"I'm the part of you that remembers what you are about to forget."
I stared at the little girl.
I didn't know her.
At least, I didn't think I did.
Her face was mine.
Her silver eyes were familiar in a way I couldn't explain.
And yet my mind was completely empty.
I searched for a name.
Nothing.
A place.
Nothing.
A person.
Nothing.
I looked around the endless white room.
"Where am I?"
The girl smiled.
"Between."
"Between what?"
"Everything."
I frowned.
"That doesn't make sense."
"It will."
She walked past me.
I followed her.
There were no footsteps.
No echoes.
Nothing.
The white floor stretched endlessly in every direction.
"Who are you?"
"You already asked."
"And you didn't answer."
"I did."
"You said you're the part of me that remembers."
"Yes."
"That doesn't tell me who you are."
She stopped.
Then turned toward me.
"I am what you left behind."
My heart tightened.
"What did I leave behind?"
"Everything you couldn't carry."
I stared at her.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out something.
A small silver key.
My breath caught.
I knew that key.
Or at least something inside me did.
"Where did you get that?"
"You gave it to me."
"When?"
"Before you became Ariana."
The room shifted.
For half a second, I saw a man with blue eyes.
A silver-haired woman.
A little boy with red eyes.
A girl with golden eyes.
A woman who looked like me.
Then everything disappeared.
I grabbed my head.
"What was that?"
The girl watched me.
"A memory."
"Of what?"
"Your life."
"That wasn't my life."
She smiled sadly.
"Yes, it was."
I stepped toward her.
"Then why can't I remember it?"
"Because someone took it."
"Who?"
She pointed behind me.
I turned.
There was a door.
It hadn't been there before.
A simple black door.
No handle.
No lock.
Just a door.
I walked toward it.
The girl followed.
"Don't open it."
"Why?"
"Because you aren't ready."
I stopped.
That phrase.
I'd heard it so many times.
I turned toward her.
"Everyone keeps saying that."
"I know."
"I don't care anymore."
"You should."
"No."
I reached for the door.
She grabbed my wrist.
"If you open it, you won't remember who you were."
I looked at her.
"Then what will I remember?"
She released me.
"Who you chose to become."
The door opened by itself.
Beyond it was darkness.
Then a voice.
"Aurelia."
I froze.
The name hit me.
Aurelia.
I remembered.
A face.
A hand.
A garden.
A little boy.
A golden-eyed child.
A red-eyed child.
A woman.
The Source.
The First Hunger.
Lena.
Rowan.
I gasped.
The memories rushed back.
Not all of them.
Just enough.
I stumbled backward.
The girl caught me.
"You're remembering."
"Who is Aurelia?"
"You."
"No."
"Yes."
"I was Ariana."
"You are."
"I don't understand."
"You were Aurelia before they gave you the name Ariana."
I stared at her.
"Why?"
"To make you ordinary."
The word hurt.
"Was I not ordinary?"
"No."
"What was I?"
She looked into my eyes.
"The first person who could choose despite knowing every possible consequence."
I went still.
"That was supposed to be impossible."
"It was."
"Then how did I do it?"
The girl smiled.
"You were born stubborn."
I almost laughed.
Almost.
Then the room shook.
The black door began closing.
I grabbed it.
"Wait!"
The girl stepped through.
"Come."
"Where?"
"To remember."
I followed.
The moment I crossed the threshold, the white room disappeared.
I was standing in the sanctuary.
Lena was screaming my name.
"Ariana!"
Rowan was beside her.
The golden-eyed girl was kneeling on the floor.
The First Hunger stood over her.
The original child was nowhere to be seen.
I looked around.
"Where is she?"
Everyone froze.
Lena stared at me.
"Who?"
"The little girl."
"What little girl?"
"The one with my face."
Rowan exchanged a look with Lena.
"You've been unconscious for less than a minute."
"What?"
He stepped closer.
"You collapsed after the fifth circle appeared."
I looked toward the floor.
The fifth circle was gone.
The buried city was gone.
The Mother was gone.
Everything was gone.
Only the sanctuary remained.
