Андрей Сопельник – Universe Aeternov. Book two. The Shadow that Remembers the Light (страница 13)
– You lost to her because you saw her as a monster, – he said softly. – Become one today.
– But… how?” Alina swallowed.
“Just say, “I want to understand you,”” he replied. – And let yourself go.”
Alina took a deep breath, looked into the empty eyes of the reflection and said:
“I want to understand you.
The mirror shook and pulled her inside.
4. INSIDE THE SHADOW
The world has turned upside down.
Alina was no longer Alina.
She is the Shadow of Fate.
She felt:
• cold – not from the darkness, but from loneliness;
• hunger is not for food, but for the word: “You’re important”;
• the pain is not in the body, but in the memory: “My world was erased because it was considered weak”;
• Rage – not towards the universe, but towards oneself: “Why wasn’t I good enough to be saved”?
She saw her old world, the one that had disappeared.
A world where Andrey made a choice in favor of other lines.
A boy stands at the ruins of a house that once smelled of apple pie and laughter.
There’s a child’s drawing on the floor: “Daddy and me on the stars.”
The drawing is faded, which means no one has looked at it for a long time.
And at that moment, Alina realized that
the Shadow of Fate did not want to destroy her.
She wants to hear:
“You had a right to exist.”
Tears, black as ashes, flowed down Shadow’s cheeks.
And Alina cried with her.
5. RETURN.
She burst out of the mirror, trembling, crying, but already different.
“Did you… see her pain?” The Face Master asked.
– Yes, – Alina whispered. “She’s not the enemy. She’s me… if no one loved me.
“Then you passed the first test,” said the Master. “You haven’t defeated the Shadow. You found out her name.
“What’s her name?” Alina asked.
– Forgotten,” he replied.
6. THE SECOND TRIAL: TO BECOME SOMEONE YOU HATE.
In the next lesson, the Master showed a new reflection – Absolute Evil in the form of Knox.
“Now become one,” he said.
“But he’s destroying worlds!” Alina exclaimed.
“Do you really believe he’s doing this out of joy?” The Master asked softly. – no. He does this because he no longer believes in the possibility of healing.
Alina clenched her fists… and remembered her father’s words:
“Even a broken watch can show the correct time.”
She stepped into the mirror.
And she became a Knox soaked in Darkness.
She felt:
• The weight of the Iron Throne;
• shame for every erased fate;
• despair that even the tears have turned black;
and a tiny spark, the one that cries in the dark when everything is silent.
Alina wanted to shout, “I’m here! I remember you!”
But the darkness drowned out the voice.
And yet… the spark did not go out.
Because Knox still remembered the lullaby.
7. A LESSON IN EMPATHY
When Alina returned, she did not talk about techniques.
She only said:
“Now I know how to save him.”
– How?” the Face Master asked.
“Not with a sword, – she replied. “Not with magic. A lullaby. The one his mother sang to him. Because even in the darkest vessel, the memory of life remains.
The Master nodded.
“Then you’re ready for the final challenge,” he said.
“Like what?” Alina asked.
– To become yourself,” he replied. “And accept that you have a shadow in you, too.”
THE END OF THE CHAPTER.
Alina did not sleep that night.
She stood at the mirror in her room and looked at her reflection.
White hair. The eyes are galaxies. The face of a girl who is still learning to be a hero.