"Hello, Bjei."
I froze.
That wasn't Shawshank's voice.
It was hers.
The queen.
My heart began pounding.
"Shawshank?"
He tilted his head slowly.
His eyes were completely black.
"Don't be afraid."
I stepped backward.
"You're not him."
A smile appeared on his face.
"No."
The queen's voice came from his mouth.
"But I'm inside him."
"No!"
I rushed forward and grabbed his shoulders.
"Shawshank, fight her!"
He didn't move.
I slapped his chest.
"Shawshank!"
Nothing.
Then his lips moved.
"Bjei…"
My heart jumped.
His eyes flickered.
For one second, I saw him.
"Bjei," he whispered weakly.
I grabbed his hand.
"I'm here."
His fingers tightened around mine.
"Run."
The queen immediately took control again.
"Too late."
A powerful force threw me backward.
I hit the ground.
"Bjei!"
This time, it was Shawshank's voice.
He was fighting her.
I stood.
"Shawshank, listen to me!"
He struggled.
"Don't… come near me."
"I'm not leaving you."
"You have to!"
The queen laughed through him.
"Such devotion."
I looked at Marina.
"How do I get her out of him?"
Marina's eyes filled with fear.
"There is only one way."
"Tell me."
"You have to enter his mind."
I stared at her.
"What?"
"You must find Shawshank before the queen destroys his consciousness."
Azrael stepped forward.
"And if she fails?"
Marina looked at me.
"Both of them will be trapped inside him."
I looked at Shawshank.
He was shaking violently.
I couldn't leave him.
"How do I enter his mind?"
Marina pointed toward my wrist.
"Your mark."
I looked down.
The golden crown was glowing.
"Think of him."
I closed my eyes.
I thought of the first time I saw him.
His smile.
His teasing.
The way he always appeared whenever I went to the sea.
The way he held my hand.
The way he told me he loved me.
Then I heard his voice.
Bjei.
I opened my eyes.
Everything disappeared.
I was standing inside darkness.
"Shawshank?"
No answer.
I walked forward.
"Shawshank!"
Then I heard laughter.
The queen.
"You came."
I turned.
She stood several feet away.
Behind her was Shawshank.
He was chained to a wall.
His eyes were closed.
"Let him go!"
The queen smiled.
"You came into his mind willingly."
I stepped forward.
"Release him."
"Why?"
"Because he doesn't belong to you."
The queen laughed.
"He belongs to the sea."
"No."
"He was born beneath it."
"He was born to choose his own life."
The queen's expression hardened.
"You sound like his father."
I stopped.
"Azrael?"
She shook her head.
"No."
She looked toward Shawshank.
"The man who raised him."
My heart skipped.
"Who?"
The queen smiled.
"Your grandmother knew."
I frowned.
"My grandmother?"
"Yes."
She stepped closer.
"Shawshank's past is not what you were told."
I looked at him.
"What are you talking about?"
The queen whispered,
"Shawshank doesn't remember the night he met you."
I felt confused.
"What does that mean?"
"It means he had already seen you."
My breathing stopped.
"Where?"
The queen smiled.
"On the night you were born."
I stared at her.
"No."
"He was there."
"That isn't possible."
"He was a child."
I looked at Shawshank.
He suddenly opened his eyes.
"Bjei…"
I rushed toward him.
"Shawshank!"
The chains tightened around him.
He screamed.
"Don't!"
The queen grabbed him.
"You want him?"
"Yes."
"Then give me your crown."
I looked at my wrist.
"No."
"Then he stays."
I stepped closer.
"You don't understand."
The queen frowned.
"I will never give you my power."
"I don't want your power."
I looked directly at Shawshank.
"I want him."
The queen laughed.
"You can't have both."
"Watch me."
I raised my hand.
The golden crown appeared above my wrist.
The darkness shook.
The queen stepped backward.
"What are you doing?"
"I am choosing."
The crown exploded into golden light.
The chains around Shawshank broke.
He fell forward.
I caught him.
The queen screamed.
"You cannot do this!"
I held Shawshank tightly.
"I just did."
The darkness began collapsing.
Shawshank looked at me.
His eyes were normal again.
"Bjei…"
"I'm here."
He touched my face.
"You came for me."
"Of course I did."
His eyes filled with tears.
Then his expression changed.
"Wait."
"What?"
He looked behind me.
"She's not gone."
I turned.
The queen was standing in the darkness.
But she was no longer smiling.
She looked furious.
"You think you won?"
I held Shawshank's hand.
"Yes."
The queen raised her hand.
A vision appeared between us.
A little boy stood beside the sea.
A little girl was lying in Marina's arms.
The boy looked at the baby.
It was Shawshank.
I stared in shock.
Shawshank whispered,
"I remember."
The queen smiled.
"You were there that night."
The vision changed.
I saw Shawshank touching baby Bjei's forehead.
Then a golden light passed from him into the baby.
I gasped.
"What did you do?"
Shawshank looked terrified.
"I don't remember."
The queen whispered,
"His blood was part of the spell that saved you."
I looked at him.
Suddenly, everything I'd been told felt incomplete.
The queen leaned closer.
"And that's why the two of you were always drawn to each other."
Shawshank stared at me.
"I knew you before I knew you."
My heart broke.
"Why didn't you remember?"
The queen smiled.
"Because someone erased his memory."
"Who?"
The queen disappeared.
Her final words echoed through the darkness.
"Ask your grandmother."
Everything went black.
I opened my eyes.
I was back beneath the sea.
Shawshank was lying beside me.
He gasped and sat up.
I grabbed his hand.
"Are you okay?"
He nodded.
Then he looked at me.
"I remember something."
"What?"
His face had gone pale.
"The night you were born…"
He swallowed.
"I was there."
And before I could ask another question, a familiar voice spoke from behind us.
"Then it is time you both knew the truth."
I turned.
Grandmother was standing there.
But she wasn't alone.
Behind her stood a woman I had never seen before.
And the woman was wearing the same golden crown that now burned on my wrist.