"You are the first world."
The words echoed through my mind.
I couldn't breathe.
I stared at the man standing before me.
He had my face.
My eyes.
My expression.
But there was something different about him.
He looked like me after centuries of pain.
Shawshank tightened his arms around me.
"Don't listen to him."
The man smiled.
"You always say that."
Shawshank froze.
I looked at him.
"You know him?"
"No."
His answer came too quickly.
The man laughed.
"You don't remember me either."
Shawshank's golden mark suddenly burned.
He dropped to one knee.
"Shawshank!"
I rushed toward him.
Black veins spread across his hand.
He grabbed his wrist, fighting the pain.
The man watched calmly.
"He was never supposed to remember."
I looked at Lyra.
"What is happening?"
She couldn't answer.
She was crying.
"Tell me the truth!"
Lyra lowered her head.
"I was afraid."
"Afraid of what?"
"Of you."
My heart shattered.
"Of me?"
"No."
She looked into my eyes.
"Of what you would become if you remembered everything."
The fifth world shook.
Cracks spread across the sky.
The man walked toward me.
Shawshank stood between us.
"Stay away from her."
The man's expression hardened.
"You still think you're protecting her."
"I am."
"No."
He pointed at Shawshank.
"You were created because she was dangerous."
I felt my stomach twist.
"Created?"
The man nodded.
"Shawshank was not born the way you were."
Shawshank stared at him.
"Stop."
"He was made from the part of your power that could not remain inside you."
I looked at Shawshank.
He looked away.
A memory suddenly flashed through my mind.
A golden room.
A baby crying.
Lyra holding me.
And beside her was another tiny child.
Shawshank.
But there was something else.
A third light.
Black.
It was moving between us.
I gasped.
"The darkness…"
The man smiled.
"Now you're remembering."
Lyra stepped forward.
"That is enough."
"No."
Her voice became stronger.
"You promised you would never tell her."
"And you promised me you would never erase me."
Silence.
I looked between them.
"What does he mean?"
Lyra closed her eyes.
"I made a choice."
"What choice?"
"To save you."
The man laughed bitterly.
"You destroyed an entire world to save one child."
My heart stopped.
"What?"
Lyra looked at me.
"I didn't destroy it."
"You broke it," the man said.
"And when you broke it, the five worlds were created from its pieces."
I stared at him.
The sea.
The sky.
The land.
The fourth world.
The fifth world.
Five worlds.
Five pieces.
My head began hurting.
"Then what am I?"
The man stepped closer.
"You are what existed before all five."
He touched his chest.
"And I am the memory you lost."
My eyes widened.
"You're… me?"
"I am the first version of you."
The words made my knees weak.
"The first Bjei," I whispered.
He nodded.
"The one who existed before the worlds were divided."
Shawshank shook his head.
"No."
The first Bjei looked at him.
"You were there."
Shawshank's face went pale.
"You remember now."
Shawshank closed his eyes.
A tear rolled down his cheek.
"I remember…"
I turned to him.
"What do you remember?"
He looked at me.
"You."
My heart stopped.
"You were alone."
He swallowed.
"You were standing in darkness, and everyone was afraid of you."
Another memory hit me.
I was standing in the middle of an endless black ocean.
Armies surrounded me.
Kings.
Queens.
Creatures.
Humans.
All pointing weapons at me.
And beside me stood Shawshank.
Young.
Terrified.
But holding my hand.
I heard my own voice.
"If they want war, I'll give them war."
I opened my eyes.
"No…"
The first Bjei smiled sadly.
"You remember."
I shook my head.
"I couldn't have said that."
"You did."
"What happened?"
Lyra answered.
"You tried to destroy the boundaries."
"Why?"
"Because they were going to kill Shawshank."
I looked at him.
He was crying silently.
Lyra continued.
"You were willing to destroy everything to save him."
The first Bjei stepped forward.
"And that was the reason they divided you."
The ground beneath us cracked.
The fifth world began collapsing again.
Lyra looked upward.
"We don't have much time."
I grabbed her hand.
"Then tell me everything."
She stared at me.
"The First Queen knows."
I frowned.
"The First Queen?"
"Yes."
"What does she know?"
Lyra looked frightened.
"She knows why the worlds were created."
A loud crack shook the sky.
The golden crown appeared above us.
The First Queen stepped through the darkness.
Celestia followed.
Nerath came behind them.
Everyone was silent.
The First Queen looked at me.
Then at the first Bjei.
Her face turned pale.
"You found him."
I stepped forward.
"Found who?"
She looked directly at me.
"Your first self."
I felt my heart pounding.
Then she said something that made even Nerath step backward.
"He was never supposed to survive."
The first Bjei smiled.
"But I did."
The First Queen raised her crown.
And for the first time, I saw fear in her eyes.
"Bjei," she whispered.
"If he has awakened…"
Her voice trembled.
"…then the fifth world is not the only thing that is falling."
The sky split open.
Something enormous looked through the crack.
And I heard a voice from beyond it.
A voice I had heard before.
My own voice.
"Let me out."