Chapter 60 — The First Memory "I remember you." Amelia couldn't move. The voice was hers — not similar, not distorted, not some echo carrying her tone. Her own voice, speaking from somewhere so close she felt the words against the shell of her ear. Then the darkness shifted, and she opened her eyes standing alone. No grave, no staircase, no First King, no Alaric. No Adrian. Only darkness stretching in every direction. "Adrian?" Her voice vanished into the black. "Adrian!" Nothing. Panic rose sharp in her chest as she turned, searching for anything familiar. Then a small golden light appeared in the distance, and a child stood inside it. Amelia recognized her instantly. The first version of herself — the little girl beneath the three moons. But this time, she wasn't smiling. "You're late," the child said. "Where's Adrian?" "He's remembering." "Remembering what?" "The part he wasn't allo...
Chapter 35 — The World Beneath
The wave hit.
And the Nameless World disappeared.
For a moment that felt endless, there was no sky.
There is no land.
There is no sea.
There is no light.
Just water.
Amelia couldn't breathe.
He couldn't hear Adrian.
Couldn't feel the ground beneath his feet.
He groped in the darkness, blindly.
"Adrian!"
No answer.
He reached again.
"Adrian!"
A hand caught hers.
Warm.
Familiar.
He immediately held it tightly.
"I'm here."
His voice.
The relief hit him so hard it felt like pain.
"Don't let go."
"Won't."
The darkness around them shifted.
Amelia opened her eyes.
He is no longer in the water.
He was standing on something that looked like glass.
Beneath his feet, thousands of doors stretched into infinity.
Partially covered.
Some are broken.
Some are barely visible.
And behind every door there is a life.
A world.
A choice.
Adrian stood beside him, panting.
Just the two of them.
At least, for now.
"Where are we?" he asked.
Amelia looked around.
"A place between choices."
"No."
Her expression changed.
"It goes deeper than that."
A voice answered from behind them.
"He's right."
They turned around.
The exile stood a few steps away from them.
But he was different.
His black eyes are now gone.
Replaced with silver color.
Her body seemed almost transparent, as if slowly being erased from existence.
Amelia looked at him.
"You said everyone would come."
"They will come."
"Then where are they?"
He pointed down.
Amelia stared into the glass.
Millions of figures moved beneath them.
Not walking.
Fall.
Man.
Children.
The soldiers.
Kings.
Moms.
Monsters.
Versions of people who were never born.
They fell through the darkness towards something far below.
"Where are they going?"
"The world beneath the worlds."
Adrian stepped forward.
"What's down there?"
The outcast stared at him.
"Everything that is rejected."
The glass beneath Amelia's feet began to crack.
He took a step back.
"Rejected by whom?"
"By everyone."
Another crack appears.
Then one more.
The doors below them began to open one by one.
Voices filled the darkness.
Choose me.
Remember me.
I should be alive.
You killed me.
You left me.
You could have saved us.
Amelia covered her ears.
"Stop them."
"I can't," said the outcast.
"Then who can?"
He looked at Adrian.
"Your father."
Adrian froze.
"My father is not here."
The exile smiled sadly.
"Not the one you know."
The old wooden door appeared behind them.
The same door from Blackwood Manor.
It opened slowly.
An older version of Adrian's father stood behind him.
Silver hair.
Scarred face.
Without the Guardian mark.
He looked at Amelia first.
Then Adrian.
"You come."
Adrian's jaw clenched.
"Where is my mother?"
The man turned his face away.
"Seriously?"
"Yes."
"He made his choice."
"What choice?"
The man didn't answer.
Adrian stepped closer.
"Say."
"He was left behind."
Amelia's heart clenched.
"Where is it left?"
"Nameless World."
"With the others?"
"No."
His expression darkened.
"Alone."
Adrian's face paled.
"Why?"
"Because someone has to hold the world together."
Amelia shook her head.
"Seris said he would make the next choice."
"Of course."
"What did he choose?"
The man looked at her.
"Keeping you alive."
Adrian stepped back.
"No."
"This isn't the first time your mother has made that choice."
"What do you mean?"
The man raised his hand.
The darkness around them changed.
Amelia saw Seris.
Not the Seris they knew.
Another series.
Younger.
Standing next to a silver-haired man.
A baby fell asleep in her arms.
Adrian.
