chapter fifteen
440 Words
The portal opened completely that evening.
There was no going back.
The three of them stood before it.
Meera remained outside.
“You must go.”
The girl looked at her.
“You aren't coming?”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
Meera looked at the boy.
“Because someone must remain here.”
The boy nodded.
The girl didn't like it.
But she understood.
She stepped through.
The world changed instantly.
The sky was unlike anything she had ever seen.
There were no ordinary clouds.
Light moved through the air like rivers.
Buildings floated in the distance.
And beneath them was an endless darkness.
The boy appeared beside her.
“You okay?”
“No.”
“Good.”
She looked at him.
“Good?”
“If you were okay, I'd be worried.”
She laughed despite herself.
They continued walking.
At the center of the realm stood a massive structure.
The same symbols covered its walls.
The same animals.
The same shapes.
And at the center—
the missing piece.
This time, it wasn't empty.
It was a mirror.
She stepped toward it.
Her reflection appeared.
Then changed.
She saw herself as a little girl.
She saw her grandmother holding her.
She saw her grandmother hiding the mysterious object.
She saw strangers searching the house.
She saw her grandmother running.
She saw her grandmother protecting her.
Then she saw the final memory.
Her grandmother standing alone before the portal.
Someone was behind her.
A shadow.
The memory ended.
The girl stepped back.
“That person killed her.”
The boy nodded.
“Who was it?”
“I don't know.”
The mirror changed again.
This time, it showed her.
Not as a child.
As she was now.
The symbols around her began glowing.
The boy stared.
“That's impossible.”
“What?”
“You're activating it.”
She looked down.
Light was spreading beneath her feet.
The portal was responding to her.
She finally understood.
She wasn't simply the missing piece.
She was the reason the puzzle existed.
Her grandmother had spent years preparing her without telling her why.
The girl looked at the boy.
“If I close it…”
He didn't answer.
“If I close it, what happens?”
“You might not be able to come back.”
Silence.
She looked at him.
He looked away.
For once, neither of them had a clever answer.
She realized something else.
She didn't want to leave him.
That frightened her more than the portal.
Because she knew what she had to do.
And she knew he wouldn't let her do it easily.
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