Chapter 74 The Strategy of Flame
The Veil was not a place for plans.
It was a place for unravelling.
And yet, here I was—standing in a swirling storm of memory and magic, facing a version of myself that looked like she’d eaten ambition for breakfast and washed it down with a shot of destiny.
She wore my face, but colder. Her flame didn’t flicker—it commanded. Her crown hovered above her head like it was daring someone to challenge her authority.
Behind her, a thousand crowns floated in the mist. Each one pulsing with power. Each one whispering promises.
Milo stood beside me, eyes wide. “That’s... a lot of crowns.”
“Thanks, Milo,” I said. “Very helpful.”
He blinked. “I’m just saying. One crown was bad enough. A thousand feels excessive.”
The shadow—let’s call her Crown-Mo—smiled. “You shattered the Hollow Crown. But you didn’t destroy it. You scattered it. And now, every choice you didn’t make has gathered here.”
I narrowed my eyes. “And you’re what? The embodiment of my worst decision?”
She tilted her head. “I’m the version of you that didn’t hesitate. That didn’t doubt. That didn’t forget.”
“Sounds exhausting.”
Meanwhile, back in the Watchtower, the rest of the Watch was watching the Veil like it was a soap opera.
Talon leaned against the balcony. “So, Mo’s facing off against her evil twin?”
Yuel nodded. “Technically, it’s a fractured echo of her soul. But yes.”
Zeke scribbled furiously. “This is going to be so good. I’m calling it ‘Mo vs. Mo: The Flame Reckoning.’”
Kael summoned a breeze to cool the tension. “I give it ten minutes before someone throws a crown.”
Lira passed out muffins. “We should be supportive. And snack-ready.”
Ellira frowned at the Veil monitor. “The veil’s destabilizing again. If she doesn’t resolve this soon, we’re going to have a reality leak.”
Thessa rolled her eyes. “Great. Another Tuesday.”
Back in the Veil, I stared at the crowns.
Each one pulsed with a different version of me.
Mo the Queen.
Mo the Tyrant.
Mo the Martyr.
Mo the Flame.
Mo the Forgotten.
They whispered.
“Choose me.”
“I’ll make you strong.”
“I’ll make you whole.”
“I’ll make you remembered.”
Milo stepped closer. “Don’t listen to them.”
I turned to him. “I have to. That’s the strategy.”
He blinked. “What strategy?”
I smiled. “The one they don’t expect.”
As plans went, it was probably the worst one yet. I was banking on shadow me not to realise that I was tricking it.
Crown-Mo expected me to fight her.
To summon flame.
To challenge her authority.
But I wasn’t here to win.
I was here to remember.
So, I did the one thing she wouldn’t.
I sat down.
Cross-legged.
In the middle of the storm.
Milo looked alarmed. “Is this... part of the plan?”
“Yes,” I said. “I’m going to meditate.”
Crown-Mo frowned. “What are you doing?”
“Reclaiming myself,” I said. “One memory at a time.”
She scoffed. “You think you can out-think me?”
“No,” I said. “I think I can out-feel you.”
With my eyes closed, I prayed, begged, and bartered with whoever was out there that could help me regain my memories.
And let the flame speak.
It whispered.
Narrin’s smile.
Thessa’s laughter.
Lira’s muffins.
Kael’s wind.
Yuel’s verses.
Ellira’s quiet strength.
Zeke’s chaos.
Milo’s hand in mine.
Each memory lit a spark.
Each spark pushed the shadow back.
Crown-Mo snarled. “You’re weak.”
I continued to focus on my memories, hoping to outdo Shadow Mo. It was when Narrin stepped forward that it was my first flicker of actual memory.
“Why are you so lost?” Narrin says
“I don’t know who I am anymore, I don’t know my friends, my family, I don’t know,” I shout with tears running down my face.
“You're scared, not stupid,” Narrin responds in his ever-stern, snarky voice.
“What happens if I can’t remember? What happens if I can’t defeat the shadow? I don’t remember rewriting fates. I don’t remember narrating what I am meant to do?” I yell.
“You fight, you choose, and you stand by each decision that you make. If you can’t defeat them today, then tomorrow or the day after. You fight for the better, and you make sure that you continue to choose for the people, not for yourself.” Narrin replies equally as loud before turning and walking away.
As I was stuck in my mediation, Milo looked at all the crowns.
Milo stared at the crowns, more like it.
They pulsed faster.
One floated toward him.
It showed a version of Mo who never forgot him.
Who never doubted.
Who never broke.
He reached out—
Then stopped.
“No,” he whispered. “I love this Mo. The one who fights. Who fails. Who chooses.”
The crown shattered.
Crown-Mo screamed.
The Veil trembled.
The crowns began to crack.
Crown-Mo surged forward, flame blazing.
“You think you’ve won?” she hissed. “You haven’t even begun.”
I stood, flame ready and waiting, prepared to attack. As a fireball surges forward, I hear Crown-Mo laugh as I continue to stand still with a fireball about to strike.
“Powers and Memories, now is the time to gift me your guidance,” I whisper. I feel my whole body become hot, and I distantly hear Milo yelp beside me. But I am not in control, my memories are in control.
Crown-Mo’s fireball meets mine as they explode between us.
“Is that all you got. You will have to do better than that,” Crown-Mo shouts over the roaring flames.
My flame rose.
And behind me, Milo calls for me, but I am focused on Crown-Mo.
“Your choice caused this, don’t you get it. I am what should have happened, but because you are too weak and couldn’t do what Aeloria needed, I was born. You will die in the veil, Mo, and with it, everything that you fought for will be for nothing,” Crown-Mo shouts
I shoot my firewall out and aim for all the crowns that are surrounding Crown-Mo. I don’t attack her; I attack what is helping to give her the power. Just like Narrin said, I have the freedom to choose, and I am choosing to fight for everyone in Aeloria.
As the crowns behind Crown-Mo start to fall and melt, I smile for the first time.
“No,” Crown-Mo screams as she turns to witness the fall of her crown army.