I couldn't breathe.
The girl stood before me.
She had my face.
My eyes.
My hair.
Even the small scar above my eyebrow was there.
But she looked older.
Calmer.
As if she had spent years watching the world from somewhere I could never reach.
Shawshank stepped in front of me.
"Stay back."
The girl smiled.
"You still protect her."
Shawshank frowned.
"Who are you?"
She looked past him.
"Ask Bjei."
I shook my head.
"I don't know you."
"Yes, you do."
She touched her chest.
"I'm you."
"No."
"You've already seen me."
"When?"
"In your dreams."
My heart skipped.
The dreams.
The strange woman standing beneath the water.
The voice calling my name.
The golden crown.
The feeling that someone was always watching me.
"That was you?"
She nodded.
"Every time you thought you were alone, I was there."
I stepped backward.
"Why couldn't I see you?"
"Because you weren't ready."
"For what?"
"To remember."
The creature behind her suddenly roared.
"Enough!"
The girl turned toward it.
"You're afraid of me."
The creature growled.
"I am not afraid."
"You should be."
The golden door behind her began glowing brighter.
The creature moved backward.
Seraphina stared at the girl.
"I thought you were gone."
The girl looked at her.
"You helped make me disappear."
Seraphina's face fell.
"I was trying to save her."
"You saved one half."
She pointed at me.
"And condemned the other."
I looked at Seraphina.
"What is she talking about?"
Seraphina lowered her head.
"When your soul was divided, we thought the second half would disappear."
"But it didn't."
"No."
The girl smiled sadly.
"I survived."
I stared at her.
"Where?"
She pointed toward the golden door.
"Beyond it."
My heart tightened.
"All these years?"
"Yes."
"Alone?"
She nodded.
I felt tears forming.
"Why didn't anyone come for you?"
Her eyes hardened.
"They were afraid."
I looked at Marina.
She couldn't meet my eyes.
"Mom?"
Marina began crying.
"I thought you were dead."
The girl laughed softly.
"You wanted me to be."
"No!"
Marina stepped forward.
"I wanted Bjei to live."
"And what about me?"
Marina couldn't answer.
The girl's expression softened.
"I don't blame you."
She looked at me.
"But I need you to understand something."
"What?"
"You weren't the one who lost half a soul."
She touched my chest.
"You were the half that was allowed to live."
Then she touched her own chest.
"And I was the half they sacrificed."
The words cut through me.
I stepped toward her.
"I didn't choose that."
"I know."
"Then don't hate me."
"I don't."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"I've been waiting for you."
I slowly reached for her hand.
The moment our fingers touched—
BOOM!
A powerful wave exploded from the golden door.
I screamed.
Images rushed through my mind.
I saw myself as a baby.
I saw Marina holding me.
I saw Angela crying.
I saw Elara performing the ritual.
I saw Shawshank standing beside them.
But then I saw something I had never seen before.
A second baby.
A baby girl.
Me.
And another infant lying beside me.
The girl.
My missing soul.
Except she wasn't a soul.
She was a living magical vessel.
My power had been divided between us.
Then the queen arrived.
She reached toward the second baby.
"No!"
Elara screamed.
The queen smiled.
"I only need one."
She took the other baby.
The vision shattered.
I gasped.
"She wasn't my soul."
Everyone stared at me.
"She was given a body."
The girl nodded.
"Yes."
My blood ran cold.
"You were born separately from me."
"Yes."
"Then how are we connected?"
She smiled.
"Because my body was created from your power."
I looked at Shawshank.
He seemed just as shocked as I was.
The creature suddenly spoke.
"That is why she must die."
I turned.
"No."
The creature pointed at the girl.
"If she remains alive, Bjei will never be complete."
The girl looked at me.
"And if I die…"
She touched my chest.
"…you will lose the part of yourself that makes you powerful."
I shook my head.
"No."
The creature smiled.
"Now you understand."
"No!"
I stepped between them.
"You've been telling us there must be a choice."
My golden mark began glowing.
"But there isn't."
The creature's smile faded.
I reached for the girl's hand.
She looked surprised.
"What are you doing?"
"Choosing both."
The golden thread between us appeared.
This time it became brighter than ever.
The creature screamed.
"STOP!"
I held her hand tighter.
"You survived all these years."
She looked at me.
"So did you."
"We're not dying for a prophecy."
The golden door began shaking.
Shawshank stepped beside me.
"I told you."
I looked at him.
"What?"
"We find another way."
He took my other hand.
The three of us stood together.
Me.
Shawshank.
And the girl who carried the part of me that had been stolen.
The creature began disappearing into the darkness.
"You cannot change what was written."
I looked directly at it.
"Watch me."
The golden light exploded.
And for the first time…
the prophecy began to change.