There were few places in the capital's magic academy more suspicious than the fourth-floor library annex. It wasn't that it was secret—it was just neglected, dusted only when the wind changed direction, and filled with too many books written by scholars who liked metaphors a little too much and sanity a little too little.
Which is exactly why Theo loved it.
"Over here!" he whisper-shouted, waving a book so ancient it might disintegrate if you looked at it too directly. "Guys. You have to see this. This is big."
Revantra eyed him with deep suspicion. "Is it as big as your 'mana-munching cat fungus' discovery?"
Theo turned pink. "That was real and might still be somewhere in the walls."
Elias sighed as he lowered himself into the cracked leather chair beside Revantra. "Just show us the book."
Theo carefully laid it on the table and opened it with a reverent flourish.
Revantra leaned forward, resting her chin in her hand. "This better not be poetry."
"It's not. It's prophecy."
"Oh great," she deadpanned. "The only thing worse than poetry."
Theo flipped the brittle page. "The Hollow Flame. An obscure demon cult, possibly dating back before the Great Collapse. Their entire belief system revolves around something they call the Throne That Drinks No Light."
Revantra flinched—so subtly that only Elias caught it.
"And get this," Theo continued. "They believe the throne can only be reclaimed when the True Demon Queen awakens in mortal form. Quote—'she who bore ruin in the first age shall rise again in child's skin, her eyes veiled until the fire calls her name.'"
He looked up, face glowing with pride.
Elias stared at the page. "Okay. That's… creepy."
Revantra, however, had gone very still.
Theo, too caught up in his own excitement, didn't notice. "And the image!" He flipped another page, revealing a dark-inked sketch. A horned woman, eyes obscured in shadow, surrounded by broken thrones and flames. "Doesn't she look—uh…"
He trailed off as Revantra finally spoke.
"That's me."
Silence followed.
Not dramatic silence—just the slow kind that grows roots. Elias turned to her. "You mean—?"
"I remember that pose," she said faintly, touching the image. "I stood like that the day I burned… everything."
Theo gaped. "Wait—wait. That's you? The actual queen? Of Hollow Flame?!"
"No," she said quickly. "Not of the Hollow Flame. That came later. Or… maybe I came first. I don't know." Her voice wavered. "They must have twisted the memory of what I was."
Theo sat back slowly. "This is insane. Do you know what this means? There could be followers—now. In the capital. Waiting to awaken you or crown you or—"
"I don't want to be crowned," Revantra snapped.
Theo went quiet.
"I don't want any throne," she said again, her voice dropping low. "Not one that drinks light. Not one that eats the world. I don't want to be… that."
Her hand clenched over the book so tightly the edges of the page crinkled.
"I just want to go to school. Learn dumb spells. Complain about food. Be with—" She caught herself.
Elias watched her carefully, his voice soft. "Be with what?"
Revantra didn't answer.
Instead, she leaned back and stared at the ceiling like it had all the answers and refused to share them.
Theo swallowed. "I didn't mean to upset you. I just thought it was… interesting."
"It is interesting," Elias said, keeping his tone even. "But not in the way you think. Revantra's not that person anymore."
"I never was," she muttered. "I didn't choose to be born a firestorm. I didn't ask to be used like a god. And now there's a creepy cult with bad calligraphy that wants to finish the job."
She stood abruptly.
Elias stood with her. "Reva—"
"Sorry," she said. "I need air."
The hallway outside the annex was cool and quiet, lit by old crystal lamps that hummed softly. Revantra leaned against the wall and let her forehead rest against the cold stone.
"I'm not scared," she said aloud. "I'm not scared. I'm just tired of being haunted by things I don't even remember asking for."
Elias didn't speak right away. He just waited.
Finally, she turned to face him. "If there are people out there who think I'm their savior, or their destroyer, or both… what do I do?"
"You be you," Elias said.
She narrowed her eyes. "That's the best you've got?"
"You said it yourself. You don't want to be that old version of you. So don't. Be stubborn. Be the girl who fakes toothaches to get out of class. Be the one who melts kettles when she's jealous. Be the one who hugs people like they're the last candle in the dark."
She blinked at him, surprised.
He smiled. "Be my headache, not theirs."
Her eyes glistened—just a bit.
And then, suddenly, she laughed. A short, cracked laugh, like a dam letting go of a trickle. "That was awful."
"Accurate though?"
"Painfully."
She stepped toward him and poked him in the chest. "If a cult ever does try to crown me, you have to stop them."
"Deal."
"With fire if necessary."
"That part might be harder. I don't have your talent for spontaneous combustion."
She tilted her head. "Not yet."
Back in the annex, Theo had slumped into a chair, rereading the page with a troubled look.
When they returned, he glanced up sheepishly. "I maybe… shouldn't have said anything."
"You should have," Elias said. "Now we know."
Revantra looked at the picture again. Then quietly, she reached out and flipped the page shut.
"They can chase shadows," she said. "But I'm not following them into the dark."
Theo gave a hesitant nod. "I'll keep looking. Quietly."
"Please do," Elias said. "And no yelling next time."
"Understood."
As they left the library, Elias glanced at Revantra walking beside him, her arms folded but her steps lighter than before.
"Hey," he said. "You okay?"
She didn't answer right away. Then—
"I think I'm starting to be."
That night, as Elias set a kettle on their room's small stove, Revantra sat on the windowsill, watching the moon.
"I keep wondering," she said softly, "what I was supposed to become if I hadn't died the first time."
Elias stirred the tea. "You think that was stolen from you?"
"No. I think… maybe it was a mercy." She turned to face him, face lit in silver. "But this second chance? This one's mine. Even if I have to fight off a dozen cults and bite Lysine's hand off."
He raised an eyebrow. "We're still on that?"
"She looked at your elbow like it was holy."
He poured the tea, chuckling. "I promise I won't let her worship my elbows."
"You better not," she said, then hesitated. "Elias?"
"Yeah?"
She didn't look at him when she said it, just held the mug between her palms and whispered, "Thanks for not asking too much. Even when I lie. Even when I freak out."
"You don't have to thank me."
"I do," she said. "Because no one else ever made me feel like I could just… be. Not a queen. Not a monster. Just… someone."
Elias stepped over and sat beside her on the edge of the bed, their shoulders barely touching.
"You're someone," he said gently. "You're Revantra. And that's enough for me."
She smiled into her tea.
Outside, the wind carried the distant toll of the academy's evening bells.
Inside, the light from their little stove flickered, warm and steady.
No thrones. No shadows.
Just a girl with too much fire and a boy with a quiet heart.
To be continued…