The Platinum Crown

Chapter : 3 visions

Upon returning home, Colt holds a little bag behind him, hiding it from his mother. He opens the door and shouts "Mooooooooom?!"
Colt's mom, being the person she is, runs towards him with bandages and medicine.
"Oh my god, are you hurt? Are they following you???"
"No no nooo, Mom, I'm fine. I'm completely fine. Look, put those down, calm down! I'm completely fine."

Colt's mom lets out a shaky breath she didn't know she had been holding. She adjusts her ragged dress, pulls a chair from the table and sits down, still shaken a little.

"Mom, I have something to tell you."

Colt's mom looks up to meet his eyes, "What is it?"

"The crown. I sold it to Servan. "

His mother's eyes start sparkling and tears start running down the side of her eyes.
"You mean... I...?? I'm..."
Colts kneels in front of her and holds her shaky hands; he struggles to stay collected, "You don't have to work at that place anymore. Everything is paid for, and his men can't bother you anymore."

Colts sniffs and wipes his eyes, he takes the bag he had behind his back and shows her that it's full of gold and silver coins, his mother starts sobbing uncontrollably, while Colt holds her in a tight hug.

Later that night, Colt lays on his bed, for the first time in years, without any anxiety or fear of something happening to them; even the bed that always felt rough and hard on his body now feels like the most comfortable place in the world.

Slowly drifting into sleep, Colt feels as if someone is staring at him. His entire body screams at him to get up, and with a quick motion, Colt grabs his sword from the side of his bed and holds it towards an empty spot in his room. Still, he gets goosebumps on his back, as if someone is gazing at him from behind, and with another swing, holds his sword towards his empty bed, yet nothing stands there, just his sunken bed and a pillow. The candle beside him has gone out because of his swing.

"I must be still paranoid... Guess I'll have to get used to not being so paranoid now..."

Colt puts his sword down and lays on his bed. He closes his eyes for a moment, only to reopen them and find himself standing in the pitch darkness of the night, at the same location where he dug out the crown.

There on the ground, the crown reflects the moonlight, but this time it's not stuck half underground. Colt holds his hand out to take it, and the crown liquifies itself and jumps onto his arm. Colt panics and starts waving his arm around, screaming as the cold liquid metal runs towards his face.
Colt trips over and falls to the ground, and he starts dragging his arm on the ground, desperately trying to peel it off, but then liquid metal collects itself and morphs into a smooth tentacle-like appendage. Colt gets on his knees and grabs the thing in front of him. The ruby that was on the crown now is on the tip of it; it holds itself for a moment as Colt pleads, "Please don't hurt me, I have to take care of my mom, please..."

The appendage tilts backwards and stands still for a moment, before launching itself straight towards Colt's mouth. It forces itself down his throat, suffocating Colt who's now panicking even more, "I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'M GONNA DIE"

The cold metal runs down into his body, and Colt starts shaking violently on the ground. He starts hearing voices inside his head that tell him, "Balance...Bring balance...you are the Chosen One who will bring balance and destroy the false Kings."

Colt jolts up in his bedroom, sweating and gasping for air. His mother bursts through his door and runs up to his side. She holds him in her arms as Colt breaks down in tears.