But this Adrian is different.
Without the Guardian mark.
No silver cracks under the skin.
He is just a child.
Life.
Happy.
Seris cried.
The man beside him held his shoulder.
"We can go."
"Where to?"
"Where have you been."
"What about Hollow?"
"Just leave it."
"What about those worlds?"
"It's not ours."
Seris looked at the baby in her arms.
Then stared at the darkness in the distance.
"I can't."
The man closed his eyes.
"You promised."
"I know."
"You promised to choose us."
"I did choose."
"Then why did you go back there?"
Seris hugged Adrian tighter.
"Because someone has to stay."
The memories shattered into pieces.
Adrian stood frozen.
"He chose them."
The older man nodded.
"It is always like that."
"Even before I was born?"
"Especially before you were born."
Adrian's eyes filled with tears.
Amelia stood beside him.
"What happened to that world?"
"It was one of the first worlds under the sea."
"A place between choices."
"Yes."
"And Seris?"
The man looked at Adrian.
"He became her guardian."
Adrian's breath stopped.
"No."
"Your mother has been holding back those unrealized choices for thousands of years."
"Then why did he come here now?"
"Because you opened that door."
Amelia felt a chill run down her spine.
"He came because of me."
"No."
The man looked at him directly.
"He came because of her."
He pointed at Adrian.
"He should never have existed."
Adrian stared at him. "What?"
"You were born from a choice that should have erased you."
"I don't understand."
"You are not the child of the Guardian."
The man paused for a moment.
"You are an exception to the Guardian."
Lonely.
Amelia looked at Adrian.
Her face was completely blank.
"Then what am I?"
The man stepped closer.
"Proof that choices cannot always be undone."
A voice echoed in the darkness.
A scream.
Then one more.
The doors started to shake.
The exile looked up.
"They're coming."
Amelia turned around.
"What?"
The darkness above them opened.
Thousands of figures descended.
But they no longer fall.
They walked.
Across nothingness.
Heading towards them.
Amelia recognized some of their faces.
Another version of Aurelia.
Another version of Lucien.
Another version of Seraphine.
Other versions of himself.
And hundreds of unfamiliar faces.
Millions more behind them.
Adrian drew his sword.
"How do we stop them?"
The older man shook his head.
"You can't."
"So what?"
"Listen."
Amelia frowned.
"Listen to what?"
The first figure stepped forward.
A young woman.
Her face is almost exactly the same as Amelia's.
But his eyes were blank.
He stopped right in front of her.
"You chose it."
Amelia swallowed hard.
"Yes."
"You chose him, not me."
"I do not know you."
"You should know me."
The woman's face changed.
Now she looks like Eleanor.
Then Seris.
Then Aurelia.
Then Amelia herself.
"I am everyone you could have saved."
Amelia's chest felt tight.
"I can't save everyone."
"No."
The woman smiled.
"You chose not to."
Those words cut deeper than any sword.
Adrian stepped forward.
"Don't listen to him."
The woman turned to him.
"You chose it."
"Yes."
"You know the others will die."
"Yes."
"You know the worlds will disappear."
"Yes."
"And you still chose him."
Adrian didn't hesitate for a moment.
"Yes."
The woman smiled.
"Then you are exactly like us."
The ground beneath them cracked.
Amelia held Adrian's hand.
"What do you want?"
The woman's face returned to human.
"Untuk diingat."
Amelia menatapnya. "Hanya itu?"
"Bukan."
Wanita itu menatap ke arah pintu-pintu tanpa akhir itu.
"Kami ingin dipilih."
Sunyi.
Sang buangan memejamkan mata.
"Mereka tidak menyerangmu."
"Lalu apa yang mereka lakukan?"
"Menunggu."
"Menunggu apa?"
"Menunggumu membuat satu pilihan lagi."
Amelia menatap sekeliling.
Jutaan pasang mata menatap balik padanya.
Ia mengerti.
Jika ia memilih satu, yang lain akan tetap terlupakan.
Jika ia memilih semua, dunia-dunia akan runtuh.
Jika ia tidak memilih siapa pun, Nameless World akan mati.
Tidak ada jalan keluar.
Tidak ada pintu keempat.
Tidak ada jawaban tersembunyi.
Hanya pertanyaan yang sama.
Pilih.
Adrian meremas tangannya.
