Selina’s POV

The roof above Selina's head moaned.

The creature's claws raked on the truck like nails on bone, and the metal crumpled under its weight. In an attempt to shake the item off, Caleb swerved violently. Selina braced herself, her pulse pounding like a war drum as the tires skidded on the pavement, the world whirling.

Then it took place.

Her gaze met the limitless black eyes of the beast.

Something more that Selina *remembered*.

Not in this life.

from a different source.

She held a silver blade. Her feet were soaked in blood. A battlefield engulfed in fire and moonlight. *Her* screams screams. Her lips formed a name. A breach of promise.

"Selina!" Caleb snapped her back and yelled. "Wait a minute!"

The animal growled and punched through the windshield with its clawed fist. The glass burst inward. Caleb went under the seat and pulled out a dagger, its blade shining a pale blue, and Selina ducked.

He smashed it upward into the creature's arm while yelling a battle cry.

Smoke hissed from the wound as the creature shrieked, flinching away. It tumbled off the roof and vanished into the roadside trees.

Caleb continued to drive.

What *was* that, exactly? Selina let out a gasp.

"A Revenant," Caleb said, his teeth clenched. "The Forgotten are served by them. sent to prevent you from finishing the Awakening.

"The Forgotten?" Selina gave a blink. "Why me? I am simply—I am no one!

Caleb looked at her briefly, his face unreadable. "No longer. And you were never simply unimportant.

Selina glanced down at her arm's shimmering mark. It pulsed more quickly now, as if it understood something she didn't.

The pressure in her head seemed like memories trying to clamber back to the surface. Her palms were pressed against her temples.

"Caleb... Something is taking place. I noticed something—I had a sword in my hand, there was blood, and—

He remarked, "You're remembering." "Your previous life is being unlocked by the mark."

However, I *died*. Isn't that me no longer there?

"Incorrect." He gripped the wheel more tightly. "You had a new birth. Your former life is now showing through. When you are chosen by the Moon Goddess, it is how reincarnation occurs.

The truck skidded to a stop next to an old, mossy stone gate that designated a tortuous path. In the early morning light, the words etched on it glistened dimly: **Vale of Mirrors**.

Selina shuddered. "Is this it?"

Caleb gave a nod. This is the starting point. as well as where it might end.

The trees silently engulfed them as they emerged.

It wasn't silent, though.

Not at all.

Soft and eerie, like a lullaby spoken from beneath the earth, were voices—*whispers*. Selina spun around in all directions. She was not outside of the whispers.

They were in her mind.

One voice said, "You're late."

Someone else hissed, "She's not ready."

"She wasn't ever."

Selina grabbed a tree for balance as she staggered.

She asked Caleb whether he could hear them.

He gave her a sorrowful glance. "You always did."

As they proceeded more into the forest, the road became narrower, with branches bending as though to make room. As the light faded, the trees started to shimmer with *reflections* rather than sunshine. As though their bark contained memories rather than rings.

Then Selina noticed it.

Her face in a tree's mirrored surface—*but not her face*. Older eyes, yet the same ones. hardened. Clad in silver armor, her jaw was pouring blood.

“Who is that?” she murmured.

Caleb stopped. “That was you. In the last war.”

"Which war?"

But the trees moved before he could respond.

The earth shuddered.

And a figure emerged from the mirror.

A man.

Young, with winter-storm-like eyes and raven-black hair. He carried a sword across his back and a long, frayed coat. On his neck, a crescent mark glowed brightly.

Selina gasped for air.

She *was* familiar with him.

Not in this life. Not even from the dream. from down inside her bones.

She muttered, "Keane."

With a mixture of comfort and pain, he gazed at her. "Selina. You came back.”

Beside her, Caleb tensed. "No... No, this is incorrect.

Selina moved forward. "Keane... I can still recall your name. I can still hear your voice.

"You said you would come back to me," Keane remarked. Prior to the treachery. Prior to the moon breaking.

What was the betrayal, she inquired?

"You used to love me," he remarked. "Prior to you killing me."

There was silence in the jungle.

Selina stopped. "What?"

Keane's eyes grew gloomy. "You haven't recalled it yet. However, you will. The last conflict did not claim your life. You put a stop to it. You also have to pay for it.

Caleb stepped between them and hissed, "Lies." "You're not Keane." He got lost in the autumn.

The man yelled, "I *am* Keane." I was afflicted with the ability to recall every existence. The constant burning of betrayal as she forgot *everything*!

Selina gripped her head, feeling lightheaded. "This is illogical—why would I betray you?"

"You selected the shadows," Keane remarked quietly. "They've come to collect now."

He gestured toward her arm's mark.

"You now carry both darkness and light." void and the moon. That mark isn't advantageous. It serves as a warning.

The murmurs became louder behind her. Chanting. pleading.

**"Select… Pick… Select…"**

Selina fell to her knees abruptly, her head aching like a knife. Fire, war, Keane on his knees, her own sword piercing his heart—images flashed across her consciousness.

She let out a scream.

"No—no, I wouldn't—I didn't!"

Grasping her shoulders, Caleb knelt next to her. "Selina, fight it. Reminiscences shouldn't control you. That wasn't your entire identity.

Keane, however, moved forward with fiery eyes.

He growled and pointed to Caleb, saying, "Ask him." "Find out what your *guardian* did the night you passed away."

Selina's reply was little more than a whisper as her eyes flitted to Caleb. "What is he discussing?"

Caleb averted his gaze.

He said, "I tried to save you." "But I didn't succeed."

"Be honest with her," Keane growled. Inform her of her *betrayer. I wasn't the one. *him* was the one.

Like thunder, the air cracked.

And light burst from Selina's mark.

A silver laser blasted from her arm into the woodland canopy, and she screamed once more. The earth parted. The trees cried out.

And below, something stirred.

In front of them, the ground creaked open, exposing a pitch-black staircase that led down into a bright abyss. Like vapor, whispers spilled out.

Keane whispered, "Your past is down there, Selina."

Selina gazed off into the distance.

"And so is your death," Caleb said in a whisper.