“Lyra, don’t trust yourself.”
The voice came from beyond the light.
Lyra opened her eyes. She was standing in a white room. There were no walls, doors, or windows. Only black flowers floated through the air.
Elian stood beside her.
“Where are we?” he asked.
Lyra looked at her hand. The Black Petal was still clinging to her palm.
“I don’t know.”
Someone walked toward them.
It was Lyra.
But her face was paler. Her hair was longer. A deep wound marred her chest.
“I am your memory,” the woman said.
Lyra stepped back. “If you’re my memory, why did you hurt me?”
“Because you always try to forget me.”
Elian raised his sword. “Don’t come any closer.”
The woman looked at him.
“You’re still protecting her.”
“I don’t know you.”
“That’s okay. Soon, you’ll remember everything.”
The woman raised her hand. The black flowers moved above their heads. Then one flower fell to the floor.
An image appeared inside it.
Lyra saw a garden.
She was still a child. She stood beside a young boy.
The boy was Elian.
They sat beneath an old tree. Elian gave her a white flower.
“When you’re sad, smell this flower,” young Elian said.
“Why?”
“Because it will remind you that I’ll always be here.”
Young Lyra smiled.
“I’ll always be here for you, too.”
The image vanished.
Lyra looked at Elian. “We’ve known each other since we were children.”
Elian closed his eyes. His face looked pained.
“I’m starting to remember.”
Another flower opened.
This time, Lyra and Elian stood before Queen Olyndra. They were adults now. Their hands were clasped together.
“You cannot love the prince,” the queen said.
Lyra stepped in front of Elian. “I won’t leave him.”
“Then I’ll erase your memories of him.”
The queen raised the Black Petal.
Elian stepped forward. “Erase my memories, too.”
Lyra turned toward him. “Don’t.”
“If you’re the only one who forgets me, you’ll live in confusion.”
Elian clasped Lyra’s hand.
“If we both forget, we can still meet again.”
The image froze.
Lyra closed her eyes. Tears ran down her cheeks.
“We deliberately forgot each other.”
“Yes,” said the woman who claimed to be Lyra’s memory.
“Then why did I kill Elian?”
The woman looked at Elian.
“Because the person you killed wasn’t Elian.”
The white room trembled.
Queen Olyndra appeared behind them. Her face was twisted with rage.
“Don’t say another word.”
Lyra turned around. “Tell me everything.”
The queen raised her hand. A streak of red light shot toward them.
Elian pulled Lyra aside and leaped away. The light struck the floor.
“The queen has been using Elian’s body for years,” the woman said. “The real Elian was hidden inside the Black Petal.”
Elian clutched his chest.
“Then who am I?”
“You are a body created from Elian’s memories.”
Lyra stared at him.
“So you’re not the real Elian?”
Elian lowered his head. “I don’t know.”
“You’re still Elian,” Lyra said. “You have his heart.”
The queen laughed.
“A heart means nothing. The body is what matters.”
She pointed at Elian.
“Give me your body, and I’ll restore all of Lyra’s memories.”
Elian took one step forward.
“What if I refuse?”
“Lyra will lose herself forever.”
Lyra grabbed Elian’s arm.
“Don’t listen to her.”
“I don’t want you to lose yourself.”
“I’m more afraid of losing you.”
Elian gazed at Lyra for a long moment.
“Once, I asked you to kill me to save the kingdom.”
“Yes.”
“This time, I’ll be the one to choose.”
Elian raised his sword.
“I won’t surrender my body.”
The queen moved her hand. Black shadows immediately wrapped around Elian’s body.
Lyra looked at the Black Petal in her hand. She knew what she had to do.
She pressed it against her own chest.
All the memories entered her body.
She remembered her childhood.
She remembered the day she met Elian.
She remembered the night Elian asked her to take the Black Petal from his body.
She also remembered the final truth.
Queen Olyndra wasn’t Elian’s mother.
The queen was the first memory stolen from Elian’s body. She took human form and seized control of the kingdom.
Lyra looked at the queen.
“You’re not human.”
The queen stopped moving.
“I am a memory that has lived too long,” she said.
“And you’re afraid of being forgotten.”
The queen’s face changed.
For the first time, she looked old and weak.
“Don’t erase me.”
“If you stop hurting other people, I won’t erase you.”
“No!”
The queen attacked again.
Lyra opened her palm. A black flower grew from it and absorbed the red light.
Elian drew his sword and cut through the shadows wrapped around his body.
They stood side by side.
“Now,” Elian said.
Lyra nodded.
They joined hands.
The black flower bloomed between them. White light poured from its center and filled the room.
Queen Olyndra screamed.
Her body transformed into thousands of petals. The petals fell to the floor and became white flowers.
The white room began to collapse.
Elian held Lyra’s hand.
“Are we going to die?”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
Lyra gave him a small smile.
“Because I’ve found you.”
The light carried them back to the flower shop.
Lyra collapsed onto the floor. Elian fell beside her.
Outside, morning had already come.
Every flower in the shop had turned white.
Elian opened his eyes.
“Lyra?”
“I’m here.”
“Do I still forget you?”
Lyra looked at him.
“Not everything.”
Elian smiled.
“Then we can get to know each other again.”
Lyra squeezed his hand.
“Slowly.”
On the table, one black flower still remained.
A small voice came from inside the flower.
“The queen isn’t truly gone.”
Lyra and Elian looked at each other.
The flower shop door suddenly opened.
An old woman stood there. Her face was identical to Queen Olyndra’s.
She smiled.
“I’ve come to buy one memory.”