🕰️ Prelude to Madness
The clocktower in the distance ticked backward, each chime echoing across the Mind Palace like a war drum.
As it rang the twelfth toll, the sky inverted—stars below, oceans above.
A bridge of cracked marble rose, leading Kaen—and only Kaen—into the tower's yawning gate.
At the threshold stood Corone, her blindfold fluttering slightly in a wind that blew from nowhere.
"Your trial has three stages, brother," she said calmly.
"Memory. Mirror. Monarchy."
Kaen inhaled slowly.
"And what happens if I pass?"
"You reclaim your truth," she whispered.
"But if you fail… you become mine."
She turned, stepping inside.
Kaen followed without hesitation.
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🧠 Stage One: Memory
The first chamber was vast, lined with mirrors of fog, each one glowing with flickering memory.
Kaen approached one.
It showed a boy—himself—at eight, kneeling beside Mito, screaming in frustration as he tried and failed to manifest his first nen aura.
"It's not working!" he'd shouted, voice cracking.
"It's supposed to be special!"
"Kaen," Mito had said gently.
"You don't have to be special. You just have to be you."
He touched the mirror.
It cracked.
A voice whispered:
"But I never believed her, did I?"
Corone's voice echoed through the chamber:
"Every lie you told yourself… you must now face. Even the ones wrapped in love."
The next mirror showed Kaen at twelve—on a cliff overlooking Whale Island, clutching a letter from his absent father. His aura flickered with rage.
"One day, I'll have power no one can ignore. Not even you."
The mirror shattered on its own.
A black wind rushed past him—then congealed into a beast of thought, malformed and dripping with doubt.
Kaen clenched his fists, aura flaring.
"You were never meant to rule," the beast growled.
"Maybe not," Kaen said. "But I dreamed it. And dreams matter."
He launched forward—Flare-Thought: Crownfire Barrage!
Dozens of golden spears of imagination exploded into the creature.
It screeched—and dissolved into streams of shadow, absorbed into Kaen's hand.
"You will feed the throne," he muttered.
"Even my fear fuels me now."
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🪞 Stage Two: Mirror
The next room was a void.
In the center stood a perfect clone of Kaen, seated on a throne sculpted from every ability he had ever copied.
His eyes glowed with silver—emotionless.
He was everything Kaen had the potential to become… if he gave up everything else.
"I'm your most efficient self," the mirror Kaen said.
"No empathy. No allies. No hesitation."
"You want the throne? I already have it."
"Then get off it," Kaen growled, aura crackling.
The clone stood.
Nen-style: Infinite Imprint – Flash Echo!
The clone used Mind Palace as if it were an automated system—replicating Kaen's own powers faster than Kaen could imagine them.
"You fight with your heart," the mirror said.
"That's your weakness."
"No," Kaen said. "It's what makes me me."
He snapped both fingers.
Original Nen Technique: Dream Bloom Counter!
A burst of raw creativity exploded from his body—images of Gon, Kurapika, Melody, even Killua flashed around him in aura form, illusions born of bonded memory.
The mirror clone blinked—confused—hesitated.
Kaen dashed in with a rotating strike of golden energy—
"Crown Spiral: King's Signature!"
The blow hit.
The clone shattered.
The throne melted.
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👑 Stage Three: Monarchy
Kaen stepped into the final chamber.
It looked like a throne room—but frozen in time.
Corone stood at its center, a crown of knives hovering above her.
"This is the dream you buried," she said.
"The one where you were King and I… your executioner."
"I never wanted you to suffer," Kaen said quietly.
"But you did," she replied.
"And now you must choose: Rule alone. Or kneel and ask for forgiveness."
Kaen didn't hesitate.
He knelt.
"I've learned something," he said, voice trembling.
"A throne without truth is just a chair. And I don't want a crown forged from lies."
The crown of knives shattered.
Corone's blindfold fell away.
Her eyes were the same as Kaen's.
"Then stand, Kaen. You're not just a King now."
"You're my brother again."
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🔔 Outside the Trial
Melody, Kurapika, and Gon waited outside the sealed clocktower.
The moment the final chime rang—
the tower vanished.
In its place stood Kaen.
New clothes. New aura.
Behind him walked Corone, now tangible, no longer just a thought.
Kurapika narrowed his eyes.
"She's real now."
Melody nodded.
"He didn't just accept her… he rewrote her place in his life."
Gon smiled.
"Kaen. You okay?"
Kaen looked at them—and smiled for the first time in days.
"I'm not okay. But I'm better."
"And now I'm ready."
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🌌 Coming Next: Chapter 61 – Whispers From the Dark Continent