The voice came from beneath the sea.
My voice.
"Come home."
I couldn't breathe.
The ocean continued to split apart, revealing a darkness deeper than anything I had ever seen.
Shawshank grabbed my hand.
"Bjei, don't listen to it."
I stared at him.
"It sounds like me."
"I know."
"How can it sound like me?"
He didn't answer.
Behind us, Celestia lowered her weapon completely.
Even she looked frightened.
"What is that?" I asked.
Nerath smiled.
"The beginning."
The sea suddenly exploded.
A massive black creature rose from beneath the waves.
It had no clear face.
No eyes.
No mouth.
Yet somehow, when it looked at me, I felt recognized.
Like it had known me before I was born.
The creatures of the sea fell to their knees.
Even the silver soldiers backed away.
Shawshank stepped in front of me.
"Stay behind me."
The creature tilted its enormous head.
Then it spoke.
Not with one voice.
With hundreds.
Some sounded like children.
Some sounded like old women.
Some sounded like people I had known.
And one sounded exactly like my grandmother.
"Bjei."
My knees weakened.
"Grandma?"
Shawshank turned toward me.
"Don't."
But I had already taken one step forward.
The creature spoke again.
"You left me."
Tears filled my eyes.
"No…"
"You forgot me."
I shook my head.
"My grandmother is dead."
The creature laughed.
A cold sound travelled across the water.
"She is."
I froze.
"Then why do you sound like her?"
"Because you remember her."
I suddenly understood.
It wasn't my grandmother.
It was using my memories.
Shawshank pulled me back.
"It's trying to get inside your mind."
Nerath's smile disappeared.
"Not inside."
Everyone looked at him.
Nerath continued.
"It's trying to wake what is already inside her."
My heart stopped.
"What?"
Nerath looked at me.
"You are not the boundary because you were chosen."
He pointed toward the creature.
"You are the boundary because you were created to contain something."
The entire world seemed to go silent.
"What did you put inside me?"
Nerath didn't answer.
I turned toward Angela.
"Mom."
She looked at me.
"Tell me."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"I wanted to."
"Then tell me now!"
Angela took a trembling breath.
"When you were born, the darkness wasn't outside."
My body went cold.
"It was already there."
I stared at her.
"What does that mean?"
Angela's voice broke.
"Something was born with you."
The girl who looked like me stepped backward.
"No…"
I turned toward her.
"What?"
She looked terrified.
"I remember."
"What do you remember?"
She pressed both hands against her head.
"The night we were separated."
Her breathing became heavy.
"There wasn't one baby."
My heart stopped.
"There were three."
Silence.
Three?
Angela closed her eyes.
The truth finally escaped her.
"Yes."
Shawshank looked at her in shock.
"Three?"
Angela nodded.
"One was Bjei."
She pointed toward the girl.
"One became her second vessel."
Then she looked toward the creature rising from the sea.
"And the third…"
She couldn't finish.
I whispered,
"Was the darkness."
The creature suddenly screamed.
The sound shook the sky.
The sea rose violently.
Silver soldiers fell from the air.
Sea creatures scattered.
Shawshank pulled me against him.
"Bjei!"
I clung to him.
The golden mark on my chest burned.
Then something happened.
The creature stopped.
It looked directly at me.
And slowly…
it began to shrink.
Its enormous body collapsed into the water.
The darkness disappeared.
Everyone stood frozen.
Then the sea became completely still.
A figure emerged from the water.
A girl.
She had long black hair.
Pale skin.
And my face.
Exactly my face.
But unlike the other girl…
this one smiled.
I stared at her.
"Who are you?"
She stepped onto the shore.
"I am the part of you they were afraid of."
Shawshank moved in front of me.
The girl smiled at him.
"You cannot protect her from me."
Shawshank raised his hand.
"I don't need to."
He looked at me.
"She doesn't belong to you."
The girl's smile faded.
"She belongs to herself."
My heart began pounding.
Because for the first time…
the darkness wasn't attacking me.
It was waiting.
Waiting for me to choose.
The golden mark on my chest began glowing brighter.
The dark girl extended her hand.
"Come with me."
I didn't move.
She whispered,
"If you want to know why everyone lied to you…"
Her eyes turned completely black.
"…you have to enter the place where you were born."
The sea behind her opened.
A golden doorway appeared beneath the water.
Shawshank grabbed my hand.
"No."
I looked at him.
"I have to know."
"Bjei…"
I squeezed his hand.
"I've spent my whole life being afraid of what I am."
I looked at the dark girl.
"I'm done being afraid."
The girl smiled.
"Then come home."
And the moment I stepped toward the water…
Shawshank's golden mark suddenly turned black.
He collapsed.