked.
The glyph on the bridge ignited. The ground cracked. And from below us… A forgotten kingdom began to rise.
But above it all, one final alert echoed through the sky:
Warning: Two souls cannot rule one throne. Prepare for judgment.
She stepped forward slowly, barefoot on the crumbling stones of Thronebridge.
Red silk clung to her form, torn at the hem and darkened in places by ash and dried blood. The ring on her finger pulsed with the same glow as the glyph I carved in my final life.
A match. My glyph. Her ring.
System Alert: Unregistered anomaly detected. No record found in mortal, divine, or corrupted timelines. Designation: SOVEREIGN_OMEGA.
Sovereign_Omega. I had never heard the name. But my body reacted like it had kissed her and killed her in the same heartbeat.
She ignored Version_47 entirely. Her eyes never left mine.
"You remember nothing, do you?" she said, smiling bitterly. "That's fair. You died before the wedding."
My throat tightened. Not from confusion. Not from guilt. From recognition I wasn't ready to admit.
I remembered flashes. A corridor of obsidian mirrors. A veil made from starlight. A hand reaching for mine, not in ceremony — in desperation.
"You… were real?" I asked.
She nodded. "Version_94. You said if you ever broke the loop, to kill you before you became what the gods feared."
She looked at the glowing glyph burned into the stone. "You've become it."
Version_47 raised the divine sword again. Not at me. At her.
The moment the blade touched the air around her, it shattered — not the blade. The sky.
System Overload: Shared authority detected between subject and deleted entity. Warning: This convergence cannot be undone.
I grabbed her arm. She didn't resist. Her skin was cold. Not dead. Timeless.
"How many times did we fail?" I asked.
Her eyes glistened. "You don't want the number."
The sky turned black. Not night — null. No stars. No gods. No watchers.
And in that space, something else opened. A doorway. Carved from bone. Sealed with blood. A loop gate.
"This is your last chance," she whispered. "Merge with me… or die as the ghost of yourself."
I took her hand. And for the first time in 113 deaths… I felt everything.
System Merge: Sovereign protocol initiated. Crownbearer and Omega Thread binding… Final loop sequence unlocked.
The glyph on the bridge ignited. The ground cracked. And from below us… A forgotten kingdom began to rise.
But above it all, one final alert echoed through the sky:
Warning: Two souls cannot rule one throne. Prepare for judgment.
She stepped forward slowly, barefoot on the crumbling stones of Thronebridge.
Red silk clung to her form, torn at the hem and darkened in places by ash and dried blood. The ring on her finger pulsed with the same glow as the glyph I carved in my final life.
A match. My glyph. Her ring.
System Alert: Unregistered anomaly detected. No record found in mortal, divine, or corrupted timelines. Designation: SOVEREIGN_OMEGA.
Sovereign_Omega. I had never heard the name. But my body reacted like it had kissed her and killed her in the same heartbeat.
She ignored Version_47 entirely. Her eyes never left mine.
"You remember nothing, do you?" she said, smiling bitterly. "That's fair. You died before the wedding."
My throat tightened. Not from confusion. Not from guilt. From recognition I wasn't ready to admit.
I remembered flashes. A corridor of obsidian mirrors. A veil made from starlight. A hand reaching for mine, not in ceremony — in desperation.
"You… were real?" I asked.
She nodded. "Version_94. You said if you ever broke the loop, to kill you before you became what the gods feared."
She looked at the glowing glyph burned into the stone. "You've become it."
Version_47 raised the divine sword again. Not at me. At her.
The moment the blade touched the air around her, it shattered — not the blade. The sky.
System Overload: Shared authority detected between subject and deleted entity. Warning: This convergence cannot be undone.
I grabbed her arm. She didn't resist. Her skin was cold. Not dead. Timeless.
"How many times did we fail?" I asked.
Her eyes glistened. "You don't want the number."
The sky turned black. Not night — null. No stars. No gods. No watchers.
And in that space, something else opened. A doorway. Carved from bone. Sealed with blood. A loop gate.
"This is your last chance," she whispered. "Merge with me… or die as the ghost of yourself."
I took her hand. And for the first time in 113 deaths… I felt everything.
System Merge: Sovereign protocol initiated. Crownbearer and Omega Thread binding… Final loop sequence unlocked.
The glyph on the bridge ignited. The ground cracked. And from below us… A forgotten kingdom began to rise.
But above it all, one final alert echoed through the sky:
Warning: Two souls cannot rule one throne. Prepare for judgment.
She stepped forward slowly, barefoot on the crumbling stones of Thronebridge.
Red silk clung to her form, torn at the hem and darkened in places by ash and dried blood. The ring on her finger pulsed with the same glow as the glyph I carved in my final life.
A match. My glyph. Her ring.
System Alert: Unregistered anomaly detected. No record found in mortal, divine, or corrupted timelines. Designation: SOVEREIGN_OMEGA.
Sovereign_Omega. I had never heard the name. But my body reacted like it had kissed her and killed her in the same heartbeat.
She ignored Version_47 entirely. Her eyes never left mine.
"You remember nothing, do you?" she said, smiling bitterly. "That's fair. You died before the wedding."
My throat tightened. Not from confusion. Not from guilt. From recognition I wasn't ready to admit.
I remembered flashes. A corridor of obsidian mirrors. A veil made from starlight. A hand reaching for mine, not in ceremony — in desperation.
"You… were real?" I asked.
She nodded. "Version_94. You said if you ever broke the loop, to kill you before you became what the gods feared."
She looked at the glowing glyph burned into the stone. "You've become it."
Version_47 raised the divine sword again. Not at me. At her.
The moment the blade touched the air around her, it shattered — not the blade. The sky.
System Overload: Shared authority detected between subject and deleted entity. Warning: This convergence cannot be undone.
