The sixth branch continued glowing above us.
I couldn't take my eyes away from it.
"The world you haven't created yet."
Those words kept repeating in my mind.
I looked at the First Mother.
"What am I supposed to do with it?"
She smiled.
"Nothing."
I frowned.
"Nothing?"
"For once, Bjei, you don't have to do anything."
I stared at her.
After everything I had been through, that answer almost frightened me.
"What do you mean?"
"The worlds are no longer waiting for you to save them."
She looked around.
"They are waiting for themselves."
I looked toward the sea.
The water was calm.
The sky was clear.
The fourth world was no longer covered in darkness.
The fifth world was alive again.
For the first time, nobody was asking me to choose.
Nobody was asking me to sacrifice.
Nobody was asking me to become something.
I should have felt relieved.
Instead, I felt empty.
Shawshank noticed.
"What is wrong?"
"I don't know."
I looked at him.
"I spent so long fighting for something."
I touched my chest.
"Now that the fighting is over, I don't know who I am."
He smiled gently.
"Then maybe you can finally find out."
I looked at him.
"What if I'm nothing without all of this?"
"You're Bjei."
"That isn't enough."
"It is to me."
My eyes filled with tears.
I looked away.
"I was a queen."
"No."
"A weapon."
"No."
"A bridge."
"No."
"The first world."
"No."
He stepped closer.
"You were always just Bjei."
I looked at him.
"And that was always enough."
A tear slipped down my cheek.
I laughed softly.
"You make everything sound easy."
"It isn't easy."
He took my hand.
"But you don't have to carry everything anymore."
I looked around.
The First Queen was speaking with Celestia.
Marina and Angela were together.
Lyra stood beneath the golden tree.
Nerath was watching the sea.
The people of the fourth world were walking freely among the others.
Nobody was fighting.
Nobody was running.
Nobody was afraid.
Then I heard something.
A familiar voice.
"Bjei."
I turned.
The woman who looked like me stood several steps away.
My dark counterpart.
She smiled.
"You remember me?"
"How could I forget?"
She walked toward me.
"I thought I was the part of you that had to disappear."
I shook my head.
"You don't."
She looked at the sea.
"I carried everything you were too afraid to feel."
"I know."
"And now?"
I took her hand.
"Now we carry it together."
Her eyes filled with tears.
For the first time, she looked peaceful.
"Then I think I'm finally free."
She slowly faded into golden light.
I panicked.
"Wait!"
She smiled.
"I'm not disappearing."
The light entered my chest.
"I'm going home."
I closed my eyes.
I felt her.
Not as another person trapped inside me.
Not as darkness.
As a part of my story.
A part I no longer hated.
When I opened my eyes, I felt whole.
Not because I had become one person.
But because I had stopped fighting the pieces of myself.
The First Mother watched me.
"You finally understand."
"Understand what?"
"That saving yourself was part of saving the worlds."
I looked at her.
"I thought I had to save everyone first."
"That was your mistake."
She smiled.
"You cannot save a world by destroying yourself."
Her words stayed with me.
Then she removed the five-stone crown she had carried for so long.
She placed it on the ground.
"What are you doing?"
"Ending my rule."
The First Queen approached.
Then Celestia.
One by one, the rulers placed their crowns beside hers.
Blue.
Silver.
Gold.
Black.
And the fifth stone.
Five crowns.
Five histories.
Five worlds.
Then they disappeared.
Not destroyed.
Released.
The people began cheering.
I looked at Shawshank.
"It's really over."
He smiled.
"Yes."
I breathed deeply.
For the first time, the air didn't feel heavy.
Then something touched my shoulder.
I turned.
It was Marina.
She was smiling through tears.
"Come home."
I looked at Angela.
Then Christel.
Then Shawshank.
Home.
The word felt different now.
It wasn't a place.
It wasn't a world.
It wasn't the sea.
It wasn't the land.
Home was where I could be myself without being afraid.
I looked at Shawshank.
"I think I finally know where home is."
He smiled.
"Where?"
I stepped closer.
"Wherever I choose to be."
He held out his hand.
"Then choose."
I took it.
"I choose here."
The sixth branch above us suddenly stopped glowing.
The golden light disappeared.
The first world became quiet.
And the five worlds settled into their new existence.
No prophecy followed.
No voice returned.
No darkness rose.
Nothing demanded anything from me.
For the first time…
silence wasn't frightening.
It was peaceful.
We began walking toward the shore.
Then I heard the sea whisper one final message.
Not a warning.
Not a command.
A goodbye.
"You are free."
I smiled.
"I know."
I looked at Shawshank.
He smiled back.
And together, we walked toward the life we had never been allowed to choose.
Behind us, the worlds remained.
Ahead of us, the sun was rising.
And for the first time…
I wasn't walking toward a destiny.
I was walking toward a life.