The golden eye stared at me.
I couldn't breathe.
It was enormous.
It filled almost the entire darkness behind us.
Shawshank held my hand so tightly that I could feel him trembling.
"What are you?" I whispered.
The eye blinked.
Then the voice came.
"I am what you forgot."
The chamber shook.
The First Queen stepped backward.
"No…"
I looked at her.
"You know this thing."
She didn't answer.
"You know it!"
The First Queen finally whispered,
"It was there before the first world."
My stomach twisted.
"Before the first world?"
She nodded.
"It has no name."
The creature laughed.
"They called me many things."
The darkness moved around the golden eye.
"Monster. God. Prisoner. Destroyer."
A second eye appeared.
Then another.
And another.
I realized something terrifying.
There wasn't one creature.
There were thousands of eyes inside the darkness.
"But I was only ever hungry."
The other Bjei stepped closer to me.
"What does it want?"
The First Mother answered.
"You."
The creature laughed.
"Not her body."
The eyes turned toward me.
"Her memory."
My heart stopped.
"What memory?"
The creature's voice became softer.
"The memory of the beginning."
Suddenly my head filled with pain.
I saw a place before the five worlds.
A place before queens.
Before kings.
Before humans.
There was only darkness.
And in the middle of it stood a small golden child.
Me.
But I wasn't alone.
Something was standing behind me.
The creature.
I heard my younger self speaking.
"You're lonely."
The creature answered.
"Yes."
"Do you want a friend?"
"Yes."
I reached for it.
The vision shattered.
I opened my eyes.
Tears were running down my face.
"It knew me."
The First Mother nodded.
"You were the first person who ever spoke to it."
"Then why is it trying to hurt me?"
"It isn't."
I looked at her.
She pointed toward the creature.
"It wants you to remember the promise you made."
"What promise?"
The creature answered.
"You promised you would never leave me."
My heart sank.
"I don't remember."
"You chose the worlds over me."
The darkness around the creature began spreading.
"Then you erased yourself."
Nerath stepped forward.
"You blamed yourself for what happened."
The creature turned toward him.
"And you became my voice."
Nerath froze.
I looked at him.
"What?"
He lowered his head.
"I heard it after you disappeared."
The creature continued.
"I whispered into his dreams."
"That was you?"
"Yes."
Nerath looked ashamed.
"I thought it was Bjei."
My chest tightened.
"So all this time…"
"You were listening to something else," the First Queen said.
The creature laughed.
"I didn't lie."
Its eyes moved toward me.
"I only showed you what you wanted to believe."
Shawshank stepped in front of me.
"You won't touch her."
The creature became silent.
Then—
"You."
Shawshank stiffened.
The creature spoke again.
"You are the one she chose."
"Yes."
"Then you will be the first thing I take."
Black chains shot toward Shawshank.
I screamed.
"NO!"
Golden light burst from my hands.
The chains stopped inches from him.
The force pushed me backward.
Shawshank caught me.
"Bjei!"
"I won't let it take you."
He looked into my eyes.
"You don't have to fight alone."
The other Bjei stepped beside us.
Nerath joined her.
Then the First Queen.
Then Celestia.
Even Marina raised her hands.
For the first time, all of us stood together.
Sea.
Sky.
Land.
Fourth world.
Fifth world.
And the beings who had once fought each other.
The creature's eyes widened.
"You think unity will defeat me?"
I looked at everyone.
"No."
I squeezed Shawshank's hand.
"We're not fighting you."
The creature went silent.
"We're choosing something you never understood."
"What?"
I looked at the other Bjei.
Then Nerath.
Then Shawshank.
Then my mother.
"Each other."
The golden eye began flickering.
The creature screamed.
"NO!"
The entire first world started collapsing.
The First Mother shouted:
"Bjei, now!"
"Now what?"
She pointed toward the creature.
"Remember the promise."
I closed my eyes.
And suddenly, I remembered.
I was a child again.
Standing in the darkness.
Holding the creature's hand.
I smiled at it.
"You don't have to be alone."
The creature stared at me.
"And if I forget you?"
I had laughed.
"Then I'll remember you for both of us."
My eyes opened.
I looked at the creature.
"I remember."
Everything stopped.
The creature became silent.
Then its enormous golden eyes slowly closed.
The darkness disappeared.
But before it vanished completely, it whispered:
"Then you finally understand why I was afraid of you."
I frowned.
"Why?"
The creature smiled.
"Because you were the only one who could forgive me."
Then it disappeared.
Silence filled the chamber.
I turned toward the First Mother.
"What happens now?"
She looked at the five worlds.
"They can finally become one."
I smiled.
But then Shawshank suddenly collapsed.
"Shawshank!"
I caught him.
His body was cold.
His golden mark was gone.
I looked at him in terror.
"Please…"
His eyes slowly opened.
He smiled weakly.
"I told you…"
His voice was barely a whisper.
"I'd keep finding you."
Then his eyes closed again.