"Now remember yourself."
The voice disappeared.
I stood frozen in Shawshank's arms.
His heartbeat was steady against my chest.
But those words wouldn't leave my mind.
Remember yourself.
What did that mean?
I pulled away slowly.
"Shawshank."
He looked at me.
"Yes?"
"Do you remember what you saw?"
"The memory?"
I nodded.
"The place before the worlds."
He frowned.
"I remember standing beside you."
"So do I."
"But there was something missing."
My heart tightened.
"What?"
He looked into my eyes.
"Your face."
I stopped breathing.
"What?"
"In the memory…"
He hesitated.
"I could see you, but I couldn't see your face."
I stepped back.
"That doesn't make sense."
"I know."
The First Mother suddenly turned pale.
I noticed.
"You know something."
She said nothing.
"Tell me."
"Bjei…"
"What aren't you telling me?"
The First Mother looked toward the sky.
"The memory you recovered was incomplete."
My stomach dropped.
"Incomplete how?"
"You remembered Shawshank."
"Yes."
"But you did not remember yourself."
The chamber became silent.
I looked at my hands.
"What am I supposed to remember?"
The First Mother walked toward me.
"Who you were before anyone gave you a name."
My heart began pounding.
"I had a name."
"No."
She shook her head.
"You were given one."
I looked at Marina.
She was crying.
"Mom?"
Marina lowered her eyes.
"I didn't know everything."
"But you knew something."
She nodded.
"I knew you existed before I found you."
My chest tightened.
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I was afraid."
"Of me?"
"Of what remembering would do to you."
I stepped away from everyone.
My head suddenly hurt.
A flash appeared.
A golden ocean.
Five enormous lights.
A little girl standing alone.
Me.
I was crying.
Then I heard a voice.
My own voice.
"Where is everyone?"
Another voice answered.
"You sent them away."
I gasped.
The vision disappeared.
Shawshank grabbed my shoulders.
"Bjei?"
"I saw something."
"What?"
"I was alone."
His expression changed.
"Before the worlds?"
I nodded.
"I think so."
The First Mother closed her eyes.
"She is beginning to remember."
The First Queen stepped forward.
"Then we have very little time."
I turned toward her.
"Time for what?"
She didn't answer.
"Tell me!"
"The first world is waking."
The ground shook.
A deep sound traveled through the chamber.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Like a heartbeat.
The sea outside rose.
Shawshank grabbed my hand.
"Something is coming."
I stared at the water.
"What?"
The surface split.
A golden staircase appeared beneath the sea.
I knew it immediately.
The place in my memory.
"The first world."
The First Mother nodded.
"It has opened."
I felt a strange pull inside my chest.
Like something was calling me home.
"I have to go there."
"No."
Shawshank tightened his grip.
"I'm coming."
I looked at him.
"What if it's dangerous?"
"Then we'll be in danger together."
I smiled weakly.
"You always say that."
"And you always complain."
I laughed through my tears.
For a moment, everything felt normal.
Then the First Mother spoke.
"Shawshank cannot go."
My smile disappeared.
"Why?"
"Because the first world recognizes Bjei."
She looked at him.
"But it does not recognize him."
Shawshank stepped forward.
"I don't care."
"You should."
His golden mark began glowing.
"The moment you enter, the first world may remove you from existence."
My heart sank.
"No."
Shawshank looked at me.
"Bjei…"
"I said no."
"I have survived worse."
"This is different."
He touched my cheek.
"You're afraid."
"Yes."
I didn't hide it.
"I am terrified."
His eyes softened.
"I am too."
I swallowed.
"Then don't go."
He smiled.
"I can't."
"Why?"
"Because every time you go somewhere alone…"
He touched his forehead to mine.
"…I find you."
Tears filled my eyes.
"I love you."
The words escaped me.
No prophecy.
No magic.
No fear.
Just the truth.
Shawshank smiled.
"I know."
Then he kissed my forehead.
"And I love you too."
The five worlds suddenly lit up.
The golden staircase opened completely.
A wind rushed through the chamber.
And I heard my own voice from somewhere below.
"Bjei."
I froze.
It wasn't the voice of the darkness.
It wasn't the First Mother.
It was me.
A younger me.
Calling from beneath the sea.
"Come home."
I stepped toward the staircase.
Shawshank followed.
The First Mother shouted,
"Wait!"
I turned.
She was staring at me with tears in her eyes.
"There is one thing you must know before you enter."
"What?"
She looked terrified.
"The first world wasn't created by the First Mother."
I stared at her.
"Then who created it?"
She looked directly at me.
"You did."
My entire body went cold.
"What?"
"You created the first world."
I shook my head.
"No."
"You created the sea, the sky, the land, the forgotten world…"
She pointed toward the golden staircase.
"…and the fifth world."
My lips parted.
"But how?"
The First Mother whispered,
"Because you were there before all of them."
I looked down at the golden staircase.
The truth suddenly felt heavier than any crown.
I wasn't born into the first world.
I wasn't created by it.
I had created it.
And somewhere beneath the sea…
the first version of me was waiting.
The staircase began glowing brighter.
Shawshank took my hand.
"Whatever you remember…"
I looked at him.
"…don't let it make you forget who you are now."
I nodded.
Then we stepped onto the first golden stair.
The moment my foot touched it, every world disappeared.
There was only darkness.
Then a child's voice whispered beside my ear.
"Bjei…"
I turned.
A little girl with my face stood behind me.
She smiled.
And whispered,
"You finally came back."