Genia got goosebumps after listening to Alex.
"History is repeating itself… and that person has the power to change the fate of this world."
The words echoed in his ears. The blue feather in his pocket felt even warmer now, as if it were making its presence felt.
Genia tried to hide her nervousness. She took a deep breath and pretended to smile at Alex. She said, "Stories are so interesting, aren't they? Things that happened centuries ago still seem true today."
Alex watched her intently, his discerning eyes studying Genia's facial expressions, but he didn't ask any further questions. He slid the book in front of Genia and said, "I'll just go get some more documents from the main hall. In the meantime, you can read this ancient text. You might find something else to learn here."
Genia sighed in relief and nodded, "Okay, you go. I'm right here."
As the sound of Alex's footsteps slowly faded down the corridor and finally disappeared, a deep silence descended on the library.
Now there was only Genia, the huge ancient book, and the mysterious blue feather hidden in her fist. Genia looked around.
The yellow light filtering through the high windows of the library was making the dust particles shine. She took the blue feather out of her pocket, and its shine was even clearer now. As soon as she placed the feather on the page of the open book, a miracle happened.
The ancient script written on the pages of the book, which till some time ago was completely strange and incomprehensible to Genia, suddenly started moving.
The letters written on that book rose from their place, floating in the air, turning into blue light and then stuck back to the pages of the book in such a way that Genia could read them easily.
She could not understand whether it was some magic or an illusion of her own eyes, but now she was able to understand that language as if it were her own language.
With a pounding heart, she began to read, "The Lineage of the Skywalkers and the Cycle of Eternity... When the world was divided, a special spirit was chosen to maintain the balance between the human world and the beast world. She was called "Andromeda." Andromeda was no ordinary human or magical creature, but rather the embodiment of the shared energy of both worlds. She had the power to bend time and control the elements of nature. But with great powers come great curses. Andromeda never dies; she only changes her body. Every thousand years, when the kingdom's existence is threatened, Andromeda will be reborn as a normal Beast Girl in the Beast World. She will remain unaware of her powers and memories until the Feather of Destiny finds her..."
Genia's breath caught as she read this. She turned the page further. Her fingers trembled. On the next page of the book was a huge hand-painted picture made of brown and gold colours.
As soon as Genia's eyes fell on that picture, the blue feather slipped from her hand and fell on the table. Her feet slid back two steps, and a muffled scream escaped her mouth. That image… she was no stranger. The girl standing in that picture looked exactly like Genia. The same round face, the same deep and searching eyes, the same sharp nose, and the same mole that Genia had on her right cheek.
It was Genia, of course! But the girl was dressed completely differently.
While Genia was dressed simply like the female lead of the Black Tiger clan, the girl in the photo wore a gorgeous royal gown woven with navy blue and silver threads, befitting a queen.
On her shoulders was a finely carved shield, and in her hands was an ancient staff with the same blue feather shining on the top. Her hair was tied back in an intricate bun, adorned with a crown of pearls and gems. Below the picture was written in golden letters: "Andromeda - The last Guardian of the Beast World, who sacrificed herself to maintain balance between the Beast World and the Human World."
"This... how is this possible?" Genia trembled and touched her face. "This can't be me. I'm just Genia... an ordinary girl from England, working in a carpet company. What connection do I have to this magical world, to this princess?"
Then some vague memories of her childhood started floating in her mind. She remembered how, as a child, she often had dreams in which she was flying in a glass palace high above the clouds. She always considered those dreams dreams and forgot them because dreams never come true, and if she told those dreams to her friends, then they would never believe her. On the contrary, they would have considered her mad.
As for her family, her parents died when she was very young. She also had her uncle and aunt who raised her, but they never loved her and considered her a burden. Most of her education was also funded by her scholarship money. So, after completing her studies, she found a job in a corporate company so that she would not have to listen to her aunt's taunts.
Before today, she had a different life, but today, in this mysterious library, everything stood before her like a terrifying and astonishing truth.
Genia went back to the table and touched the photo with her fingers. As soon as her finger touched the face of the girl in the picture, a bright light came out from the pages of the book and hit Genia directly on her forehead.