I looked at the First Hunger.
"Where is the Mother?"
His expression changed.
"Who?"
"The woman."
He shook his head.
"There was no woman."
My heart stopped.
"Yes, there was."
"No."
"I saw her."
"You were unconscious."
"I spoke to her."
"You were dreaming."
"No."
The word came out with certainty.
I looked at my hands.
A silver key was lying in my palm.
Rowan's face went pale.
"Where did you get that?"
I closed my fingers around it.
"I don't know."
The first Ariana suddenly appeared from behind him.
She stared at the key.
Then at me.
"You remembered."
I nodded.
"What?"
She whispered,
"The room."
I felt cold.
"What room?"
"The room where they kept you before they gave you your name."
Lena looked between us.
"You're saying they kept Ariana somewhere?"
The first Ariana nodded.
"Before she was Ariana."
Rowan stepped forward.
"Where?"
The first Ariana looked toward the wall.
"The place beneath the fifth circle."
"But it's gone."
"No."
She shook her head.
"It isn't."
A deep sound echoed beneath us.
Boom.
Everyone froze.
Another heartbeat.
Boom.
The First Hunger looked at me.
"They're trying again."
"Who?"
"The ones who erased her."
I tightened my grip on the silver key.
"Then let's find them."
Rowan stared at me.
"You don't know what's down there."
"No."
I looked toward the floor.
"But I know someone is waiting."
The golden-eyed girl stood.
"I'll come."
The First Hunger nodded.
"So will I."
Lena stepped beside me.
"You're not going without me."
I smiled faintly.
"I wasn't planning to."
Rowan sighed.
"Then we're all going."
The first Ariana remained still.
I looked at her.
"You're coming too."
She shook her head.
"I can't."
"Why?"
She looked at me with sad eyes.
"Because if I go down there, I'll remember the moment I betrayed you."
The words hit me.
"What betrayal?"
She looked away.
"I was the one who gave them your name."
Silence.
Lena's expression hardened.
"You gave them her name?"
"I thought I was saving her."
I stared at the first Ariana.
"What did you tell them?"
She looked at me.
"Aurelia."
My blood ran cold.
"They knew your real name because I told them."
"Why?"
"Because they promised they would let you live."
"And did they?"
She shook her head.
"No."
The floor cracked.
A silver light appeared beneath us.
The same light from the fifth circle.
The first Ariana stepped backward.
"They're here."
A voice echoed through the sanctuary.
"Aurelia."
Every light went out.
Then another voice answered.
Not from beneath us.
From behind us.
"No."
I turned.
A man stood at the entrance.
Blue eyes.
Silver hair.
Ancient face.
The first Architect.
He looked directly at me.
And for the first time, there was no arrogance in his expression.
Only fear.
"Don't answer them."
I stared at him.
"Why?"
He looked toward the floor.
"Because they don't want your memories."
"What do they want?"
His eyes met mine.
"They want your choice."
The silver key in my hand began glowing.
The First Architect took one step toward me.
"Give me the key."
"No."
"Aurelia..."
"I said no."
The key burned brighter.
The Architect stopped.
Then he whispered,
"Then it's already too late."
A crack opened behind him.
Something stepped through.
Not a person.
Not a creature.
A shadow shaped like a woman.
It had no face.
But when it spoke, the voice was mine.
"Aurelia."
The First Architect turned pale.
The shadow raised one hand.
Every memory in the sanctuary vanished.
Lena looked at me.
Her eyes were empty.
"Who are you?"
My heart shattered.
"Lena?"
She stepped away.
"I don't know you."
Rowan lowered his weapon.
He looked at me with confusion.
"Who are you?"
The First Hunger stared at his own hands.
"I don't remember."
The golden-eyed girl began crying.
"Where am I?"
One by one, everyone forgot.
Everyone except me.
And the little girl inside my mind.
She whispered:
"Now you understand why I exist."
I closed my eyes.
The memories were disappearing.
But something else was happening too.
The silver key was changing.
It wasn't a key anymore.
It was a blade.
And in the darkness, the shadow whispered:
"Choose what you are willing to lose."