I grabbed her arm. She didn't resist. Her skin was cold. Not dead. Timeless.
"How many times did we fail?" I asked.
Her eyes glistened. "You don't want the number."
The sky turned black. Not night — null. No stars. No gods. No watchers.
And in that space, something else opened. A doorway. Carved from bone. Sealed with blood. A loop gate.
"This is your last chance," she whispered. "Merge with me… or die as the ghost of yourself."
I took her hand. And for the first time in 113 deaths… I felt everything.
System Merge: Sovereign protocol initiated. Crownbearer and Omega Thread binding… Final loop sequence unlocked.
The glyph on the bridge ignited. The ground cracked. And from below us… A forgotten kingdom began to rise.
But above it all, one final alert echoed through the sky:
Warning: Two souls cannot rule one throne. Prepare for judgment.
She stepped forward slowly, barefoot on the crumbling stones of Thronebridge.
Red silk clung to her form, torn at the hem and darkened in places by ash and dried blood. The ring on her finger pulsed with the same glow as the glyph I carved in my final life.
A match. My glyph. Her ring.
System Alert: Unregistered anomaly detected. No record found in mortal, divine, or corrupted timelines. Designation: SOVEREIGN_OMEGA.
Sovereign_Omega. I had never heard the name. But my body reacted like it had kissed her and killed her in the same heartbeat.
She ignored Version_47 entirely. Her eyes never left mine.
"You remember nothing, do you?" she said, smiling bitterly. "That's fair. You died before the wedding."
My throat tightened. Not from confusion. Not from guilt. From recognition I wasn't ready to admit.
I remembered flashes. A corridor of obsidian mirrors. A veil made from starlight. A hand reaching for mine, not in ceremony — in desperation.
"You… were real?" I asked.
She nodded. "Version_94. You said if you ever broke the loop, to kill you before you became what the gods feared."
She looked at the glowing glyph burned into the stone. "You've become it."
Version_47 raised the divine sword again. Not at me. At her.
The moment the blade touched the air around her, it shattered — not the blade. The sky.
System Overload: Shared authority detected between subject and deleted entity. Warning: This convergence cannot be undone.
I grabbed her arm. She didn't resist. Her skin was cold. Not dead. Timeless.
"How many times did we fail?" I asked.
Her eyes glistened. "You don't want the number."
The sky turned black. Not night — null. No stars. No gods. No watchers.
And in that space, something else opened. A doorway. Carved from bone. Sealed with blood. A loop gate.
"This is your last chance," she whispered. "Merge with me… or die as the ghost of yourself."
I took her hand. And for the first time in 113 deaths… I felt everything.
System Merge: Sovereign protocol initiated. Crownbearer and Omega Thread binding… Final loop sequence unlocked.
The glyph on the bridge ignited. The ground cracked. And from below us… A forgotten kingdom began to rise.
But above it all, one final alert echoed through the sky:
Warning: Two souls cannot rule one throne. Prepare for judgment.
She stepped forward slowly, barefoot on the crumbling stones of Thronebridge.
Red silk clung to her form, torn at the hem and darkened in places by ash and dried blood. The ring on her finger pulsed with the same glow as the glyph I carved in my final life.
A match. My glyph. Her ring.
System Alert: Unregistered anomaly detected. No record found in mortal, divine, or corrupted timelines. Designation: SOVEREIGN_OMEGA.
Sovereign_Omega. I had never heard the name. But my body reacted like it had kissed her and killed her in the same heartbeat.
She ignored Version_47 entirely. Her eyes never left mine.
"You remember nothing, do you?" she said, smiling bitterly. "That's fair. You died before the wedding."
My throat tightened. Not from confusion. Not from guilt. From recognition I wasn't ready to admit.
I remembered flashes. A corridor of obsidian mirrors. A veil made from starlight. A hand reaching for mine, not in ceremony — in desperation.
"You… were real?" I asked.
She nodded. "Version_94. You said if you ever broke the loop, to kill you before you became what the gods feared."
She looked at the glowing glyph burned into the stone. "You've become it."
Version_47 raised the divine sword again. Not at me. At her.
The moment the blade touched the air around her, it shattered — not the blade. The sky.
System Overload: Shared authority detected between subject and deleted entity. Warning: This convergence cannot be undone.
I grabbed her arm. She didn't resist. Her skin was cold. Not dead. Timeless.
"How many times did we fail?" I asked.
Her eyes glistened. "You don't want the number,"
she said quietly, not because it was a secret—
But because it was a scar.
"Tell me anyway," I demanded.
She inhaled.
Slow. Controlled.
"Seven hundred and eighty-three. That's how many times you died without ever making it back here."
I felt the number hit me harder than any sword.
"And this?" I asked, voice hoarse.
"Is this the time I finally live?"
She didn't answer.
Because the glyph beneath our feet started to bleed.
Not figuratively—literally. Crimson lines poured from the etched stone like veins bursting open. And the kingdom groaned beneath us.
"System Alert: Soul-glyph destabilizing."
"Thread anchor merging with unauthorized timeline."
"Warning: Anomaly presence collapsing past/future boundary."
"Solenne," I whispered.
Her name. The one they erased.
She turned sharply. "Don't say it aloud again. Not yet. Not with him watching."
"Who?"
⸻
She stepped to the edge of the bridge and pointed into the swirling mist where the forest had once been.
From that nothingness, a shadow moved.
Not walked.
Moved—like smoke remembering how to become human.
And then… it smiled.
"Version_Zero detected."
"Crown-bearer origin. Threadless. Memory-hacked. Outcome: Terminal."
"I told you," she said. "You don't want the number."
Because he was the one who remembered every version I failed.
And he had come to make sure this version never left the bridge alive.