I couldn't move.
The woman standing before me had my face.
My eyes.
My voice.
Even the small scar near my eyebrow was there.
But her eyes were completely black.
Shawshank stepped in front of me.
"Don't come any closer."
She smiled.
"You still protect her."
"She doesn't need protection from me."
"No," she whispered.
"She needs protection from herself."
I felt cold.
"Who are you?"
She looked at me.
"I told you."
Her voice softened.
"I am the Bjei who chose the darkness."
I shook my head.
"There can't be two of me."
"There were never supposed to be."
She walked toward us.
"When the first world broke, your power split into choices."
She pointed at herself.
"I chose darkness."
Then she pointed at me.
"You chose love."
My eyes filled with tears.
"What happened to you?"
Her smile disappeared.
"I was abandoned."
The chamber became silent.
"They feared what I could become, so they buried me here."
I looked at Shawshank.
He was staring at her as if something about her frightened him.
"Do you remember her?" I asked.
He didn't answer.
The woman laughed.
"He remembers more than he admits."
Shawshank looked at me.
"Bjei, I don't remember her."
"You will."
The woman raised her hand.
The chamber suddenly filled with light.
A memory appeared.
I saw myself.
But not the Bjei I knew.
This version was standing in front of an army.
Shawshank was beside her.
The First Queen stood across from them.
Celestia was there too.
Nerath.
Lyra.
Everyone.
The First Queen was holding a golden blade.
"Give us your power," she said.
The Bjei beside Shawshank shook her head.
"No."
"You will destroy everything."
"Then stop trying to control me."
The First Queen raised the blade.
Shawshank stepped forward.
"Leave her alone."
The memory changed.
I saw the First Queen strike.
I saw Shawshank fall.
I saw Bjei scream.
The darkness exploded from her.
The entire world shook.
Then Lyra appeared.
She was crying.
"We have to divide her."
"No!" Shawshank screamed.
But it was too late.
Golden light surrounded Bjei.
Black darkness surrounded the other version.
And the First Queen whispered:
"Erase their memories."
I gasped.
"That was the beginning."
The woman nodded.
"They didn't create me."
She looked at me.
"They created the prison."
My heart hurt.
"Why?"
"Because I refused to obey."
She stepped closer.
"And you were the part of me they thought they could control."
I shook my head.
"No."
She smiled.
"You still don't understand."
She touched my forehead.
A violent wave of memories entered my mind.
I saw the first world.
It wasn't a planet.
It was a living place.
A world made of golden oceans, endless skies and ancient forests.
There were no borders.
No queens.
No kingdoms.
No wars.
All five worlds had once been one.
Then I saw the first Bjei standing in the middle of it.
She was crying.
Around her were thousands of people.
They were afraid.
Not of her power.
Of her choice.
She could either unite everyone…
Or destroy everything.
I heard her voice.
"If I cannot save everyone, I will save the one I love."
I opened my eyes.
Shawshank was holding me.
"What did you see?"
I couldn't speak.
The woman answered for me.
"She remembered."
Shawshank looked at her.
"Remembered what?"
"That you were the reason she chose love."
He stared at me.
I stared back.
Then the woman whispered:
"And I was the reason she chose darkness."
The chamber shook.
A black crack appeared behind the throne.
Something was coming through.
The woman turned toward it.
Her expression changed.
"No."
"What is it?" I asked.
She stepped backward.
For the first time, she looked afraid.
"The thing that made me."
The crack widened.
A voice came through.
Deep.
Ancient.
Hungry.
"My child."
The woman's black eyes widened.
"Nerath…"
But the voice laughed.
"You thought you could hide from me forever?"
Shawshank pulled me closer.
The woman looked at me.
Then she said something that made my blood run cold.
"He isn't here for me."
She pointed at me.
"He came for you."
The black crack exploded open.
And Nerath stepped through.
But he was no longer the creature we knew.
He had a crown.
A black crown.
And behind him stood an army of shadows.
He looked at me.
Then smiled.
"Finally."
He opened his arms.
"My first child has returned."