"Even the brightest moon casts shadows. And some shadows remember the light they lost."
The world stood still.
Two Selenes faced each other beneath the fractured moonlight.
One radiant—glowing softly with warmth, memory, and sacrifice.
The other—draped in silence, her form wrapped in shadows like mourning veils. Her eyes held no reflection, only obsidian voids. Cold. Infinite.
Aarav instinctively stepped between them.
"Who are you?" he asked the dark Selene.
She tilted her head, her voice like glass sliding over stone. "I am what she left behind. The pieces she severed to become your salvation."
Selene's lips trembled. "No… I destroyed you. I gave up that part of me so you wouldn't suffer."
The dark Selene laughed softly.
"And yet, here I am. Surviving in the void she tried to erase. Watching her love. Watching you." Her gaze slid to Aarav. "The vessel who inherited my pain."
🌓 The Archivist's Revelation
The Archivist stood like a statue, scroll in hand, face unreadable.
"This is the beginning of the second trial: The Trial of the Void."
Zahir appeared again, breathless and wary. "The Void... that's the Archive's mirror. The place where erased truths gather."
The Archivist nodded. "For every truth written, one must be unspoken. The Trial of the Heart awakened what was suppressed. Now, you must confront it."
Aarav's voice shook. "And what does that mean? Another fight? Another sacrifice?"
The Archivist's voice was grim.
"No. This time, the void chooses. It feeds on uncertainty. Secrets. Fear. And it has chosen… to test Selene."
Selene blinked. "Me?"
The dark version of her smiled.
"I'm not here to destroy you. I'm here to show them who you really are."
🕯 A Fractured Past
The stars above shimmered—and the sky split.
Visions poured out like a broken dream:
Selene alone in a temple of stars, her soul cracking as she chose to erase Caelum from history.
Her screaming into the moon as her essence was split, locked away from the timelines.
Her watching Aarav's childhood from afar, forbidden to reach him. Forbidden to remember.
Selene fell to her knees.
Aarav moved toward her, but the dark Selene raised a hand—and time froze around him.
"You don't get to protect her now," she whispered. "She doesn't deserve it yet."
Selene looked up at her darker self, tears streaking her face.
"I did what I had to do."
"You did what was easy," the shadow replied. "You erased your pain instead of healing it. You erased me."
⚖ Trial of the Void Begins
The Archivist unfolded the second scroll.
"Let the forgotten self stand as judge.
Let the remembered self stand as accused.
Let the vessel bear witness."
Suddenly, the ground opened into a spiral of moonlight and shadow. The Trial Chamber formed itself—an ethereal courtroom where light and dark floated like threads.
Selene stood on one platform.
The shadow-Selene stood on the other.
Aarav stood in between.
Three celestial mirrors rose from the void—each flickering with pieces of memory.
One held Selene's creation.
One held the truth of Caelum's fate.
One held… a scene Aarav had never seen before.
🩸 The Secret Selene Hid
The mirror flickered—
Aarav, as a child, lying unconscious beneath the stars after being struck by a celestial storm.
Selene hovering above him—not glowing, not calm—but terrified.
Her hands over his heart.
She plants something inside him—more than light.
"You won't survive without this," she whispers. "So I'll give you the rest of me."
Back in the present, Aarav staggered.
"You gave me your soul?"
Selene couldn't speak.
The shadow Selene answered.
"Not just her soul. Her grief. Her guilt. Her fractured heart. That's what's inside you."
Aarav's voice cracked. "Then… that pain I've always felt—"
"Was never yours alone."
🌫 Breaking Point
The chamber grew colder.
Zahir shouted from the edges, "The Trial is collapsing! The void is bleeding into the Archive!"
The mirrors began to break—one by one—until only one remained: the reflection of a life Selene could have had.
A peaceful world.
Her with Caelum.
No loss. No erasure. No Aarav.
Selene looked at it for a long moment.
Then whispered, "I don't want that."
The shadow Selene hissed, "Liar. You mourn it every time you see him."
"I miss what was," she said. "But I love what is."
She reached toward Aarav, who finally moved again.
Their hands touched.
The void shuddered.
🩶 The Shadow Cracks
The dark Selene stumbled back.
A thread of light pierced her chest.
"No…" she gasped. "You're choosing him again."
Selene walked forward, eyes glowing. "Not instead of you. With you."
She stepped into her shadow.
And embraced her.
Aarav shouted, "Selene!"
The shadow screamed—
—and collapsed into light.
For a moment, nothing moved.
Then Selene opened her eyes. Both versions… now one.
Complete.
🌓 But Something's Wrong
As the chamber began to stabilize, Aarav exhaled, finally feeling the tightness in his chest release.
Zahir laughed nervously. "Is it over? Are we finally done with trials?"
The Archivist closed the scroll, nodding. "The Void has been healed."
Aarav turned to Selene. "Are you okay?"
She looked at him, half-smiling.
But her eyes shimmered… strangely.
Too silver.
Too calm.
Then she whispered:
"I remember everything now. Even what I wasn't supposed to."
Aarav blinked. "What do you mean?"
She stepped forward slowly, hand grazing his cheek.
And whispered:
"I wasn't the only one split."
To Be Continued…