Everyone says the world is more beautiful now.
There are no shadows, no fear.
Light fills every space until there is no room for darkness anymore.
But to Aina, the world feels… dead.
She looks at the faces of the people around her, all their smiles are stiff, their voices flat.
There is no anger, no sadness,
just a calm that is too perfect.
"The world is clean now," said a teacher.
"There is no more darkness in the hearts of people."
Aina bows.
Silently, she feels like screaming because in this too bright world,
she is the only one who still seems dark.
---
Kangar City Center
People gather in the square, the minister comes to launch the "New Era of Light."
The buildings are painted white, lampposts are arranged every two meters.
In the middle of the stage, a woman dressed all in white spoke in a soft voice
"We have been freed from the sin of shadows.
The world is now pure and no one will deceive themselves anymore."
Everyone applauded.
But Aina among the thousands of people saw something strange.
The shadow of the microphone on the stage… moved on its own.
---
Night — Aina's House
She couldn't sleep.
The light of the streetlights filtered through the window, but her room seemed to breathe.
The air was choppy, the mirror on the dressing table vibrated slowly.
"Harith…"
The name came out unconsciously.
"If you're still here, let me know what happened…"
From the mirror, black mist began to form the words
"LIGHT IS DECEPTIVE."
Aina stepped back, her chest shaking rapidly.
The words changed shape, becoming Harith's face but only half of it, as if being dragged between two dimensions.
"Harith! Are you alive?!"
"No… alive. Still below."
"Why are people like this? Why does this world feel fake?"
"Because… they lost their shadows. When there are no shadows, people lose their true emotions. They are just shells of light."
Aina pressed her hand to the mirror and for the first time since the eclipse, she felt a cold but real return touch.
"I tried to open a way back, Aina," Harith's voice trembled.
"But this world rejected me. If I managed to return, the light would collapse."
"Let it collapse, I don't care. This world wouldn't be a world if everyone pretended to be happy."
---
Light Interference
Suddenly, the entire city went dark.
Street lights, billboards, TV screens all went dark in the blink of an eye.
Aina stood in front of the mirror and in the absolute darkness,
Harith's shadow appeared completely standing behind her.
"This is just a moment," she said.
"I can't last long. The world of light will try to close this door."
Aina turned around, but Harith was not there.
Her voice echoed in her ears:
"Find Tok Halim. He knows how to reopen the world's heart."
---
The next morning
The news spread on TV:
"The nationwide power outage is believed to be caused by a strange atmospheric phenomenon, the moonlight is said to have disappeared for a moment."
But Aina knew it wasn't an outage.
She opened Harith's old notebook and on the last page, there was writing she had never noticed
"When the world is too bright, the truth will be blind."
- H.H.
Aina clutched the book.
Her eyes were empty, but her determination was burning.
"If this world is built on false light… I will be the darkness that fixes everything."