The water swallowed us.
I couldn't breathe.
I couldn't see.
I could only feel Shawshank's hand wrapped tightly around mine as something pulled us deeper and deeper beneath the sea.
I tried to scream his name.
Nothing came out.
Then suddenly—
Silence.
My feet touched the ground.
I opened my eyes.
We weren't underwater anymore.
We were standing inside a massive golden chamber.
There was no ceiling.
No walls.
Yet somehow, the room surrounded us.
Golden symbols floated in the air.
Shawshank released my hand slowly.
"Are you okay?"
I nodded.
"I think so."
He looked around.
"This place…"
"You know it?"
He shook his head.
"No."
I walked forward.
Something about the room felt familiar.
Too familiar.
I touched one of the golden symbols.
The entire chamber came alive.
A voice whispered.
"Welcome home, Bjei."
I stepped back.
Shawshank immediately stood beside me.
"Who are you?"
The voice didn't answer him.
Instead, the room changed.
A vision appeared.
I saw a woman holding a baby.
Marina.
She was crying.
Behind her stood Seraphina.
Angela was there too.
And beside them…
Azrael.
I watched the scene unfold.
Marina placed the baby inside a golden circle.
"My daughter cannot survive with all of this power inside her."
Seraphina shook her head.
"If you divide her power, you may destroy her."
"I know."
Marina kissed the baby's forehead.
"But if I do nothing, Nerath will find her."
My heart tightened.
The baby began crying.
Then something moved behind them.
A small boy appeared.
Shawshank.
I looked at him.
He couldn't have been more than a child.
He walked toward the baby.
"Who is he?" I whispered.
The vision answered me.
Azrael placed his hand on the boy's shoulder.
"He will protect her."
Shawshank stared at the baby.
"Why?"
"Because he can carry what she cannot."
I turned toward Shawshank.
He was staring at the vision.
"I remember this."
The vision continued.
A golden light moved from the baby into Shawshank.
He screamed.
I covered my mouth.
The power entered his body.
Then the baby stopped crying.
The room went completely silent.
I whispered,
"You carried part of me."
Shawshank looked at me.
"Yes."
"But why?"
Before he could answer, another figure appeared.
Nerath.
It stood behind the baby.
Watching.
Waiting.
Then it leaned toward her.
And whispered something.
The vision became distorted.
I couldn't hear the words.
I stepped closer.
"What did it say?"
The voice inside the chamber finally answered.
"It said…"
The golden symbols began spinning.
"…I will find you when you remember."
My heart stopped.
The vision disappeared.
Shawshank grabbed my hand.
"Bjei."
I looked at him.
"There's something else."
"What?"
He pointed behind me.
A door had appeared.
Unlike the golden doorway that brought us here, this one was completely black.
And there was a symbol carved into it.
A circle.
With three lines crossing through it.
I recognized it immediately.
It was the same mark that had appeared on my body when my powers awakened.
I walked toward it.
Shawshank followed.
"Don't open it."
I stopped.
"Why?"
"Because I think that's where the darkness came from."
I looked at the door.
A voice whispered from behind it.
"Bjei."
My blood ran cold.
It was my voice again.
But this time, it sounded like a child.
"Please…"
I stepped closer.
"Who are you?"
The voice answered.
"The first version of you."
I froze.
Shawshank's eyes widened.
"What?"
The voice continued.
"They divided me."
The door shook.
"They created another."
I looked at Shawshank.
Then at the golden chamber.
Then back at the black door.
The voice whispered,
"And they gave you my life."
My heart broke.
"What does that mean?"
Silence.
Then—
"I was supposed to be Bjei."
The door opened slightly.
Cold darkness poured through the gap.
Shawshank pulled me behind him.
But I stepped around him.
"No."
"Bjei—"
"I need to know."
The darkness spread across the floor.
A small hand appeared through the doorway.
Then a little girl stepped out.
She looked exactly like me.
But younger.
Much younger.
She stared at me with tears in her eyes.
I couldn't move.
She whispered,
"They didn't create two halves."
My breathing stopped.
"They replaced me."
Shawshank stepped forward.
"Who are you?"
The little girl looked at him.
Then she smiled sadly.
"You."
He froze.
She looked back at me.
"And me."
I felt my heart pounding.
"Then who am I?"
The girl reached for my hand.
Her fingers touched mine.
A violent wave of memories exploded inside my head.
Three babies.
Three powers.
Three destinies.
And one terrible decision.
I screamed.
Shawshank caught me before I fell.
The little girl whispered one final sentence.
"They didn't divide your soul, Bjei."
Her eyes turned black.
"They divided your life."
And somewhere beyond the chamber…
something enormous began waking.
Nerath had followed us.