Narrator POV
The Empire had never been this quiet.
Not even during the Great Lockdown.
Not even when the war drums pounded at the borders.
This silence… was the sound of two titans—Chris and Classic Blackwood—unconscious, breathing through machines, floating between life and death.
A father.
A son.
Both struck down not by foreign invaders, but by a fracture within their own throne room.
The Blackwood Empire didn't mourn aloud.
It held its breath.
Hospitals became temples. Armed soldiers lined the corridors. Not a soul entered or left without divine clearance.
The father, the God-King, was unconscious, his body healing from a traitor's bullet.
The son, the Crowned Heir, the future of the Blackwood name, lay in a chamber adjacent to his father—his chest rising and falling slowly, wrapped in layers of military protection.
The people didn't cry in the streets.
They knelt.
They prayed.
They feared.
Because when the two suns of the Empire dimmed, the night was long and merciless.
---
Skylar's POV
I stayed with Chris. Every. Single. Day.
I refused to leave the chamber.
Dictators came.
Warlords kneeled.
Advisors begged for orders.
I said nothing.
Until he opens his eyes, I rule in his silence.
And when I visited Classic, my heart broke all over again. He still had that same stubborn smirk in sleep… like he knew he'd be back soon. Like his blood was laughing at death.
"You're your father's son," I whispered, brushing his hair back. "But don't you dare leave me."
---
Christiana POV
With Dad and Classic down, power flooded to me by default.
But I didn't rejoice.
No speeches.
No throne-sitting.
No crowns.
Just war maps. Just budget reallocations. Just military court summons.
I sat in the war chamber and ordered silence across the airwaves. No celebration. No rebellion. No news.
We are not broken. We are Blackwood.
But when I was alone…
I wept like a child.
---
BNN Emergency Broadcast (Voice Only)
> "This is Blackwood National Network reporting on Day 3 of the Silent Era. Our leaders, Chris Blackwood and his son Classic Blackwood, remain in critical condition. All citizens are urged to remain calm, loyal, and present. The Empire continues to function. The throne has not fallen. The gods do not die. They rest."
---
Narrator
And beneath the Empire, in the deepest vault of technology and medicine, two hearts continued to beat.
Father and son.
One forged in fire.
The other in legacy.
When they rise, the world will tremble again.
To Be Continued…