For a moment, Genia felt as if she was being swept away in a whirlwind across time. A rapid flood of visions flashed before her eyes: she saw a palace engulfed in flames. Some dark shadows were attacking innocent people from all sides.
A warrior resembling Alex, but much older and dressed in battle fatigues, was trying to stop them. Along with her, there were three more people who were helping Alex, one of whose faces resembled Kevin and apart from him, there were two more faces whom she did not recognise at all. But she felt like she knew them both and had some connection with them.
The four of them were trying to save Andromeda and her powers because the people who attacked them had the sole intention of acquiring Andromeda's powers. Those black shadows had killed many people, and they were going to kill the other two people along with Alex and Kevin.
Seeing this, Andromeda threw those shadows far away with the help of her powers and destroyed herself by confining her powers in the same blue feather.
"Genia!"
A heavy, familiar voice pulled Genia out of her trance. She turned around in a panic.
Alex was standing at the door, holding some old maps and documents in his hands. His eyes first went to Genia's pale face, then to the open book, and finally to the blue feather shining on the table.
All the documents fell from Alex's hands and scattered on the floor. His eyes widened in disbelief. He slowly walked towards the table, his eyes constantly darting between the blue feather and the picture of Andromeda in the book.
"This… this is a 'message from the heavenly being'…" There was a strange tremor in Alex's voice. He looked at Genia, his eyes now filled with only respect and deep awe. "And this picture… Genia, you…"
Alex looked at Genia's face in surprise and then went to the picture in the book. He was fond of reading old books, and hence he had read many such books. He had even read everything written in this book, but his attention never went to this picture. Or rather, this picture had never appeared before him.
But today Genia touched that book for the first time, and this blue feather came to her automatically, and the picture in this book also appeared before her. This clearly meant that Genia and the girl seen in that picture were the same.
Genia closed her eyes. There was no way she could hide the truth. She knew that her ordinary life had ended, and a journey she had never imagined had begun.
She looked Alex straight in the eye and said, "Yes, Rakshit. It's me. But I don't know how all this happened. I still can't understand whether this is all true or false. My mind is not working."
A strong breeze from the library window turned the pages of the book, but the storm of emotions rising in Genia's heart was not going to stop now.
Alex held his breath for a moment, then slowly sank down on one knee, just like one would bow in respect to a queen. "Welcome, Guardian Andromeda. This world has been waiting for your return for centuries," he said.
From the details written in these old books, it was clear that Andromeda was not an ordinary girl but was the guardian of her world. She protected their world when the time came. So Alex bowed before Genia out of respect.
Genia's heart sank when she saw Alex on his knees. She immediately moved forward, grabbed Alex's strong shoulders and tried to lift him up.
"Alex! Please stand up. Don't embarrass me like this. I'm not a princess... at least I don't feel like one right now. My life has become such a complicated puzzle these past few days that I can't solve it alone. You have to hear me out."
Alex slowly stood up. His eyes still held the same deep respect, but now they were also tinged with the concern of a friend and guide. He took a deep breath and said, "I'm listening, Guardian Andromeda. I'll believe anything you say. Your eyes and those blue wings can't lie."
Genia leaned against the heavy mahogany table in the library. He retrieved the blue feather from his pocket and placed it on his palm. Looking out the window, he began to tell his story, "Alex, the history you are reading in this book may be true. But my journey from the human world to here was not as straightforward as you think. Till now I was living like an ordinary girl in the human world. Which I had believed to be true till now and one day I fell asleep while reading a book and when I opened my eyes I found myself in a body."
Alex asked in surprise, "A new body? Whose body?"
Genia took a deep, painful breath. She continued, "That body belonged to an innocent girl from this world's Rabbit Clan. When I woke up in that body, I felt some of that girl's memories and her helplessness. The Rabbit Clan is one of the weakest and most feared clans in this world. They can't defend themselves and always live in the shadow of powerful tribes. And do you know what was the most terrifying thing? That body's own father and the clan elders had made a horrific decision to trade their own lives for the safety of the clan. He decided to tie up his own daughter and hand her over to the Black Tiger Clan's chieftain because he felt she was of no use to him!"