"Kita tidak harus menjawab."
Amelia menatapnya. "Apa?"
"Kita sudah menjawab pertanyaan orang lain sejak awal semua ini dimulai."
Matanya bertemu dengan matanya.
"Mungkin sekarang giliran kita yang bertanya."
"Kepada siapa?"
Adrian menatap ke arah kegelapan.
"Kepada mereka."
Ia melangkah maju.
"Kenapa kami harus memilih kalian?"
Jutaan sosok itu terdiam.
Wanita muda itu menatapnya.
"Karena kami ada."
"Itu belum cukup."
Ekspresinya berubah.
"Karena kami menderita."
"Itu belum cukup."
"Karena kami dilupakan."
Adrian menggeleng.
"Tetap belum cukup."
Amelia akhirnya mengerti apa yang sedang dilakukan Adrian.
Ia tidak menolak keberadaan mereka.
Ia menolak tuntutan mereka.
"Kalian ingin menjadi apa?" tanyanya.
Wanita itu tampak bingung.
"Kami ingin hidup."
"Itu bukan jawaban."
"Itu jawaban."
"Bukan."
Amelia melangkah maju.
"Kalian ingin kami yang memilihkan hidup untuk kalian."
Wanita itu tidak berkata apa-apa.
"Kalian ingin orang lain yang memutuskan kalian akan menjadi apa."
Matanya membelalak.
Amelia menatap ke arah jutaan sosok di belakangnya.
"Kalian menginginkan hal yang sama seperti yang dulu ingin dilepaskan Hollow."
Sunyi.
"Hollow memilih dirinya sendiri."
Bisikan mulai menjalar di antara sosok-sosok itu.
"Kalian juga bisa."
Sebuah getaran melintas dalam kegelapan.
Satu pintu terbuka.
Lalu satu lagi.
Lalu ribuan.
Tapi kali ini, tak seorang pun keluar dari sana.
Orang-orang di dalam pintu-pintu itu tetap di tempatnya.
Menunggu.
Mengamati.
Memilih untuk diri mereka sendiri.
Pria yang lebih tua itu menatap Amelia.
"Kau menemukannya."
"Menemukan apa?"
"Aturannya."
"Aturan apa?"
Ia tersenyum.
"Yang ditemukan Hollow."
Amelia menatap pintu-pintu yang kini terbuka itu.
"Tidak ada yang memilih untuk orang lain."
Sang buangan berbisik, "Hukum kedua."
Kegelapan itu bergetar.
Jutaan pilihan yang terlupakan itu mulai berubah.
Sebagian lenyap.
Sebagian tetap ada.
Tapi tak satu pun yang benar-benar terhapus.
Mereka hanya kembali menjadi kemungkinan.
Bukan kehidupan.
Bukan dunia.
Kemungkinan.
Beban di dada Amelia mulai terangkat.
"We did it."
"Not yet," said the Dreamer.
The voice came from behind them.
Everyone turned around.
He stood on the edge of darkness.
Her white eyes were filled with tears.
"You just stopped the first wave."
Amelia's heart dropped.
"What do you mean?"
The Dreamer lowered his head.
The glass beneath their feet began to disappear.
Behind him, something enormous moved.
Not a person.
Not a world.
Something older.
Something that existed before the choice itself existed.
The father appeared beside him.
His face was gloomy.
"Amelia."
He turned around.
"What's that?"
He stared into the darkness.
"Something that makes the first choice."
The whole place fell silent.
Adrian raised his sword.
"Who?"
The father whispered one word.
"Nothingness."
The darkness behind the Dreamer opened up.
There are no creatures in it.
No face.
There is no body.
There is no light.
Just the absence was so perfect that Amelia felt herself drawn to it.
The Dreamer took a step back.
"He has fallen asleep."
"Since when?"
"Since before the first world existed."
The father looked at Amelia.
"And the door you opened woke him up."
Amelia's blood felt like it was freezing.
The nothingness began to move towards them.
Not walking.
Not flying.
Just getting closer.
Millions of unrealized choices were silent.
Even the exile bowed his head.
Adrian held Amelia's hand.
"What does he want?"
The Dreamer stared at the approaching nothingness.
"For the first time..."
Her voice was shaking.
"...he wants to choose."
The darkness reached them.
And every door in the place between the worlds opened at once.
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