The Boy Who Burned the Heavens

"Not every ghost is a memory. Some… are drafts waiting to be finished."

---

🏞️ [Scene: After the War – The Emberfield Plains]

Ash fell like snow.

Riven stood amidst the burnt soil where the Flame-Scribed War had ended just hours ago.

The battlefield still whispered — not with pain, but with names.

Names that had been lost…

…until now.

> "They're returning," Lyara murmured, watching strange sparks rise from the cracks.

> "Who?" Mirael asked.

> "Those whose endings were never written.

The dead who still had something to say."

The sky shimmered.

And the ground opened.

Not with fire.

But with pages.

---

📖 The Return of the Unwritten Dead

A thousand letters rose from the dirt.

Scorched, half-formed, incomplete.

And from each… a figure stepped forward.

A warrior with no final battle.

A queen whose name was erased before coronation.

A boy who loved flame… but never learned why.

Riven stared.

He recognized some of them.

He killed some of them.

---

☠️ Focus: The Ghost of Prince Caelen

A familiar voice — cold, venomous.

> "Well, well… little brother."

Caelen stepped forward from a burnt epilogue.

His form glitched — a mix of crown and coffin.

Riven's jaw tightened.

> "I saw you die."

> "No. You saw me deleted."

"There's a difference."

> "What do you want?" Riven whispered.

Caelen smiled.

> "To finish the page you closed too early."

And drew a sword made of unwritten betrayal.

---

⚔️ Duel: Riven vs. Ghost-Caelen – Chapter Left Unread

Caelen attacked.

Each strike burned with regret — not his own, but Riven's.

The day he refused to listen.

The night he didn't save him.

The crown he never let Caelen wear.

> "You burned the kingdom to keep the throne," Caelen spat.

> "I burned it because you poisoned it!" Riven roared.

They clashed — flame vs. memory.

But then Riven paused.

Lowered his sword.

> "Caelen… what was your story really supposed to be?"

Caelen blinked.

And cracked.

Because no one had ever asked.

---

🔓 Redemption Through Rewrite

Riven touched the Ashbrand Quill to Caelen's heart.

And wrote:

> "He was not a villain.

He was a page I didn't understand."

The ghost flickered.

Smiled.

And vanished…

Finally written.

---

🖋️ The Letter From Selene

A soft breeze carried a folded note to Riven's feet.

He opened it.

Selene's voice echoed from within.

> "You hated me for betraying you."

"But you never asked… who held the blade to my throat."

Riven's chest tightened.

The letter unfolded on its own.

Revealing a memory he never saw:

Selene crying.

Begging a hidden figure not to hurt him.

Taking the fall… so Riven could burn unbroken.

> "I loved you more than the truth."

> "I'm sorry I let you hate me."

---

💔 Riven's Silent Tear

No one spoke.

The war had changed him.

But this… broke him.

He dropped to his knees.

Held the letter.

And for the first time in years…

He cried.

> "I'm sorry too," he whispered.

And wrote in the air:

> "Selene Aurin — not a traitor.

But the one who made me survive."

The sky pulsed.

A ghost of Selene appeared…

…kissed his forehead…

And faded with the wind.

---

⚙️ New Skill Unlocked: Rewrite of the Departed

> 🔥 Once per arc, Riven may restore a memory of someone who was erased — and grant them one final act in the real world.

– Can be used for aid, attack, or closure.

– Emotional cost: heavy.

---

⚠️ But Not All Return Peacefully…

Suddenly, the wind changed.

The pages scattered.

And from the darkest tear in the battlefield…

He emerged.

A figure Riven didn't recognize.

Cloaked in a coat of burned summaries.

Eyes like black holes in a blank page.

> "Who…?" Mirael whispered.

> "He wasn't even written," Lyara gasped.

"He's a draft left unfinished…"

The figure smiled.

> "I am the Prologue That Was Denied."

"And I've come to write myself… with your blood."

---